The Duals put together some good racing, and I'd like to just mention some names and what I thought about them in these races.

Tony Stewart: In a word; Winner. He looked great out there. All I wanted to see is him bring the hardware on Sunday. Notice once again that he didn't climb the fence, saving that for Sunday. This is the best Qualifying position he's had since 1999 (2nd), and that's got to instill just a little more confidence in the whole organization. Just like he did in sprint car's, he's about to make a "Daytona Triple Crown". If he wins, he'll be the first driver to win the Shootout, his Dual, and the 500 in the same year.

Michael Waltrip: There needed to be a time when he put the whole cheating thing behind him and got back to racing, and I for one am glad he didn't wait very long to get that process started. It's not going to disappear overnight, but he had two choices: move on or quit NASCAR. Toyota or not, I'm glad he's in the race.

Robby Gordon: (you knew this was coming) How about that half-assed comment about being partially responsible for the wreck. BUT!, someone else must have checked up and forced me into that position. Proving once again he's half the man (and driver) that Dale Jr. is. I think he's sniffin' that fresh roll bar padding.

Dale Jr.: His post wreck reaction was poised, and racing his way back into a great finish is the quality all Championship drivers have. He took a second, did a damage assessment, brought it in, and got back out in the race. It would have been easy to park it, knowing that it's only a 150 miler and improving his position would be hard. Easy to park it knowing it's a 500 miler on Sunday, and qualifying position wouldn't mean that much. He didn't quit. If I wasn't sure that this guy was capable of bringing home a Cup trophy before, I am now.

Next post will be theStewartFan stats, just like last years. I've been digging through the figures the Racing-Reference.info on the almost 4000 drivers they have stats on. It's really quite impressive.