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Thanks for the new links. Being from England, I've never seen this show (although, like Tom said, Dukes was very popular over here). I see Merv got John to admit that he lied about his background to get the job. Having said that, the second interview was midway through season 3, and John was still not telling the truth about his age - he claimed to have lived in New York until he was 14 (which is true) before spending 10 years in Atlanta, all by the time he was 20 years old! DukesPorkys1982, you say you have "tons of rare videos coming". After seeing a list you posted elsewhere on the internet, I'm looking forward to seeing them, but can I suggest you keep them in one thread. That way they won't get split up and lost. Roth's Rare and Behind the Scenes Pictures of the Dukes of Hazzard is a great example of keeping similar material together.

Thanks for the link. I love how John was still claiming to be a local boy while they were filming the fifth episode.

This week's race at Martinsville marks the start of the Eliminator Round of the Chase. The remaining eight drivers still in contention have all had their scores reset to 4,000 points. The qualifying sessions today were quite a contrast to last week's spectacle, and as a result, there isn't too much to say. The first session was 30 minutes long, with 12 drivers progressing to the second session which was 10 minutes long. Due to the size of the track, all the drivers had start from their garages rather than the pit lap, so when the session started, it reminded me of a Formula 1 qualifying session. During the first session, most drivers did multiple laps, and nearly all of them achieved their fastest time on the second lap. The only incident to report was Kevin Harvick scraping the wall. He starts down in 33rd place. Jeff Gordon led the leaderboard for a while, but eventually got nudged out to 13th, just three thousandths of a second behind Tony Stewart. The commentators estimated that time gap equated to about six inches on the track. In the interview afterwards Gordon seemed quite happy with his starting position, and he was fastest in practice. I don't think there's much to write about in the second session other than the result. For the second week in a row we have a non-Chase driver on pole, with today's winner being Jamie McMurray. McMurray had his son with him for the interviews, but he looked like he'd rather be elsewhere. Six of the eight Chase drivers made the top 12, with Joey Logano joining Jamie McMurray on the front row. For Garrett, Jimmie Johnson may no longer be in the Chase, but he did qualify seventh. Likewise for Lizzy, Kyle Busch was one of the other drivers who dropped out of the Chase last week, be he starts in eighth. After the disappointment of last week, Ricky Stenhouse Jr bounced back to qualify in 18th place. Speaking of Ricky Stenhouse Jr, his car will be decorated in the 'Pit for a Pair' paint scheme this week in support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). The other Roush Fenway drivers will also have pink color schemes for the same program. If you've never seen how the cars get their decals applied, check out this short video: Here's the final starting lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Jamie McMurray 2. Joey Logano 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Tony Stewart 5. Denny Hamlin 6. Brad Keselowski 7. Jimmie Johnson 8. Kyle Busch 9. Ryan Newman 10. Kurt Busch 11. Carl Edwards 12. Clint Bowyer 13. Jeff Gordon 14. Paul Menard 15. AJ Allmendinger 16. Kyle Larson 17. Brian Vickers 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 19. Austin Dillon 20. Casey Mears 21. Greg Biffle 22. Justin Allgaier 23. Dale Earnhardt Jr 24. Kasey Kahne 25. Marcos Ambrose 26. Martin Truex Jr 27. Aric Almirola 28. Landon Cassill 29. David Ragan 30. Danica Patrick 31. Reed Sorenson 32. Alex Bowman 33. Kevin Harvick 34. David Gilliland 35. Josh Wise 36. Cole Whitt 37. Michael Annett 38. Clay Rogers 39. Travis Kvapil 40. J.J. Yeley 41. Timmy Hill 42. Kyle Fowler 43. Mike Wallace Making his Sprint Cup debut this week is former Nationwide Series driver Kyle Fowler. NASCAR are now well on their way to having all their Sprint Cup drivers called Kyle . There were only 43 drivers entered this week, so no one had to go home. The Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 from the Martinsville Speedway is this Sunday at 1:30 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

Roger, I hope this doesn't become a physical altercation, or we may have to follow NASCAR's lead and do absolutely nothing about it . PS. Thanks for using the correct (OK, the British) spelling of rumor .

After a disappointing qualifying session yesterday, I bet Ricky Stenhouse Jr had a bit of a cheer when Danica Patrick led seven laps today. I've never been a great fan of the restrictor-plate tracks (even though they do produce a lot of action), and agree with Garrett that Talladega doesn't seem like a great choice for one of the Chase races. I hope NASCAR thoroughly rethink the Chase for next year, and do something about the qualifying procedure at tracks like this. Finally, I know rules are written for a reason, but I thought that NASCAR's decision to penalize Terry Labonte was very petty. As I mentioned in my preview, today was Terry's last Sprint Cup race, and his team surprised him with a paint scheme which paid tribute to previous championship winning sponsors with a different color on each side. NASCAR ruled the paint scheme illegal on Friday, but Terry had to use the car for qualifying, with the team saying they'd change the paint scheme for the race. Today, NASCAR sent Terry to the back of the field from 9th for modifying the decals on the car. I accept that the paint scheme was against the rules and had to be changed, but enforcing a ridiculously severe penalty for a driver's 890th race seems completely unneccesary and, in my opinion, reflects badly on those in charge. Don't forget, it was only last week that Matt Kenseth suffered the same punishment for removing a loose decal at NASCAR's request. Maybe he should have removed the loose sticker by ramming his car into several other drivers on pit lane - that way he's have just got a fine and a slap on the wrist!

I don't know whether it was the fault of the drivers or the new format, but for whatever reason, yesterday's qualifying didn't work for me. It's a shame that Ricky missed out as he was 10th in second practice, and briefly held the 17th spot in the first qualifying session until NASCAR worked out that he hadn't crossed the line in time. Some of the races only get 43 entries - it had to happen on one where there were 46!

This week it's the third and final race in the Contender round from 'Dega. Four more drivers will be eliminated, and there are likely to be at least a couple of big names amongst them. After looking at the practice times, I knew qualifying would be interesting because several of the drivers who were fast in the first practice were slow in the second and vice versa. In the end I got to watch the strangest qualifying I can remember. Talledega is a restrictor-plate track, and today saw the first use of a new format for this type of circuit. Each session was five minutes long, and the first was split into "A" and "B" groups with 23 cars in each. What followed was an hour of chaos and confusion from everyone involved. I missed the first couple of minutes, but I don't think anyone was on the track. Despite the short window for qualifying, no one wanted to go on track by themselves. With about two minutes to go, about half the drivers took to the track, and were joined precariously by the other half of the drivers after a lap. Everyone seemed to want to run different speeds and lines, but they managed to get times on the board. The commentators pointed out how chaotic the "A" group had been, and predicted that if the "B" group went out early, they could build up to a good speed and beat all of the "A" group. Obviously no one told the drivers or crew chiefs, because they all moved their cars to somewhere on pit lane and waited until there was only two minutes to go (just like the first group). Again, no one wanted to lead, and they broke up into small clusters of three or four cars. After doing a couple of slow warm-up laps, at least one of these clusters failed to cross the line in time to do a fast lap. For some reason it took NASCAR about ten minutes to determine who'd made the flag, and the qualifying order kept changing. Joey Logano must have been right on the line, because he was intially shown well inside the top ten, but then back in 39th and ended up with 40th. Most disappointingly, Ricky Stenhouse Jr failed to make the field for the first time in his Sprint Cup career. Jeff Gordon only scraped through in what was eventually given as 43rd and last place. He admitted afterwards that they'd got their timings wrong. You'd have thought that the drivers might have changed their behavior for round two of qualifying, but they didn't. Carl Edwards tried going out a little earlier, but did a lap and returned to pit lane when no one joined him. When they did get on the track, the outcome was just as random and unpredictable as the first two sessions. Although Jimmie Johnson came in second, the fastest time was set by Travis Kvapil. For round three of qualifying, only four Chase drivers remained among the final 12. In the end it was Brian Vickers who took pole, with Jimmie Johnson joining him on the front row. Ryan Blaney (making his second Sprint Cup start) set the fourth fastest time, just in front of teammate Brad Keselowski. Travis Kvapil, Michael McDowell and Michael Annett are also names that you don't see starting in the top ten very often. Terry Labonte starts in ninth for his last top division race. His car had a different color scheme on each side for qualifying to pay tribute to previous winning designs. The color scheme will revert to normal for the race (as NASCAR insist on both sides being the same). With all the madness, I've probably left something out! Here's the final lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Brian Vickers 2. Jimmie Johnson 3. AJ Allmendinger 4. Ryan Blaney 5. Brad Keselowski 6. Michael McDowell 7. Travis Kvapil 8. Kasey Kahne 9. Terry Labonte 10. Michael Annett 11. Ryan Newman 12. Martin Truex Jr. 13. Matt Kenseth 14. Alex Bowman 15. Carl Edwards 16. Trevor Bayne 17. Aric Almirola 18. Kurt Busch 19. Casey Mears 20. Paul Menard 21. David Gilliland 22. Cole Whitt 23. Mike Wallace 24. Greg Biffle 25. David Ragan 26. Marcos Ambrose 27. Danica Patrick 28. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 29. Landon Cassill 30. Austin Dillon 31. Jamie McMurray 32. JJ Yeley 33. Clint Bowyer 34. Michael Waltrip 35. Josh Wise 36. Reed Sorenson 37. Tony Stewart 38. Denny Hamlin 39. Kevin Harvick 40. Joey Logano 41. Kyle Busch 42. Kyle Larson 43. Jeff Gordon Going home this week are Ricky Stenhouse Jr , Justin Allgaier and Joe Nemechek. Nemechek had originally made it to the second session, but was later eliminated for a technical infringement, reinstating Reed Sorenson. The last seven drivers, including five Chase drivers, qualified on owner points rather than a fast time! With quick drivers at the back, there's bound to be some action tomorrow. Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski will both drop to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments. The GEICO 500 from the Talladega Superspeedway is this Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

Well, it's just over 48 hours since the Charlotte penalties were handed out, so I thought I'd check the online reaction. The people writing the news stories were either in general agreement with NASCAR, or neutral. The comments below the stories weren't. There was definitely a difference of opinion about whether Tony Stewart deserved his punishment, and also about whether Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth should've been punished. Brad Keselowski was a different matter, with a huge majority of comments saying that NASCAR had effectively let him off with a slap on the wrist rather than give a meaningful punishment. Suggestions ranged from much larger fines to parking Keselowski for at least one race. I know NASCAR are probably loving all the publicity this story has generated, but let's not forget that Brad Keselowski would probably be facing serious criminal charges if he'd acted that way outside the track.

I found a website that said Brad Keselowski earns $10m in wages and winnings, and another $1.4m in sponsorship. At that rate, and ignoring taxes, the fine will take him just over a day and a half to pay off - not much punishment! Formula 1 drivers all have to hold a driving super license to race. This costs them a lot of money (€10,000/$12,800 for the basic license in 2012) , and considerably more if they're successful, as they have to pay thousands extra for each point they score. Just like regular drivers' licenses over here (and in many other countries), they can get penalty points on their license for bad driving etc. If they get 12 points in a year, they get parked for a race. I just don't see NASCAR having the courage to park one of their popular drivers. American audiences seem to be a lot more prudish than audiences on this side of the Atlantic when it comes to bad language. A couple of years ago, one of the F1 drivers accidentally said the "f" word during the post-race podium interview. Admittedly, English wasn't his first language, but the broadcaster just followed the usual procedure of apologizing for any offense caused, and that was the end of the matter. In Ireland, I doubt if it would even get mentioned. I certainly don't think that something said in the heat of the moment immediately after an intense sporting event like a NASCAR race needs anything more than a slap on the wrist. I can see why NASCAR would want to keep the excitement going until the last race, but the Chase feels very artificial and quite unfair. Theoretically, a driver could win every race before the Chase and still get knocked out at the end of the second round (I'm guessing the bonus points for wins would carry them through the first round). Formula 1 introduced a gimmick this year where the last race carries double points. Many people opposed the idea, and with three races left, we now have a very close two-horse race for the title, and many are regretting the idea. The idea has already been dropped from next year's plans. Unlike major US sports, soccer (or football as we call it) includes promotions and relegations at the end of each season where teams move up or down from one division to another. Generally, the bottom three teams move down, but only the top team in the lower division is automatically promoted. The other two places are decided through play-offs between the teams which finished second to fifth. This shows that some end-of-season devices can keep audience interest alive, but I think NASCAR seriously needs to adjust their way of doing it. Won't Kyle Larson have something to say about that? Surely it's his car that normally has the target sign on it .

NASCAR have just announced the penalties for the post-race fracas at Charlotte. Brad Keselowski is being fined $50,000 and Tony Stewart is being fined $25,000. Both drivers are on probation until November 12. Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth are not being penalized. The full story can be found here. Personally, I don't think the penalties are large enough. I'd also have made Brad Keselowski drive a car that's more age-appropriate to his behavior .

Thanks for the video, Garrett. Last night's race proved too late for me, and I had to miss the last 100 laps. There wasn't much to report in the part I saw - I think three engines blew and Dale Earnhardt Jr's shifter broke (it's not the first time that's happened to an HMS driver this year - they really should've fixed that problem by now). Normally I'd suggest that NASCAR slap the drivers involved in the post-race incident with large fines and race bans, but after seeing how they behaved, I think they should call in Supernanny and make the drivers sit on the Naughty Step until they stop behaving like children. Up until I saw that video, I thought the stupidest behavior of the night was by NASCAR themselves before the race. The way the commentators explained it was that NASCAR told Matt Kenseth's crew they had a loose decal on the right rear quarterpanel, and asked them to remove it. A team member then cut off the decal (as requested by NASCAR), and Matt Kenseth was sent to the back of the field for making "an unapproved adjustment" after the car had cleared inspection! Matt and his crew chief weren't happy to say the least.

wheel Loose wheels seem to affect NASCAR drivers from time to time. I Googled "hot pants" and it was one of the first pictures that appeared. Jo Ann Pflug is probably best known for playing Lt 'Dish' in the 1970 movie version of 'M*A*S*H' and for playing Samantha 'Big Jack' Jack in the first season on 'The Fall Guy'. You can see her filmography here.

There was a bright moon for qualifying at the Charlotte Motor Speedway tonight. Jimmie Johnson had a wobble just as he was starting his first qualifying lap, and had to abort the run. He went back to pit lane, and waited until the last few minutes to have a second try. He got through the first session in 11th. Tony Stewart also had a a bad first run, and radioed that he couldn't even go flat on the out lap. He eventually made it through in 16th. All the Chase drivers made it made the cut in the first session, although Matt Kenseth was on the bubble in 24th. Twenty one of the cars beat the old lap record. Despite two attempts, Ricky Stenhouse Jr couldn't get higher than 28th (which was slightly better than his position in first practice!). In the second qualifying session, only seven of the twelve Chase drivers made it through to the final round. Those not making the cut were Joey Logano (13th), Brad Keselowski (17th), Kasey Kahne (19th), Jimmie Johnson (21st) and Matt Kenseth (22nd). In the third qualifying session, half of the drivers waited until there was less than 90 seconds left before setting a time. In the end it's good news for Lizzy this week, with Kyle Busch taking pole position. I'm sure Garrett won't be too disappointed with second place for Jeff Gordon. Gordon's teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr, starts back in ninth. For the first time in a couple of weeks, Kevin Harvick will have cars in front of him as he starts in seventh. Here's the full lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Kyle Busch 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Tony Stewart 5. Ryan Newman 6. Paul Menard 7. Kevin Harvick 8. Brian Vickers 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr 10. Carl Edwards 11. Kurt Busch 12. Greg Biffle 13. Joey Logano 14. Danica Patrick 15. Aric Almirola 16. Justin Allgaier 17. Brad Keselowski 18. Jamie McMurray 19. Kasey Kahne 20. Austin Dillon 21. Jimmie Johnson 22. Matt Kenseth 23. Martin Truex Jr 24. Kyle Larson 25. Clint Bowyer 26. AJ Allmendinger 27. Marcos Ambrose 28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 29. Casey Mears 30. Reed Sorenson 31. Michael McDowell 32. Landon Cassill 33. Alex Bowman 34. David Ragan 35. Michael Annett 36. Cole Whitt 37. David Gilliland 38. Josh Wise 39. Brett Moffitt 40. Timmy Hill 41. J.J. Yeley 42. Corey Lajoie 43. Blake Koch With 44 cars on the entry list, Trevor Bayne is the unlucky driver going home. The Bank of America 500 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway is this Saturday night at 7:30 PM ET. This week it's live on ABC. For those of you looking for some motorsport on Sunday, why not try the first F1 race from Russia. The new course has been built around the 2014 Winter Olympics park at Sochi. First practice is still a few hours away, so I have no idea what to expect. The race is live at 7 AM ET, although NBC Sports will show it again at 1:30 PM ET.

pants Hot pants are not a million miles away from Daisy Dukes. Here's Jo Ann Pflug (aka. Helen Hogan from 'Route 7-11') to illustrate my reply .

The first race in the Contender round of the Chase was pretty much dominated by Joey Logano and tire issues. Logano took the win in Kansas to secure his spot in the Eliminator round of the Chase after leading 122 of the 267 laps - exactly twice as many as Kevin Harvick, the driver with the next highest number of laps led. It wasn't an easy win for Logano as rookie Kyle Larson pushed him all the way to the flag. It can't be long before Larson gets his first win. The Hollywood Casino 400 was not a good race for Hendrick Motorsports (sorry Garrett ). Jimmie Johnson had the worst starting position of all the Chase contenders, and things only got worse on lap 85 when contact with Greg Biffle sent him into the inside wall. The crash also involved Justin Allgaier and Josh Wise. Although the team got his car back on track, he finished 87 laps down in 40th place, making qualification for the next round much harder. The news wasn't much better for Dale Earnhardt Jr. He led 45 laps, but hit the wall hard on lap 122. Interviewed afterwards he said "the surface of the tire unwound all the way across the surface". He finished 63 laps down in 39th place. Kasey Kahne also scraped the wall on lap 236. He remained on the lead lap after the caution, but finished two laps down in 22nd place. Jeff Gordon had the best result of all the HMS drivers with 14th place. He started off strongly, and spent the early part of the race well inside the top 10. Unfortunately, after the caution for Junior's crash, Gordon's pit crew let a tire roll out of the pit box and across pit lane. One of his crew members even tripped over a hose as he tried to stop it. The penalty put Gordon to the back of the field, so he did well to make it back up to 14th. Another Chase contender who hit the wall was Brad Keselowski. His crash on lap 159 sent him to the garage, and left him with 36th place, 45 laps down. Kevin Harvick didn't crash, but he did have to pit with a flat tire on lap 215. He led over 40 laps from pole, and 61 in total, but eventually finished in 12th place. Ricky Stenhouse Jr had another fairly anonymous race. He started in 23rd, and although he briefly made it up to 15th, he soon slipped back, I'm assuming due to a pit stop (it was never mentioned or shown). Considering the number of top drivers who had trouble, 19th isn't a great result. Lizzy will probably be happy with the results as Kyle Busch took third place and second in the Chase standings, while Austin Dillon had a strong finish in eighth. Here's the full result: 1. Joey Logano 2. Kyle Larson 3. Kyle Busch 4. Martin Truex Jr. 5. Carl Edwards 6. Ryan Newman 7. Denny Hamlin 8. Austin Dillon 9. Paul Menard 10. Brian Vickers 11. AJ Allmendinger 12. Kevin Harvick 13. Matt Kenseth 14. Jeff Gordon 15. Greg Biffle 16. Danica Patrick 17. Tony Stewart 18. Clint Bowyer 19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 20. Marcos Ambrose 21. Landon Cassill 22. Kasey Kahne 23. Cole Whitt 24. Michael Annett 25. Jamie McMurray 26. Reed Sorenson 27. David Ragan 28. Casey Mears 29. J.J. Yeley 30. David Gilliland 31. Aric Almirola 32. Alex Bowman 33. Timmy Hill 34. Mike Wallace 35. Michael McDowell 36. Brad Keselowski 37. Joey Gase 38. Josh Wise 39. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 40. Jimmie Johnson 41. Justin Allgaier 42. Kurt Busch 43. Mike Bliss Next week's race is in Charlotte. It's a Saturday night race, so I probably won't get to see all of it. I've checked already, and the qualifying is on Thursday, so I should be able to do the preview as usual (if I remember ).

Thanks. It helps when I remember to watch the qualifying . I got to see the whole race this week, so I could knock a review together. It won't be until tomorrow because I was up at 6 am to watch the Japanese Grand Prix, and I'm far too tired to make a good job of it tonight.

HazzardNet member wekke names the location as Cedar Lane, Social Circle on a Dutch Dukes of Hazzard forum. He's also put together a PDF file containing many of the filming locations in Georgia and California with plenty of "then and now" pictures. The front page has been designed to look like the Hazzard County Gazette. You can find the PDF file here - the Repo Men house is on page 11. Cedar Lane hasn't yet been covered by Google StreetView, and even the aerial view is a bit blurry, so I'll have to take wekke's word for the location. It appears to be a private house set back from the road, so I don't know whether you'll be able to get access. You can also find some good "then and now" pictures of the Georgia locations at the Hazzard County Car Club, although they don't give any addresses. The page with the Repo Men house can be found here.

This week's action comes from Kansas with the first race in the Contender round of the Chase. Previous results count for nothing as the remaining 12 drivers all have their scores reset to 3000 points. After all the drivers had made their first runs in the first qualifying session, Chase contenders Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth were outside the time they needed to progress with Johnson in 30th and Kenseth in 33rd. Matt Kenseth made a second run and managed to improve his time, although only up to 27th. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson had an impressive spin on his second attempt. He didn't hit anything, but there were clouds of smoke from his tires and it briefly brought out a red flag. As the drivers are only allowed one set of tires per session, there was no chance of Johnson getting to the next round, and he starts in 32nd place. The 24 fastest drivers were about to start the second qualifying session when there was a short delay so that the officials could check the rule book. A late run by Kyle Larson at the end of the first session had pushed Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin into the 24th and 25th positions with identical times, and only one was could go through. In F1 it would've been the first driver to set the time, but NASCAR have some complicated rules concerning places in the standings. As soon as they confirmed Ryan Newman in the 24 spot, the second session began. There's not much to report from the second session. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was 16th in practice and 18th in the first qualifying session, but back to his usual mid-field place of 23rd for the race. This time it was Kyle Busch's turn to make a late run with Paul Menard being pushed out. In the final session, Kevin Harvick took pole for the second week in a row (and the eighth time this season). He's joined on the front row by Brian Vickers. Jeff Gordon was fastest in practice, but finished a very consistent 5th, 6th and 5th in the three qualifying sessions. He told his team that that was all there was in the car. Gordon is back to his regular black/red colors this week. Speaking of color schemes, Clint Bowyer will be easy to spot this week in his special pink paint job designed to raise awareness in the fight against breast cancer. This probably belongs in the news thread, by while we're talking about Clint Bowyer, he became a father for the first time this week. I assume he's being paid too much because he named the baby boy Cash! Here's the full lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Kevin Harvick 2. Brian Vickers 3. Aric Almirola 4. Joey Logano 5. Jeff Gordon 6. Brad Keselowski 7. Kyle Busch 8. Dale Earnhardt Jr 9. Tony Stewart 10. Kasey Kahne 11. Greg Biffle 12. Carl Edwards 13. Paul Menard 14. Jamie McMurray 15. Martin Truex Jr 16. Austin Dillon 17. Ryan Newman 18. Kyle Larson 19. Clint Bowyer 20. AJ Allmendinger 21. Justin Allgaier 22. Marcos Ambrose 23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 24. Kurt Busch 25. Denny Hamlin 26. Casey Mears 27. Matt Kenseth 28. Michael McDowell 29. Danica Patrick 30. Reed Sorenson 31. David Gilliland 32. Jimmie Johnson 33. Alex Bowman 34. Josh Wise 35. Landon Cassill 36. Michael Annett 37. David Ragan 38. J.J. Yeley 39. Cole Whitt 40. Timmy Hill 41. Mike Bliss 42. Joey Gase 43. Mike Wallace The Hollywood Casino 400 from the Kansas Speedway is this Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

Baked Mmmmm, Baked Alaska! The only thing I know about Nome is that one of the theories of how it got its name was a misreading by a British cartographer. A British officer had apparently written "? Name" on a map because he didn't know the name of the place. The mapmaker thought it said "C. Nome", short for "Cape Nome", and put that on his chart. The city took its name from the cape. As I said, this is just one theory, but it's my favorite .

I thought you might be quick with a review this week, Garrett . Ricky's crash also brought out a caution flag (which kept him on the lead lap), but the other three cautions were for debris. In the second half of the race, Ricky was running strongly just outside the top ten for a while. I'm not sure what happened to him in the closing laps because he suddenly slipped back to finish 19th. The Challenger round is over - next week is the start of the Contender round. My local team won another All-Ireland Senior Hurling final yesterday, and Europe beat the USA (again!) in an amazing conclusion to the Ryder Cup earlier today, so I guess you deserve something to celebrate .

Sorry Garrett, I beat you to the Tony Stewart verdict and the rule changes in the NASCAR news thread . This week it's the last race of the first round of the Chase, which means that four drivers won't be happy when they leave Dover. Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano have already booked their places in the Contender round by winning the last two races, but the other 10 places are up for grabs. In the first of the two qualifying sessions, Carl Edwards waited until there was less than five minutes left before setting a time. His late run was only good enough for 18th place, although Carl said afterwards that he thought he'd have been further down if he'd gone early. Jeff Gordon spent a lot of the first session about 10 places off the cut, but a his second run put him up to fourth. In the end, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer were the only drivers to improve on their second runs, pushing Danica Patrick down to 13th. Jeff Gordon briefly held the fastest time in the second session, but ended up in sixth. It looks like he's running the same color scheme as last week, so you might get a chance to see it this time around, Garrett . Jimmie Johnson also made it into the top ten, and they seem to think his car will be fast in the race. Fellow HMS driver Kasey Kahne rounded out the second session with 12th place. It's wasn't such good news for teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr, who starts down in 25th place. The pole winner this week was Kevin Harvick, making it seven poles this season. He's joined on the front row by Kyle Busch. Here's the full lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Kevin Harvick 2. Kyle Busch 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Brad Keselowski 5. Jamie McMurray 6. Jeff Gordon 7. Kyle Larson 8. Jimmie Johnson 9. Clint Bowyer 10. Austin Dillon 11. Brian Vickers 12. Kasey Kahne 13. Danica Patrick 14. Matt Kenseth 15. Tony Stewart 16. Joey Logano 17. Marcos Ambrose 18. Carl Edwards 19. Paul Menard 20. Ryan Newman 21. Aric Almirola 22. Kurt Busch 23. Justin Allgaier 24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 25. Dale Earnhardt Jr 26. Martin Truex Jr 27. Greg Biffle 28. AJ Allmendinger 29. Cole Whitt 30. Casey Mears 31. David Gilliland 32. Josh Wise 33. Reed Sorenson 34. Alex Bowman 35. Michael Annett 36. Landon Cassill 37. David Ragan 38. David Stremme 39. J.J. Yeley 40. Mike Bliss 41. Mike Wallace 42. Travis Kvapil 43. Timmy Hill The AAA 400 from the Dover International Speedway is this Sunday at 2:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

As no one else has jumped in, I thought I should post a quick race review and results list before the preview for Dover. I did watch the race at Loudon, but didn't make any notes, so I've cobbled this review together from memory, with some help from various online sources. Chase contender Denny Hamlin led 32 laps early in the race, but then his team had trouble getting fuel into his car and he had to make several pit stops. Although the team managed to fix the problem, Denny was involved in a wreck on lap 179, and eventually finished in 37th place. After a couple of cautions in the first half of the race, the commentators predicted many more after lap 200. In the end there were 15 cautions with 63 laps (over 20% of the total) being run behind the pace car. The commentators also mentioned the pressure on the pit crews during the Chase, and the number of small mistakes being made, such as a loose wheel for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kyle Busch damaged his car quite badly in a wreck just after Denny Hamlin. Luckily there were four cautions in the next 25 laps, so he still managed to finish 8th. Jeff Gordon spent most of the race in or around the top five, but a cut tire sent him into the wall on lap 292. He finished 26th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was also having a reasonable race, and had even spent some time in the top ten until contact with his teammate, Carl Edwards, sent him into the wall. The damage resulted in a tire rub which caused his tire to blow a few laps later, sending Ricky hard into the wall and ending his race on lap 264. He finished 39th. After a green-white-checker finish, the winner was Joey Logano, who claims his place in the next round. Here's the full result: 1. Joey Logano 2. Kyle Larson 3. Kevin Harvick 4. Jamie McMurray 5. Jimmie Johnson 6. Aric Almirola 7. Brad Keselowski 8. Kyle Busch 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr 10. Brian Vickers 11. Austin Dillon 12. Martin Truex Jr 13. AJ Allmendinger 14. Clint Bowyer 15. Paul Menard 16. Greg Biffle 17. Carl Edwards 18. Ryan Newman 19. Danica Patrick 20. Justin Allgaier 21. Matt Kenseth 22. Casey Mears 23. Kasey Kahne 24. Marcos Ambrose 25. Landon Cassill 26. Jeff Gordon 27. David Gilliland 28. Alex Bowman 29. Michael Annett 30. Tony Stewart 31. Reed Sorenson 32. Travis Kvapil 33. Josh Wise 34. Mike Wallace 35. Timmy Hill 36. Kurt Busch 37. Denny Hamlin 38. Cole Whitt 39. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 40. David Stremme 41. Corey Lajoie 42. David Ragan 43. Clay Rogers This weekend's race is the AAA 400 from the Dover International Speedway.

Earlier this week, NASCAR announced big changes to the rules for next year. They are said to improve safety, reduce costs and improve environmental impact. With all eyes on the Tony Stewart case, they may have been overlooked. Here are some of the changes: Horsepower will be reduced to 725 using a tapered spacer, although this is said to only reduce top speeds by 3 MPH. The rear spoiler adjustment will be reduced from 8 inches to 6 inches. The drivers will be able to adjust their own track bars. Rain tires will be available at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, and the cars will be equipped with wipers, a window defogger and a flashing rear light for these races. There will be a ban on all private testing, but the teams will still be able to participate in the NASCAR and Goodyear tests. There will no longer be a test at the Daytona International Speedway before the Daytona 500. NASCAR will also be making alterations to qualifying, the parts approval process and pit road officiating. A more complete list of changes and a video can be found here.

I think I agree, Hobie. The fact that Kevin Ward Jr was under the influence of marijuana at the time would seem to weaken the family's case. I assume Kevin was taking the drug recreationally, because I can't imagine that marijuana has any performance enhancing characteristics which would have benefitted Kevin in the race.

The grand jury have just announced that Tony Stewart will not be charged with the death of Kevin Ward Jr. TMZ somehow circulated the outcome over an hour ago, but I thought it best to wait for the official verdict before I posted anything. A toxicology report also revealed that Kevin Ward Jr was under the influence of marijuana at the time. Although there will be no criminal charges, it's still possible that Ward's family could bring a civil suit against Stewart for something like wrongful death. It's not hard to find news reports of the verdict - I happened to find the one on Yahoo! Sports.