How BAD have you got it? Well, Edwards has it big time. You don't dig the way he did in the late going and let it all hang out if you don't. As for that big slide job at the end, it was something he saw playing a game. That is like trying a stunt on the freeway after seeing it done in a cartoon, except that Edwards almost pulled it off. I've got a couple of lads approaching their 14th birthdays. Instead of buying the insurance and giving them the keys, I'll direct them to their NASCAR computer game to learn how to drive. Hey, if it works for Carl. All they have to do is keep the thing off the walls.

So, we've got Jimmie, we've got Carl, and we've got Greg Biffle. The 38-year old Washington driver got by Jeff Gordon on the final lap to take third in Kansas and kept himself right in the hunt. Johnson has a 10 point edge over Edwards and is 30 up on Biffle as they head to a track none proved GOOD enough, or fortunate enough, to claim a Top Ten back in April. So, could Talladega prove to be the great equalizer?

It will have to be, as we've got just seven races for all three of these guys to have things wind up in the crapper so that someone else might have a shot. Jeff Burton is 121 back, was 12th on the big track five months ago, but he needs to start picking up some big points to catch up. Then again, he has been GOOD enough to average a 6.5-place finish over his last four races. Burton can get better, but he has to hope the leading trio get a whole lot worse to take advantage.

Same song for Kevin Harvick. He is fifth in points, 136 off in the distance, and all he has done is ring up nine straight Top Tens. Clint Bowyer, 164 off the pace, was GOOD enough to be in the Top Ten at ‘Dega in the spring. The worst he has been in the six since Bristol is 12th, but even he has to step it up to remain a speck in the rear view of the pace setters. As for the rest of the so called Chasers, they are pretty well done like dinner unless they finish Sunday up front and the top dogs finish at the back of the pack. Hey, it could happen.

Like, someday, I might forget about how Brian Vickers won at Talladega two years ago. It might take a stroke, but it could happen. While his pit adventures in Kansas added fans of Edwards and Tony Stewart to the growing list of those who wouldn't accept a Vickers t-shirt even to line their bird cages, he is in while A.J. Allmendinger appears on his way out of the Red Bull family. His replacement, Scott Speed, better turn out to be real GOOD, as Allmendinger has proven himself better than half of the guys currently out there. A 9th place finish last Sunday was just another case in point.

Maybe he'll wind up with a team driving autos other than Toyota. It has been an UGLY run for the new kids on the Cup block, with Kyle Busch having even more mechanical woes in Kansas. While he finished 28th, Tony Stewart was running into Vickers, sliding through the grass, and busting up his splitter. He wound up 40th. Denny Hamlin was 11th on Sunday, but is now 10th in the standings, just ahead of his Toyota team mates. They might want to change their slogan once again. Since the Chase began, "Moving forward" has been something of a misnomer. Now, "Built To Be Passed" has possibilities.

You would think the natural progression in a family business like Petty Enterprises would be to pass the torch down the generational line. From what he hear, as Lee handed over to Richard is not going to wind up going to Kyle. Reports quoting Pattie Petty is that her husband is on his way out with a big ole boot mark on his butt. Having young blood in the driver's seat is probably a GOOD thing, but as the King himself is 71, grooming a 48-year old for the cushioned office chair might be a GOOD thing, too. Maybe the offer was there, but turned down. Regardless, it is a sad situation.

Talking about age, my mother-in-law celebrates her 75th birthday on Wednesday. Now, I admit that when it comes to NASCAR, she wouldn't know a Jeff Gordon from a Robby Gordon or a Gordon Ramsey, but as we got her a new lap top she just might scout out this site. Sometimes, sucking up is a GOOD thing...and a smart thing to do.