(dis)believe the dialogue: Weekly news in review

Did you know that Ryan Newman has either started in the first position or ended in the first position in five of the last six races? Talk about amazing.

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Looking at the remaining schedule, Newman had poles at Martinsville, Rockingham and Phoenix during the second half of last season as well.

Cale Yarborough has nothing to worry about though. Newman would have to win the pole for every remaining event in order to best Yarborough's 1980 season record of 14 poles.

On to this week's analysis ...

See if you agree with the "DIS" of what has been reported, or maybe you "BELIEVE" everything you read, because if it is printed, it is true ... right?

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Elliott: DIS

	Tony Stewart

Look, let's be honest, Tony Stewart is frustrated. When he left Talladega last year following a third-place finish in the EA SPORTS 500, he had the points lead and never looked back. He had also accumulated 18 top-10 finishes and three victories.

This season, he finally crept into the top-10 in points this week with just 11 top-10 finishes, including a victory at Pocono. Hard to defend your title with stats like that, but blaming Goodyear for his frustrations seems inappropriate.

Look at the stats from Dover:

1. Seven different drivers lead the event, with Kevin Harvick leading the most laps, not Stewart

2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. lead the race at three different times

3. Ryan Newman was the class of the field at the start of the race, had a tire problem, overcame being almost two laps down, and then dominated the last 70 laps or so while also battling a charging Jeremy Mayfield for the win

Oh yeah, Newman's average finish at Dover over his last four starts there? Three (with two visits to Victory Lane).

He clearly wasn't "given" this win because other drivers were racing on "bad sets" of tires, sorry.

Marty: BELIEVE

This is nothing new, E. In fact, it's pretty standard. It seems that every time a driver is upset about a subpar run, or the inability to get to the front when necessary, the blame goes to Goodyear.

And for four of my five years in this sport, I considered it an easy excuse, cop-out central. Matter of fact, that was pretty much my sentiment until three weeks ago, when I listened in as Joe Nemechek explained to Uncle Kracker why tires are so fickle.

Now, don't quote me on this (I'm no tire expert by any means, but this is the gist of Nemechek's explanation as I understood it), but if the arrangement of the plies inside the tire are off even the slightest degree, the tire is junk and won't perform as expected. Nemechek said the difference is night-and-day --not even comparable -- and happens more often than you'd think.

And he would know. He performed Goodyear tire tests for years.

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Elliott: DIS

	Brian Vickers

OK, I have consistently complained about Cup drivers racing in the Busch and Truck Series for various reasons. Now I am going to complain about Brian Vickers racing in the Cup Series.

Aside of the fact that this is a raw deal for Mike Skinner (who was the fourth different driver to pilot the No. 01 car after Jerry Nadeau's accident), Vickers is racing for a Busch Series Championship.

Why is Hendrick risking the health of his driver, as well as the opportunity to win a Busch Series title, for a few weeks of Cup experience?

Scott Riggs, Ron Hornaday, David Green and Jason Keller (all within 106 points of Vickers) aren't going to lay down and wait for the season to end. They are going to focus and race even harder now on getting their programs into first place.

Shouldn't Vickers be doing the same thing without worrying about outside distractions like qualifying and racing a Cup car?

I like Vickers. He is going to be a great driver, but he is barely old enough to buy a ticket for an R-rated movie.

There is plenty of time to gain seat experience in a Cup car without risking potential injury, and subsequently sacrificing his chances at winning the Busch Series Championship.

Marty: BELIEVE

This is simple, and aside from backing Skinner I'm unsure there's an argument here. For young drivers, nothing is as valuable as seat time. End of story. Ask any driver, they'll tell you that learning tracks' particular tendencies and logging laps is invaluable.

You're correct in saying that the Busch Series championship should be Vickers' first priority. And it will be. The kid is mature beyond his years and has folks around him who will assure he maintains focus. He gets it.

But the fact remains, he will be a Winston Cup driver in less than five months. He needs the experience. And it's not like he's going to be under a ton of pressure at MB2. They're 34th in the point standings, and want to assist Hendrick Motorsports in developing a young star.

Seems pretty cut-and-dried, to me.

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Marty: DIS

	Nemechek looks over his wrecked car at Dover.

To me, it is unacceptable for the wall to buckle. Period. As if the prospects of hitting a wall at 160 mph aren't daunting enough, the fear of it giving way is absurd.

This is the highest level of professional motorsports. Fans spend millions of dollars at every track, every weekend. Use some of the profit and make darn sure your facility is buttoned up.

Elliott: BELIEVE

Joe Nemechek made a point the hard way on Sunday -- more soft walls are needed.

While fans (and Joe!) were fortunate he wasn't injured in his vicious hit, the wall wasn't so lucky. The impact cracked STEEL in the wall. Just imagine how hard that hit was.

Or maybe we should ask Dale Jr., who apparently was knocked unconscious and suffered a minor concussion after hitting the wall on the driver's side.

I applaud NASCAR for continuing to do research in this area, but I also think it is appropriate to thank the tracks as they continue to adopt this technology, which now also includes Homestead-Miami for the season finale. Let's keep our guys safe.

The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writers.