Bramble Tamble

Before the Dover race last week, with Ricky Rudd coming off a fuel-mileage-aided 7th-place finish at Charlotte, I was going to calculate what it would take for Rudd to catapult roughly 2o positions and make The Chase. "The corner, while not completely turned yet, is imminent," I assured myself.

I'm glad I didn't bother now, as he was crashed out by his teammate at Dover, and bitten by the rain at Pocono, though for the life of me, I'll never, ever, ever understand what the 88's crew chief was thinking, keeping him out as long as he did (other than the 5 bonus points that would have came if he'd led a lap, which he didn't). It's not like Ricky's fuel load could have lasted till past halfway, when rain was assuredly imminent. A needed top-20 run, blown apart by bad strategy.

And how's your driver doing? If his name isn't Michael Waltrip, he's likely doing better than Ricky.