Now that I’ve got my weekly Johnson & Speed comments out of the way, the Kobalt Tools 500 was really something, wasn’t it? Kurt Busch won the second race in Atlanta in a row. Maybe he should petition NASCAR to hold more Cup races in Hotlanta.  Or maybe he should send Carl Edwards a nice fruit basket.

Not to take anything away from Busch, but it was Edwards’ tizzy fit against Brad Keselowski that really set up the win.  In summary: Keselowski and Edwards had a little fender bender… at 200 mph… last April at Talladega.  They had another… incident… in lap 40 of this week’s race.  Apparently, twice just wasn’t enough for Edwards, who set his Roush Fenway Racing Ford on ramming speed and got a little payback with just 2 laps left to go in the Kobalt Tools 500.

That crash extended the race beyond the planned 325 laps and got Edwards kicked off the track.  Of course, neither Keselowski nor Edwards nor Busch had anything to do with the seven car pileup in what would have been the final lap.  That extended the race even further and set up the first green – white – checkered finish of the season.  By the time that mess was cleaned up and the race restarted, the 325 lap Kobalt Tools 500 had turned into the 341 lap Kobalt Tools 525.

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Not to belabor the point I made just last week, but come on. NASCAR fans want to see Jimmie Johnson win another Sprint Cup like baseball fans want to see the Yankees win another World Series or PGA fans want to see Tiger Woods bed another Denny’s waitress.  It’s been done.

Johnson’s victory was his 15th on a mile and a half track. No big deal, except that until today he was tied with Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt for the most wins on a 1.5 mile track.  That’s pretty good company to be in.  Incredible company to be looking down on.

The great thing about the race on Sunday was that it came down to strategy.  With 34 laps to go, Johnson pitted and took four new tires.  Johnson’s teammate, Jeff Gordon, took just two tires to save precious seconds on pit row.

For the next 17 laps Gordon looked the wiser, leading the race from a vantage point just in front of his friend’s front bumper.  Then, with jut 17 laps to go, Johnson made his move, and there was nothing that Gordon could do but watch and try to hold on to second place.  Even second ultimately eluded Gordon’s grasp.  After leading for 218 of the 267 laps of the Shelby American, he trailed across the finish line in third place behind Kevin Harvick.

Scott Speed lead briefly, only to fall by the wayside. Yep, Scott Speed.  Again. His race is coming. Any week now.

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When Johnson took the lead Sunday with twenty laps to go in the Auto Club 500, there was nothing left to do but wait to see by how much he’d win.  Oh, there was the off chance that his car would start sputtering on the straightaway, ala Mario Andretti.  But barring a catastrophic mechanical failure, it was pretty much all over with twenty victory lap for Johnson to enjoy.  The #48 car cruised in for his 48th career victory.

Scott Speed, the driver with the best racing name, briefly held the lead again this week.  He’s got to pull one out at some point this season.  And, yes, I do plan to mention that every week until he does win one.  How else can I point out my incredible prescience for having predicted just the week before that he was due for a victory?

The Auto Club 500 was a good race.  It always is.  I felt a let down, though, like I do in week 2 of every NASCAR season.  Sort of like watching the meaningless Pro Bowl two weeks after the Super Bowl (thank goodness the geniuses in the NFL fixed that – now the meaningless Pro Bowl is even more irrelevant the week before the Super Bowl.)  No matter what happens, week 2 can never quite match up to the Daytona 500 the week before.  But now that we’ve got that out of our system, we can settle in and enjoy the rest of the 2010 NASCAR season – rooting for whoever is chasing behind Johnson’s bumper.

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#1 Why do kids love Dale Earnhardt, Jr. so much?  I mean really, every kid I know loves Junior.  My nine year old was screaming on the last lap when Junior made a push for it.  I’ll admit, I may have yelled a little myself.  It was an awesome finish.

#2 Did you notice the Elliot- Logano crash that set up the series of events that lead to the finish?  It was interesting that the oldest driver and the youngest driver in the race locked up as the whole thing came down to the wire.  I’m not saying that Bill Elliot is old, but I’m pretty sure his first few races were on the horse and buggy circuit.  Joey Logano, on the other hand, somehow got into NASCAR before he could get a driver’s license.  My winter coat is older than this kid (to be fair, I live in Florida so I only trot out the coat about twice a year, but still…)

#3 – How great would it have been if Scott Speed had won the Daytona 500?  I don’t really know anything about the guy, but with a name like “Speed” how can you not root for him?  During the few laps that he led toward the end of the race, my whole family was sitting in front of the TV singing the theme song from “Speed Racer”.  I hope we see a lot more of Speed this year.

#4 –  How did a hole appear in the Daytona Speedway?  Do you think the maintenance crew was somehow NOT expecting 43 cars to race around the track at 200 mph all afternoon?  This isn’t some one-off little track.  This is the granddaddy of all car races. Two tries and 2-1/2 hours to fix a pot hole took a bit of the wind out of the whole event.

#5 – Was that the longest Daytona 5oo ever?  I’m glad I got to watch it live.  If I’d had to set my DVR I would have missed the last two and a half hours of the race.

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After that… is anybody’s guess.  Ryan Newman knows he’ll be in there somewhere.  Bill Elliott, too.  Joe Nemecheck, the Pride of Lakeland, Florida, squeaked through the go-or-go-homes to earn a spot.  They’ll be joined at Daytona by the aptly-named Scott Speed. But they’ve got to wait until this week’s Duels are over before they’ll know their starting positions.

The 52^nd running of the Daytona 500 is just a week away, and the hype is kicking into full gear.  Whether or not Danica Patrick runs, whatever drama unfolds throughout the week, this is the week that NASCAR officially begins.  Whether by coincidence or design, it is significant that just as the final whistle blows at the Super Bowl, bringing the NFL season to a close, the next big thing in the world of sports is nearly upon us.

All that stands between us and the Daytona 500 is seven little days and two big Gatorade Duels.  Let the games begin.

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#1 – Danica Patrick will make a splash.  I think she’s going to be a better NASCAR driver than she is Indy Car.  A little on-track success could go a very long way for Ms. Patrick with the NASCAR crowd.  My prediction is that 2010 will be the last ‘limited participation’ season for Dale Jr.’s newest protege.

#2 – Jimmie Johnson will fade.  Not to say that he’ll have a bad season.  Not even that he’ll drop to the middle of the pack.  But an athlete just can’t stay at the top of the pyramid forever.  I’m not taking anything away from what he’s accomplished, but Johnson’s record breaking run at the top of the Cup Chase has to come to an end at some point, and I’m thinking that point is 2010.

#3 – Jamie McMurray will surge.  I think that a change of scenery will do him some good.  His new home with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing should afford him the opportunity to improve on his 22nd place finish in 2009.

#4 – There will be two Busches in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Kurt was a top five contender last year, and Kyle just missed the cut (granted, it was by a lot of points, but just one spot).  I’m looking for Kurt to fade a little, Kyle to jump up some, and the two of them to be in the running by year’s end.

OK, I don’t really know what’s going to happen in the world of NASCAR this year, but I sure am looking forward to finding out.

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While this was occurring, businesses small and large were using this to their advantage; offering customers free and discount gas incentives. Many stores would entice you with a free gas card for large purchases. Meanwhile car manufacturers like Chrysler were guaranteeing buyers gas at “only” $2.99/gallon. However the most prolific of these marketing gimmicks were the gas credit cards, which offered higher cash back on fuel purchases. But now that gas is cheaper, are they still worth the hassle?

Not what they used to be…

A few years ago, there were several credit cards that gave 5% cash back on gas. The most popular were the Citi Dividend, Chase Cash Plus Rewards, and Discover Open Road card. When gas starting climbing, they all cut back their rewards. Today, these cards only give double or triple points on fuel purchases. In fact, the only 5% gas card left is the Discover More card. However, there’s a big catch – they only give the 5% on gas for one quarter out of the year, plus there’s a cap on the amount of spending that will qualify. So, basically, the credit cards that had a 5% rebate on gas are now extinct.

Are they still worth the hassle?

Unfortunately, the gas cards currently on the market are nothing to write home about. Most credit cards give the same percentage on gas that they do on other purchases (typically 1%). The Discover Open Road card is still in existence, but as mentioned, it only gives up to 2% on gas these days. The “Premier” version of the American Express Gold card gives double points on gas, but it also carries an extremely high annual fee of $175! As far as business cards go, the American Express Simply Cash card used to give 5% on gas, but today it only gives 3%. In a nutshell, these cards may not be worth the hassle unless you drive a lot.

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You don’t have to wait until the 14th, however, to get your NASCAR fix.  On February 9th, NASCAR will begin a first of its kind racing experience known as iRacing.  iRacing is a new service that will allow regular NASCAR fans to compete in online races against each other AND actual NASCAR pros, including no less than Dale Earnhardt, Jr. himself.

iRacing is relatively easy and inexpensive to join.  According to the official site, www.iracing.com, all you need is a reasonably new PC, broadband Internet access, and a steering wheel/gas pedal kit that can be purchased online or in your local electronics store for “less than$100″.  I’m guessing that means $99.99, but I don’t know.

Monthly membership in iRacing ranges from $14 a month for a month to month contract, to as low as $7.46 a month for a two year term.  Regardless of which package you choose, your membership entitles you to unlimited use of the test track and entry into 18 NASCAR sanctioned races over a thirty-nine week period.

Unimaginatively dubbed the NASCAR iRacing.com, this is an official NASCAR series that will feature the top fifty professional drivers currently on the iRacing Pro Series plus thousands of amateurs wanting to experience the thrill of driving at 200 mph from the safety of their home office.

Imagine the bragging rights if some guy from Okaloosa somehow manages to beat Junior in one of these contests.  Of course, computer simulations can go only so far.  My nine year old son routinely beats me at Cars Race-O-Rama, and he’s never even sat behind the wheel of a real car.  That said, the iRacing simulation is supposed to be pretty amazing.  I’d say that finishing ahead of any of the pros in any race under any conditions would be something to write home about.

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Derrike Cope is not among the most well-known NASCAR drivers, but he does have a considerable resume. He has competed in over 400 Cup races in his long career. He won the Daytona 500 waaaaaay back in 1990, which is not for nothing.

Since then, it has been all downhill. He tried to run his own team in six Sprint Cup races last year but failed to qualify for any of them.

Although he hasn’t contributed much to NASCAR in recent years, he now is poised to make a big splash in the Truck Series this year.

Not behind the wheel, mind you.  There would be nothing particularly amazing about Cope lugging his 51 year old body behind the wheel of a truck.  No, far more exciting is Cope’s sponsorship of his two newest drivers – Amber and Angela Cope.  There can be little debate about the fact that Cope’s twin nieces are eye candy.  Either of these blond, tanned beauties alone are gorgeous.  Together, they’re enough to turn a lot of heads and make many NASCAR men ask, “Danica who?”.

But they have the potential to be much more than a lovely side show.  Five years of Cope’s tutelage have the twins prepped and ready to compete at a high level.  There are a lot of beautiful ladies out there (though not so many beautiful sets of twins), but that isn’t enough to cut it if you can’t win a race.  To their credit, Amber and Angela seem to understand that they’re only as good as their record on the track, and they don’t seem to be interested in treading on Danica Patrick’s celebrity.

If they can win on the truck circuit, that will bring national attention to Cope’s team.  If and when that happens, can a Sprint Cup run be very far off?

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