Cross' Words: Talladega

Passion is something no one can put their finger on; it's different for everyone. The passion I have for my wife, my buddy doesn't share; nor me for his wife. But the raw passion that NASCAR fans often display ... well, that's different, too. Sunday at Talladega, however, it was evident that many people had become simultaneously passionate about one thing.

Jeff Gordon passing Dale Earnhardt on the all-time wins list.

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Many were passionate in the good-for-him sense. Those were the folks clapping, hooting and hollering as Gordon celebrated his 77th victory.

Others were equally as passionate -- though on the opposite end of the spectrum. Those were the folks throwing beer cans (and whatever else was within arm's reach) at the No. 24 car.

All the while Gordon was reveling in the moment -- laughing at the absurdity as it unfolded, one beer shower after another, one "hell yeah!" after another.

NASCAR fans are famous for their passion, which is why the sport has become so corporate. Use another detergent other than Tide? Take the challenge: Coke or Pepsi? I know a guy who switched from Miller Lite to Bud simply because Kurt Busch replaced Rusty Wallace in the blue deuce.

It's also a Catch-22 for the sport and its image. While the Gordon-passes-Earnhardt angle was good for the highlight reels, the post-race trash tossing left NASCAR with bitter beer face.

What else did you expect? Mr. Redneck, Jeff Foxworthy, was the grand marshal. Did y'all think it would be crumpets and mint juleps for everyone? On the day The Kid passed The Intimidator? On Big E's birthday, no less?

It was Talladega. The sun was shining. Gas fumes were wafting through the air. There were beads to be had. There were good ol' boys with suds in hand. There was passion. ... The same passion this sport was built on.

But more than NASCAR and Talladega got battered and bruised. There were fans who have shiner reminders today. There were kids, the future of the fan base, who were left wondering why they smelled like Otis -- and rubbing the knot on their noggins.

You might be a redneck if you thought otherwise. Think passionately about that next time you want to "toast" a driver's accomplishments.

Random ruminations after Talladega ...

• Casey Mears' year can't get any worse. He had a great run going Sunday and then gets wiped-out trying to get to pit road by teammate Jimmie Johnson.

• Kyle Busch couldn't wait to put 'Dega in the rearview -- and can't get to Richmond fast enough: four top-fives in as many starts.

• Nine races, six past-champion's provisional starts for Dale Jarrett. ... David Reutimann's top-10 run? Fuggettaboutit. ... Eight consecutive races sans Michael Waltrip.

• Denny Hamlin may have had the field covered sans the late caution, but I wanted to see how Kurt Busch handled the green-white-checkers. He was strong and would have put Jimmie Johnson, cruising between teammate Jeff Gordon and Busch, between a rock and a hard place.

• Good news, David Gilliland -- another top-10 finish (fourth, a career best in 24 starts; both his career top-10s have come in this year's plate races).

• Bad news, David Gilliland -- there are eight races until Daytona.

• Johnny Sauter was this close to, perhaps, his second top-10 in the past three races. Instead he finished 30th, a result of the GWC crash.

• Part-time Busch Series driver Adrian Fernandez and wife Catalina welcomed their first child -- a daughter, Valentina -- at 5:17 p.m. ET Sunday.

Say what?

"I've been working on my fan base for years, and I probably won't have any after this comment, but it's very disappointing to see race fans throw Miller Lite beer cans all over the racetrack. It's very unfortunate."
-- Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. ... Throwing Budweiser beer cans, presumably, is OK.

Figuratively speaking

.159 -- Career winning percentage for Jeff Gordon (77 victories in 482 races), which ranks seventh all time.

Gordon, who made his debut on Nov. 15, 1992, at Atlanta, has averaged five wins per season. If Gordon, 35, competes at the same rate for five more years, he'll total more than 100 victories.

He's already said he won't be racing at age 45, but does anyone else think that there will be the public uproar over Gordon passing Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip or Bobby Allison on the all-time wins list, like there was with Jeff surpassing Dale Earnhardt?

If anything, ol' D.W. is likely to suit up again in an attempt to fend-off Gordon ...

Up Next

Crown Royal 400 | Richmond | 7 p.m. ET Saturday, FOX
Race No. 10 of 36 | Get your tickets | Book your travel

• Defending race winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
• Most victories at the track: 3 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart
• Best average finish (minimum five starts): Dale Earnhardt Jr. (9.9 in seven starts)
Active drivers only

Mailbag

From Desi ...
Why did Tony Stewart, who got wrecked after the original wreck which caused NASCAR to throw the yellow in the first place, get dumped to 28th on the grid? At the time the yellow came out and Mike Joy exclaimed, "That's it, it's over," Tony was in the top 10, around sixth or so. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was somewhere around where they ended up ranking him in seventh or eighth, but he was behind Stewart at the time the yellow flew.

Bottom line: The field is "frozen," meaning drivers cannot advance their position under yellow -- but the car still has to cross the finish line. Smoke, obviously, did not and was scored the first car off the lead lap.

From Gary ...
I think NASCAR just made Tony Stewart's point for him when David Reutimann blew up at Talladega. NASCAR claims it is throwing cautions for the safety of the drivers, but when a car blew up running better than mid pack at Talladega -- the fastest most bunched up track on the circuit -- NASCAR didn't throw the caution until three-fourths of a lap later when Jeff Gordon passed Jaime McMurray. If NASCAR is so safety-minded then an immediate caution would have been called for the protection of the drivers behind the No. 00 since he was putting fluid on the track, and he must have been for them to use that much oil dry. McMurray should have been celebrating today not Hendrick Motorsports and Jeff. I think I am about done watching the Hendrick show anyway; I'll just write off the HotPass as a mistake. Football starts in a few months anyway.

Can't argue with your take; I wondered the same thing. It all boils down to consistency, and the only thing consistent about the yellow flag is its inconsistencies. In this case, Reutimann was pinned against the outside wall with smoke billowing. He had a long way to go -- through heavy traffic, no less -- before he was out of harm's way. That, to me, seemed to be a text book yellow.

From Holly ...
Just curious if you think the faction of fans that decided to throw stuff on the track could have possibly shown less class? I am not a Jeff Gordon fan but respect the fact that it would be impossible for him to have broken Earnhardt's record if he didn't have some talent. NASCAR works hard to try and shake its redneck, beer-guzzling, wife-beater shirt image but all of that is lost when fans react the way they do at Talladega. It's almost expected now that it will happen. How sad.

Actually, Gordon didn't break a record on Sunday; he passed Earnhardt on the all-time wins list. Richard Petty still holds the record, but you're not the first to phrase it that way. ... I agree with your assessment of the situation. The people who throw trash on the track are morons, and they make soccer hooligans look like model citizens. So I take back my English soccer thugs comment; it's the whole "glass houses" thing.

From Susan ...
What is your feeling about the need to abolish the "Lucky Dog" rule? This is just my opinion, but it seems to me that there's no place in NASCAR for a rule that gives a driver something he hasn't earned.

Riddle me this: When was the last time a race was won by more than a lap? Two laps? Used to be common, and the Lucky Dog is another of the rules in place to help insure the most racers possible challenging for the win.

From Mark ...
I think the safety crews at Talladega need some recognition after Kyle Busch's amazing wreck on Saturday. After Busch's car finally stopped tumbling, I counted only about 15 seconds until safety personnel were at the car. Thankfully, Busch wasn't hurt and didn't need any immediate medical attention, but at a track as large as Talladega their response time was outstanding.

And they thank you for your kind words ...

From Stewart ...
I understand that NASCAR has a stake in keeping the sponsors happy by making it easier for the big name drivers to make the Sunday show, but it's really gotten beyond ridiculous. Poor Michael Waltrip, with a very NASCAR-friendly sponsor in NAPA, has yet to make a race after Daytona this year because of the Top 35 qualifying rule, and yet when you look at the qualifying times on paper, he should have made a total of six races this season. To make qualifying more fair to everyone, it would be a better idea to do away with impound races, allow the top 40 cars on speed to make the show, allowing for three provisionals: One for a past champion and two for the top placing cars in owners points should they wreck during qualifying, and allowing that each of these provisionals go to cars qualifying on speed should no past champions take their provisional and no cars wreck during qualifying. Then, I believe, we would have a much better, much more fairly inclusive race on Sunday.

It was (again) unfortunate that Mikey didn't make the show; it's killing him to have a car that posts a good qualifying lap only to load up the hauler and head home before the show. But like many of the rules the competition angle is governed by business. Everyone knows the rules before they sign the dotted line -- drivers and sponsors alike. Nonetheless, if NASCAR is looking to tweak the top 35 / qualifying rules, it's keeping those thoughts in-house.

From Gretchen ...
Why did Tony Stewart get fined for not consenting to an interview, yet Kyle Busch "declines" to be interviewed week after week and isn't fined?

In short, Stewart violated Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 12-4-H (any member who violates 7-2B: Failure to meet obligation of an accepted entry; failure to fulfill post-race media obligation -- with addition to the winning driver, the second- and third-place drivers and the highest finishing rookie of the year candidate must also report to the media center upon the conclusion of the race) of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series rule book.

Six of one ...
Drivers with momentum heading to Richmond:

• Jeff Gordon -- Back-to-back victories, the pressure to win No. 77 is off ... and he is the class of the field with a 4.1 average finish.

• Jamie McMurray -- Raise your hand if you had Mac as Roush's second-highest driver in the point standings this far into the season?

• Kurt Busch -- Duh comment of the week: Keeping the car on the lead lap is key -- 10.1 average finish in the six races he's run every lap.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- Another "duh" comment: His average lead-lap finish is 9.3; it's the three DNFs that are dragging down Driver 8.

• David Stremme -- Nice job at 'Dega; fourth top-15 run in the past six races and two top-10s in the past three weeks.

• Scott Riggs -- OK, so there's a pattern: Two lead-lap finishes (9.5) vs. the other seven (34.8). Running 11th at 'Dega is a start, right?

Half a dozen of the other ...
And six drivers who need a jump start:

• Kyle Busch -- He did the 'Dega Double: crashed-out in the Busch and Cup races.

• Carl Edwards -- A blown engine ended his day after only 27 laps.

• Clint Bowyer -- Consecutive finishes outside the top 20. It's a case of the hiccups ...

• Juan Montoya -- Thirtysomething was an '80s TV show, not something to strive for in back-to-back races, hoss.

• Robby Gordon -- Began the year with three top-20s in four races but hasn't finished better than 24th in the past five starts.

• Ricky Rudd -- One top-15 finish this year, only two lead-lap finishes ... not the return anyone was hoping for from The Rooster.

Feel the power
Three names you'll see in the Power Rankings' top 10 on Wednesday:

2. Jimmie Johnson -- Six top-fives, including three wins. Jeff Gordon can't lose, as a driver or car owner.

3. Jeff Burton -- Has lost 195 points to leader Jeff Gordon in the past two races but remains in second place overall.

4. Matt Kenseth -- Sunday was his sixth consecutive top-15 finish at Talladega and seventh in the past eight plate races. Who knew?

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.