Jeff Burton's victory at Dover was his first since Oct. 28, 2001, at Phoenix. Credit: Autostock

Cross' Words: Dover

Random ruminations after Dover ...

• It was a statement weekend for Richard Childress Racing. After allegations of the crew utilizing "bleeder valves" were broadcast after Loudon, the RCR crew went to Dover and swept the Busch (Clint Bowyer) and Cup (Jeff Burton) races.

• No matter the reasons SPEED's Bob Dillner had for reporting on RCR's valves post-Loudon, I still believe him as a reporter. He is, in my opinion, one of the best when it comes to getting the goods.

Dover 400 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Jeff Burton Chevy 2. Carl Edwards Ford 3. Jeff Gordon Chevy 4. Kurt Busch Dodge 5. Greg Biffle Ford • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here Victory LaneJeff Burton celebrates in Victory Lane at Dover Tough breakKyle Busch retires after engine failure on Lap 140 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

• It's been a while since Burton last visited Victory Lane. I just didn't realize how long ago ...

• David Ragan ... French for "There's a spin in Turn 4."

• Let's see, Jeremy Mayfield finished 10th and ninth in his two Chase seasons. This year, with the former No. 19 crew wrenching for Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, it looks like another bottom of the order finish. Yep, there's something to be said for consistency.

• And speaking of the No. 19, Elliott Sadler looked racy for a while. Earlier last week he said the team would run up front at Dover and also would be a dark horse to win. He led for 30 laps on Sunday before settling for a 16th-place finish -- his fifth top-16 run in six races with Evernham.

• Ladies and gentlemen, Dave Blaney. (More on him later.)

• From the good folks at www.cawsnjaws.com, Sunday's broadcast on TNT was 231 minutes, 74 of which were commercials (which breaks down to about 9 minutes of paying the bills per 30 minutes of racing).

• Nice run, Martin Truex Jr. That's what the fans expected all along. Ditto Reed Sorenson; it won't be long until he's in Victory Lane.

• Kyle Busch and the aforementioned Kasey Kahne, there will be several parting gifts for you in New York. Thanks for playing the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup. ... Paging Jimmie Johnson, paging Mr. Johnson.

• Tough noogies, Matt Kenseth. But look at the bright side: Brett Favre threw three touchdown passes as the Packers beat the Lions. He's now 19 TDs shy of breaking Dan Marino's record, which I'm predicting will happen Dec. 3 at Lambeau. And it has nothing to do with me having tickets for that game ... nothing at all.

Say Anything

"We're done." -- Kyle Busch, on his chances of winning the Chase after finishing 40th at Dover.

"Our goal this weekend [at Kansas] is to win practice, win the pole and win the race. Not necessarily in that order." -- Jimmie Johnson, whose timeline left us scrambling to see if qualifying was going to be held after the race. Alas, it is not.

Figuratively Speaking

1 -- Points position for Jeff Burton, who has been a model of consistency this year. His 2006 Loop Data statistics:

• Average starting position -- 13.0
• Average mid-race position -- 11.3
• Average running position -- 11.5
• Average finishing position -- 12.8

Fast Facts

LOOP DATA •   Cup Series statistics •   Busch Series statistics •   Truck Series statistics

• Jeff Burton, who became the 12th different race winner in 2006, moved to 35th on the all-time win list, tied with Geoffrey Bodine, Neil Bonnett and Harry Gant. Burton won the race from the 19th-place starting position -- the same position from which Matt Kenseth won the spring race at Dover.

• Jeff Gordon has two top-five finishes in the first two races in the Chase, while Burton, Kenseth and rookie Denny Hamlin have top-10 finishes. Gordon has moved from ninth to second in the point standings in the past two races, his highest position since he ranked second after Darlington in May 2005.

• Matt Kenseth has six consecutive top-10 finishes, the longest current streak. He also has 18 top-10s this year, tied with Jimmie Johnson for most in the Cup Series. Kenseth and Johnson each have top-15s in 23 of the 28 races, also the most of all drivers. Kenseth also has a series-best 13 top-five finishes.

• Kenseth also has led a series-best 1,108 laps this season, including a race-high 215 at Dover on Sunday. Three other times this year he has led the most laps -- Las Vegas, Chicago and Michigan on Aug. 20. His average finish in those four races: 8.75.

• Hamlin has 15 top-10 finishes this season and 18 top-10s in 35 career races. He also has top-10 finishes in nine of the past 10 races and 18 top-15s in the past 19 races, since Talladega in May. Hamlin has been the highest finishing rookie in 14 of the 28 races this year.

• Kevin Harvick ended a 39-race streak of running at the finish that began at California in September 2005, which was the longest current streak. Mark Martin takes over the streak, running at the finish in the last 35 races, beginning at Kansas one year ago.

Up Next

Kansas | 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday | NBC

Inside the Chase Title contenders at Kansas Driver W T5 T10 Avg. J. Gordon 2 3 4 6.0 J. Johnson 0 0 3 13.8 M. Martin 1 1 2 14.4 K. Kahne 0 0 0 15.5 K. Harvick 0 0 1 18.4 J. Burton 0 0 0 19.2 M. Kenseth 0 1 2 19.4 D. Earnhardt Jr. 0 0 2 20.0 Ky. Busch 0 0 0 29.0 D. Hamlin 0 0 0 32.0 ALSO •   Buy your tickets •   Book your travel

• Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon lead all drivers with three top-five finishes at Kansas, while Tony Stewart and Gordon have four top-10s.

• Greg Biffle has two consecutive top-10 finishes at Kansas -- both top-fives -- the longest current streak.

• Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers with more than two starts with a 7.25 starting average at Kansas. Gordon leads all active drivers with a 6.0 average finish.

• Dave Blaney has three consecutive top-15 finishes -- and four in his past five races -- which is his best streak since posting top-10 finishes in three of the first five races in 2003.

Blaney is having his worst season qualifying (29.0 average), but his 24.0 average finish is second only to 2002 (20.9).

Mailbag

Could somebody please tell me what is wrong with Jeff Gordon -- and why no one gives him the credit he is due. In today's race he finished third -- and is now second in points only six behind the leader -- and not only did they not talk to him, they didn't even mention his name! They talked to Jimmie Johnson, who finished 13th and is not even close to the top spot in the points, but they can't talk to Jeff. And this isn't the first time this has happened. He just doesn't seem to get the credit that he deserves! Please tell me why ...
-- Kathy

Wow, someone actually believes Jeff Gordon gets no respect. Are you related to Brian Vickers?

I checked your story and you are correct when you said no one has come back from triple digit figures after the first race, but you failed to mention that Jimmie Johnson came from 159 points back after the third race to finish second in 2004, which is two races less than the No. 5 or the No. 48 face this Chase. It could happen so why write these two drivers off so soon?
-- Jeff

Half of this question is moot, after Kyle Busch finished 40th at Dover. As for Jimmie Johnson, he finished 13th -- and gained only three points in the standings. There's a reason the cream of the crop is in the Chase -- consistency. It's tough to leapfrog drivers when they are finishing ahead of you (or even a couple of spots below).

Kyle Busch finished 40th at Dover and now sits 224 points out of first place. Credit: Autostock

You and, to an even greater extent, the rest of the media have overlooked Kyle all year. I suspect this is due to his youth, his early temper tantrums and the fact that everybody likes a winner, after it's obvious to everyone under the sun that he is one. As you say, stats are for losers --- prepare to eat crow, my friend! Kyle will come back! Them's the facts, not the stats!
-- George

Would you like some A.1. with that? (I speak from experience; it helps mask the taste.)

While I applaud NASCAR for policing things in the sport, the one thing they have failed to do is mandate that every car that qualifies for a race have a full pit crew, and designate what a full pit crew is. This would take the "half racers," like Morgan Shepherd, out of the picture. While he may have qualified for the race, as he has in many instances in the past, including the Craftsman Truck Series, Morgan will pull his car in early citing "overheating," "electrical problems" or "handling problems" as the reason. This is a sad story for NASCAR, and one that needs to be addressed, although Toyota's entry into the Nextel Cup in 2007 will most likely eliminate Shepherd's future.
-- Tracy

I agree; it's ridiculous for these guys to take the green flag and then head to the garage -- five-figure payday in hand. But it's not something that NASCAR can police.

I just wanted to point out a fact that I didn't see mentioned in your column. Carl Edwards had the same number of points as Greg Biffle in 2005, therefore he could have been second had it not been for the tiebreaker.
-- Todd

Damn, those pesky details. And Carl cashed a third-place check at the end of the year, which means he finished (altogether now) ... third.

E-MAIL •   Send Duane your thoughts ...

Wait, what? I understand that the myspace thing was was a bad situation, but I don't see a single reason that could have prompted you to post that on Cross' Words. Like, seriously. I don't get it. Were you related to one of the people in some way? I sat here for 10 minutes thinking how you could have possibly have had a reason for putting that up. Care to explain? I'm not like, upset or anything, I'm just baffled and confused. I don't get it.
-- Grant

Nah, not related. Just an end-of-the-column curveball each week to make everyone appreciate that somewhere somebody is having a worse day than you are. ... Or at least a better day than ol' "Them's the facts, not the stats!" George.

Fantasy Perspective

• Since 2003, the defending champion has finished on average 19th at Kansas: '03, Jeff Gordon -- fifth; '04, Ryan Newman -- 33rd; '05, Joe Nemechek -- 20th. ... Up next: Mark Martin, who held off Greg Biffle by .557 seconds last year as Roush drivers finished Nos. 1-3 (Carl Edwards). And for good measure, another Roushkateer, Matt Kenseth, was fifth.

Celebrity Chase Tracker

Points are awarded for each correct pick; one point is awarded for each correct pick in Week 1, two for each correct pick in Week 2 and so on through the final race on Nov. 19. Each correct pick of the race winner earns the contestant five bonus points. Correctly predicting the 2006 Cup champion is worth 20 points.

Star Gazing After 2 of 10 Chase races Pos. Celebrity Pts. 1. Tom Brady 8 2. Marcus Giles 7 3. Alan Embree 4   Grady Little 4   Shawne Merriman 4   Aaron Taylor 4 7. Johnny Damon 3   Scottie Pippen 3   Steve Smith 3   Jerry Stackhouse 3 11. Larry Fitzgerald 2   Mike Hampton 2   Jackie Joyner-Kersee 2   Derek Lowe 2   Brad Maynard 2   Floyd Mayweather Jr. 2   Dominique Wilkins 2 18. DeAngelo Hall 1 19. William Henderson 0   Jake Peavy 0

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots picked up two points and leads the standings for the second consecutive week. Brady, who has eight points, correctly picked Kasey Kahne to sit in ninth place in the Cup point standings after the Dover 400.

Brady grabbed the top spot last week after correctly predicting Kevin Harvick would win the Sylvania 300 and lead the point standings. Brady narrowly missed predicting the race winner for the second consecutive week when Matt Kenseth ran out of gas with two laps to go.

Marcus Giles of the Atlanta Braves moved into second place with seven points after correctly identifying three Chase positions. Giles picked Mark Martin in sixth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in seventh and Kahne in ninth.

Alan Embree of the San Diego Padres, Grady Little of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shawne Merriman of the San Diego Chargers and former Super Bowl winner Aaron Taylor are tied for third with four points.

And Finally ...

From The Associated Press:

GURNEE, Ill. -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants Six Flags Great America to scrap its Halloween-themed cockroach-eating promotion.

A spokeswoman for the animal rights organization says the contest at the amusement park's FrightFest is "gratuitously cruel."

The park is joining other Six Flags parks in offering unlimited line-jumping privileges to anyone who eats a live Madagascar hissing cockroach. The bugs are up to three inches long.

The contest begins next month.

Amusement park officials are defending their menu choice. Great America spokesman Jim Taylor says the bugs are nutritious, high in protein and fat free.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.