Tony Stewart celebrates his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the 2008 season on Sunday in Talladega Superspeedway's Victory Lane after winning the AMP Energy 500. Stewart moved up to seventh in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. (Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)I don’t know if it’s possible to love and hate a racetrack at the same time but that’s how I feel about Talladega. I love it because it’s a restrictor-plate race and it’s so exciting and nerve wracking to watch the cars go three or four-wide. However, I hate it for exactly the same reasons and because of “The Big One” which I don’t know why we call it that when there’s usually more than one.

For the majority of the race things were going relatively well for me and the guys I was rooting for in the AMP Energy 500 on Sunday. Of course it was a big let down when David Gilliland was involved in a crash, but then things got really sad when Carl Edwards’ mistake took out his teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and all of my highest hopes for Travis Kvapil. I was pretty much done at that point. If you follow me on Twitter you’d know that already.

So done that I didn’t care about the whole last lap controversy involving Tony Stewart and Regan Smith. While I think it’s great that Tony got a win after such a long winless streak, he did deserve it and it was so sweet to see his crew chief Greg Zipadelli get so emotional — something doesn’t smell right.

I guess my irritation lies with NASCAR and I don’t understand why Regan would quote what NASCAR said in the drivers meeting about being able to pass under the yellow line on the last lap, if it wasn’t true. It seems silly to draw that distinction anyway, that you can pass when you’re pushed under the yellow line when you can see the finish line on the last lap but not at any other time during the race. So someone obviously said it was ok to do it. And NASCAR’s official statement on the matter didn’t say that they never said it, it only stated that from now on they’ll never be able to pass under the yellow line ever again at the restrictor-plate races no matter what lap it is.

So whatever. Something that I loved about the race coverage was in the pre-race show, when Dale Jarrett interviewed Dale Jr. I looooved it and I really, really wish DJ could interview a driver before every single race. It was fun and I honestly think that they should try to inject some of that E:60 type stuff into every pre-race show, but that’s just me.


Pole-sitter Travis Kvapil (No. 28) leads the field at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AMP Energy 500 on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Pole-sitter Travis Kvapil (No. 28) leads the field at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AMP Energy 500 on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Clint Bowyer gets in his No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for the AMP Energy 500 on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Clint Bowyer gets in his No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice for the AMP Energy 500 on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

American Idol runner-up and recording artist Bo Bice celebrates with Todd Bodine, winner of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Mountain Dew 250 fueled by Winn-Dixie at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. on Saturday. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

American Idol runner-up and recording artist Bo Bice celebrates with Todd Bodine, winner of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Mountain Dew 250 fueled by Winn-Dixie at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. on Saturday. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

During NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying, (left to right) Scott Speed talks with Joey Logano, who will make his series debut in Saturday's race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (Photo Credit: Ronda Greer/NASCAR)

During NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series qualifying, (left to right) Scott Speed talks with Joey Logano, who will make his series debut in Saturday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. (Photo Credit: Ronda Greer/NASCAR)