First, the starting lineup:

		Pos		Car		Driver		Team		Time		Speed
Row 1:		1		78		Joe Nemechek		National Day of Prayer Chevrolet		51.103		187.386
		2		20		Tony Stewart		Home Depot Toyota		51.237		186.896
Row 2:		3		70		Ken Schrader		Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet		51.346		186.499
		4		84		AJ Allmendinger		Red Bull Toyota		51.367		186.423
Row 3:		5		18		Kyle Busch		M&M's Toyota		51.369		186.416
		6		6		David Ragan		AAA Travel Ford		51.400		186.304
Row 4:		7		11		Denny Hamlin		FedEx Freight Toyota		51.401		186.300
		8		83		Brian Vickers		Red Bull Toyota		51.435		186.177
Row 5:		9		88		Dale Earnhardt Jr.		AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet		51.491		185.974
		10		48		Jimmie Johnson		Lowe's Chevrolet		51.529		185.837
Row 6:		11		99		Carl Edwards		Office Depot Ford		51.566		185.704
		12		21		Jon Wood		Little Debbie Snack Cakes Ford		51.618		185.517
Row 7:		13		17		Matt Kenseth		DeWalt Ford		51.622		185.502
		14		28		Travis Kvapil		Northern Tool + Equipment Ford		51.627		185.484
Row 8:		15		45		Kyle Petty		Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge		51.628		185.481
		16		09		Sterling Marlin		Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet		51.677		185.305
Row 9:		17		10		Patrick Carpentier #		LifeLock Dodge		51.689		185.262
		18		19		Elliott Sadler		GARMIN/Best Buy Dodge		51.710		185.187
Row 10:		19		66		Scott Riggs		State Water Heaters Chevrolet		51.745		185.061
		20		24		Jeff Gordon		DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet		51.756		185.022
Row 11:		21		12		Ryan Newman		alltel Dodge		51.782		184.929
		22		15		Paul Menard		Menards/Turtle Wax Chevrolet		51.813		184.818
Row 12:		23		2		Kurt Busch		Miller Lite Dodge		51.815		184.811
		24		00		Michael McDowell #		Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota		51.830		184.758
Row 13:		25		41		Reed Sorenson		Polaroid Dodge		51.846		184.701
		26		42		Juan Pablo Montoya		Wrigley's Juicy Fruit Dodge		51.869		184.619
Row 14:		27		55		Michael Waltrip		NAPA Auto Parts Toyota		51.869		184.619
		28		8		Aric Almirola		U.S. Army Chevrolet		51.874		184.601
Row 15:		29		01		Regan Smith #		Dale Earnhardt Inc./Principal Chevrolet		51.916		184.452
		30		44		David Reutimann		UPS Toyota		51.937		184.377
Row 16:		31		16		Greg Biffle		3M/American Red Cross Ford		51.962		184.289
		32		26		Jamie McMurray		Crown Royal Ford		52.030		184.048
Row 17:		33		1		Martin Truex Jr.		Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet		52.038		184.019
		34		43		Bobby Labonte		Cheerios Racing/Betty Crocker Dodge		52.038		184.019
Row 18:		35		7		P.J. Jones		RV's.com Dodge		52.094		183.822
		36		5		Casey Mears		Kellogg's/CARQUEST Chevrolet		52.114		183.751
Row 19:		37		77		Sam Hornish Jr. #		Mobil 1 Dodge		52.116		183.744
		38		31		Jeff Burton		AT&T Mobility Chevrolet		52.124		183.716
Row 20:		39		29		Kevin Harvick		Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet		Owner Points
		40		38		David Gilliland		freecreditreport.com Ford		Owner Points
Row 21:		41		07		Clint Bowyer		DirecTV Chevrolet		Owner Points
		42		9		Kasey Kahne		Budweiser Dodge		Owner Points
Row 22:		43		40		Dario Franchitti #		Tums Quik Pack Dodge		51.730		185.115
						David Stremme

Pretty much everything that can be said about Talladega has been said.  It's breathtaking and unforgiving in its brutality, punishing guilty and innocent bystanders alike.  It's the perfect track for this weekend, distracting one and all from contract and free agency track.  You can get your fill of that by watching the NFL draft.  I'd rather watch some racing.

But first... at the moment, the Quaker State ad with the Hendrick gang is on.  I wonder if they'll need to re-film it next year with Tony Stewart.  Or Martin Truex Jr.  Or Carl Edwards.  Okay, enough; back to the racing.

But before that... the promo for the Digger t-shirt is classic.  Pope John Daly I will probably hate it, but when you're talking about someone exercising his bitterness over absolutely no one in broadcast media wanting his services, 'tis to be expected.

Okay, yet another pre-race thought: Danica in NASCAR?  No, no, no.  Stick with IRL, where you're currently the big fish in a small pond which even as I type is transforming into becoming an even bigger fish in a rapidly growing pond.

In case anyone's wondering, the O·A·R t-shirt Dale Jr. was wearing during the interview at Whiskey River is for a band he likes.  They're not as good as 3 Doors Down, but they're all right.

Pre-race: The shot of Juan Pablo Montoya's daughter standing in his driver's seat should be on the front page of CuteOverload.com tomorrow.

Still pre-race: Whatever one thinks of American Idol -- in my case, as little as possible -- Taylor Hicks can sing.

They've started the engines: I am loving those Wrigley gum ads with Juan Pablo Montoya.  Then again, Juicy Fruit has been my favorite gum since I was a small child lo those many decades ago (sigh).  No, I didn't use to buy it made fresh by Mr. Wrigley himself, ya young disrespectful of your elders whippersnappers...

Lap 2: Memo to Kyle Busch: bumpdrafting on the straightaways, good.  Bumpdrafting in the corners, not so good.  Smoke is going to have steam coming out of his ears if M&M's Boy keeps it up.

Lap 6: Good thing for Reed Sorenson's engine builder Chip Ganassi is at the IRL race in Kansas today.  It'll give him a few extra hours before being handed his pink slip... and not the one you get when you buy a new car.

Lap 8: Listening to Kyle Busch vent about Denny Hamlin's on-track antics makes one wonder if perhaps having those two as teammates is influencing Tony Stewart's thoughts about leaving Gibbs far more than he's letting on...

Lap 20: Well, that sucks for Matt Kenseth.  Hope we're not seeing a repeat of the tire failures that occurred far too often in yesterday's Nationwide race.

Lap 26: Is anyone other than Stewart going to lead this thing?  So far, quite reminiscent of last fall's race which was a series of 190+ MPH parade laps until near the very end.

Lap 31: Excitement!  Drama!  Thrills!  No, not the race... it's what we're being promised in the Speed Racer movie.

Lap 36: Interesting... you can make a two-car run on the outside and take the lead.  At least currently.  Rather doubtful you'll be able to do that later on, as far more than two cars will be running the outside line.

Lap 39: Regardless of who you root for, it is a charge hearing the crowd suddenly erupt whenever Dale Jr. takes the lead.

Lap 43: The inside line is more of a period at the moment.

Lap 44: Carl Edwards with tire issues.  Coincidence, or is there some kind of bad deal going down with the Roush cars?

Lap 47: Three lines now running.  Cars dancing about every which way.  This is getting good.

Lap 52: Now why do I suspect Paul Menard will not finish the race in the same place he currently enjoys, which is first?

Lap 53: I'm sure Montoya in the lead was well-received by all...

Lap 55: They're moving around too fast to blog!

Lap 57: It's a little tacky of Ryan Newman to be holding up a "hey... free agent at the end of the season here" sign every time he takes the lead.

Lap 61: Getting into the pits without being run over ought to be a hoot...

Lap 67: Everyone survived the green-flag stops more or less intact.  Currently a single line running.  It won't stay that way for long.

Lap 78: The second line has formed.

Lap 82: The second line has dissolved.

Lap 85: The second line is back.  Let the slicing and dicing commence.

Lap 95: Still fairly quiet... up front.  For now, anyway.  Dale Jr. currently in the lead with Stewart riding shotgun.

Lap 106: Green flag stops.  Thus far, no issues.

Lap 112: So when does some part of the lead line break from the bottom and try the high line?

Lap 117: Someone at Roush is going to get an earful come tomorrow.  Carl Edwards probably can't wait to make his Alabama getaway.

Lap 123: Bottom and middle grooves currently being worked.

Lap 126: Can the two-car breakaway work at the end of the race as well as it has thus far?

Lap 132: Elliott Sadler currently in the lead.

Lap 133: And just as I wrote that, he went into the middle lane and drifted back.

Lap 135: Odds are it'll be Hamlin who does the stupid thing first.

Lap 139: They're getting stupid en masse out there...

Lap 143: Well, that sucks for Smoke.  Don't know if the car will be able to get back to the front with the damage it has, although it's not bad.

Lap 145: A fuel mileage race?  At Talladega?  Oh dear.  Just what everyone would need... someone up front running out as the car behind him is making a run.

Lap 148: And here we go...

Lap 150: Memo to Dale Jr.: the high line doesn't work when you're the only one up there.

Lap 155: How long can this continue before someone screws up?  Or even if no one screws up, all it'd take would be one tire going bad, an engine hiccuping... you get the idea.

Lap 159: Single line up front.  For now, anyway.

Lap 160: Good save by Paul Menard, but I'm not altogether certain Montoya was at fault.  Looked more like all parties concerned refusing to give until something did give.  Namely the #15.

Lap 164: Look, if Sadler wanted a can of Red Bull, I'm sure all he would have had to do is go by Brian Vickers' pit stall and ask...

Lap 170: Wow, what a save by Jamie McMurray!  Wow, what a dumb move by Kyle Busch!

Lap 173: That could have been a whole lot worse.  Looks like Stewart tried to go where he couldn't -- whether it was of his own volition or not can be safely debated -- and clipped Dale Jr., and from there it all broke loose.

Lap 177: Here we go... again...

Lap 180: Caution.  Single-file restart.  It won't be single-file for long.

Lap 183: Green flag.  Slicing and dicing galore.

Checkered flag: That was one suck way to end a race.  Ah well.  Let the "why didn't the yellow flag wave when Michael McDowell spun" controversy begin.  And the debate over who started the mêlée that finally ended things begin.

Ah well.  Something to displease most everyone in that race.  On to Richmond.