The latest on the list of people to be annoyed by Kyle Busch is Todd Bodine, who said during his Victory Lane interview Friday night that Kyle is a dirty driver and caused the spin Bodine took early in the race, before he regrouped and won on fuel mileage.

Busch wasn’t happy he got called out, and confronted Bodine in Victory Lane. I have to say I’m with Kyle on this one. When the incident happened, it was just two trucks racing hard … the essence of this great series. If Busch had just let Bodine by, that would have been lame. They raced hard and one guy wrecked, without any contact being made … deal with it. There are a lot of times Busch warrants criticism, but this wasn’t one of them.

More harsh words for Kyle
Brad Keselowski comes up with some digs at his rivals. But this week, he topped himself during an interview, when he was asked about his ongoing battles with Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. It was clear that when it comes to Busch, Brad is not a fan of him … both as a driver and a person.

"The difference between me and Carl and me and Kyle is that me and Carl generally have a respect for each other outside the car. I think Carl's a good person outside the car. I'm not so sure about Kyle. I don't talk to Kyle outside the car or anywhere else, so..."

Those be fighting words, and I look forward to their battles in the Nationwide Series. (Brad’s got a long way to go before he competes with Kyle in Cup.)

Surprise runs
Some surprisingly good runs Sunday came from David Gilliland, who was 20th, and Dave Blaney, was 24th. Both were driving for a Front Row Motorsports team that has struggled mightily this year. Blaney has start-and-parked most of the year, so he must be excited just to be able to race again.

Regan Smith also had an impressive 17th place finish. Martin Truex ran top-5 all day and ended up 12th, and Marcos Ambrose managed to come in 10th. There was a great comeback by Kyle Busch to finish 5th after early trouble with penalties.

Points
It’s over folks … the Chase is pretty much set. Unless Clint Bowyer gets bedridden this week and can’t start the race, Ryan Newman has almost no shot at making the Chase. He had a great run at Atlanta, but this is a case of too little, too late. His boss, fresh off the win, will have to be the only Stewart-Haas representative in the playoffs.

Don’t look for Bowyer to try anything crazy at Richmond. He’ll run his race smartly and stay out of trouble, clinching his spot.

Multi-car qualifying
The multi-truck qualifying format that we saw at Pocono and Kentucky is rumored to be a possibility in the other major series next year. This is great news, as it sets up a more exciting qualifying format.

Going from slowest in practice to fastest, you will see a continual battle for the pole. And by having more than one vehicle on the track at once (but not close enough to gain an advantage from drafting, of course) will speed up the qualifying process, leaving more track time for other things.

I hope to see it happen in Cup and Nationwide, too, though it’s far from a guarantee.

Ambrose voted best in Supercar
As Marcos Ambrose tries to make his namein NASCAR, motorsports journalists across the pond have chosen Marcos Ambrose as the best V8 Supercar driver ever.

"It's just an honor to receive this kind of recognition," Ambrose said after hearing of the honor. "I really want to thank V8X magazine and the motorsport journalists who voted for me. I love the V8 Supercar Series and I have so many fond memories. I'm proud to have been able to be a part of its history."

Ambrose has 28 V8 Supercar wins, 18 poles, and won titles in 2003 and 2004.


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