I think that everyone watching that races hearts just stopped, once Carl hit that fence, it looked like it was all over. He actually got out of the car very quickly and ran to the finish line, to prove he finished the race. Carl did a couple of media interviews while Brad was taking it all in victory lane, but he did mention that ‘Dega was dangerous and we will keep racing "until someone gets hurt."

This spring at Talladega did appear to be a particular crazy set of races. Even in the Nationwide series, Kenseth got a bump draft from teammate, David Regan, off the corner, which caused him to do a multi-flip into the infield, again he walked away okay. Do people think that Talladega is just a dangerous race track, or do you think this is the result of poor drafting? I have to admit; I was practically screaming at the television in the Cup race while Brad pushed Carl to the lead, it was so exciting! It brought me back to NASCAR a few seasons ago, competitive cars actually RACING for the win. This weekends' race made me have faith in NASCAR once more. I do think that some drivers need to go back to drafting school; one small mistake can lead to a huge, huge pileup.

We would love to hear what you think! E-mail shappy@virtualthunder.com.

David Reutimann, probably the most exciting thing about the 2009 season, had a great start to the race as the pole sitter, and ran well for the beginning part of the race. Things went south after missing his pit stall on the Elliot Sadler-provoked caution on lap 157. He was held for a lap and had some trouble regaining spots. He was finally able to get that lap back after Robby Gordon blew his engine to finish 11th for the day. It has taken Reutimann some time to find his groove, but I think he will be an interesting one to watch for the rest of the season, and maybe a chase contender.

Green flag pit stops can be exciting, but what has happened to all of the action on the track? Venues such as Bristol, Martinsville, and even Vegas have not been as exciting as they once were. Do you think it is lack of practice time during the off seasons? Teams finally getting used to the car of tomorrow? Let me know what you think, e-mail shappy@virtualthunder.com.

Let me know what you think, e-mail shappy@virtualthunder.com. Bristol really is one of my favorite tracks, and judging by their sellouts season after season, I don’t think I am the only one. Has Thunder Valley become a Chicagoland snoozer?

As a follow up to last week’s article, I received a couple of notes regarding our ‘pal’ Digger. Michael from Alabama noted that Digger does indeed have his own merchandise trailer, as we all had feared. Jim from Texas also mentioned that it’s a shame that NASCAR has to follow that same "slippery slope" as other sports, especially in light of all of the economy issues.

I have to agree with Michael and Jim, why should NASCAR be pumping all of this money into something like "Digger" when they could be investing money into the already interested fans? Especially in light of the economy, even NASCAR is feeling the crunch of less sponsors and the need to do more with less. So why not more features with the driver, Chase predictions anyone? Seems like these new formats and marketing tactics are driving away loyal fans... Send me an email at shappy@virtualthunder.com.

For those fans that are not aware of Digger, he is a cartoon - brainchild of Fox Sports who premiered last season. It was cute at first, serving more or less as an icon that would pop up on the screen during cautions or wrecks, and once the cars came close, he would scream and dive back into his hole, kinda funny.

Now, for 2009, Fox has literally become obsessed with this character. During the ‘countdown to green’ show, they now show a 10 minute cartoon clip of Digger and his girlfriend, usually being chased by this shady Badger character. But this week, Digger had his French cousin to visit (a Formula One fan) and they started breaking out in the HORENDOUS song and dance duel which was a sketchy mix of Talladega Nights and American Idol. Then at the close of the cartoon, they pimp all of the Digger merchandise (which I am sure has its own hauler at the track now).

I am not sure why this has become such a focal point for Fox, real fans, who watch the race every weekend, which I do, and I am sure, most Virtual Thunder players do, could CARE LESS about a cartoon gopher and his posse. How about some pre-show stats, race predictions prior to the big show. Are they trying to get children into the sports? Is it economy driven? Since kids are some of the biggest spenders (of their parent’s money) maybe Fox is trying to appeal to children, get them interested at a young age? I don’t know, as a marketing person that seems like the only logical reason.

What do people think? I am the only isolated case of this Digger annoyance? E-mail me your thoughts at shappy@virtualthunder.com. All I have to say, is I cannot wait until the coverage switches to ESPN soon!

Seems like 2009 is a season of redemption as well.

Gordon, who came in second, has made a complete turnaround from last season. Running very solid at Fontana, and winning one of the Duels at Daytona; Gordon and his team are finally back on track, running the most consistently of the Hendrick crew.

Biffle, who many thought had the car to beat, ended up finishing fourth, due to slightly overshooting his pitbox, and getting his car stuck on the airhose, so he had to back up in the stall before his crew could pit, cost him a couple of spots out of pit road. Biffle was upset over the incident, also thinking he had the car to win the race.

I feel for Biffle, he always seems to make these small mistakes that cost him big in the end, where it matters. What do people think? I am not sure I even know a Biffle fan; he seems like one of those drivers who are just there, nothing really special about them. He has all the right stuff, maybe he needs a fun sponsor, like Hamburger Helper?

With the exception of Harvick hitting the wall on lap 208 and cautions of "sprinkles", Fontana was run under mostly green flag conditions, making it kinda a snoozer. The most exciting were the last 20 laps, where Gordon tried to make a pass at Kenseth for the lead. Hopefully, Vegas will have a little more action!

Have a comment - email Shappy at shappy@virtualthunder.com

I was happy to see Bobby Labonte and Elliot Sadler have good finishes in the race, another couple of teams that need a boost. As well as A.J. Allmendinger, who is running a limited schedule in the Valvoline Dodge for the revamped Petty Motorsports (with some help from Gillett Evernham.)

The race for the most part was typical Daytona, usually you see most teams on the top of their game, rearin’ to go after the off-season and in tip-top shape at the Great American Race. However, I think Dale Jr’s performance, particuarly in the pits, was very disappointing. He had two huge goofs on pit road, the first on caution 4, when he totally missed the pit stall. The second, on lap 120, Junior went for another routine stop, actually found his pit stall, but parked his car over the line, his crew continued to work on the car, resulting in NASCAR officials holding him for a lap.

As if that wasn’t enough, he and Vickers were racing hard just after the green flag and caused a big 10 car wreck, which took out some real contenders like Kyle Busch, Edwards, and Hamlin. He also got Burton closer to the end of the race; nearly putting him into the wall to get the pass. And after all of that, he barley finished on the lead lap in 27th position. If Junior wants to be a serious contender for this championship, he needs to clean it up on pit road and start racing smarter on the track.

Looks like 2009 will be an interesting year, full of controversy and some good racing!

Have a comment - email Shappy at shappy@virtualthunder.com