Cross' Words: Pocono

Random ruminations after Pocono ...

• There's been more style than substance to Juan Montoya's rookie season. He's quickly adapted to the rubbin'-is-racin' part, but two top-10s are offset by 10 finishes of 20th or worse ...

• Send Duane your thoughts

• Lookee there -- Matt Kenseth is second in points! Who knew? He's raced a series-best 4,559 laps on the lead lap -- and has gotten six on-air mentions, two of which came in Victory Lane at California. C'mon, someone stick a camera in his face; he's quite entertaining, if you didn't know ...

• RCR also has been flying below the radar, but did you know:

→ Jeff Burton has a series-high 884 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green-flag conditions).

→ Kevin Harvick tops the series with 1,445 Green Flag Passes.

(Keep reading for the Clint Bowyer kudos.)

• A year ago Jeff Gordon was mired in 11th position, 501 points behind Jimmie Johnson. ... Must be the hair.

• Martin Truex Jr.'s new crib has a grotto. No word if E! is looking to move production of The Girls Next Door to Charlotte.

• The France trophy -- a fitting name for the champion's hardware. Will it come to pass? Guess that's a call for Sprint/Nextel.

• Joe Nemechek finished 15th at Dover, the No. 13's sixth top-20 in 13 races. There are worse drivers to have on your team; he stays out of trouble (for the most part) and brings home a decent finish. Anything more you could ask from a first-year team?

• Greg Biffle -- ditch the dish; two races with Dish Network yield an average finish of 36.5. ... On the other hand, you've been tremendously consistent through 14 races: 21.4 average start, 21.4 average finish.

• Nice debut, Chad McCumbee. That 25th-place finish was better than Jon Wood, Johnny Benson, John Andretti, Aric Almirola and Kevin Lepage had in their starts this year.

• Notice the drivers weren't pacing themselves on Sunday? The teams were trying to beat the rain, and that made for better racing. ... So why is 500 the magic number? Sic the Gillette Young Guns on 'em and shear the number on several of the annual snoozers.

• Hey, TNT -- mic-up Kyle Petty and Larry McReynolds, give 'em a case of their choice and let the cameras roll. And nice job of filling three hours of rain delay without falling back on Law & Order.

Say what?

"The new jet is a little faster than his old one because we wouldn't have made it in that. And we'd still be flying in my plane. So it was nice of Jack to spend the money for the extra speed."
-- Carl Edwards, who flew from Pocono to Nashville to race in the Busch Series on Saturday night. ... And now we know where Roush's money is being spent in lieu of testing.

Figuratively speaking

4 -- Races this season in which a Joe Gibbs Racing driver has led the most laps: Bristol (Tony Stewart, 257); Phoenix (Stewart, 132); Darlington (Denny Hamlin, 179); and Pocono (Hamlin, 49).

In six races, Gibbs drivers have led the second-most laps: Daytona (Stewart), Atlanta (Stewart), Bristol (Hamlin), Martinsville (Hamlin), Phoenix (Hamlin) and Talladega (Hamlin).

Collectively, the three-driver stable has led 1,322 laps (Hamlin, 661; Stewart, 650; J.J. Yeley, 11). Still, the team is 0-for-14.

Up Next

Citizens Bank 400 | Michigan | 12:30 p.m. ET Sunday | TNT
Race No. 15 of 36 | Get tickets | Book travel

• Defending race winner: Kasey Kahne
• Most victories at the track: Bill Elliott (7)
• Best average finish (minimum five starts): Matt Kenseth (7.9 in 15 starts)
Active drivers only

Mailbag

More than 2,000 e-mails bogged down the inbox this week, the vast majority of which agreed with my contention that Kurt Busch should have been parked for his Dover antics. So instead of rehashing the safety issue -- which obviously applies only to the racetrack, not pit road and crew members -- let's move on ...

T.J. from Parts Unknown
How much longer is NASCAR going to pretend it's not trying to fix races for "Mr. Charmed Life"? Isn't it amazing, with all Jeff Gordon's car problems, that NASCAR threw the caution just as Ryan Newman was going to pass him, but refused to when Jimmie Johnson's flat tire was throwing debris all over the track?

As the No. 48 was spewing debris to the far corners of Monroe County, Pa., there were a lot of people who were wondering when (if?) the caution would be displayed. Alas, it didn't happen; the debris wasn't hindering the racing, Agent Mulder. Chalk it up to another judgment call by the guys in the box.

Tom in Simi Valley, Calif.
So I'm checking out the first practice session from Pocono on SPEED and they are interviewing Carl Edwards. Matt Yocum asks Carl what his biggest challenges are on this track (at this early point in practice). Carl responds with, "Well, we're real good in [Turns] 1 and 2 but we're struggling a little bit in 3 and 4." ... Hey, Carl -- it's a triangle.

Nice observation -- and one that did not go unnoticed by several others. ... Maybe an Easy Button would be more apropos when Carl is spouting well-rehearsed lines when the camera is on.

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

• Ryan Newman -- Three consecutive poles, back-to-back second-place finishes. The winless streak is at 59 (Sept. 18, 2005, at New Hampshire), but you get the sense that a return to Victory Lane is right around the corner.

• Martin Truex Jr. -- A win at Dover followed by a third-place "finish" at Pocono. He was confident the No. 1 Chevy could have contended for the victory if Mother Nature hadn't rained on the parade.

• Casey Mears -- Three consecutive top-15 finishes for the first time since Daytona-California-Vegas to begin 2006. He's moved from 35th to 23rd in points in the past four races.

• Mark Martin -- A pit road misstep cost him a lot of positions, but he battled back for a seventh-place finish. And he's still 12th in points. ... Forget immigration reform. I want to hear the candidates address part-time job benefits!

• Clint Bowyer -- Chalked up his seventh top-10 finish in 14 starts. Last year, No. 7 didn't come until Fontana, the 25th race.

• Scott Riggs -- Don't look now but he's knocking on the top 35 in owners' points, which would guarantee the No. 10 a starting position. Hard to believe he's finished in the lead lap only three times in 13 races.

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

• Toyota -- Long Pond in the rearview? Good; all four cars finished 35th or worse: Brian Vickers (35th), David Reutimann (38th), A.J. Allmendinger (39th) and Dave Blaney (43rd). And three failed to qualify: Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield and Dale Jarrett.

OK, so that's seven. Who says you don't get anything for free?

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.