Everybody needs a break, but from what?

You wanna know how crazy it is around the Sprint Cup Series these days? You wanna know how over-focused everything gets?

Some people remember the aftermath of the 2005 Homestead season finale, when in his post-race remarks Mark Martin said that he'd be comfortable starting the next season racing fender-to-fender in Cup cars with Joey Logano.

Most people stopped and said, "Who?" If you cared, Martin was only too happy to explain, at length once you got him going.

The fact that Logano would be 15 during Speedweeks 2006 didn't faze Martin in the least. And now, less than four years later, Logano's potential was fulfilled via his first Cup victory, two weeks ago at New Hampshire.

And that's when the reality of a Sprint Cup driver's schedule, in 2009, hits you smack between the eyes -- or right in the heart.

You would've thought that fact would've meant something to someone in the media group who attended Martin's availability on Thursday. The question never came up, but if it had, Martin's response would've been as amazing as Logano's seemed, two days later, when he was asked if he'd had much chance to discuss it with his mentor.

"We actually really didn't talk that much about it," Logano said, five days after his win, after qualifying was rained out at Daytona. "He sent a few text messages and I called him back and stuff like that, but everyone's schedule is so busy, running back and forth, that you don't see anybody.

"If you think about it, [Thursday at Daytona] I was running back and forth, from end to end [between the Cup and Nationwide garages] and he did the same thing. So with different schedules it's hard to see each other."

Does it make it hard to appreciate anything -- even something that seems like it would demand to be cherished, savored and relished -- at least for a few minutes before the schedule consumes you?

Unfortunately, in this realm the schedule always wins, and the sooner you understand that, the more comfortable you all might have a chance to be with it.

"It's on to the next week, pretty much," Logano said with a laugh. "You're off again."

Obviously, he meant off to the next requirement, not "off" in the way most normal people look at breaks or vacations.

But when you consider how these guys' time is voraciously consumed by their responsibilities, it really makes you thankful, and pretty relieved on the competitors' behalf, that NASCAR's premier league has hit the first of two open weekends it'll have this summer.

This one comes a third of the way into maybe the most hectic ever Race to the Chase, the 10 races leading up to the cutoff point to determine the 12-man field for the sixth annual Chase.

The timing's perfect for a break -- not that anytime's never a good time for a break -- and just how diverse a group there is in Sprint Cup points out what it means.

Some went to their current homes, some went to where they grew up, some went to the islands, some went to the shore and -- ugh -- some went tire testing for Goodyear before, you hope, they went somewhere to relax.

Since everyone likes to play amateur psychologist, and since it's so all-consuming, it's intriguing to debate how much the reality of the Sprint Cup point standings will, or won't be, far away from these guys' thoughts.

You'd have to think Kasey Kahne and Juan Montoya would be trying to determine how to maintain the hardy runs that have put them solidly -- though not safely -- into qualified positions for the Chase.

Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth might be trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding before their barely competitive entities fall out of qualified spots.

The "old man," Martin -- who's doing what few his age have ever achieved -- won't even have to worry about achieving the consistency it'll take to make his results equal a qualified Chase spot. He'll just have to keep doing what he's doing.

So will Greg Biffle, though he'll need to ratchet up his consistency a few notches and hope for some continued stumbles by a couple of the guys ahead of him. Ditto for David Reutimann, who remains the most pleasant surprise of this Cup season.

Recent Chase stalwarts Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton have to execute massive turnarounds to their fortunes else they fall into the area occupied by their Richard Childress Racing teammate, previously almost a Chase lock, Kevin Harvick, who would currently be racing only for wins the rest of this season, if he could only get within sniffing distance of the top 10.

And there's Brian Vickers, who's been as confounded by his lack of a contract to move forward with Red Bull Racing even as he's frustrated by a lack of better results, even as he firmly establishes himself as a consistently front-running team leader.

And for the benefit of the series' suppliers and officials, the break couldn't come at a better time as the returning event, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, comes with a demand that it returns to a status quo that was shattered by last year's bad tire, caution-plagued debacle.

The break sets up a five-race run to the next pause, which thanks to this year's calendar comes with two races remaining in the countdown to the cutoff. By that time very little will be clearer about many of the issues plaguing this series' foes.

But it'll certainly be just as welcome a break.

Kyle Busch Victory Watch

Wins: Thru Chicagoland

	2008	2009
Cup Series	7	3
Nationwide	5	5
Truck Series	2	2

When Kyle Busch starts running totally like crap before he crashes, burns or blows up, then and only then -- unless the total number of races left runs low -- will I give up on his potential to eclipse his 2008 record total of 21 wins (8 Cup, 10 Nationwide, 3 Truck).

Having said that, failing to win either event at Chicagoland, where he swept in 2008, was a major blow to his chances, not to mention to his none-too-scintillating PR score. His teams are as committed to winning as Busch is, but you have to wonder if at some point his constant berating in the media would take a toll.

With that, he's still at 10 down and 12 to go. His 2008 win total at this point was 14, but the positive to that is Busch went in the tank on the Cup side only three races now, whereas at least to this point, his general competitiveness hasn't lacked, but his ability to finish the deal, has.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.