1. You're Mark Martin. On the final lap Saturday night at Bristol, do you use the front bumper to move Kyle Busch out of the way?

Dave Rodman: You just answered that one -- you're Mark Martin. Have you ever seen him do anyone dirty, under just about any circumstance? Prevailing opinion made you think he might, but that's because the heat of the moment overwhelms just about everyone. Everyone except Mark Martin, that is.

Raygan Swan: After listening to both drivers, it sounds to me like they have a peaceful history on the track together, so why mess with that? Mark said he sleeps better at night when he can win a race without pulling something "dirty." Not wrecking Kyle was the right thing to do.

David Caraviello: As much as the anti-Busch brigade would have liked to have seen it, there was really no reason to. As Martin was the first to admit, Kyle gave him room. Martin still couldn't get past. Kyle clearly had the faster car, so wrecking him would have been something of a jerk move. And Martin isn't a jerk.

Raygan Swan: Right, David, and it surprised me when Kyle said that Mark is a veteran driver he goes to for advice on certain things, him and Jeff Burton. I thought Kyle knew everything! Kidding, but both drivers put on a great show.

David Caraviello: Now, that said, I'm not opposed to the bump-and-run if the situation calls for it. Had Mark clearly been faster, for instance, or Kyle been weaving up and down on the race track trying to block, the chrome horn might have been called for. But that wasn't the case Saturday night.

Raygan Swan: I'm cracking up right now. I've never heard the term "chrome horn!" I need to get out more! Some days I need to use my chrome horn in the grocery parking lot!

Dave Rodman: I'll guarantee your local P.D. wouldn't wait for that one to come back around, Raygs. Saturday night's finish was a wonderful clip of guts-out racing -- not blocking and daring someone to do something about it. As they said, both of those guys were on the ragged edge, and if you can't appreciate that ... well, Bristol's TV ratings were up, so I guess that's a good thing.

“

It takes real drivers to race the way that Mark and Kyle did, and you have to appreciate that.

”

DAVE RODMAN

Final Laps

• Video: Busch holds off Martin

David Caraviello: It does seem we're in this era of gentlemanliness all of the sudden, with the guys up front going out of their way to be courteous to one another. Maybe that's a function of the Chase, and everybody getting conservative and nobody wanting to risk retaliation. And again, moving someone out of the way every once in a while is part of the ballgame. Just not Saturday night.

Dave Rodman: Speaking of doing 'em dirty -- did anyone else think that Sam Hornish kind of dumped Casey Mears? He was running into him at the start/finish line and kind of pushed him right around. Now that appeared to be classic Bristol. All things considered, I'm glad that was about all we saw of it.

David Caraviello: I will say, Dave, you're right about that being an entertaining race Saturday night. The races do seem to be getting better as the season goes on. Watching on television, I was holding my breath over those final laps wondering how it would turn out. But I never really considered the idea of Mark moving Kyle out of the way until the announcers mentioned it. Surely, they should know Martin a little better than that by now.

Raygan Swan: I would have to agree, the race was great.

David Caraviello: Maybe that's the kind of race we needed to convince people that you can have great racing on the "new" Bristol without a bunch of crumpled-up race cars. But I wonder how many people wanted to see some cage-rattling at the end, just for old time's sake, because that's one of the things that made the place famous.

Dave Rodman: That's what chaps me about the "fans" with that attitude. Any Neanderthal rhinoceros could bam someone out of the way. It takes real drivers to race the way that Mark and Kyle did Saturday, and you have to appreciate that. The way it played out was almost exactly how it did with Jeff Burton in Kyle's first win in the current car. Two great pros with a lot of respect for each other going at it. I don't remember the announcers beating up the bump too much -- but I was pretty enthralled watching it, and I don't much need them to entertain or instruct me.

David Caraviello: That, Dave, is why I turn down the television sound and put in Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries for the final laps of every race! Really gives it an epic quality no matter what happens.

• Bristol: Busch, Martin make statements (Continued)