NASCAR - Bobby Labonte....So Close!

What a true bummer about Jeff Burton yesterday. You almost knew his luck wouldn't last, especially after the season he's had. At the same time, I'm amazed how the Chase is turning out. Guys like Jimmy Johnson were written off a couple of weeks ago, and now the top eight are still in contention!

I had a hard time watching yesterday's race. As I said earlier, I hate Martinsville. They should abandon it for Rockingham. The track just sucks (why can't people be honest and say this track only has TWO turns, not four?) and the races are a complete bore. This is no Bristol, that's for sure. (Although the last Bristol race was a bore....) I was rooting for Denny Hamlin at the end to take out himself and JJ. How sweet would it have been to see Bobby Labonte finally pull one off with his new team? He's creeping closer and close to Victory lane. I just hope it happens this season.

I'll jump on the anti-rookie bandwagon this week. NASCAR should have parked David Ragan. It seemed that everytime you looked, he was spinning around. It was like his car was on ice skates. I'm sure the guy will be a good driver and hopefully fill Mark Martin's humongous shoes, but it's pretty clear he's not even close to being ready for the prime time.

Next week, we get back to REAL racing. Let's hope for a door-to-door, wheel banging finish between two guys who HAVEN'T won in a while.

Misc. notes:

• Welcome back, Ward Burton. Ward had a respectable finish, coming in 26th.
  
• While my heart goes out to the hendrick family and organization, can we please finally stop trying to make such a huge deal about each October Martinsville race? I get nauseus hearing the announcers wax poetic about the tragedy. You're not dramatic, Bill Webber. Enough already.
  
• Do you realize every major racing series is done for the year, except NASCAR? Yes, I know the Speed GT cars still have another race, but ALMS, Rolex and now F1 are done. I hate this time of year.