Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson on winning his third Sprint Cup Series Championship in a row.

Last I checked our Top 10 and the Chasers that would be going to New York for the banquet are:

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Carl Edwards
3. Greg Biffle
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Jeff Burton
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Tony Stewart
10. Kyle Busch

Unfortunately, Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr missed the top ten and will not be appearing at the banquet.

I am curious to see who comes in as the rookie of the year for 2008. I just hope the banquet is on a night I don’t have to work, as I’d like to be able to watch and won’t be able to tape it.

I heard earlier today that Cup qualifying was rained out for the umpteenth time this season and that they’re starting, as usual, in the position they’re in the standings. Nice. If the weather could cooperate, that’d be great, thanks. These rained out sessions are messing with the fantasy racing scores.

And it would seem that Kevin Harvick is not as forgiving as other drivers are regarding the big one at Talladega that Edwards started. Word is that Edwards and Harvick went fist-to-cuffs and had to be seperated. The funniest thing is - Edwards started it by going to Harvick’s pit garage and Harvick tried to walk away but Edwards wouldn’t let him. Then it seems all hell broke loose, with allegations of Harvick shoving Edwards and then one of Harvick’s crew members putting Edwards in a headlock. Harvick wasn’t commenting and Edwards didn’t deny they argued but didn’t discuss details. Wow.

Good news for Denny Hamlin - he was cleared to go ahead and race this week after a tired exploded last week and sent him hard into the wall. He’d been awake and alert, though complaining of a headache and favoring his right foot after the crash, which sent him for overnight observation at a local hospital. Despite his being cleared to race, he will not be racing the Nationwide Series this week - Dave Blaney will take his spot.

Last but not least - Congrats to Casey Mears and his girlfriend Tricia on the birth of their daughter Samantha Mae Mears - and thanks Amy for letting me know about it.

Well that’s all I have for this edition of Where There’s Smoke -  and I hope you all like the new theme.

Congrats to  Tony Stewart for getting TWO firsts this week! His first win of the 2008 season AND his first win at Talladega! W00T!

I haven’t been posting the past few weeks because frankly, every week has just been a big disappointment as far as the races go. I’m hoping that now that Tony’s finally gotten himself a win, things will get better. Look for a new theme soon.

And as far as that thing with Regan Smith  - ok - if you’re forced down there and have no recourse but to pass to get back on the track, that’s one thing, but when you go down there to pass - and don’t tell me you were forced, I saw the video several times - you went down there ON PURPOSE. You could have dropped back a bit and stayed where you were. Instead when Tony blocked you, you chose to drop past the yellow line and then claim you were forced when they took the race away from you. Besides, why would the rules change for the last lap? That’s when you’d have every car going to the out of bounds area to try and pass to get a better position. It just doesn’t work that way. Sorry.

I hope Denny Hamlin is all right. No updates were given on how he was after they said he’d been taken to a hospital in Birmingham. Reports on FoxSports.com stated he was complaining of a headache and favoring his right foot.

Congrats to the members of Elliott Sadler’s team on their new children. Wow…two sets of twins! And congrats to Casey Mears, who’s girlfriend at last I heard was at the very least in labor.

Well, Greg Biffle won Louden today. He edged out Jimmie Johnson for the win. Unfortunately, Kyle Busch ended up being knocked back to 8th place in the points standings due to having had a very bad day.  Between things breaking on the car and getting into a wreck, Kyle ended up finishing 34th place.

If you didn’t see the race and haven’t seen the results, your top 10 finishers are:

1. Greg Biffle
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Carl Edwards
4. Jeff Burton
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6. Kurt Busch
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Tony Stewart
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Kevin Harvick

And the current point standings are:

1. Carl Edwards
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Greg Biffle
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
5. Jeff Burton
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Tony Stewart
8. Kyle Busch
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Jeff Gordon
12. Matt Kenseth

The funny thing is, a few of the Chase runners finished in the same position as they’re in on The Chase. LOL Kind of interesting.

Well, congrats to Jimmie Johnson for winning the Pepsi 500 and being the 2nd driver in the history of the track to win from the pole. Like Kyle Busch was last night, Jimmie was in his own zip code for most of the evening. Denny Hamlin did well too, coming in 3rd behind Greg Biffle, with Kyle Busch sneaking in 7th behind Carl Edwards. Unfortunately, Tony Stewart came in 22nd, the last car on the lead lap. Oh well, we’ll get ‘em next week - or next year. I think Tony just needs to get back behind the wheel of his beloved Chevy.

So my prize from Amy’s contest for a copy of NASCAR Full Throttle Adrenaline Volume One and Two arrived today. Naturally I ripped open the package when I got home from work and watched the DVDs. They were awesome. I just have one question for NASCAR.

HOW ON EARTH DO YOU DO A NASCAR DVD WITH TWO, NOT ONE BUT TWO, VOLUMES AND NOT ONCE SPEAK TO TONY STEWART?

You spoke to Denny Hamlin. You spoke to Kyle Busch. You spoke to Bobby Labonte. You spoke to J.J. Yeley. You even spoke to Greg Zipadelli  for crying out loud! But did you speak to Tony? No. Why not? I waited all through both DVDs to hear my favorite driver and all I got was a couple of comments from him while he was in his car mid race. Hmph.

Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his awesome win at Michigan today! THE LOSING STREAK IS OVER!!! YES!!! Now if only we could get Tony Stewart a win…life would be perfect. My best friend was hoping Denny Hamlin would take the win, I was hoping Tony would take it, but in the end, Dale Jr. finally got a win. Again, congrats to Dale Jr on an AWESOME win! And he even managed to keep from running out of gas until after he took the checkered flag.