HossC

I read this morning that Glen A Larson had passed away on Friday after a battle with cancer. He was 77. If you're a fan of 'The Dukes of Hazzard', you'll probably also be a fan of TV shows that were created/written/produced by Glen A Larson. His first hit series was 'Alias Smith and Jones', before being involved with shows like 'The Six Million Dollar Man', 'Battlestar Galactica', 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century', 'The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries', 'Magnum, P.I.', 'B.J. and the Bear', 'The Fall Guy', 'Knight Rider', 'Automan', 'The Highwayman' and 'Manimal'. A full list of his work can be found on IMDb. Here's a reminder of how Glen A Larson's name appeared at the end of shows (left is 'Knight Rider', right is 'The Fall Guy'): R.I.P. Glen Albert Larson (January 3, 1937 - November 14, 2014)

Jeff Gordon had a very strong race and led 161 of the 267 laps, often by a couple of seconds. A debris caution came out on lap 248, and Gordon and Hamlin stayed out when pretty much everyone else pitted. There was another caution on lap 255 (Alex Bowman and Blake Koch had an accident), and Gordon pitted then, putting him back in the field. Sounds like you know more about JJ's problems than I do. If the commentators mentioned it, I didn't hear them, and the lap-by-lap guide just said "Lap 210: Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, the competition director and VP of competition called by the tower to the Sprint Cup hauler after the race." Jeff Gordon probably should have taken the win today, but that would have been a bit of a farce for the Chase. After all, that would have been three out of the final four races being won by non-Chase drivers. Out of the four Chase drivers in the race today, I think Kevin Harvick most deserved the championship. At the lap 248 caution (where Gordon didn't pit), Joey Logano's car came off the jack before the left side tires were fitted, and it took his crew quite a while to get his car off the ground so they could complete the stop. Ryan Newman made great progress through the field, but didn't actually lead any laps. Other than Jeff Gordon, the only drivers to lead laps were Kevin Harvick (54), Denny Hamlin (50), Kurt Busch (1) and Blake Koch (1). Ricky Stenhouse Jr had yet another anonymous race. His only mention in the lap-by-lap guide was on lap 236 when the caution for AJ Allmendinger's crash gave him the free pass. I though he might make up a few places near the end, but he finished 22nd (after starting 22nd!). Kyle Busch ended the race 21 laps down after part of his drivetrain broke as he left his pit box during a stop on lap 117. The guys in the studio afterwards were falling over each other saying how great the Chase had been this year. Admittedly, if your driver was one of the four contenders in today's race, it was an exciting finish, but I'd have to say that I didn't read one fan comment in support of the current setup when I was looking around a couple of days ago. Even the ones who generally liked the idea of the Chase thought that it needed modifying for next year. Certainly as I watched the first half of the race it was hard to believe that Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski weren't still in with a chance. I'll qualify Keselowski's inclusion in that list by saying that he deserved to be there by his results on the track rather than his behavior off of it. Maybe next year NASCAR will give out more appropriate and consistent punishments, but I'll probably miss them while I'm watching the flying pig races . For anyone suffering from withdrawal next Sunday, why not get up early and watch the final F1 race of the year. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix starts at 8 AM ET.

The time has finally come for the last race of the season, and only four drivers are in with a chance of winning. I know Garrett was upset at last week's result, but there's a small consolation below. I hope ESPN don't end every commercial break with Jeff Gordon's crash at Texas like they did last week - it got really boring! Qualifying was split into three rounds this week, with sessions of 25, 10 and 5 minutes. Brad Keselowski was one of the first drivers out, and his time remained top of the leaderboard until the end of the opening session. All of the Chase drivers made the cut this week. The commentators said to watch Kyle Larson, but he could only manage 27th. Right behind Kyle was Tony Stewart. Danica Patrick was third in the earlier practice session, but she starts the race in 32nd place. None of the drivers who tried a second run managed to get inside the top 24. Brad Keselowski set an early fast time again in the second session, but was immediately beaten by Kurt Busch. Jimmie Johnson later managed to split them with his time. Ryan Newman was the only Chase driver who didn't get into the top 12, although Denny Hamlin had to make a second run to get fifth with 16 seconds left on the clock. Joey Logano scraped in in 12th. This is Marcos Ambrose's last NASCAR race - he flies back to Australia on Monday to prepare for V8 racing. He starts in 17th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was 15th in the first session, but his initial 12th place was pushed down to 22nd by the end of the second session. Last week I think he finished one place higher than his starting position, and he didn't even get mentioned once on the lap-by-lap feed. The last session was short and uneventful. The usual suspects went out early and set fast times, but it was Jeff Gordon who finished up with pole position. The commentators said it's his first pole in Miami, and the 200th pole for Hendrick Motor Sports. Kevin Harvick was the highest Chase driver in 5th. Here's the final starting lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Jeff Gordon 2. Kurt Busch 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Brad Keselowski 5. Kevin Harvick 6. Clint Bowyer 7. Kyle Busch 8. Denny Hamlin 9. Joey Logano 10. Martin Truex Jr 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr 12. Jimmie Johnson 13. Brian Vickers 14. Justin Allgaier 15. Carl Edwards 16. Paul Menard 17. Marcos Ambrose 18. Aric Almirola 19. Jamie McMurray 20. Greg Biffle 21. Ryan Newman 22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 23. Kasey Kahne 24. Austin Dillon 25. AJ Allmendinger 26. Trevor Bayne 27. Kyle Larson 28. Tony Stewart 29. Casey Mears 30. Brian Scott 31. David Ragan 32. Danica Patrick 33. Landon Cassill 34. J.J. Yeley 35. David Gilliland 36. Reed Sorenson 37. Josh Wise 38. Michael McDowell 39. Michael Annett 40. Blake Koch 41. Alex Bowman 42. Cole Whitt 43. Brett Moffitt Only 43 cars were entered this week, so they all made the race. The Ford EcoBoost 400 from the Homestead-Miami Speedway is this Sunday at 3:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN.

castle (There's a Belle Isle Castle in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland)

This song is rather a contrast to Hobie's current listening material. I only heard the track for the first time last week, but I've played it many times since. Build Me Up From Bones - Sarah Jarosz The instrument in the video that looks like an eight-string guitar is apparently an octave mandolin. One of the first comments on YouTube says, "See Taylor swift. This is how you write a love song."

The new Snickers commercial in the UK features Mr Bean. It's a little early to be mentioning the festive "C" word, but here's department store John Lewis's seasonal commercial about Monty the Penguin. It seems to be the one that people are talking about this year.

For the penultimate race of the year, qualifying was split into two sessions: one of 30 minutes and one of 10 minutes. Jeff Gordon briefly had the best time of the first session, but ended up sixth. Kevin Harvick set the fifth quickest time, despite taking one hand off the wheel to shield his eyes from the sun. With the sun getting lower in the sky, many drivers put pieces of tape on their windshields to act a makeshift sun visors for their second runs. No one hit the wall or had a spin, but Tony Stewart's car did have a little wiggle on his way to qualifying 29th. Ricky Stenhouse Jr's second run moved him up from 35th to 16th, although he got pushed down to 18th by the end. Chase driver Carl Edwards made a late run, but couldn't improve on his 13th place. Ryan Newman was the other Chase driver to miss the cut - he'll start in 20th place. Once again, Joey Logano got a new lap record with the fastest time of the first session. The second qualifying session was uneventful. A couple of drivers went out early, but most chose to wait until the last few minutes to set a time. This week it was Denny Hamlin who set the fastest time to claim his third pole of the year. He'll be joined on the front row by Brad Keselowski. Kyle Busch's sixth place made him the only non-Chase driver in the top seven, just ahead of Jeff Gordon. Here's the final starting lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Denny Hamlin 2. Brad Keselowski 3. Kevin Harvick 4. Joey Logano 5. Matt Kenseth 6. Kyle Busch 7. Jeff Gordon 8. Kyle Larson 9. Brian Vickers 10. Kurt Busch 11. Paul Menard 12. Casey Mears 13. Carl Edwards 14. Martin Truex Jr 15. Jimmie Johnson 16. Dale Earnhardt Jr 17. Clint Bowyer 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 19. Jamie McMurray 20. Ryan Newman 21. Marcos Ambrose 22. Kasey Kahne 23. Aric Almirola 24. AJ Allmendinger 25. Austin Dillon 26. Ty Dillon 27. Justin Allgaier 28. Greg Biffle 29. Tony Stewart 30. Michael Annett 31. Michael McDowell 32. Danica Patrick 33. Reed Sorenson 34. David Gilliland 35. David Ragan 36. Josh Wise 37. Alex Bowman 38. Landon Cassill 39. Mike Bliss 40. Cole Whitt 41. J.J. Yeley 42. Joey Gase 43. Mike Wallace With 44 cars entered this week, Clay Rogers was the unlucky driver who didn't make the race. The Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 from the Phoenix International Raceway is this Sunday at 3:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN. I don't follow the Nationwide Series, but I remember Garrett saying we should keep an eye on Chase Elliot this season. Still only 18 years old, he stands a chance of being crowned this year's champion at tomorrow's race. That would make him the youngest ever champion, and all in his rookie year. Sunday is also the penultimate race on the F1 calendar, with the action coming from Brazil. The drivers found the newly resurfaced Interlagos track slippery in practice today, and that could get worse with rain being forecast for tomorrow's qualifying session. The race starts at 11:00 AM ET on Sunday, so y'all can watch the F1 race and get something to eat before the NASCAR race starts .

I'd probably feel different about things if it was my driver getting a puncture so close to the end of the race. I'm sure you're right that Gordon was just taking the normal racing line, but he should have been aware that Keselowski was there. I haven't studied all the available camera angles, but it's possible that Gordon's injury was the result of an elbow or shoulder in the face which the perpetrator didn't even know about. It's quite easy to get hurt in a brawl without being punched! NASCAR obviously love the attention that this is getting, so why not change things around at Miami Homestead. Instead of a race, the drivers will line up and take turns to punch Brad Keselowski until this year's champion is decided. It would be a lot more environmentally friendly . I was surprised that Gordon didn't get fined for his language, but to paraphrase one comment I read, he shouldn't get punished for telling the truth .

After all the post-race action and comment, no one posted the final result (you can look away now, Garrett). 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Kevin Harvick 3. Brad Keselowski 4. Kyle Busch 5. Jamie McMurray 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr 7. Kyle Larson 8. Kurt Busch 9. Carl Edwards 10. Denny Hamlin 11. Tony Stewart 12. Joey Logano 13. Greg Biffle 14. AJ Allmendinger 15. Ryan Newman 16. Brian Vickers 17. Paul Menard 18. Casey Mears 19. Martin Truex Jr 20. Justin Allgaier 21. Austin Dillon 22. Michael Annett 23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 24. Aric Almirola 25. Matt Kenseth 26. Cole Whitt 27. Marcos Ambrose 28. Clint Bowyer 29. Jeff Gordon 30. Michael McDowell 31. J.J. Yeley 32. David Ragan 33. Reed Sorenson 34. David Gilliland 35. Timmy Hill 36. Danica Patrick 37. Joey Gase 38. Kasey Kahne 39. Trevor Bayne 40. Brett Moffitt 41. Josh Wise 42. Alex Bowman 43. Landon Cassill I'm not sure what happened to Ricky Stenhouse Jr in the race. He was a lot further up the field in practice, but after making up two places at the start, he slipped back and spent most of the race in around 30th position. He finally got back on the lead lap with nine of the planned number of laps to go! It also looks like I jinxed Landon Cassill as he only completed just over a third of the full race distance!

I tried writing this reply last night, but I was too tired to make all of it coherent. I hope this makes more sense . I'm an outsider here. I've only been watching NASCAR for a couple of years, and do not particularly follow any of the drivers involved in today's incidents, although I have formed opinions on some of them. For anyone who missed the incident, it can be found here. The post-race brawl is here. I've just watched the video again, and I'd have to say that Gordon appears to come down the track more than Keselowski moves up (check the in-car view at about 45 seconds into the first video above). Collisions in Formula 1 are often investigated by race stewards either during or after the race (it's supposed to be a non-contact sport, and one of the drivers in yesterday's race got a seven place grid penalty for the next race after he hit another car), but I think this one would be called a "racing incident" - i.e. no action would be taken. The side to side contact could just as easily have resulted in a puncture for Keselowski or no serious damage to either car. I know Gordon had driven around the outside of Johnson a little earlier, but I'm still confused as to why he didn't choose the inside for the restart. Of course, spinning his tires on the restart didn't help either. Also, I think Gordon's pit crew made a bad call in changing his right tires first and sending him out before they'd changed the punctured tire, even though he was already too late to avoid going a lap down - it was all a bit messy. I can see why Gordon's emotions would be running high, but I can't condone any driver resorting to a fight. Watching the second video again, I'm not sure whether Gordon or Keselowski were actually going to fight until Harvick pushed them together, even though someone could be heard repeatedly shouting "kick his a**". I'm not quite sure what NASCAR can do about the fight, seeing as they did nothing a couple of weeks ago. Then again, they're not exactly famous for consistency. I look forward to seeing the outcome since Keselowski is on probation. Yet again, NASCAR will get loads of free publicity for their Chase. Either way, Brad Keselowski now has a reputation amongst viewers and drivers, and, as this incident proves, it may be difficult to shift. You can respect a driver who takes chances and goes for gaps when the moves come off - it makes for very exciting racing. If you can nail an overtaking move whilst giving the other driver just enough space, you're very talented. If there's a 50/50 chance you'll crash and take both cars out of the race, then maybe you're not good enough to be there. I've seen the same thing in F1. There was a young driver a couple of years ago who was fast, but caused several accidents, and even got suspended from one race because of a particularly bad one. Some drivers like him disappear at the end of the year, but to his credit, he's come back as a much better driver. The really talented drivers trust each other implicitly, and can go halfway around a twisting track with their wheels just inches apart. If you're being paid the big money, you should be able to do the job. Lizzy, like you, I was surprised at the language that Jeff Gordon used in the post-brawl interview, and that no one on-screen commented on it. I noticed that the word was bleeped when the interview was repeated a few minutes later. I know that broadcasters in the US seem to get in a lot of trouble for allowing things like that to go out. To summarize, I was all in favor of Brad Keselowski being parked for a race after his actions of a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not sure he did anything wrong this time. Garrett, as hard as it is to hear this, Jeff Gordon and his crew made mistakes before and after the restart, both on and off the track. I'm not blaming him either - as I said above, in F1 this would be a racing incident. The fight is a separate matter, as is the bad language. On the plus side, we had another non-Chase driver winning a race, so there are still no guaranteed entries into the last round.

All eyes are on Texas this weekend with just three races of the season left. So far Lewis Hamilton has been fastest in the first two practices sessions, but I guess y'all didn't come here to read about the Formula 1 US Grand Prix from Austin . OK, so just under 200 miles away in Fort Worth, there's just three races of the season left. This is the middle race in the Eliminator Round of the Chase. This week there were three rounds of qualifying, but the way the drivers went out one or two at a time, it looked quite like the old style of qualifying where everyone got one run. Jimmie Johnson set the early pace in the first session, and hung on to the fastest time until the end. Danica Patrick and Trevor Bayne were among the only drivers to set a faster time on their second run, although neither made it through to the second session. Brad Keselowski was the only Chase driver who didn't progress - he'll start in 26th place. The big news from the second session was that Tony Stewart set a new lap record at over 200 MPH. Ricky Stenhouse Jr was 10th in practice and 12th in the first qualifying session, but could only make 18th in the second session. Still, that's a few places higher than usual. Denny Hamlin became the second Chase driver to be eliminated for qualifying - he starts in the race in 20th place. Unlike the first two sessions, no one wanted to make the first move in the third session, despite it only being five minutes long. Eventually, Matt Kenseth was first out on track, and ended up setting a time that was good enough for pole on Sunday. He'll be joined on the front row by Jeff Gordon who was a massive one thousandth of a second slower! The good news continues for Garrett as Jimmie Johnson took the third spot and Dale Earnhardt Jr was 12th. For Lizzy, Kyle Busch gets a top 10 start in ninth. Here's the final starting lineup (Chase drivers are highlighted in yellow): 1. Matt Kenseth 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Jimmie Johnson 4. Kurt Busch 5. Kevin Harvick 6. Tony Stewart 7. Ryan Newman 8. Martin Truex Jr 9. Kyle Busch 10. Joey Logano 11. Carl Edwards 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr 13. Brian Vickers 14. Kasey Kahne 15. Paul Menard 16. Marcos Ambrose 17. Kyle Larson 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 19. Greg Biffle 20. Denny Hamlin 21. Jamie McMurray 22. Aric Almirola 23. AJ Allmendinger 24. Clint Bowyer 25. Trevor Bayne 26. Brad Keselowski 27. Danica Patrick 28. Michael McDowell 29. Austin Dillon 30. Justin Allgaier 31. David Gilliland 32. Reed Sorenson 33. Michael Annett 34. Landon Cassill 35. Alex Bowman 36. Josh Wise 37. David Ragan 38. Casey Mears 39. J.J. Yeley 40. Cole Whitt 41. Brett Moffitt 42. Timmy Hill 43. Joey Gase There were only 43 drivers again this week, so no one had to go home. The AAA Texas 500 from the Texas Motor Speedway is this Sunday at 3:00 PM ET. It's live on ESPN. Unfortunately, the Formula 1 race is on at roughly the same time, so I'll probably miss a chunk of the NASCAR race. I hope it's not up to me to write the review this week .

magic (Animal Magic was a popular British wildlife show which was on children's TV when I was growing up)

You can, but the album is $15.99 (reduced from $19.99) and the postage is $32.50 to Europe (it's $6.50 in the US). If you'd backed the Kickstarter with a pledge of $25, you'd have got the CD and download with only a $10 postage charge to send the CD outside the US. Amazon's UK site are asking £16.99 for the CD with free UK postage (I'm not sure how much they want for postage to the Netherlands), or £7.99 for the download. The album is released tomorrow (October 28, 2014). The track listing is: 1. Merry Christmas 2. Christmas Time is Here 3. Santa Claus is Coming to Town 4. Cool Yule 5. I'll Be Home For Christmas 6. Even the Snow 7. Love 8. Sleigh Ride 9. Christmas Waltz 10. Johnny, It's Cold Outside 11. The Secret of Christmas 12. Coal 13. Blue Xmas 14. Holiday Season 15. Ponch & John 16. On a Quiet Christmas Morn 17. Silver Bells 18. Egg Nog

Thanks for the review, Garrett. I think you covered most of the important points. It was good to see Ricky Stenhouse Jr on the front row for the final restart after he'd been nudged out by Landon Cassill on lap 132. I think it was well worth the gamble not to pit at the last caution, and he may have ended up with a top 10 finish if he'd restarted in third instead of second. In the end, he nearly got pushed into the wall as they went three wide. Speaking of Landon Cassill, he's been running strongly in the last couple of races. It doesn't seem long ago that he was usually one of the first retirements at each race. The result was obviously a good one for Dale Earnhardt Jr, and it was intersting hearing him talk about how his father's clock had pride of place in their house when he was growing up. If the same situation had happened in an F1 race, I think the team would have told Junior to let Jeff Gordon past. Mercedes currently have the top two drivers in the Drivers' Championship, and like Rick Hendrick's drivers, they are free to race so long as they don't hit each other (which they haven't done since Belgium). However, if a certain end-of-season result was beneficial to the team as a whole, team orders would be given. I appreciate that the situation is different because each F1 team only has two cars, and each car within a team has the same sponsors. Still, with only two possible automatic entries for the final race left, Jeff Gordon is in the best position.

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.