Another one of those dreaded bye weeks for the Sprint Cup Series this week.  But rejoice, that is the last one for this season.  It’s on every weekend from now until November 21st.

The biggest thing that happened in NASCAR this week is the Kyle Busch won the Truck Series race at Chicago.  That’s two truck victories in a row and four consecutive NASCAR sanctioned races that he’s won.  That’s an impressive feat.  What could you compare it to?  I can’t think of an achievement in any other sport that would be akin to the tear that Kyle is on.

As for the Nationwide series, some guy named Boris Said (that sounds like a good name for a Russian punk band) won a race in Canada.  It was Said’s first career victory and it vaulted him into double digits standing in the Nationwide Series.

As far as Nationwide Series races held in foreign countries go, this was a good one.  A green-white-checkered finish with a whole lot of bumping and fighting going on in the final lap.  Plus, road courses are always fun.  A winding road course like the one at Montreal guarantees some extra contact between drivers.  And watching the drivers hop over the curbs is something we don’t normally get to do.  So that’s something.

Otherwise, not much going on in NASCAR nation this week.  Some pretty girl named Danica said she was planning on doing some driving next year.

Just seven more days until the Sprint Cup Series moves to Hotlanta.

It is so rare to get a second chance at making history. The sports world, and the world in general, is littered with individuals who almost did something amazing – only to fall just short of the mark.

Take Kyle Busch for example.  Last year at Bristol, he almost made NASCAR history by sweeping the three events there.  He won the truck race earlier in the week.  He aced the Sprint Cup race.  He had just taken the lead in the Nationwide race when he was wrecked by Chase Austin, a driver who was a lap down.  Two out of three ain’t bad, but it ain’t historic, either.

This year Busch came back to Bristol with a win in the Truck race on Wednesday.  He followed that victory with a smash mouth (smash bumper?) win on Friday night.  You know a driver’s stars are aligned when he basically acknowledges that he intentionally wrecked a fellow driver and gets off scott free.

Even though NASCAR mysteriously chose to ignore Busch’s antics, the fans didn’t see it that way.  Busch was roundly booed after the win and again at the introductions before Saturday’s Sprint Cup race.  The only time that Kyle Busch‘s name and cheers were heard together was when Brad Keselowski used his own introduction to say “Kyle Busch is an ass.”

Busch had the last laugh, however.  He won Saturday night.  He won convincingly.  With that victory, he jumped five places in the Sprint Cup standings.  Much bigger than those five places, though, is the ticket into the NASCAR history books that Busch earned by becoming the first driver to sweep Bristol.

Three things I know – #1 No matter where he is in the standings at this time next year, Busch will be the man to beat at Bristol in 2011.  Going five out of six will put a mark on a driver.  #2 Keselowski will be looking for some payback in the coming weeks.  #3 Kyle Busch should be glad the Chase Austin was nowhere near the track at Bristol this weekend.

The Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway made official what we’ve all known for months now. Kevin Harvick will be among the contenders for the Sprint Cup.  It will surprise exactly no one that Havick is in the Cup chase, but now he’s a lock.  He can skip the next three weeks if he wants.  While his competitors are sweating it out in Bristol, Atlanta, and Richmond, Harvick could take a nice long vacation in Jamaica.  If he wanted to.  But, of course, he doesn’t want to do that.  Like all great NASCAR drivers, Kevin Harvick wants to be on the track.

Although 11 of the top 12 spots are all but sealed, this week’s race at Michigan shows just how precarious those precious slots can be.  Kurt Busch had a disastrous outing.  Engine trouble knocked him out of the race after completing just 30 laps, dropping him all the way from a sure thing in fourth place to an almost, but not quite, sure thing in 10th.  It’s been a while since any of the Cup contenders had such a dramatic, precipitous drop in the rankings.

Jeff Burton fared only slightly better, finishing a distant 24th place and dropping four spots in the standings, landing in 7th place.  Busch and Burton’s loss was a gain for Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Carl Edwards, who capitalized on their rivals’ mistakes and moved up a combined ten spots to third, fourth, and sixth respectively.

The drama for the next three weeks will primarily revolve around Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin.  Just 35 points separate the two, but in all likelihood only one will move on the the Sprint Cup Chase.  One victory could clinch the deal for either driver.  One early exit could seal their fate.  The next three weeks will be good to be a NASCAR fan.

All week the talk has been about how Juan Montoya and his crew chief, Brian Pattie, aren’t getting along. “Trouble in Paradise” they said. “Hasn’t won since 2007″ they said.

Well, they’re saying something different now.  Montoya broke a winless streak that goes back over 100 races to claim victory at Watkins Glen on Sunday.  After two weeks of bickering, sniping, and public speculation all seems to be well – at least for now.  The win vaulted Montoya two spots in the Sprint Cup standings, increasing his chances of making the Cup Chase from None to Virtually None.

Watkins Glen is among my favorite NASCAR venues.  The twists and turns, the hills, the crazy “bus stop” loop.  Lap times are down and passing is at a premium, but it is always fun to watch.

There was a lot of movement in the Cup Chase this week.  As of now, Mark Martin is in and Clint Bowyer is out.  Kurt Bush, by virtue of a strong second place finish, leaped three places to fourth.  Ninth place was good enough to keep Jeff Burton ahead of Busch by a scant 3 points and move him up two spots third in the Cup standings.  Their combined five spot gain was a loss for Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch, who were also-rans at Watkins Glen this week.

Things are definitely getting hot in the Cup Chase.  There are six drivers, from the 3 through 8 slots, who are within 30 points of each other.  There could easily be a lot of movement in there in the few remaining weeks.

OK, let me just get my ranting about corporate naming out of the way first. The “Sunoco Red Cross 500″? Now we’re dividing the naming rights among two sponsors? I know times are tough, but what’s next? Layaway naming? Or maybe one-quarter naming rights – look for the Wal-Mart Toyota Quaker State Jiffy Lube 500 coming your way in 2011.

Sorry about that. I’ve got it out of my system now.  Anyway – on to the race itself.  It was a good one.

Greg Biffle won the race, but it wasn’t enough to budge him out of eleventh place in the Sprint Cup Standings, largely due to the fact that Carl Edwards, the driver currently in possession of the tenth spot, finished a strong third at Pocono this week.

The big winner in the Sprint Cup standings this week was eighth place finisher Jeff Burton.  Although seven drivers crossed the finish line ahead of him, none were named Busch.  In fact, only one Busch, Kyle, managed to finish the race at all, and that at a distant 23rd place.  Burton leapfrogged by Kurt and Kyle Busch to move up to fifth place in the standings.

With Burton now in front of them, the Busch Boys have to be looking in their rear view mirrors at the surging Tony Stewart, whose second place finish at Pocono has brought him within three points of Kurt and five away from Kyle.  Either a good showing by Stewart or another bad one by Kurt and Kyle next week at Watkins Glen could easily push the Busches back another spot each.

Speaking of Watkins Glen next week – I’ll just get the corporate name griping over with now.  The official name of the race is: The Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen.  Seriously.  Exclamation point included.

Some feuds are manufactured just for TV audiences. Some involve deep, personal issues that are not fully understood by anyone outside the immediate circumstance. And some feuds are just what they seem to be.

Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards are the Hatfields and McCoys of the NASCAR circuit. As far as I can tell, they were nothing more and nothing less than two guys who happened to compete in the same sport until Talladega 2009. Keselowski, who had at that point never won a Cup race, gave Edward’s car a little nudge – into the fence – on his way to earning his first career Sprint Cup victory.

Nothing new there; it happens all the time. It’s also nothing new for drivers to retaliate when they feel wronged by another driver. Like Edwards did a few months back in Hotlanta, drop kicking Keselowski into the fence in the final laps. Edwards earned an unusual probation from the NASCAR Grand Poobah for that strike.

Then came the little tete a tete last weekend. After most of the mash up this year, at least one driver involved seemed at least a little bit apologetic. Not this time around. The stories of both drivers could be basically be summed up as “I didn’t do anything, and anyway he had it coming.”

NASCAR saw it differently. They fined Ewards 60 points and put both drivers on probation for the remainder of the calendar year. The fine essentially erases the gain that Edwards made on Keselowki’s lead in the Nationwide Series standings, but came a far cry short of actually taking away his victory.

Probation until 2011 means two things: 1) they’ll have to play nice for the rest of the year and 2) they’ll have another six months of built up resentment behind them when they first meet in next year’s NASCAR season.

As Daryl Waltrip might say – Boogedy boogedy boogedy; we’ve got ourselves a feud, boys!

Regular readers know that I’m strictly a Sprint Cup guy. It is rare for me to spend a couple of my Saturday hours watching a Nationwide race.

But this was one of those rare, unfortunate weeks with no Sprint Cup race, so I settled in for my weekly NASCAR fix.  I have to admit the Nationwide race, at least this week, had everything that a Sprint Cup race has – just less of it.  About 250 miles less.

Saturday night’s race was everything that we’ve come to expect from NASCAR.  Great drivers hauling around the track at ridiculous speeds?  Check.  Thrilling near misses?  Check.  Exciting finish?  Major check.  Silly corporate sponsorship naming?  Try “The Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250″.  Check-a-mundo.

The real thrill of the (snicker) Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 came just seconds before the checkered flag waved.  Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards were jockeying for the lead and Edwards just… blew through Keselowski’s car to take the finish.  It looked like Keselowski’s car was a bug to be swatted aside.

Of course, most bugs aren’t made of a ton of metal moving at 200 mph.  This swatting had a bit more of an effect.  By the time it was said and done, ten cars were caught up in the carnage, Edwards was doing his trademark backflips in victory lane, and Keselowski was one unhappy camper.

Edwards, of course, tells the story a little differently.  His side of the story is basically that Keselowski had it coming.  It takes a little longer when he tells it, but that’s really the gist of it.  This may not be the start of the great Edwards-Keselowski feud that will last for generations, but I’m thinking that we haven’t heard the end of this argument.

Remember last year’s Coca Cola not-quite-600 when some guy named Reutimann won only because the race was called early because of inclement weather?  You can be forgiven if you don’t know too much else about Reutimann, even though he did have three top 5 finishes this year.

Well, David Reutimann is no longer the guy who only won because it rained.  He won the LifeLock.com 400 for second career victory, but the first without an asterisk.

Of the top three leaders in the Sprint Cup points standings, only Jeff Gordon had a good night, finishing third.  Kevin Harvick will maintain his top spot in the standings, but only because he had a comfortable lead.  Harvick finished quite a few laps down after mechanical troubles sent him to the garage for something just short of racing eternity.

Perennial champ Jimmie Johnson likewise suffered, although his problems seemed to be of his own making.  First, he inexplicably missed the entrance to pit road for a scheduled pit stop, while leading the race.  By the time he corrected his course and got back on track, he had lost the lead .  Later, he flattened a tire banging against the wall and had to make an unscheduled green flag pit stop that cost him time.   He finished a full lap down in 25th place.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s stay in the top 12 was short lived.  After finally cracking into the Cup chase last week, he dropped two spots after an unspectacular 23rd place finish at Chicagoland on Saturday night.  Clint Boyer reclaimed the final spot in the Sprint Cup Chase with a solid fourth place finish.

Kevin Harvick won the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca Cola at the Daytona International Speedway Saturday night. Really? Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca Cola? As if we didn’t get that Coke Zero was a Coca Cola product?

Anyway – Harvick won for the second time this season, firming up his hold on first place in the Sprint Cup standings. Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all benefited from a combination of a high finish and a lack of competition (half the field did not finish the race). Busch and Earnhardt moved up two places each, and Gordon jumped three spots to claim the number two position behind Harvick.

The massive crash up that took out 19 drivers with mere laps to go was not the only explosive wreck of the day. AJ Allmendinger’s early exit prompted him to vent and pout at NASCAR legend and car owner Richard Petty in front of multiple cameras. Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch seemed none too happy with one another after the race. Then of course, there were the Gas Pedal Addict Fireworks sponsored by Gas Pedal Addict (not really; maybe next year).

Gas Pedal Addict’s favorite driver, the appropriately named Scott Speed, snuck in his second top ten finish of the season, jumping two places to 24th and moving to within a paltry 405 points of cracking into the big twelve Sprint Cup contenders.
With 18 races down and 18 to go, the contenders lineup is looking pretty well defined. There are only two or three spots that are realistically in play. Then again, a driver like Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, or Jamie McMurray could go on a late season tear and shake things up a bit at the bottom end of the top 12.

It’s hard to believe that the 2010 NASCAR season is already half over. But if Daytona showed us anything, it’s that there’s still a lot of excitement left in this year.

The 2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

Some of us lie awake at night, tossing and turning, grappling with questions that could potentially affect the cosmic balance of the universe. In the absence of light, does time slows down, or even stop, in a black hole? Do fish drink water? How do blind people dream? How can Ford top the perpetually best selling F150 series?

Luckily, SOME questions do have answers.

Ford’s in house team of tune-up experts, the Special Vehicle Team (SVT) came up with the answer (for the last question, that is. Don’t hold your breath for the first one – even Einstein couldn’t figure that out).

Introducing, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, the most powerful road production truck ever built. Powered by a 6.2L Boss V8 engine, this behemoth is capable of generating over 410 horsepower and 430 ft-lb torque, perfect for its 4600lbs weight and 17 foot length. The 6-speed transmission, complete with a 4.10: 1 Electronic Differential Axle and enhanced with a Tow/Haul Mode (capable of heaving trailers, boats and repossessed cars, up to a maximum Class III 6,000 lb) provides a seminal four-wheel driving experience.

The amazingly smooth ride comes courtesy of the FOX Racing Shox, in a much applauded production vehicle debut. The supporting act features an appearance by the enhanced 35-inch BFGoodrich All-Terrain tires with a 17-inch cast-aluminum wheel and the AdvanceTrac traction control system, perfect for climbing elevated shrubberies and those hard to handle road dividers. Sending your kids to soccer practice has never been this fun.

With a base price of $38,020, this chiseled, muscular and good-looking Charlton Heston of the trucking world also offers a roomy and elegant interior, equipped with Sony sound system, automatic temperature controls, 10-way adjustable power leather seat, voice activated Sirius navigation system and much more.

Verdict: After selling over six gazillion units of them, the Ford F150 series have become a national monument, and we have come to accept its place in our way of life. The Raptor holds true to the tradition of strength and reliability that its forefathers are renowned for . Even as we speak, plans are underway to carve an image of the F150 on Mount Rushmore, next to President Washington. Need we say more?