Okay, so I am happy for Kurt, am annoyed that Rusty keeps being consistently good, wish Mark would have won, really hope that Mark wins before the season is over, think Carl needs to learn a little patience, congratulate JJ for probably making that 400 point mark irrelevant given his 12th place Finish after a truly abysmal day, am a little befuddled the media didn't pay more attention to Jeff's top-15 finish (not great, but hey -- it's not 30+ where he's been forever), very befuddled the media didn't cover Mike Bliss and Bootie Barker's top ten for the Net Zero team, and desperately wish NBC/TNT would realize how much better Allen Bestwick is than Bill Weber.

But really -- my main thought after this race: it's WAY too long. This race is just boring. Especially when dominant cars run here. The last few laps are exciting. Not the first 180. SHORTEN IT, folks.

This week Roushketeer and I have a big test (mine is two days long; Roushketeer's is three days!), and then we both are moving across the country the following week to start new jobs. As such, both of us will miss the Brickyard. (I even used to work for Allstate and I absolutely, adamantly refuse to call it the "Allstate 400." Bah humbug.) It's sad (both the new name and missing the race). I'm going to try to catch it from a bar, but I don't know if Roushketeer will have the opportunity. It is a little weird watching your "home" track (for me, as I grew up in Indy) from another state. But what a good race the Brickyard is. It's truly a magical place! I love it! It's so cool to walk across those bricks -- you can do it if you run the Mini-Marathon as you hit mile 8 or so. It's a great, great feeling.

As for predictions: Roush is sure going to be tough to beat at Indy.... I think he'll have 3 of the top 5, all 5 in the top 15, and the winner. I would find it hard to bet against Biff, too.