Viewer's Guide: Coca-Cola 600

ATLANTA -- It would stand to figure that the team that spent Saturday night celebrating in Victory Lane after winning the Nextel All-Star Challenge would be in the midst of enjoying a week full of euphoria.

Not so much.

	Matt Kenseth celebrates his win in last weekend's Nextel All-Star Challenge. Credit: Autostock

Sure, Roush Racing pocketed $1 million thanks to Matt Kenseth's victory, but they also had to endure an incident involving two of its other drivers.

Kurt Busch said he was trying to bump draft with teammate Greg Biffle when things went wrong, triggering an 11-car melee. It's safe to say that Biffle and Busch didn't exactly share a frosty beverage after the race.

"The replay showed that Kurt Busch's head is up his ... I don't know," Biffle said. "I guess I've got to take Kevin Harvick's road. I just don't understand.

"You've got to finish the race to do anything. He wrecked us on the straightaway, not in the corner, not going into the corner. On the straightaway.

"Kurt Busch took out the whole field. We had two really good cars, a shot at a million dollars tonight. If I were Jack Roush, I don't know what I'd do."

Busch did seem sorry for the incident.

Last week Contact between teammates leads to an 11-car wreck Play video Biffle is one of many drivers angry with Kurt Busch Play video

"It's just an all-star type bump where you just want to try and help him. He's a teammate of mine and I didn't mean to wreck him. I apologize for all the wrecked racecars out on pit road."

Still, the damage was done.

As if that weren't enough, NASCAR apologized Tuesday to Roush and Carl Edwards, one of Roush's Craftsman Truck Series drivers, for mistakeingly turning the caution lights on late in Friday's Infineon 200. The mistake caused Edwards, who was leading at the time, to slow down, allowing Dennis Setzer to pass him for the win.

Some week.

The FOX crew will feature Roush Racing and its turbulent week during Sunday night's pre-race show leading up to the Coca-Cola 600.

Ask The Producer: This week's question is asked by Patrick Read of Atlanta:

"Can FOX please, PLEASE, move the driver position bar to the top of the screen? Leaving that gap up at the top does no good, it is completely wasted space.

NASCAR ON FOX  Visit FOXSports.com for NASCAR news

"It seems you are basically taking up a full third of the screen for that scrolling graphics, and have barely any room to watch the race.

"The coverage is great, but the graphics layout takes away from the race."

NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg said the issue is already being dealt with.

"We have talked about just that. The space is left there to accomodate all televisions. But today, most people have TV's that can handle graphics on the fringes of the screen. We will look into possible changes for the new season."

Let your voice be heard: Each week, we'll pick one question to ask the producer of the FOX telecast. Why did they do things this way? Why did they talk to that driver? Any question that eats at you could be answered right here in the Viewer's Guide.

Send your questions to the e-mail box in this piece.

The Rant: Not surprisingly, several fans sent notes following last week's column about Tony Stewart. A couple of examples follow.

Matt from Hamilton, Ont. supports Stewart:

"If Darrell Waltrip has been in this situation before then he should know the ramifications of putting somebody on the spot like this.

	Tony Stewart

"Sure Tony needs to keep his anger in check and I feel he has done that and improved greatly from how it was last season, but what people or 'fans' of the sport fail to realize is a number of the incidents that Tony has been involved in this year have not been his fault.

"Plus, drivers fall into different slumps. Take Jeff Gordon, he didn't win for how many races, and wrecked out of a bunch of them during that time, but all people could do is blame it on his divorce, and off-track issues. They just feel they can pick on Tony because he is an easy target.

"Everybody needs to grow up, put this behind them, and realize racing is an unpredictable sport, anything can go wrong at any time, just realize that. I'm behind you 100 percent, Tony. Keep your chin up and your foot down!"

Ray Burnett of Lincoln, Ala. sees things differently:

"This is not the first time Tony has been in trouble. He needs to step back and take a look at the big picture. He says its not all his fault, maybe not, but like D.W. said,"there seems to be a common denominator in all of this."

"He is not only hurting his image but that of his team and owner. I'm not saying he should just lay down and not race, but maybe he should try to just be quiet, run a clean race, and not be involved in so many altercations."

EMAIL Send Mark a question for "Ask The Producer" or your take for "The Rant"

Get in on the action: In "The Rant," we'll pick e-mails each week to argue about a TV coverage issue, be it a commentator's comment, a driver's comment, a pre-race feature -- basically anything you want to spout off about.

Come with an intelligent, passionate argument and you may see your take on NASCAR.COM.

Quote of the week:"I feel like I'm under attack here." -- Tony Stewart talking to the media as celebratory fireworks were going off after Saturday's Nextel All-Star Challenge.

On to this weekend's schedule:

Nextel Cup Series: Coca-Cola 600

Site: Concord, N.C.

Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns. Frontstretch: 1,952 feet. Backstretch: 1,360 feet).

Race distance: 600 miles, 400 laps.

Last year Johnson is declared the winner after rain halts the race Play video Robby Gordon reviews his run at "The Double" Play video Several drivers are caught a lap down after Rudd spins Play video

TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 7 p.m. ET Thursday. Happy Hour: FX, 4 p.m. ET Saturday (tape-delayed). Race: FOX, 5 p.m. ET Sunday.

Last year: Jimmie Johnson made it 2-for-2 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, winning the Coca-Cola 600 a week after taking the checkered flag in the all-star event. NASCAR declared the race over after 276 laps Sunday night because of rain.

Last race: Matt Kenseth moved right to the rear bumper of Ryan Newman -- but never touched him -- and then drove past with four laps left to win the Nextel All-Star Challenge on Saturday night, taking home the million- dollar prize.

Potential storyline: On Sunday, Robby Gordon will attempt, for the fifth time, one of auto racing's most formidable challenges -- racing the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

Gordon previously pulled this feat off in 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2003. His best finish at Indy in those four years was fifth in 2002; his best Coca- Cola 600 finish in those years was 16th in 2002.

"At Indy, a lot of the work is before the green flag waves, because if the car is set up right and handling well, then that's half the battle,"

Point to ponder: The Coca-Cola 600 was first run in 1960 under the name World 600. It was billed as the "world's longest and most grueling late model stock car race." Not much has changed in the last 44 years.

Busch Series: Carquest Auto Parts 300

Site: Concord, N.C.

Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns. Frontstretch: 1,952 feet. Backstretch: 1,360 feet).

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

TV: Busch Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 1:30 p.m. ET Friday. Race: FX, 12:30 p. m. ET Saturday.

Last year Matt Kenseth scores his second victory of the year Play video Kenseth leads after a miscue by Kyle Busch Play video

Last year: Matt Kenseth got his second Busch Series victory of the season, getting the better of 18-year-old Kyle Busch on a late restart to win.

Last race: Martin Truex Jr. led for just one lap in the final Busch Series race at Nazareth Speedway on Sunday, yet still managed his series-best fourth win of the season.

Potential storyline: David Green is slated to make the 300th start of his NASCAR Busch Series career Saturday. The 1994 series champion has eight wins and 21 Busch Poles to his credit -– fifth on the all-time list.

He's also tallied 67 top-five finishes and 129 top 10s, including a third-place showing in the series' most recent race at Nazareth Speedway.

"It's kind of cool," Green says. "I guess it says I've been fortunate enough to be with some good teams over the years. Not a lot of people have made 300-plus starts. I think it takes a never-give-up attitude and the desire to win and win championships non-stop."

Point to ponder: Rob Moroso faced trouble early in the May 27, 1989 Champion's Filters 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, when he had to pit on Lap 5 to have a flat tire replaced. He lost a lap, but later regained it and went on to pass eventual 1989 NASCAR premier series champion Rusty Wallace for the lead on Lap 195.

It was Moroso's second win in a row at Charlotte, and he would win again in the fall of 1989. Only Mark Martin has a win streak as long as Moroso's in the NASCAR Busch Series at Charlotte.

Mark Spoor is an interactive producer of NASCAR.COM. The Domino's Viewers Guide appears each Thursday during race weeks.