

I'm in charge of Power Rankings, the third person to hold the post this season. ... Apparently Tony Stewart's monkey had other obligations.
Is this where Jeff's hot streak comes to an end? He crashed out of the Coke 600 last year and was 24th in the fall race when an engine let go.

I'm surprised we haven't seen a rash of "What's wrong with Jimmie Johnson" stories this week. He hasn't won a race at Lowe's in more than a year.

Joe Gibbs engineers are working on a car that gets 35 miles to the gallon so Denny doesn't have to stop for service.

What does Matt have to do? Eight top-10 finishes in his past 10 races, and he still loses ground to Hendrick's 1-2 punch.

One thing Tony and I have in common is that we both wish we could be in Indianapolis on Sunday morning.

Everybody but George Steinbrenner has lined up to talk with Junior about a job next season. Perhaps the Yankees, who need pitching, ought to talk to some of those hard-throwing Talladega fans.

Jeff's team has one win on the track this season (Texas) and one in the courtroom. Guess which one will end up being more important?

From the "Who peed in your corn flakes" dept.: The last thing Kurt expected to hear Saturday night was snap, crackle, pop.

After stumbling at Phoenix and Talladega, Clint's bounced back nicely with back-to-back ninth-place finishes.

Get me a bunny: Returning to Victory Lane at Lowe's might be like pulling a rabbit out of a hat ... or helmet, as the case might be.

So that's what it was like riding in the back seat with Kurt and Kyle on a road trip: "Mom, Kurt's hitting me again!"

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em: A big thumbs up for Carl's impressive debut on the All-Star Challenge broadcast. Just stay away from the media buffet.

Thanks a million: Kevin's 2-for-2 this season in races that pay more than $1 million to the winner. By the way, he made more Saturday night than he did in his nine 2006 Busch Series wins combined.

Martin's pass to win the Open was one of the night's highlights. If you knew Scott Riggs, Brian Vickers and Sterling Marlin were the previous three Open winners, you need a hobby.

On a streak of three consecutive top-10 finishes, the first time that's happened since Ryan won at New Hampshire in 2005.

I wouldn't think Charlotte would end up being one of Greg's favorite tracks, although he led 20 laps and finished seventh here a year ago.

Mark's limited schedule just got a little less limited as he's adding Pocono, Richmond and Dover to his schedule. Maybe Arlene just wants him out of the house.

Another solid run at Darlington, making four consecutive races where's he been on the lead lap at the checkered.

Came up with his best finish of the season (13th) at Darlington -- and has been a factor three weeks in a row.

Want a quick overview of Elliott's season so far?
Average finish with the current chasis: 15.6
Average finish with the COT: 26.6

Dave Blaney on Juan's Open adventure: "He just drove straight into Turn 1 and never turned or lifted. I knew nothing good was going to come out of that."

Tony's engine let go at Darlington, the first time he hasn't been running at the finish since a year ago at Charlotte.

Jeff has never posted a top-10 finish in the Coke 600, but he's come close -- finishes of 11th and 12th in his past two attempts.

Three poor finishes in the past four races have taken some of the luster off what had been a great start to the season for David.

Does Fort Worth ever cross your mind? J.J.'s been solid since that first-lap accident at Texas, scoring four consecutive finishes of 21st or better.