California thoughts and observations

Carl Edwards won the oft-rain delayed Auto Club 500 this afternoon at the Auto Club (formally California) Speedway. He took the lead for the final time with 13 laps remaining and drove away from Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon to secure his eighth career Sprint Cup victory and Roush-Fenway's sixth victory at the Auto Club Speedway as a team.

Thoughts and observations:

I thought it never rained in Southern California, I guess I was wrong. Needless to say the wet conditions made a mess of this weekend at the Auto Club Speedway and a few teams payed the price. NASCAR should have waited out the wet conditions rather then starting the race on Sunday with water still seaping out of cracks on the track. The picture at left is a direct result of that water. It's no wonder Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and others were upset after wrecking early Sunday.

If Kyle Busch does well enough in tonights Stater Bros. 300, he could become the first driver to lead all three of NASCAR's top racing divisions at one time. He already leads the Sprint Cup and Craftsman Truck points standings, meaning a good run this afternoon will give him the Nationwide points lead. Even if it is just the second weekend in the NASCAR season, that is still pretty impressive.

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson looked like the class of the field for a good chunk of the race, but once Carl Edwards found the handle on his car he took off like a rocket. Anyone else not all that surprised by that?

After two races, Denny Hamlin sits a dismal 31st in the Sprint Cup points standings. Not the way he, or anyone else really, expected to start the 2008 season. Casey Mears isn't really doing much better, after two consecutive early exits he sits all the way back in 42nd in points. John Andretti has more points right now then Casey Mears for goodness sake! These two better get it together quick or they may be on the outside looking in to the top 35 in owner points.

Robby Gordon had a pretty good race again this week, running well and finishing a decent 18th. Of course it really doesn't make much difference after NASCAR fined Robby 100 driver and owner points for an unapproved nose on the front of his Dodge at Daytona. It may have been an honest mistake, which all sides seem to agree on, yet it appears NASCAR is going to stick to its guns and not take back the penalty. I hate that for Robby, he really looks like he might have something in that No. 7 Dodge this year.

Dave Blaney needs to catch a break, just one. The poor guy never seems to have any luck going for him and when he finally does get a good finish (like his 3rd place at Talladega last year) his momentum just dies during the next race.

The best rookie in this week's race was Regan Smith, who came home 31st. Dario Franchitti snuck in behind him in 32nd and poor poor Sam Hornish Jr. ended up dead last. Let's hope next week is a little better for the 2008 rookie class.