Weekend odds and ends after emptying the notepad

After a four-week stretch on the road, the mind tends to wander. Some thoughts on reaching home:

Why we love Junior

Of course, that's Dale Earnhardt Jr. Have said it before -- it's because you definitely will get no bull from this kid.

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When asked if the Chase had become a three-man race, he said "I hope not, hell." Then he thought for a second and threw out, "Unless you're counting me in?"

And after doing the proverbial gator-rassle with an ill-handling car through the final stages of the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas, and apparently showing the ill effects after finishing 13th, he offered this gem: "I think an average driver would have finished about 35th. I told my guys that. I don't know -- we had fun regardless."

Earnhardt was taken to task by some at the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup for having tantrums on his in-car radio and not cooperating. After bristling a week ago and saying not to expect much change, at Kansas he deferred after a tough day; and ended by offering some Earnhardt charm.

"I toned it down a lot [Sunday]," Earnhardt said. "I've been trying to be better on the radio and be more productive. We kind of gained on it in the center of the race and we were kind of getting better. It just went away, it got so loose at the end. I didn't know what to tell them.

"We made light of it though. I told them they were lucky to have me."

Pardon me for being puzzled

The only way I can see Red Bull Racing Team's move to immediately disconnect A.J. Allmendinger from the No. 84 car he's driven for most of the past two seasons being a benefit to both Red Bull and Allmendinger is if Allmendinger has his next ride not waiting in the wings -- but waiting to be announced for this weekend.

I understand why management would want to forcibly create a disconnect between a guy who obviously drove his guts out for them until the very last lap he had with the team, and the crew that now has to form a bond with its new driver, Scott Speed.

But it also was interesting to learn that I wasn't the only one in the garage who flat knows that Allmendinger is going to hurt some people in the very near future in Sprint Cup racing, including his now former team, via some more top-10 finishes at the very least. Count his former crew chief, Jimmy Elledge, among that bunch.

For sure, this will be interesting to watch as it unfolds in the next five months. (Continued)