Wino 2: Sure enough, the winery slapping on Gordo' s label is Briggs & Sons Winemaking Co. at the North end of Napa Valley. Now, tell me if you' ve ever heard of Briggs wine?? For awhile there, I subscribed to Wine Spectator, and don' t remember one mention of this place. Sooo, the question is: Why would Briggs put out a better wine for Gordo than it would for it' s own namesakes??

The Booth: Yeah, Bill Weber wasn' t stellar last night, but he' s eventually gonna turn out to be much better than Alan Bestwick (who, by the way, did an outstandingly good job in the pits). Jr. " blessed Wally during one of the (many) pre-race interviews. Now, if they' d only bump BP to the pits& & .but alas, he' s too rotund and probably not agile enough to catch all of the interviews.

Rain: Ah, the omnipresent rain. Being able to multi-task with my remote control, it did allow me to catch an exciting match on the World Poker Tour (all 2 hours of it), and as a daub of ice cream on my pie, I learned about the 10 Best Truck Stops in the World (2 of which aren' t in the U.S.). But think of all those suckers that went to the track early and spent 18 + wet hours there (and not in their dry and waaay overpriced hotel room). The race ended at 2:00 am EDT, and they probably didn' t put their heads on the pillows for another 2 to 4 hours& & Yeah, + $200 for a few hours sleep. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Truaxle: Duuh. He finally inked the deal with DEI, and is gonna run the #1 car next year. Duuh. Yeah, there were a lot of rumors about him jumping ship into one of the premier rides (#2, #6), but he' s remembering who pulled him outta Nascar North and got him a Busch title. On the flip side, I' m glad to see the 1 car running again& & I still have fond memories of SteviePark running the Pennzoil car. Now all DEI has to do is firm up the seat in the 15 car& & Mikey may be there next year, but he' s always gonna be pulling the short straw.

Da race: The first 10 laps were under Yellow to help dry the track. Some 16 laps later, there was a Big One when Gordo was entering the pits. He waived, but JamieMac probably didn' t, thus no one in back of them knew that the traffic was slowing. 10 cars were collected (the worst of which was seeing SirMark' s car totally wasted), and we watched Saddleburns run outta gas and go a lap down. In Laps 60 to 72 there were 3 Yellows, the worst of which was Mikey' s flat and subsequent wall job that collected BugEyeBiffle (ending his short Points leadership) and JoeNemo.

Das Boris: Yeah, we like this guy. Plenty of charisma, and can run the road courses. However, he' s gotta spend some more hours on the ovals (especially the big ovals) before he gets his degree as a swing-over driver. He did accomplish not one but two great single car spins, and was none the worse for his wear.

Risky: After the first BorisSpin, TerribleTony stayed out and the rest of the frontrunners came in. A huge risk at the time, but later proved to be non-existent, as it didn' t have an effect on the outcome of the race.

Radio: In true communication (under)performance, 99% of you missed one of the most exciting parts of the race& ..when Jr. was making his move to the front. The 1% of us listening to the radio caught all of the action& & while we were watching endless commercials on the tube. Trust me& ..if you don' t want to miss anything, you' ve gotta be a switch-hitter.

Hung out: Yeah, there were a number of cars hung out to dry during the race, but the most memorable ones were the 24 and 48 cars. For most of the night, they had no friends (other than their too numerous teammates). Jr. finally had friends (due to his standings in the Points), so his fate was almost never in doubt.

Another Big One: With less than 15 laps to go, someone pinched the 31 car, who collected his teammate (29 car) and about 6 to 8 other cars. This was a nasty one to clean up, but gave the drivers a welcomed rest before the final run for the Gold.

Congrats: To TerribleTony for absolutely dominating the race (151 out of 160 laps, setting a new laps lead record). When the chips were down, he blew the doors off everyone. To JamieMac, who at times looked like a loose cannon out there. To Jr., while driving an old 15 car chassis, finally looked like he knew what he was doing. To Rustard, who capped his last Daytuna with a top 5. To DJ, another gray beard, for his solid finish. To the Bopsy Twins (48 & 24 cars) for finishing in the top 10. Gordo admitted that on long runs his car was caca. And look at MikeWallace, MattyBoy, and KennyShredder for their stellar top 10 performances.

Fences: After a great performance on track, TerribleTony did the unexpected by climbing to the top of the catch fence at the finish line. This was much better than an ordinary burnout& & .and may have set a new standard.

Cola wars: Didja notice TerribleTony slugging down a Coke in the Pepsi winners circle?? It takes moxie, and he knows where his bread is buttered.

Heaps of 3' s all over your local Home Depot (again),

Racing Maniac #3, #12, #8e

racingmaniac3@hotmail.com