Another explosive Fourth of July weekend at DIS

The Fourth of July fireworks went off early and often at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, no matter how one looked at it.

You could say there were sparks flying before the green flag even dropped for the Coke Zero 400. After all, Mark Martin making it official that he was going to return to full-time driving -- and in the sure-to-be competitive No. 5 car owned by Hendrick Motorsports, no less -- was pretty big news.

Ditto for the announcement that Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates was immediately ceasing operations of the No. 40 car that had opened the season with much fanfare -- and with then-defending Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti behind the wheel. Who would have guessed then that Franchitti wouldn't even make it through half of his inaugural Sprint Cup Series season?

Then there were all those fireworks at the end of the race itself, when the sixth green-white-checkered finish of the season produced the type of exciting albeit wreck-filled finish that fans and NASCAR officials seem to love, drivers and owners and crew chiefs uniformly declare to hate, and everyone has come to expect.

Here are some observations from the wild, wacky weekend:

Get over it

Kyle Busch won the race, fair and square. Anyone who thinks otherwise, or believes it was the end result of some kind of far-fetched conspiracy, ought to have his or her head examined.

Busch clearly was ahead of second-place finisher Carl Edwards at the last scoring loop when the final caution flag finally flew (somewhat belatedly). Even Edwards did not dispute the result (watch video).

The question in the aftermath isn't about whether Busch legitimately won or not; it's about how many more the young man win can this season? He now has registered a series-high six victories (no one else has more than the three Edwards owns) and appears to be gearing up for a realistic shot at the highest total of victories since Jeff Gordon racked up 13 in 1998.

Up off the couch

So Martin, 49, has had enough time at home on the couch, at least for now (read more).

He always did leave the door open for a possible full-time return to racing, although there are those at Dale Earnhardt Inc., where Martin had been driving part-time, who insisted to the end that Martin kept telling them he didn't want to make a return to the all-out grind. As it turns out, Martin just didn't want to drive full-time for DEI, which had been pressuring him to do so.

No one can fault Martin for taking the last two years to drive a part-time schedule to recharge his batteries and spend valuable time with his family. No one can fault him for taking this great opportunity to drive the No. 5 car being vacated by the underachieving Casey Mears for Hendrick Motorsports, and taking one last shot at the points championship that has thus far eluded him in his otherwise illustrious career (Head2Head).

But if Martin truly was misleading DEI, as some have insisted, then that was selfish and wrong.

What's up, Doc?

Good to hear that Tony Stewart is making plans to see a doctor to clear up what's wrong with his health after he experienced "severe flu-like symptoms" and had to climb out of his No. 20 Toyota after 72 laps Saturday (watch video).

But he might not like to hear what the good doctor has to say (read more). As Stewart contemplates his future as a driver and possible owner (the Haas/CNC rumor has had enough legs that it appears to be about ready to stand on its own as fact), he might also want to remember that he's not 20 years old any longer. He's 37.

If the cockpit of the new car being utilized at the Cup level is much hotter than the old one, as many drivers have insisted, physical conditioning is going to become more important than ever for all drivers as the dog days of summer approach. History has shown this usually is when Stewart is at his hottest; his strongest.

He may get on one of his Stewart-like rolls again. But first, like many other drivers this side of Carl Edwards' flattened abs, he might have to work a little harder on getting rid of some of the rolls in his stomach.

Hall of Shame?

J.J. Yeley did a decent job subbing for Stewart in the No. 20 in the final 90 laps Saturday, but ultimately had to settle for a 20th-place finish in what clearly was a top-10 car after getting mixed up in a late-race melee.

The question with Yeley is why wasn't he behind the wheel in his regular ride, the No. 96 Toyota being fielded by Hall of Fame Racing? And the answer is, because he wasn't good enough to make the field in that car -- again.

When Jeff Moorad and Tom Garfinkel took over the Hall of Fame operation at the beginning of the season, they talked a great game and appeared ready to play one. But that's happened before with guys who tried to take a single-car team and build it into something more that countless others before them simply could not.

Halfway through the 36-race schedule, this team is having trouble making races and doesn't appear to have a clue.

Sad sign

The shutdown of the Franchitti-driven No. 40 car at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is a sad sign of trying economic times in NASCAR (read more).

As Americans everywhere struggle to find ways to fill their refrigerators with milk and food, and their automobiles with gasoline, it was inevitable that sponsorship dollars that once used to flow to NASCAR teams like honey would begin to dry up. That money flow, in fact, has been drying up for some time.

When someone like Chip Ganassi can't sell primary sponsorship on a Cup car driven by the man who won the 2007 Indy 500, it's an obvious indication of how tough it is out there right now. And it's not likely to get better anytime soon.

Meanwhile, you have to applaud the efforts this season of the two sponsor-less teams being fielded by Yates Racing (while also wondering just how much support they're getting from Roush Fenway Racing). The Fords being driven by Travis Kvapil and David Gilliland have been solidly entrenched in the top 35 -- actually the top 25 -- all season and have had several good runs, including one by Gilliland last Saturday that ended up not looking like it in the final boxscore after he was involved in a late accident (read more).