Is it just me or does anyone else wonder why Kyle Petty bothers racing anymore? He’s never in contention to win any of the races in the Cup series. I’m probably committing some sin by just talking about this but when do you call it quits? I can’t remember the last time I saw him in the top ten at the beginning, middle or end of a race.

This year Petty announced that he wasn’t going to run in 5 Cup races in order to do some TV stuff. I say, Kyle, take all the time you need, do more TV work. Because if he’s out of it then maybe Michael Waltrip or those guys on the Red Bull team can qualify for more races, ya know, people that might be able to finish in the top ten.

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Even though Kyle Busch won, Sunday’s race at Bristol was great. I loved that it ended in a green, white, and checkered; you didn’t know who was going to win it until the very last lap.

There were other reasons to happy with this race:

– A.J. Allmendinger finally got to race in the NEXTEL Cup Series! He finished in 40th after starting in the 43rd position. So he wasn’t exactly a contender but at least he got to participate, and in that really pathetic sense he won! But really, I am happy that his Red Bull team got to compete. Now if Michael Waltrip can get his act together maybe we can get all of the Toyota teams on the track at the same time.

– Everybody can stop talking about that damn Car of Tomorrow. Bristol was the debut for the new, somewhat ugly car that ups safety and headroom for the drivers. I don’t know about you but I don’t like that “wing” they’ve added to the back of the car, it just looks odd and out of place. I can appreciate the value of adding safety features for the benefit of the drivers but anything else is over my head. I can’t really have an opinion about its effect on the competition since I’m not the one who has to drive it every weekend. But I can say this: Please, no more montages, specials, cut-away cars about the Car of Tomorrow. We got it! We know what it is, what’s different, what’s good, what’s bad, we’re over it! Move on!

– Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in 7th place after starting in the 31st position. This is such a huge boost for his team and for my sanity. Hopefully they can keep this momentum going into Martinsville this weekend and continue his move up in the points standings.

– While watching some of the Busch race coverage at Bristol I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was extremely weird to have Brent Musburger covering NASCAR. He does basketball, football, heck even golf, but NASCAR? Uhm, no. It just doesn’t seem right to me. It’s not that he’s bad at it so much as it’s just not what he’s known for. It’s like if they moved Dick Vitale from covering college basketball to women’s gymnastics. Ok, maybe it’s not that severe, but you get my point.

– Here’s another reason why my nickname of “Teddy Bear” for Casey Mears is on point:

Roger Mears, father of Casey Mears, drives his son’s motor coach from race to race during the NASCAR season and is a familiar face at the track. However, the former off-road racer won’t be so easy to find this weekend in Martinsville. Roger Mears, who celebrated his 60th birthday last Saturday, will be at the Barrett-Jackson auction — also known as the “World’s Greatest Collector Car Event” — in Palm Beach, Fla., from March 28 to April 1. The younger Mears, driver of the No. 25 National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, arranged for his father to attend the event as a birthday present and even slipped a blank check in with the ticket. “I still don’t know what to say,” said Roger Mears, who rarely misses SPEED Channel’s Barrett-Jackson Car Search program and plans to make the trip south with his brother, open-wheel legend Rick Mears. “It’s a pretty amazing thing to do for your dad. I was speechless.”

Isn’t that sweet? Good job Casey.

Associated Press writer Jenna Fryer interviewed Juan Pablo Montoya recently, here is an excerpt from the article:

Q: I understand Dustin Long of Landmark Newspapers picked you as the subject for one of his Esquire magazine-type interviews. It doesn’t come out until Martinsville, but give me an idea of how it went?

JPM: “It was pretty cool. The questions were very different from the things you normally get asked, so it was cool.”

Q: Yes, but didn’t he ask you about the last time you cried?

JPM: “Oh yes. I don’t remember the last time I cried. Probably back when (wife) Connie and I were boyfriend and girlfriend, many years ago. But I don’t know. I hate, actually, people who cry.”

Ok. My mother always told me that hate was a very strong word, so I should be careful how and when I used it. I’m guessing JP didn’t have that discussion with his mom.

So he hates people who cry?? I’m guessing that now includes his Busch Series Crew Chief Brad Parrott too right?? I mean that’s like saying you hate people who have emotions or breathe air. That’s everybody Juan Pablo!

A couple weeks ago I attended a press conference at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. In attendance was Scott Pruett (who didn’t know it at the time but would later be screwed by his own teammate at the Busch race in Mexico), NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle Rider Angelle Sampey, IndyCar Series driver Marco — Grandson of Mario — Andretti (sporting some interestingly decorated & detailed jeans) and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series rookie A.J. Allmendinger, a native of Los Gatos, Calif.

Poor A.J. He has yet to qualify his #84 Red Bull Toyota Camry for any of the Cup series races this year. I sincerely hope that his team can pull it together, at least in time for the race at Infineon in June. Since he is from the Bay Area it would be nice to qualify and run in front of his hometown crowd.

I’m really bringing up A.J. for another reason. At the press conference there were media materials laid out representing all of the drivers in attendance. If you watched the special they ran before the Daytona 500 this year about Toyota’s entry into Cup racing you would have seen the photo shoot for this booklet. The results are great. They made ‘em look tall! The Team Red Bull booklet stood out and is by far the best piece of marketing for a race team that I have seen in quite some time.

I’m sure Brian Vickers is much happier now hawking an energy drink instead of womens shampoo. Bye Bye Garnier Fructis!

See for yourself in the photos below…

These are little cards that you can take out of the booklet and do with as you please. Nice touch!

This is my long overdue post about Las Vegas. This post is already so old that tomorrow is qualifying for this weekend’s race at Atlana. Geesh! I apologize, there has been a lot going on lately but now I will entertain you with my thoughts on the race in Vegas.

– First off, Monday was Casey Mears’ (left) birthday. He turned 29 and received a lousy gift from Robby Gordon in the form of a crash that took him out of the race at Vegas on Sunday for a little while. He ended up finishing in a very unhappy 40th place. (photo credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)

– Overall, I kinda felt like the race at Las Vegas was boring. I know there were a bunch of crashes but it still didn’t seem very exciting. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Jimmie Johnson won for the third straight time at the track. It’s just boring when the same people win. I just want a newbie (or semi-newbie) to win one finally! Ya hear that Clint Bowyer? J.J. Yeley??

– There was a lot of star power at this race in the form of Mark Wahlberg (promoting his new flick “Shooter”), MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo, singer Nick Lachey (who is dating Vanessa), Magic Johnson and the wrestler Goldberg. The only person I ever saw on camera during the race was Mark Wahlberg who mentioned something about wanting to do a movie about racing. I’ll totally take you up on that one Mark! Great idea. He’d make a hot race car driver.

– This point has nothing to do with the Cup race at Vegas, but everything to do with the Busch Series race on Saturday. I don’t like ESPN’s coverage of the races because the only guy in the booth that really knows anything is Rusty Wallace (former Cup driver). The other guys in the booths are asking him questions like, “What’s that?” “What does that do??” OK, so I’m exaggerating but it comes close. And to be fair, it’s not all of the guys on the ESPN team, certainly not the pit road reporters, but it’s enough to make me wonder how they got their jobs.

And now on to the photos…

Wax figures of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were unveiled at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday. I think that Madame Tussauds did an excellent job with Petty’s likeness. As you can see in the photo below it’s hard to tell which one is the real Richard Petty and which is his wax counterpart.

Unfortunately they didn’t get things quite as right for Dale Jr. I don’t think it really looks like him. I mean, his forehead isn’t nearly that large. What do you think?

In a photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Dale Earnhardt Jr., center left, and Richard Petty, center right, stand next to their wax figures during an unveiling at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday, March 9, 2007, in Las Vegas. The wax figures will be on display during NASCAR UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 before being taken to Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Brian Jones)