Cross' Words: Kansas

Couple things come to mind when looking back at the cluster that was Kansas:

• NASCAR made the right decision in not levying a fine -- points or money -- against Tony Stewart for the four-letter word that was picked up by ESPN's cameras.

• Send Duane your thoughts
• Visit BDC's Community page

According to The Associated Press, Smoke was talking to Robby Gordon on pit road following practice on Saturday when he was approached by an ESPN cameraman. Unaware the camera was live, Stewart said: "What? Get ... away from me," with an obscenity underlining his remark.

Series officials spent Sunday reviewing the footage to determine if Stewart should be penalized. After talking with ESPN officials, Stewart and his Joe Gibbs Racing team, NASCAR decided not to punish him.

Yeah, it's cool to have natural sound to go along with the pictures you're broadcasting, but the lesson here is that people say things that should not be broadcast. Drivers are people -- and they will say things that lil' Johnny shouldn't hear at 6 years old. Or even ol' Bobby at 40.

Either way, when radio and television folks walk around with live mics they are going to get the unvarnished dialogue. Often times that is not for broadcast. Do you want a live mic at your work place? Not me; I've been in newsrooms for almost 20 years and what's said in there would make a driver blush.

Drivers deserve the same courtesy; they're working -- even if that job is for the entertainment of millions.

• NASCAR is fortunate these things came to pass on Sunday:

→ LSU leap-frogged USC in the AP poll, adding more fuel to the fire in the debate over which team is No. 1 in college football;
→ The NFL's Week 4 had a few upsets, and Brett Favre set the record for all-time TD passes;
→ The MLB postseason field was (almost) set -- including a play-in game for the NL wild card -- and the Mets' collapse.

Otherwise, SportsCenter's Budweiser Hot Seat would be prime real estate for someone to explain the second-, third- and fourth-place cars crossing the finish line ahead of winner Greg Biffle.

Yes, we've read NASCAR's explanation but it still rings hollow when the leader isn't going fast enough to keep pace. By letter of the law, "cars will be scored on the basis of their respective track position. NO PASSING WILL BE PERMITTED as long as cars maintain a reasonable speed considering the conditions that exist on the track. The determination of respective track position and a reasonable speed are judgment calls that will be made by NASCAR Officials."

I get it. But did Biffle "maintain a reasonable speed" coming to the stripe? In the judgment of the NASCAR officials, he did. But isn't the winner supposed to be the first car across the finish line under the checkered flag?

Say What?

"The reason I was mad, someone like a teammate would race me like that."
-- Carl Edwards

"My job's not to get out of his way all the time."
-- Matt Kenseth

Roush Racing teammates on their Busch race at Kansas. Near the middle of the race, Kenseth moved in front of Edwards, the two made contact and Edwards cut a tire, causing him to drop a lap behind the leaders. Edwards' woes worsened after he smacked the wall on Lap 142. Edwards clapped his hands at Kenseth and gave his teammate a thumbs-up after the wreck.

Figuratively Speaking

42 -- Lowest finish in a Chase race by the eventual Nextel Cup champion.

Kurt Busch finished 42nd in the seventh race of 2004, the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta. His other nine finishes were top-10s, including six top-fives and one victory. Tony Stewart's worst finish in 2005 was 25th (fifth race) and Jimmie Johnson's was 39th in the first race last year.

Up Next

UAW-Ford 500 | Talladega | 1 p.m. ET Sunday | ABC
Race No. 30 of 36 | Get tickets | Book travel

• Defending race winner: Brian Vickers
• Most victories at the track: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon (5)
• Best average finish (minimum five starts): Kurt Busch (10.2 in 13 starts)
Active drivers only

Sound off

• This week's topic
Other sports have judgment calls (who hasn't argued an umpire's ball/strike call?), but it seems NASCAR is more open than ever to interpretations. What would be the best way for NASCAR to handle these judgment calls? Is there a way to take out some of the interpretations so that the rules are more black and white -- and less detrimental to the actions of stock car racing?

Surf over and weigh in on the blog.

• Last week's topic
OK, it's football season and the TV ratings for NASCAR reflect that, in spite of the "playoffs" being under way. What's your Sunday afternoon routine -- watch the race, start to finish ... watch the race between commercials during the football game ... TiVo the race (to skip the commercials) and watch it after the football game?

PoorSpellor
Racin' during the day and SportsCenter at night. I can't get my favorite NFL teams on TV, so I catch up with them at night. But somebody explain why NASCAR can't go with the best race announcers. I know whoever has the most money gets to make the choice but ESPN/ABC suck. Give it back to the guys who should have won the Emmy. Boogity, boogity, boogity ... I'm out of here!

6105racer
Sunday routine: set up the DVR, allow an extra hour in case the race runs long, run errands, watch football, get work done ... while avoiding calls, texts, e-mails and the Internet so I don't find out race results until I settle down to watch it, sans commercials around dinner time. Can't go without seeing the race, but can't spend four solid hours watching it either!

ReneeT
We Tivo every race. Being on the west coast they start in the middle of the morning here, so we can set it up, go to church, do our Sunday errands and sit down and watch a four-, five-hour race in less than two hours. Plus I can fast forward it one arrow, watch the racing at a relatively normal pace and not have to listen to Rusty and his "I tell you what's".

athomebigdog
I watch the football game and TiVo the race (to get through all of those annoying commercials).

gs242007
There is no such thing as football at my house. There is only NASCAR and hunting!

BristolMike
I watch the race on TV and have the live leaderboard on one computer monitor and NASCAR race chat on the other monitor. I switch to the football game of the moment during commercials. With the coverage of the races I get to see a lot of football. If anything happens during the race or on those rare occasions that the ESPN/ABC broadcast returns from commercial at the green flag I return to the race by the leaderboard and chat letting me know.

pearlstreet
I listen to Cup races on AM radio with a leaderboard displayed on the Internet. That is, until sunset when radio reception quits. Then I get dinner at a local pub where I can watch, but not hear, the end of the race. No football.

3dochead8
Motorsports is motorsports ... anything else is just a game! Football and baseball put me to sleep. Always have, and I have tried watching. If I see two kids on Big Wheels racing down the sidewalk, I pull over to watch!

Read all the responses ...

Six of one ...
Chase drivers with momentum heading to Talladega:

• Jeff Gordon -- If you're into numerology: Sixth-place average finish in the Chase ... six points behind.

• Clint Bowyer -- Courage. Heart. Brains. All Clint wanted from the Wizard was a green-white-checkered finish.

• Jimmie Johnson -- Check out his Chase finishes and tell me again how he still leads Gordon and Bowyer?

• Kevin Harvick -- Lady Luck? Good fortune? Whatever -- a top-10 finish was exactly what the No. 29 team needed.

• Kurt Busch -- Despite trailing by 177 points, he's gotta feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel.

• Kyle Busch -- His 41st-place finish is the worst a Chaser has posted in 36 starts during the 2007 playoffs. Keep the faith, Shrub!

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

• Carl Edwards -- Finished 38th in the Busch race, 37th in the Cup race. Welcome home, Carl.

• Martin Truex Jr. -- That fifth-place run at Loudon is a distant memory.

• Jeff Burton -- Remember: 10th place earns a seat at the banquet. The race is on!

• Tony Stewart -- You just know this week's Sirius show is going to be lively -- especially if ESPN's cameras show up ...

• Matt Kenseth -- At least the Packers are 4-0.

• Denny Hamlin -- When does testing begin at Daytona?

And finally ...

Will the folks who stole the riding mower from our ballpark in Lithia Springs please return it?

Yeah, we noticed it was missing; the new lock on the storage door was the first clue. Nice of y'all to steal a $10,000 mower and leave us with a $10 lock -- for which we didn't have a key.

Apparently y'all had been casing the joint. How else to explain: cut the lock, raise the door, move the power tools and pitching machine stored in front of the mower, cut the chain that secured the mower, crank the mower and drive it out of the shed, move back the power tools and pitching machine, close the door and put another lock on it to give the illusion of normalcy.

It's bad enough that y'all destroyed a dugout fence and the park's outside retaining fence during the getaway, but stealing a mower -- the most important piece of equipment we have -- is just pathetic. We do more than just cut grass with the mower; it's also used to drag all five fields to help keep them in playing shape for the kids.

More over, the ballpark is still trying to get its footing after the flood -- four years ago. The county parks and rec department hasn't been proactive in taking care of needed repairs, so it's mostly volunteer work that is breathing life back into the park. ... And now some idiot steals and vandalizes. What kind of example is that?

Here's a deal: Return the mower and we're cool. Let the Douglas County Sheriff's Department find you and all bets are off; I'll drag you over the fields -- as a perfect example of what should happen when you steal from kids.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.