Up, down and around: Stock prices for Robby Gordon, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are all over the charts. Credit: Autostock

Cross' Words: Michigan

Random ruminations after Michigan ...

• Robby Gordon's 12th-place finish was his sixth top-20 run in the past seven races and 13th this year; the team had five top-20s in 2005. Last year, Gordon suffered through 13 DNFs; he has only four in 2006.

The Spin: Gordon moved up two spots, to 24th, and is out-performing headline-grabbers Dale Jarrett, Jeremy Mayfield and Michael Waltrip. C'mon, Toyota, where's the love? R.G. should be the face of Camry in 2007, so move forward already.

GFS Marketplace 400 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Matt Kenseth Ford 2. Jeff Gordon Chevy 3. Tony Stewart Chevy 4. Kasey Kahne Dodge 5. Mark Martin Ford 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 7. Greg Biffle Ford 8. Reed Sorenson Dodge 9. Denny Hamlin Chevy 10. Elliott Sadler Dodge • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here Victory LaneMatt Kenseth celebrates his third win of the NNC season Race reactionGordon, Stewart and Johnson review the action at Michigan Out of controlKurt Busch's Chase hopes take a hit in Turn 4 at MIS Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Devil's Advocate: There is no downside! Gordon is marketable. He's savvy. He's young (turns 38 in January). He has talent and experience. He also runs a one-car team like he stole it and is holding his own against the multi-car giants. Make the investment and turn this guy loose; he's a lot more than a road-course warrior.

• Before Sunday's 42nd-place showing, the last time Jeff Burton failed to post a top-15 finish: April 2 at Martinsville. He fell five spots after MIS, to ninth, and is only 35 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 10th and 84 in front of 11th-place Kasey Kahne. And now comes Bristol, which is the most high-stakes roll of the dice during the Race for the Chase.

The Spin: If you're wondering what to expect from Burton at the .533-mile bullring, consider his past five finishes at the track: 38, 4, 36, 2, 34. Look closely -- despite the roller-coaster run, he has improved his finish with each up (and down) run.

Devil's Advocate: Burton has only six top-five finishes and nine top-10s in 25 starts at Bristol. His average finish is 19.6 and he's completed only 85 percent of the laps (leading only 55). Of the 13 tracks on which Burton has at least 15 starts, Bristol is his worst.

• Race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. bumped his way around Carl Edwards during the green-white-checkered restart on Saturday in the Busch Series. Edwards retaliated by bumping Earnhardt's car during the ensuing caution lap, then went to Victory Lane and unloaded a profanity-filled tirade.

The Spin: No, no, Junior didn't slam Edwards, Junior didn't bump Edwards, Junior didn't nudge Edwards ... Junior rubbed Edwards. And rubbin', son, is racin'. (Has there been a more famous line in a racing movie? No, "Momma, I'm going fast!" ain't cuttin' it, either.)

Devil's Advocate: NASCAR president Mike Helton had a face-to-face with the boys and reminded them that Sunday was a new day and that on this stage, boys won't be boys. In the end, there were no fireworks between Earnhardt and Edwards. Hey, Junior's gotta get in the Chase, right?

Say Anything

"It was fun running Matt down there and battling up front. I wish we had a few more laps but that's probably a good make-up for what happened at Chicago. I would have liked to have gotten up there and shown I could pass him clean and race him clean, because I like racing with Matt."
-- Runner-up Jeff Gordon, who used the bump-and-run six weeks ago on Matt Kenseth en route to the victory at Chicago. ... And whaddya know it's off to Bristol, where the tête-à-tête between these two started in March.

Figuratively Speaking

381 -- Any driver leading the 11th-place driver by 381 points after Bristol is guaranteed a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup. Assuming they start the next three races, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth will make the 10-race playoff.

One year ago there were six drivers within the 400-point window and seven of the top 15 drivers were separated by 30 points or less (with 11th to 10th separated by 51 points), and 11th to 15th in the 2005 standings were separated by just 53 points.

After 23 races in 2006, four drivers are within the 400-point window and six of the top-11 drivers are separated by 35 points or less. Fourth-place Mark Martin is 138 points ahead of 11th-place Kasey Kahne.

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

Fast Facts

• Matt Kenseth's victory was his series-leading 12th top-five finish in 23 starts. He is now 58 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson; after 23 races one year ago, Kenseth ranked 15th.

• Tony Stewart now has four consecutive top-10 finishes; Kevin Harvick has seven top-15 finishes in a row; and Brian Vickers has a streak of 10 top-20 finishes.

• Jimmie Johnson is the only driver with 17 top-10 finishes in the first 23 races, and he has a top-15 finish in 20 races, four more than any other driver.

• Elliott Sadler paid immediate dividends on Sunday. His first start with Ray Evernham was a 10th-place finish, and coupled with Sterling Marlin's 29th-place showing the No. 19 Dodge is back in the top 35 in owners' points, which means Sadler is guaranteed a starting spot at Bristol.

• Reed Sorenson finished eighth and Denny Hamlin ninth, the seventh time in 2006 that two or more rookies finished in the top 10, and continued the streak of at least one rookie scoring a top-15 finish in all 23 races this season.

Get in the Loop

A glance at NASCAR's Loop Data Statistics gives insight as to how Matt Kenseth was able to fend off all comers Sunday at Michigan: He was the only driver to rank in the top five in Fastest Drivers by Turn.

• Turn 1 -- 188.466 mph (fourth)
• Turn 2 -- 159.243 mph (second)
• Turn 3 -- 166.242 mph (first)
• Turn 4 -- 167.389 mph (fifth)

Kenseth beat the field turning left and was able to overcome his 11th-place showing in Fastest Drivers by Straightaway (184.162 mph).

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Up Next

Bristol | 7 p.m. ET Saturday | TNT

• Rookie Denny Hamlin, who remains eighth in the point standings, has top-15 finishes in 13 of the past 14 races -- including five consecutive top-10 finishes. He has 17 top-15s this year and was 14th at Bristol in March.

• Greg Biffle holds the longest streak among active drivers at Bristol with top-10 finishes in his past three races. His 9.8 finishing average in seven races at the track is the best among active drivers.

• Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch lead all active drivers with five victories at Bristol. Gordon has 26 consecutive top-15 starts at the track (seven of his past nine were on the front row) and leads active drivers with a 4.9 starting average in 27 races.

Mailbag

• Snakes alive! Talladega Nights has been rubbed from point at the box office. Snakes on a Plane sunk its fangs into the top spot by putting the squeeze on $15.25 million in ticket sales; Ricky Bobby's ballad made $14.1 million.

Distributor New Line Cinema included $1.4 million that Snakes on a Plane raked in during 10 p.m. screenings Thursday to get a head start on the weekend. Without those revenues, the movie's weekend total would be $13.85 million, The Associated Press reported.

Several readers questioned why I didn't post any positive comments about Talladega Nights. ... Well, because no one -- at that time -- had e-mailed anything positive about the movie. Since then, several fans have taken up the torch for the spoof, pointing out that the movie A) stars Will Ferrell; you're not getting Cary Grant; and B) is rated PG-13, which means "Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13."

My advice: Take the movie for what it is -- an hour and 45 minutes of your life that doesn't take a lot of thinking. After all, it's the story of a man who could only count to No. 1.

• There are three races until the Chase field is set after Richmond. Here's your mission, should you choose to accept it: E-mail me how the Chase field will stack up -- Nos. 1-10 -- and I'll send you something cool if you're the first person to submit the 10 names in order.

• On to some queries ...

Why is Ward Burton having such a tough time landing in a good ride for 2007? I would have thought any number of teams would have snatched him up by now (RYR, MWR, Red Bull, etc).
-- Luke

Because sponsors hold the purse strings and right now no one wants Ward pushing their product (which is the epitome of asinine, IMO).

E-MAIL •   Send Duane your thoughts ...

Who does Carl Edwards think he is? He won a few races and he thinks the sea should part because he's coming? Give me a break. Carl, this is NASCAR, bumper-to-bumper racing. If you can't handle getting turned then "golly gee" go back to where you came from! It's amazing that you win a few races and think you deserve the utmost respect with all the drivers! Good job messing with Junior; now you have lost a lot of respect with the fans who were fooled by your "just glad to be here" crap!
-- Dale

Golly gee, Dale, tell us how you really feel.

Do Jeremy and Shana Mayfield expect to publish a book about their "unfair treatment" anytime soon? I don't think I've read enough about it lately (a hint of sarcasm). I used to be a fan of the Mayfields, rooted on Jeremy every week, enjoyed reading their weekly column and looked forward to interviews Jeremy was giving. I understand that they are going through a difficult time right now, and yes, it may have been unfair in how Jeremy was terminated. However, I've heard enough. Listening to their unending whining and the continuous montage of how they were treated unfairly is creating a large backlash that I'm not sure Jeremy is aware of. Jeremy should have kept his mouth shut, dealt with this in the privacy of the Evernham office and Shana should have just let her man do his own dirty work. She appears as the unflattering can't-keep-her-mouth-shut wife that people tend to roll their eyes at.
-- Jamie

Fantasy Perspective

• Jimmie Johnson has one win on a short track (Oct. 24, 2004, at Martinsville), with eight top-five finishes and 14 top-10s in 27 starts. His average finish on tracks less than 1 mile in length: 15.0.

• Of the 10 tracks where Dale Earnhardt Jr. averages a top-15 finish, two of them are on the horizon: Richmond (9.4) and Bristol (13.2). Even more hopeful for the No. 8 team: Junior's average finish in six fall races at Bristol is 9.5, including a win and four consecutive top-10s.

• Kasey Kahne has not fared well at Bristol -- one top-10 finish in five starts, a 10th-place showing in March. He has only four top-10s in 15 starts on short tracks, but one of those was his first career victory (May 14, 2005, at Richmond).

And Finally ...

In Watertown, N.Y., the minister of a church that dismissed a female Sunday School teacher after adopting what it called a literal interpretation of the Bible says a woman can perform any job -- outside of the church. The First Baptist Church dismissed Mary Lambert on Aug. 9 with a letter explaining that the church had adopted an interpretation that prohibits women from teaching men. She had taught there for 54 years. The letter quoted the first epistle to Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." The Rev. Timothy LaBouf, who also serves on the Watertown City Council, issued a statement saying his stance against women teaching men in Sunday School would not affect his decisions as a city leader in Watertown, where all five members of the council are men but the city manager who runs the city's day-to-day operations is a woman.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.