Kyle Busch has a 93.5 driver rating through 19 races. Credit: Autostock

Cross' Words: Loudon

• Who's the hottest driver in the past six weeks? Kyle Busch -- one win and three top-five finishes (883 points) -- while points leader Jimmie Johnson is eighth-best (778 points). ... Would you believe that JJ has only five bonus points since Pocono?

• Eleven of the top 15 points positions changed Sunday, including eight of the top 10. Sounds a lot like the weather: If you don't like it, wait a minute and it'll change. Except for Jimmie Johnson on point; he has been ranked among the top 10 for 88 consecutive races.

	Credit: Courtesy FHM
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• Danica ... Danica ... Danica. Anyone else tiring of the "Will she?" or "Won't she?" gabfest? Much like the hoopla over Michelle Wie: Win something and then come talk to us. In the meantime, aren't you late for another glamour shoot?

• Praise him or pile on at will, but Tony Stewart is one of the good people in NASCAR. His generosity -- a $1 million pledge to Victory Junction Gang Camp (his second since November 2003) -- seemingly knows no bounds when it comes to matters of the heart.

• The streak lives! Denny Hamlin (sixth), David Stremme (11th) and J.J. Yeley (12th) posted top-15 finishes. At least one rookie has posted a top-15 finish in all 19 races this season. Hamlin leads all rookies with three top-five finishes (including a win a Pocono) and seven top-10s.

• If you're keeping score, Toyota's 2007 drivers are 18th (Brian Vickers), 24th (Dale Jarrett) and 36th (Michael Waltrip). ... Not that this year's driver standings mean boo-diddley for next year, but those aren't exactly "moving forward" numbers.

• So you're wondering, "Who's Stephen Leicht?" Well, his racing career is moving at the speed of "leicht," in the wake of Robert Yates Racing entering the 19-year-old driver in the Pennsylvania 500. Oh yeah, and he's also entered in the Brickyard 400. ... Not too shabby for a kid with 10 starts in the Busches.

• The adage "the more things change, the more they stay the same" applies to this weekend's return to Pocono. When the Cup Series last raced in the Pennsylvania mountains all of 42 days ago, the Chase-eligible list was 10 drivers, same as this weekend. And nine of the names remain the same:

Say Anything

"That smoke is not from the tires, it's from Tony's helmet."
-- Wally Dallenbach on the cloud of smoke surrounding race leader Tony Stewart's car following his crash on Lap 91.

Figuratively Speaking

3 -- Drivers with a rating of 100-plus: Greg Biffle -- 104.6; Matt Kenseth -- 103.4; and Jimmie Johnson -- 101.4.

NUMBERS CRUNCH •   Cup: Loop Data statistics •   Busch: Loop Data statistics •   Truck: Loop Data statistics

Confused that the 11th-place driver in the point standings has the highest driver rating? Here's formula:

Combining the following categories: Win, Finish, Top-15 finish, Average running position while on lead lap, Average speed under green, Fastest lap, Led most laps, Lead-lap finish. Maximum: 150 points per race.

Still confused? Get in line.

Fast Facts

• Loudon winner Kyle Busch, who has 10 top-10 finishes in 19 races -- including top-fives in the past three starts -- now has five consecutive top-15 finishes.

• Matt Kenseth (14th) ended a streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes at New Hampshire, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. (43rd) ended a streak of three top-10s at the track.

• Kevin Harvick (fifth) scored his 10th top-10 finish 19 races, including the past three races. Greg Biffle (third) also posted his 10th top-10 of the season.

Up Next

Pocono | 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday | TNT

ALSO •   Get tickets now •   Book your travel

• Five of the past 11 races at Pocono have been won from a front-row starting position, including the June race won by rookie Denny Hamlin from the pole.

• Jimmie Johnson has nine consecutive top-15 finishes at Pocono with an average finish of 8.3, tops among all drivers with more than one start at the track.

• Mark Martin has finished second at Pocono six times in 39 races but has never visited Victory Lane. He has 27 top-10s with an average finish of 10.7.

Mailbag

As I was listening to the fans at New Hampshire booing Jeff Gordon during driver introductions, I realized how ridiculous some NASCAR fans are getting. Just five years ago, Dale Earnhardt could spin out a rival, block 40 drivers so that his team could get a win at Daytona, and he is the most respected, most well-liked driver of his time. At Bristol, Matt Kenseth spins Jeff Gordon out on the last lap, and Gordon is a criminal for getting angry. It's racing, folks. Last week, Jeff Gordon spins out Matt Kenseth with four laps to go, and Gordon is a criminal again for racing, and he's getting booed in introductions. I simply don't understand how one can complain of NASCAR officials making racing less interesting, and in the same Sunday, complain about exciting racing. Racing is all about bumping and grinding, spinning and coasting your way to the finish line. No wrecks and no competitive racing means no fun.
-- Ryan

E-MAIL •   Send Duane your thoughts ...

Don't you feel that NASCAR lost its credibility with that late race spin? You must have conveniently forgotten that there was a past precedent for what happened. NASCAR just showed that it will let its Golden Boy get away with anything. Remember at Sonoma with Ricky Rudd? He spun Davey Allison and Rudd was shown the black flag instead of the checkered flag -- and this was at a road course! You don't see a bunch of lanes to pass at the road courses and it's much easier to accidentally get into people. Yet, at Chicagoland, Jeff Gordon could have easily driven into a different lane, yet he did not. He could have passed cleanly, yet he did not. Did NASCAR show the black flag? No, they did nothing. NASCAR is going to lose more fans if this continues.
-- Adam

I am so tired of hearing the NASCAR drivers (the best in the sport) complain about "He was blocking me!" or "They are driving like idiots out there, and someone is going to get killed." Well didn't these guys get into racing to go fast? Do these guys not see other sports where they "block" a ball or "block" a goal to prevent themselves from losing? What is the difference from that and doing it in a car for a win? Intentional or not I consider them all "one of them racing deals." ... It's not the driving that has gotten out of control, it's the behavior of the drivers that has. It's the complaining and the whining! If they take the beating and banging out of racing then you have 43 cars going in a circle.
-- Daniel

Tell that idiot Shaad G. from the Mailbag section that those beer cans went sailing over other fans unprotected heads. Obviously the driver in the car was in no danger. It's the other fans in front of the drunken idiots tossing those bottles that are in danger. I know people got hit when that happened at Talladega and there is absolutely no excuse for it. If I take my kids to a race I want to know that type of behavior isn't tolerated. All fans are endangered when that happens. How great can your aim be when you have been drinking all day?
-- Kim

The thing that bothers me about the points system is that there are NO rewards for qualifying. NASCAR needs to start rewarding qualifying efforts, otherwise it is just a formality. Why spend the time and effort to qualify, when you can work on your race set-up and take a provisional to get in the race? How can you score top-fives if you can't actually make it into the race? Reward points for starting order and get rid of the top 35 in points lock-in.
-- Stacey

Fantasy Perspective

• Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch have top-10 finishes in the past two races at Pocono, the longest current streak.

• Bill Elliott leads all drivers with five victories at Pocono. Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Gordon lead full-time drivers with three wins.

• All 19 races this year have been won by drivers currently ranked in the top 15 in the point standings, including four by drivers outside the top 10.

And Finally ...

Stuff magazine is on newsstands, and this month's issue is the first to feature a guy (gasp!) on its cover. Leslie Bibb and Will Ferrell -- two of the stars in Talladega Nights -- grace the cover and speak in character throughout their interview. Grab a copy -- and be parpared to LOL.

SUPERSTORE •   Talladega Nights gear

Ricky Bobby on NASCAR being a sport: "When you're going 210 miles per hour into a turn at Talladega, and you're fighting off two cars, and you've got your wife in your headset telling you she wants a Lexus to keep her shoes in, then you tell me who is an athlete and who isn't. NASCAR is a sport and then some. No one gave Neil Armstrong crap about whether landing on the moon was a sport or not. They just basked in his awesomeness. So bask in my awesomeness. Do it. Bask. Right now."

On his earliest childhood memory: "My earliest memory is of a guy in a gorilla mask and no shirt being arrested on our front lawn. It was my dad. He had sold the sheriff's son a $200 block of oregano at a Leif Garrett concert. My dad tried to hide from the cops by putting on the gorilla mask and claiming he was a singing-telegram guy. He was kind of a rascal. Or, as the police called him, a repeat offender."

Carley Bobby on her clothing style: "I make a lot of my own clothes. I have my own label, Just Carley. I'm heavily influenced by the work of Jaclyn Smith and Christina Aguilera. Those are two ladies with undeniable style. But every Tuesday is Stevie Nicks Day. I feather my hair and wear flowing robes, and I spin a lot. It's really invigorating."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.