Weekend That Was: 'Dega (cont'd)

Defending Tony
Wheeler also defended Stewart's right to state his opinions on the driver's own radio show.

"They've got to let these guys be their own personalities and not make cookie-cutters out of 'em," Wheeler said of NASCAR. "They can't put so much pressure on them to say the right thing. What is the right thing to say?"

Wheeler said he also believes he can tell when Smoke is just blowin' smoke.

"I don't think Tony's going to retire or anything like that. I just think he's frustrated," Wheeler said. "He's a competitor and he doesn't like to lose. He's a fierce competitor. He always has been."

Selective memory
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was telling a story last week at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., talking about how surprised he was when Gordon honored his father by waving a black No. 3 flag out the driver's side window of the No. 24 Chevrolet following Gordon's victory in Phoenix (watch video).

Then a reporter reminded Earnhardt that he earlier had said a Gordon crew member who was a friend of his actually informed him of the plan to honor the elder Earnhardt at an earlier social gathering.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," Junior said with a chuckle. "That was a good party."

Pit Stops
• You had to feel for David Reutimann, the Toyota driver who was looking at a top-five finish in the Aaron's 499 when his car literally went up in smoke with four laps left Sunday. It's also kind of interesting that Reutimann cuts such a sympathetic figure when he's the guy who keeps knocking his boss, the much-abused Michael Waltrip of Michael Waltrip Racing, from the Cup races during qualifying.

• This year hasn't been all hard luck for Reutimann. Although he's had to endure more than his share of it in the Nextel Cup Series, he's having a fine season in the Busch Series, where he's currently running fourth in points.

• So it's going to cost roughly $30 million a year for the next title sponsor in the Busch Series? That's three times as much as Busch currently is ponying up, and it seems there is no lack of candidates lining up to pay the heavy freight. So who says NASCAR's popularity is sagging? That apparently is not the case with potential corporate sponsors, which for better or worse is far more important in this day and age than individual ticket sales.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.