NASCAR has fined Tony Stewart $25,000 and penalized him 25 driver points for his slip of the tongue during his interview in victory lane. I guess they didn't really want to show him a lesson. It certainly isn't steep enough to prevent him from cursing again on TV.

Some people say that his attitude is refreshing to NASCAR. He gives fans something exciting to watch. I don’t. I find it a complete turnoff.

Even when he wins, he manages to be a punk to the media. I am talking about Tony Stewart who pulled off a win at the Brickyard, for his second victory in a row.

Not only did he swear (which I don't believe was a slip of the tongue), he also moaned AGAIN about the media talking with him about him climbing the fence. That is just so typical of him. I hope NASCAR hits his pocket in a big way, or better yet, docks him some points.

He just makes it really hard for me to continue to like him when he always verbally throws up while being interviewed. He should just hand out narrow topics that can be discussed with him after the race so that racing fans don't have to listen to him be a complete jerk. uugh.

I don't believe for a second that that was a congratulatory love tap from Kevin Harvick after the completion of the race. Harvick got called to the hauler to talk about it afterwards. I doubt he wil be penalized for it though.

Ward Burton had a great finish. I was glad to see that. And what about Juan Pablo Montoya? Just fabulous. Here are the unofficial results.

This is my last entry this week. I am taking a few vacation days … but I wanted to throw this entry out there early and give you my picks for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway race.

First off, there’s the obvious, Jeff Gordon, who has won at the Brickyard four times, but he’s not who I’m going with.

I’ve actually got a couple drivers that I like this weekend: Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.

Tony always has a good last half to the season, for whatever reason. He won in Indianapolis in 2005 and is coming off a win at Chicagoland. I think he will be on fire this weekend.

Kenseth is so close to victory he can taste it. He has had four top-5 finishes here out of his seven starts. I think he will also be one to watch.

Who are your picks for the Brickyard?

I am really surprised that owners of teams don’t take a tougher stance when it comes to allowing their drivers to race in other forms of racing. Last weekend, Carl Edwards got in a wreck in a Late Model event and supposedly dislocated his thumb. What if it had been more serious, such as breaking his leg?

Driving in a Cup or Busch race is risky enough for injury.

Remember when Dale Earnhardt Sr. broke his collarbone and cracked his sternum racing at Talladega? Do you remember that he still raced at Watkins Glen, two races later? He pulled off a sixth-place finish despite his injuries. That was classic. I will never forget that race.

Safety has come a long way since that Talladega race in 1996, but injuries still do happen. I'm just not sure that it is a wise decision for NASCAR drivers to risk injuries in fringe races.

Landon Cassill did a great job in Saturday night’s Busch race. Yes, he wrecked, but he was really impressive for his first Busch race. Rusty Wallace couldn’t stop saying positive things about the kid.

I really do think he is going to be someone to watch going forward.

Did you watch the Busch race? If you did, what did you think?

Aric Armirola will be taking over co-driving the No. 01 car with Mark Martin. Ragan Smith, who was the co-driver with Martin, is moving to the 14 car, replacing Sterlin Marlin.

Joe Nemechek was released from the No. 13 car.

This is just the beginning of a whole lot of shuffling, I am sure.

I've always enjoyed both Nemechek and Marlin. I am sure they will find a ride somewhere whether it is in a Cup car or Busch car.

On a different note - It looks like the weather is going to cooperate for this weekend's TD Banknorth 250. Anyone out there going to it?

As reported by Hendrick Motorsports, a new up and comer, Landon Cassill will make his debut NASCAR Busch Series race on Saturday, driving the No. 24 car owned by Hendrick Motorsports.

He just turned 18 on July 7. This will be his fourth race with Hendrick. He has competed in two NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series and one ARCA Series show. In the Busch East Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway last month, he finished fourth.

Cassill, one of 16 drivers to participate in the 2006 GM Racing Development competition, signed with Hendrick Motorsports in December.

Has anyone watched him race? Or is there anyone you have been watching that you feel is going to make it to the big time?

Also-- if you have a topic you would like to discuss at some point, please email me directly. I am always looking for topics.

In the subject line, please type Bump Draft. Some emails go into my spam filter and I want to be able to easily pick out those emails so they don't get deleted...thanks!

I don’t typically sit down and watch a Busch race. For some reason I did Saturday. I quickly realized why I don’t … it was like watching a Nextel Cup race. There were more Cup drivers in that Busch race than Busch drivers. (More than half the field, if I counted correctly.)

What’s up with that? I didn’t watch the Busch race to watch Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin or Carl Edwards. I save that for the Cup race. I wanted to see the up-and-coming drivers.

With all the rules and regulations that NASCAR makes, you would think they could limit the number of Cup drivers that are allowed to qualify for a Busch race so that others can try to make the field.

There was only one Busch driver that finished in the top ten: Stephen Leicht, who finished 10th. Here are the unofficial results of that race.

Am I the only one that feels this way????

Congrats to Tony Stewart for his first win this year.

This is the year of close finishes as reported by NASCAR:

Closest Finishes of 2007
Track Winner Seconds
Daytona (July) McMurray 0.005 *
Daytona (Feb) Harvick 0.020 **
Bristol Ky. Busch 0.064
Martinsville Johnson 0.065
New Hampshire Hamlin 0.068

* Finish tied for second-closest since advent of electronic scoring in 1993
** Finish ninth-closest since electronic scoring

Do you think we will have another close finish Sunday at Chicagoland? This track has a racing groove that drivers can run two and three wide at, so I think the chance is pretty good.

I am going with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win this weekend. He is 12th in the point standings and after his bad luck last week, I think he will be on fire.

Another driver to watch out for is Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon wrecked him last year while he was leading. Kenseth led the most laps at that event. (Imagine if roles would have been reversed ... Gordon would still be crying about it this year!)

Would anyone like to share their thoughts on who might win the race?

Every now and then I like to open up a forum to what is going on locally over the weekend.

What are your racing plans this weekend? Are you planning on just watching a race on television or are you planning on attending an event?

Drag Racing? Motocross? Mud Runs?

Do you want to share how a particular team or individual is doing?

I would love to hear about it.

The top-35 rule is doing some damage to a few teams.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports reported temporarily releasing 5 people this week. This is their second round of layoffs. In the first round of layoffs, earlier this month, they released 14 employees. They are struggling to get additional sponsorship for the car, probably due to being 46th in the point standings.

It was also reported that Ginn Racing has laid off up to 30 employees this week. They are also suspending operations of the Busch Series team, the #4 car, driven by Regan Smith . They may also sell off the #13 Cup car, driven by Joe Nemechek, which could be quite valuable given they are within the top-35 in points. Nemechek is currently 33rd in points.

I did read that NASCAR is considering making it the top-25 or 30, instead of 35. It won’t do these teams any good this year, but maybe it will next year.

Yesterday we had some discussion around Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin and how Stewart verbally threw up and blamed Hamlin for wrecking him at Daytona. They are teammates, but anyone watching the race for the first time and seeing that particular interview with Stewart wouldn't know that.

Can anyone share one example of a “team” that actually performs/performed as a team?

It can be from any era, and for that matter, ANY form of racing. I am just curious if anyone can come up with one.

I can't think of any.

First off, how absolutely ridiculous that NASCAR couldn’t find an hour after the Busch race to qualify those last 14 cars... It was completely nuts to send the pole-sitter home. For the love of all that's good in racing, this top-35 qualifying rule must go!

Oh, and did I miss something? Since when do the commercials air in the lower right-hand corner of the television during the race? I didn’t know that was going to happen. I will admit it was kind of nice to be able to see the race during commercials. Because even though they say: "If caution breaks out, we'll break in," let's face it, that doesn't always happen.

Tony Stewart – I love his passion, but sometimes…

When interviewed in the garage after the wreck, he said Denny Hamlin had “tried to crash us on Friday in practice and didn’t get it done so he finished it off (Saturday).”

So the question is….WHY DID HE DRAFT WITH HIM FOR SO MANY LAPS? I know he’s one of the most passionate drivers out there and wears his emotions on his sleeve, but he should take a little responsibility.

HE hit Hamlin. HE knew Hamlin almost wrecked him on Friday practice. Hamlin’s car wasn’t handling well.

The finish –

I am not sure what I was rooting for more…Jamie McMurray to win and break his 166-race streak, even after being black flagged for going below the yellow line, or for Kyle Busch to NOT win the race. I am not a Kyle Busch fan at all. I think he’s a putz who causes a whole lot of wrecks.

In the end, I was very pleased to see McMurray win. It was a little too close for comfort but made for some great on-the-edge-of-your-seat racing to the line. He won by only 0.005 seconds.

What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them.

It’s not looking good for Ward Burton to qualify for Daytona. Scattered thunder showers are forecasted throughout today and tomorrow.

I guess now is as good a time as any to discuss that top-35 rule. It was brought up on my last entry.

I think that there’s something to be said for being in the top 12 in points, which are the positions that secure a spot for the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup championship. Therefore, why can’t they guarantee the top 12 or 15 cars a qualifying position while all others qualify on speed?

A part of me feels that all cars, regardless of where they stand in the points, should have to qualify in. BUT, the other side of me feels that there should be a benefit to being in that top 15 or so… Those drivers and teams should be able to come to the track feeling a little bit easier about getting in the race.

There have been races where Ward or Michael Waltrip would have been able to get in on speed had it not been for the top-35 rule. It would also be more fair to those drivers when weather plays a role in qualifying, like it may this weekend.

So there you have it…my opinion on how the top-35 rule should be, or shouldn't be, I guess.

What are your thoughts about it?

As tired as I am and was during the weekend, I would do it all over again.

The experience was fantastic. I met a lot of great people. Hank, who showed me around that first day. Rob, who drove me to and from in the golf cart.

There is one person who stands out above the rest and I don’t even know his name. This past weekend he was driving the shuttle van to and from the parking lot to the media center.

He called me: Ms. Portland Press Herald. That was my name the entire weekend. That is how he introduced me to anyone who may have been in the van while he was picking me up. He drove me to turn 3 and showed me the view from up there. And even though I didn’t catch his name, he is certainly one person that I won’t forget.

The folks in the media center were also very attentive and always asking if I needed anything. They had lunch brought in each day and had snacks in the afternoon.

Fred Neergaard, director of public relations, pretty much told me that if I needed anything to just ask and if there was a way, they would make it happen. So thank you, Fred.

Some disappointments –

Seeing things from the media perspective did reveal the ‘not so pretty’ side of things. Television makes racing look a bit glamorous and also, to me anyway, makes it look like the drivers are accessible for the most part. Boy, was I mistaken. Or at least it appears to me that it is harder to get a minute of time if you are print or online media.

I made friends with a couple of reporters who kind of took me under their wing, being a rookie and all. Travis Barrett from our sister paper, the Kennebec Journal, and also Shawn Courchesne from the Hartford Courant.

Anyone who knows me knows that I really liked Ward Burton. I always LOVED to listen to him talk. I had had that discussion with Travis and Shawn the night before at dinner.

So, on Friday, when Travis was heading out to see if he could grab a moment of Ward’s time, he stopped by to see if I wanted to tag along. I was absolutely thrilled. I was quite excited at the prospect of hearing him in person!

We knew there were about 10 minutes or so before Ward had to go qualify his Busch car (I believe that is where he was heading…) He said no and for Travis to try to catch him later and then he walked into his hauler.

Travis tried for two full days to speak with him without success. And of course, Ward didn't circle back with him.

The same Ward Burton who CAN'T even qualify to get into each and every cup race. He should feel lucky that someone from the media wanted to talk to him. It definitely changed my perspective about him.

I know drivers are busy, don’t get me wrong, but so are car owners. Lucky for Travis, he found Richard Childress to discuss the National Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited. Richard gave him about five minutes. Here’s a link to the story if you are interested.

The thing is if you want to talk to a driver, you have to schedule a time with a PR person. But, WHERE ARE THE PR PEOPLE? I think THEY were in hiding also. So you then go directly to the driver and the driver says to schedule something with the PR rep. It is a vicious cycle, so you give up and try to do the story with a different angle, I guess.

So there you have it. Even with the disappointments of being able to catch a moment of time with a driver, I would definitely do it again. Maybe next time, I will get the chance to hear Ward Burton talk….in person.

As promised, here are a few more pictures:

This will be the last entry of the weekend for me. I provided pictures and thoughts right up to the start of the race. I am now in the press box and am finding it difficult to concentrate on anything but the race.

I will continue to take shots from up here and will upload them tomorrow. I am hoping to get some images that television doesn't capture.

This weekend was really tough work and I have a new-found appreciation for journalists and photojournalists. They make it look effortless and I am here to say that it is far from easy.

Because I want to try to put together a slide show for you, when I was trying to get audio, I was also holding the camera to get an image to go along with it. My hair is long and while I was juggling both pieces of equipment, I was quite busy making sure strands of hair didn't go in front of the lens.

I would then come back, download the pictures onto the computer and try to select the ones that I felt you would like to see.

Here are a few more pictures...I will have more tomorrow also.

That's all for now, I want to go enjoy this race!

I feel like I am sleepwalking, I am so tired. Stayed up a little too late. Had to get up at 5:15 a.m. to try to beat some of the traffic. I got in at almost 7:30 this morning.

I feel a bit out of sorts as I am not sure what I should be doing. So I went out to the pit area to check things out and got a few pictures. People are just pouring in. There are tours throughout the pit area and track.

There's going to be a concert as part of the festivities around 12:45, Hinder is playing. I will get some pictures of that for you as well as what pit road will look like from above, prior to the race.

Here are some shots that I took while walking around this morning:

Now I may go out to my car and catch a few zzz's before the race. I do, after all, have to drive home afterward and I hear the traffic is a killer.