Thought I'd post a few race related items before Sunday's race:

Helton will promise NASCAR drivers more severe penalties
Good. Robby "Rager" Gordon should have gotten at least a one race suspension for his actions, as well as Dale Jarrett and Kasey Khane (both drivers that I like). The fines and point penalties obviously aren't working, as evidenced by the upswing in the amount of driver retaliation since DJ's incident and paltry two-lap penalty. Suspensions are the next logical step.

Yes, I like when the drivers race hard and feuds between the drivers make NASCAR interesting, but these on-track retaliation incidents are affecting non-involved drivers, which is just plain bad for the sport. I don't agree with the opinion that it was wrong for Kurt Busch to have a few words with Scott Riggs' crew chief. Kurt told officials he was going to do it, he went and did it and the incident was over. It allowed the driver the immediate gratification of venting his frustration at the responsible team and it didn't jeopardize any non-involved team. Considering everything that's happened over the past few weeks, that was the smartest move I've seen any of these drivers make.

DEI to appeal Waltrip fine and penalty
Good. Now I'm not saying that Waltrip didn't flip off Robby Gordon, I'm just not entirely convinced that he got caught on film doing this, which was the stated reason for the fine/penalty. Waltrip is a nice guy, but every man has his limits. Any other driver would've punched Robby "Tantrum" Gordon in the throat, particularly with Robby's recent rage record and habit of bad-mouthing every other driver at one time or another.

Stewart, Biffle crash (again) in Charlotte test
Bad. And I don't have the level of anti-jinxing superpowers required to combat this. Sigh.

Song of the Day: Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow. This song, along with The Who's "Can't Explain", were licensed by NASCAR to use in their advertising. Now I can't help but think of racing when I hear either of these songs, and I like it that way. Plus, Sheryl Crow has a new album coming out, Wildflower. I'm so hot and cold with her music - some I love (like the ENTIRE last album), but some of it is just meh. But she's certainly worth checking out. Yes, that way too.