Cronrath always will have burning desire to race (cont'd)

"I think to a point NASCAR is a boy's sport -- racing is a boy's sport and that's OK with me," says Cronrath, who's quick to add, "The racecar doesn't know what parts you have and what parts you don't have."

All-American girl

Brianne Cronrath has renewed primary sponsorship with Checkers/Rally's that will enable her to run a second season in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

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So until the day arrives when the she gets "the call" from one of the big team owners, the girl who spent a year-and-a-half in NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program works three jobs that includes picking up some spare change babysitting to help fund her love for driving racecars. Sometimes this is the only road if you are not born into one of the royal families of racing and next year her path will take Cronrath to the inner city of Charlotte where she will begin a new career as a kindergarten teacher. "It's a move I had to make financially, and I love kids. They are our future and they need us."

But before her fall of finger-painting commences, she has 18 races in her family owned car that Checker's has sponsored in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Last year she was rookie of the year in the Late Model division at Caraway Speedway and if the results keep coming so will the meetings with racing's luminaries like the face-to-face with Richard Childress on the day of the Nextel All-Star Challenge. "Competitively racing in the Nextel Cup Series," she says, "that is the ultimate goal for me. I want to be there and I want to be competitive."

For Brianne Cronrath, a ride in a Nextel Cup car may well be in her future, however, right now my guess is that Childress has his eyes squarely set on another very marketable driver.

Question of the Week

Debate all you want about the quality and setup of the All-Star race, but one thing it does provide is a good stopping point: a chance to assess what has happened thus far in the season and to look ahead. With that in mind I am going to steal a simple, yet fun question from the Jack Daniel's Post-Race Show chat room and employ it as the QOW. As ever, send your answer directly to me at Beau.Estes@turner.com and I'll dust off my rudimentary math skills to produce another poll.

From Laura in Sarasota, Fla.
Who do you think will win the championship at this point?

I made my answer clear on the show. The series starts off the middle third of the season at Lowe's so I'll always ride with the 48 car in their own house and see if they can surf that wave of momentum to a repeat championship performance. Jimmie J. and Chad K. have won more races than anyone else this year and, given the current format, that nearly eliminates the chance of a runaway by Jeff Gordon. I'll go with the team that wins races above all others.

Last week's question

The poll format proved to be an immediate hit; both in terms of the rate of response and also as a more direct "hit" on my e-mail account. For a moment I thought we might shut down power to the Eastern Seaboard. Here are the results to the question from a week ago when I asked, "Where do you think Dale Jr. will end up next year?"

I said I'd save my thoughts until after the poll so here goes. First of all, let me say that I am in agreement with the minority-majority here. I believe that at RCR the pieces fit -- Chevy team, expansion spot available and a family connection.

Still, I hear what some of you are saying. Dale Jr. wants to be his own man and the only way he can is to step completely, not just partially, out of his father's shadow. For my money, though, I'll take him at his word and look simply for the team that gives him the best shot at a title. To my way of thinking, considering all the factors that make a champion, RCR lands the hottest free agent in NASCAR history. (Continued)