Edwards makes statement with runner-up finish in Oz (cont'd)

In case you missed it ...

• Bill Elliott finished 25th at Kansas. ... Forgive me, I just wanted to type his name this week.

• David Ragan finished in the top 10 for the first time since Bristol.

• Brian Vickers now has 13 top-15 finishes this year -- compared to seven in '07 -- to break a three-race streak of thirtysomething finishes.

• Since back-to-back top-20s at Charlotte-Dover, Sam Hornish Jr. now has 16 consecutive finishes of 21st or worse with only six lead-lap finishes.

• First time for everything: Martin Truex Jr. finished 43rd for the first time in his 110-race career.

Moving on to Talladega

• Jeff Gordon moved up two spots, to sixth, in the standings and now trails Jimmie Johnson by 143 points. And as good as JJ has been at Talladega in the past 10 races, Jeff has been better:

• From Oct. 21, 2001, through Oct. 3, 2004, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won five of seven races at Talladega -- and finished second in the other two. In the seven races since then, his average finish is 23.7 with more DNFs (3) than top-10s (2).

• Hmm, will history prevail? Juan Montoya has gotten progressively better in each of his starts at Talladega since he finished 31st in his debut on April 29, 2007. JPM was 15th in this race last year and finished runner-up to Kyle Busch in April.

• Who woulda thunk it?! Here's some bar trivia: Travis Kvapil's most successful track? Talladega -- 14.8 average finish (next best -- Richmond: 20.2; worst -- Chicago: 40.3).

• Jeff Burton is 0-for-29 at Talladega. He's 0-for-30 at Pocono and Michigan, and 0-for-28 at Atlanta.

Lasting image

Autostock

Before the champagne arrived there was an impromptu celebration with Gatorade for Jimmie Johnson and the 48 crew.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.