Weekend That Was: NHIS (cont'd)

Level playing field

Was that really Earnhardt making peace with the Car of Tomorrow after Sunday's race?

Well, yes, it was. One of the COT's biggest early critics now is beginning to sing its praises.

"I was real nervous when we were at Daytona [in February to open the season]. I thought we were going to be horrible," Earnhardt said of his team's improving COT program. "But shoot, it's leveled the playing field off to where it's pretty even for everybody. Everybody's got a shot with this car, if they can figure it out. Has and those types of teams, Inn [Racing], if they figure it out they can run up front. It's a level playing field, I believe. At least it is right now."

Not good enough

Matt Kenseth scored another top-10 finish in the COT. But he didn't have a car good enough to challenge for the win and he remains frustrated by that.

• Complete story, click here

Tough for Toyota

What began as a celebratory type of weekend for Toyota ended in more disappointment, as driver Dave Blaney faded quickly in Sunday's race after winning the manufacturer's first Cup pole during qualifying Friday.

"Our setup just died in the long run, especially once some rubber got put down on the track," Blaney said. "Just a few laps into the race, we were done because the car just got so tight. Then we would lose most of our brakes after 10 or 12 laps, so we just couldn't go anywhere.

"The first part of the race, the car felt just as good as it did in practice [Saturday], but it couldn't seem to keep going after about 10 laps. Then they said a bunch of rubber got put down on the track and that made it feel tighter. We just couldn't seem to get the car adjusted right."

Blaney eventually struggled to a 25th-place finish in his No. 22 machine. That was still better than the only other two Toyota entries in the race -- the No. 00 of driver David Reutimann and the No. 36 of Jeremy Mayfield. Driving for Michael Waltrip Racing, Reutimann finished 38th while Mayfield, driving for Bill Davis Racing, finished 40th.

"We just can't get a break and I feel like we just can't get it figured out," Mayfield said.

The other four Toyota hopefuls didn't even make the race, with Brian Vickers and his No. 83 car getting sent home after having his qualifying time disallowed by NASCAR.

Pit stops

• Driver Juan Montoya was unable to build on the momentum of the previous week's road-course win at Sonoma and some solid pre-race practice runs in which he was near the top of the speed charts. "We took what was a top-five car at the beginning of the race and turned it into a top-20 car by the end," said Montoya, who ended up 19th.

• Busch Series winner Kevin Harvick should have found a blackjack table somewhere Saturday night after he drove his No. 21 Chevrolet to Victory Lane to become the 21st different winner in 21 Busch races at NHIS.

• I guess I'd better give a shout out to driver Matt Kenseth, who finished ninth in the Cup race and a strong third in the Busch race. Listen, folks, all I said last week was that he struggled at Sonoma, which he did. I didn't say he couldn't drive or that he is secretly harboring weapons of mass destruction at the Roush Fenway Racing shop. (Let's just say my one line in last weekend's column about Kenseth's struggles at Sonoma drew a disproportionate flood of e-mail in response). (read more)

• Kudos, by the way, to all those who helped put on Roush Fenway Racing night at Fenway Park prior to Friday's game between the Red Sox and the Rangers. It was first-class all the way, even if Jack Roush's first toss of a baseball in 40 years wasn't. (read more)

• Number 99 needs to have a history lesson on No. 9. How in the world could driver Carl Edwards not know (or at least how could someone not have prepped him) on who No. 9 for the Red Sox was? When asked if he knew who wore No. 9 for the Red Sox back in the day, Edwards said he "had heard a lot about him." Who was he? Memo to readers: if you don't know who wore No. 9 for the Red Sox, I'm not telling.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.