The most recent Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway was the perfect example of why there needs to be a road race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

That conclusion took some thought. And blame me if you want to for not paying attention or otherwise losing track of the whole dad-blamed thing.

It wasn't hard to do, if you think about it.

Infineon incidents

• Troublesome Turn 11
• Troublesome Turn 7
• Spin 'round and round
• More trouble at 11
• Hits and near misses
• Running into a wall

A.J. Allmendinger cut a tire, stumbled around for half a lap before he made it to pit road, and promptly lost a lap. Clint Bowyer got tangled up with someone whose identity escapes me and spun out, losing precious track position. Elliott Sadler lost it at the one place on this race track where you just don't want to screw up and backed 'er into the fence.

Game, set and match times three, right? Wrong-o. They all scored top-10 finishes.

It doesn't get any better than that, and that's the beauty of road-course racing -- and at the same time, the beguiling agony of it all.

It's damned hard to keep track of and you, by God, have to pay attention. Sounds like any other race on this series, really.

But would any other race, or any other place, deliver the racing, the fender banging and the outright drama that Sunday's show did, in so many different places? I doubt it. Your typical NASCAR track doesn't have that many places.

And you want to know what the strangest thing was? Two-thirds of the way through the deal, I would have hardly endorsed the two road races currently on the circuit, never mind advocating one in the Chase.

And that's borderline criminal for a guy that literally grew up at what was, to me and my brothers, the closest thing this side of heaven for road racing, starting at George Weaver's Thompson Raceway in northeastern Connecticut.

I was a semi-professional corner worker for 17 years, putting out fires, dodging cars and flying parts, and learning that road racing was no doubt, just about all that.

And two-thirds of the way through Sunday's event, when I sat down in front of the TV to finally pay attention I barely knew what was what. I never did find out what happened to Mark Martin. I know he was in a three-car shuffle at the hairpin with a lap to go, but his sun had set long before that.

And if he was racing at Charlotte, Atlanta or Homestead, you wouldn't have known any more. And chances are the episode that delivered the final torpedo to his day wouldn't have happened at any of those venues; so take that little bit of drama for what it's worth.

We're still finding out exactly what kind of twists double-file restarts are going to bring and I guarantee you, we haven't seen the best of that, yet.

But the edgy anticipation each successive restart created on Sunday -- never mind that Turn 2 was misinterpreted as the ghoul-in-waiting; when in fact it should have been Turn 7, up at the far end of the course, where loads more of the decisive action always happens -- was priceless.

If you're going to be the champion, you've got to be able to walk the walk, and that's in any type of footwear the series presents. The Chase already has too many intermediates. It also has a short track and a superspeedway.

It needs a road course to fully define the champion. Everything that happened Sunday at Infineon was much more in the athletes' hands than the typical Talladega disaster, if it actually happens.

Let's put it this way. If a guy on a lengthy losing streak could hold off a bona fide title contender and former Infineon winner and win the race, well, that's what the Chase deserves -- and demands.

Elizabeth, it's the Big One

Sorry, but just couldn't help feeling the irony of Richard Petty going back to Victory Lane for the first time in more than a decade to celebrate alongside a car with a full-blown alcohol sponsorship. Of course, when King Richard's mama, Elizabeth, was alive, Petty Enterprises' cars couldn't run that Speedweeks special event, the Busch Clash, because in order to qualify, of course after winning a pole, the car had to wear Busch decals.

Make-ing changes

Richard Petty Motorsports will run Dodges the rest of the season but the future could bring about a switch.

• Petty talks about options
• No change in '09, but '10?

Richard always chortled and said the threat of bodily harm from Ma Petty precluded any thought of affixing any alcoholic decals on a PE car. So just think how Elizabeth might react if Richard Petty Motorsport's rumored segue to Toyota happens?

That would make quite a groundswell over poor Mrs. P's grave, I'd bet; though, in fact, the Petty gang has always been the ultimate front-runners, ready to do whatever it takes to contend. And with Dodge's ongoing bankruptcy reorganization it makes RPM's move, if it transpires, simply business as usual.

The saddest thing about the rumor is that it takes just a little luster off the underdog Dodge's latest triumph, its second this season.

Ruing missed opportunities

All you need to do is look at how Robby Gordon went wild after his potential winning strategy went awry via an ill-timed caution. It was unfortunate that Gordon dumped Greg Biffle up in the far-flung Turn 7 outpost and basically ruined his day, as well.

Gordon's penultimate lap jingle in Turn 11 with Martin and Jeff Burton simply added insult to injury on Gordon's potential winning day. It was variations of the same for road racers par excellence Boris Said and Ron Fellows, which makes their previous close calls all the more agonizing and proves how difficult these races are to win.

I betcha

Bowyer wouldn't mind seeing a road race in the Chase, after his come-from-behind top-10. It's not the first for Bowyer at Sonoma and he and crew chief Shane Wilson carved it from something that was looking a lot less appetizing, so it's no wonder Bowyer is on his way back to the Chase while teammate Burton is tail-spinning.

Kyle Busch Victory Watch

I just know some of you think it's already gotten uglier than you'd care to witness, but we crossed another threshold last weekend as Shrub lost a little more ground on his personal chase to maintain his stunning 2008 NASCAR record pace for victories in a season. I still maintain he could eclipse his total of 21 wins (8 Cup, 10 Nationwide, 3 Truck).

I say that because, face it, the guy can strike at just about any time. But from an outsider's standpoint, what's becoming more troubling is KB's attitude. He flew nearly 4,000 miles to and from Milwaukee, came from the back and finished second to maintain his Nationwide Series championship edge over race winner Carl Edwards -- who happens to trail Busch in wins this season, 9-1.

Falling one adjustment shy at Milwaukee and getting beat up in his title defense at Sonoma leaves it 9 down, 13 to go. His 2008 win total this weekend was 11; so even though he lost ground last weekend he's not commuting this week and has two shots to rebound in Loudon. And make no mistake about it, this cat can strike at any time.