Plethora of thoughts after extended Calif. weekend

Some Odds 'n Ends from the notebook, after a very long weekend in Fontana, Calif., that was short on track time -- unless you were competing in the Craftsman Truck Series -- but definitely not lacking in action.

But look at it this way: It wasn't as long and debilitating as last year's five-day debacle at Michigan. Now, THAT was agony -- even with the overwhelming geniality of the MIS media staff.

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• I know, I know -- it's only two Sprint Cup races, but as far as I could tell, a few competition questions were answered Sunday and Monday at Auto Club Speedway (see, it did not take long for that to sink in, did it?).

In the "good news for the manufacturers" department, not only did all four Cup car makers put vehicles in the top 10 Monday -- each of them had at least two representatives in there, and eight of the cars in that top 10 led laps.

It proved once again that Daytona (and Talladega, for that matter) is an anomaly that cannot, and should not be smeared across any other lines to affect your opinion of how the racing will be at any other speedway.

Ford looked to be seriously in the hurt locker after Daytona, but it was Fusion-mounted Carl Edwards in Victory Lane at ACSoSC (I ain't writing that out!).

• The neatest thing about this part of the schedule, depending on your perspective, is how quickly you can vaporize a deficit in the point standings. Hendrick Motorsports dominated the Cup Series last year, winning half the races -- but team leaders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both had trouble at Daytona, and were way back in the standings on account.

No worries, because after the Hendrick duo got themselves back on track in their home state, finishing second and third to Edwards, they moved up 17 and 24 spots in the standings, respectively -- to eighth and 14th.

Even Robby Gordon, who fell into the dreaded abyss below the top-35 cutoff in the owner standings when he was penalized 100 driver and owner points after Daytona, got securely back above the line with a respectable 18th place finish that the owner/driver said wasn't indicative of his team's true potential.

I don't think it's going out on too much of a limb to predict that Jeff Gordon will be back in a Chase for the Sprint Cup-qualified position after this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And for Robby's part, it's not a shaky bet he'll get up into the top 30 in the standings by next Monday.

• Speaking of Robby, I hate to say it, but I think his appeal of his penalties is doomed thanks to a couple precedents. First, when Hall of Fame Racing came on the scene at Daytona a couple years ago, they were hit with a significant penalty -- for the time -- when they had an unapproved carburetor on the car's engine.

Their contention was that the engine was supplied by another organization, so it "wasn't our fault." NASCAR correctly held them responsible and their appeal was denied. Let me put it this way: If a 90 CFM carburetor is mandated by the rules and your supplier gave you a replacement carb that happened to be a 150 CFM unit (I'm pulling the numbers outta my ear, so don't email me), you're still responsible for verifying it's legal before you run it -- or even install it.

If you're in too much of a hurry to check and then claim it was a clerical error, unfortunately, looks kind of weak and like you don't have a clue what's being put on your racecars -- and I can guarantee you, that's not the way Robby Gordon and Frank Kerr operate. NOT saying they were cheating, but being under the gun and a sloppy mistake made by someone has cost 'em. (Continued)