Congratulations to Sebastien Bourdais for clinching his 2nd Vanderbilt Cup in as many years. The guy is a true superstar of racing and we are fortunate to have him drive for the series. As the series grows, so should Bourdais’ namesake, because he deserves all the media and fan attention he gets. He’s that good and could tear Alsonso a new one if need be. I hope that he continues to gain success at IROC, a great place to get exposed amongst the diehard NASCAR fans. Say what you want, but I really believe that if we want this sport to return to its heyday, we need to embrace and welcome these fans. They have already said no to the IRL. It’s clear that America doesn’t want an all-oval open-wheel series. The evidence shows it and that series doesn’t seem to know which direction they are heading in. Champ Car is on the upswing and it’s the perfect time to show off their superior product to all of America. I am not saying ‘superior’ against any other series per say. I am simply saying a ‘superior’ product, period.

The good news is that there is still a lot on the line for the race in Mexico. If you think the series is over now that the championship has been determined and the Rookie of the Year honors, think again. Drivers are a proud bunch for sure, but they also like the Benjamin’s and I am not talking about Rick. I am talking about performance clauses in their contracts. If a bonus of, let’s say, one hundred grand is what you attain by finishing 5th in the series instead of 6th, think those guys won’t be gunning for it? Its going to be a good show.

Nice punt by Tony Stewart on Jimmy Johnson and what a ride by Jeff Gordon. It amazes me that a driver can accumulate 4 wins in a season (and counting) and not be in contention for the championship. That’s NASCAR for you, all 36 weeks of it. I think on a small track like Martinsville, a little punt like Stewart delivered is called for, especially in the last moments of the race. Its a short track that the worst that could happen is a slight run uptrack and a bump with the wall. I would have liked to see Jimmy get his opportunity to bump him back, but then again, I am cheering for Stewart (between Jimmy and Tony that is), so why would I want that? Nice to see Gordon win the race for the Hendrick family and give them a shout out. We all remember the tragedy that struck there at the Martinsville airport. It will never again be easy for Hendrick and the gang to race at Martinsville. If they can leave the track with a win, then at least its somewhat comforting.

It reminds me a little of when I was with Team Players and after Greg’s death, the entire team hated going back to Fontana for that event. No matter what the results were, celebration was always kept to a minimum out of respect and basically a lot of the team personnel just wanted the race over as soon as possible and, naturally, as safe as possible. Going back to the scene of death is not easy and not very pleasant.

Hey, I know I harp on this, but did you happen to watch the ballgame last night? It was arguably one of the better games of all time and likely a top candidate amongst World Series games. Talk about drama, talk about action, talk about tension. I always liked Fox’s tagline for the baseball playoffs, something along the lines of “you can’t script October” or some spoof at Reality television. Regardless, last night’s drama couldn’t have been written as accurately as what happened on the field. Simply amazing. Tune in on Tuesday, cause this series is just getting warmed up.