RCR drivers sweep top three; Jarrett's nice sendoff

Though he finished 37th Sunday in his final race, Dale Jarrett briefly flashed the talent that made him a Cup champ. John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

Five things we learned on Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway, the fifth race of the 2008 season:

1. Tony Stewart has every right to be peeved.

For the second straight spring race at Bristol, Stewart was clearly the man to beat. Last year he led a race-high 258 laps but was ultimately undone by a broken fuel pump cable, which caused him to finish 35th. And this year? Well, it was an overzealous move by Kevin Harvick that dumped Stewart into the wall on lap 499 of 500.

On Sunday, Stewart led more laps than any other driver (267) and was in second place when he and Harvick hurtled into Turn 3. Stewart probably wasn't going to take the checkered flag, but he was poised to author a nice points day -- something he needed after finishing 43rd two weeks ago in Las Vegas. Instead, Harvick dove low to make the pass heading into the turn, but Harvick hit the track's apron and slid up the concrete. In an instant, he made contact with Stewart and pushed him into the wall.

"I thought I left him plenty of room, but I don't know," said Stewart. "I was far enough ahead of him that I didn't see where he hit me or when he hit me."

Stewart finished 14th while Harvick came in second. In his post-race press conference, Harvick admitted that he made a mistake, but don't expect that apology to be the end of this. Stewart, after all, has the longest memory of any driver on the circuit.

2. It was a spectacular day for Richard Childress Racing.

For the first time in the 34-year history of Richard Childress Racing, drivers from the RCR stable finished first (Jeff Burton), second (Harvick), and third (Clint Bowyer) in a race. But don't read too much into this, because the three fastest cars in the field at Bristol were all from Joe Gibbs Racing -- a fact that bodes well for JGR in two weeks at Martinsville, another short track. On Sunday, however, the JGR Toyotas didn't finish anywhere near as well as they performed for most of the afternoon, because Stewart crashed, Denny Hamlin ran low on fuel on the final restart, which caused him to slow down dramatically with two laps to go, and Kyle Busch lost his power steering while he was in the lead; Busch ended up slamming into the wall.

But for RCR, it was an historical race --- even if there was an element of luck to their sweep. And after five events, the Childress boys are making their presence known in the standings, because Harvick is third in points, Burton is fourth, and Bowyer is ninth.

3. Kyle Busch is in a very, very good place right now.

Yes, Busch crashed on lap 292 when his steering went kaput, but this much is certain: He is going to be a serious contender for the championship this season. At the time of his wreck, Busch was leading the race and looked to be in prime position to increase his lead in the points standings. But the mechanical failure forced to make an extended trip to pit road, and he fell one lap down. Busch rallied nicely to bring home his No. 18 Camry in 17th place, which enabled to keep his lead in the points, which right now stands at 30 over Greg Biffle.

I hung out with Busch on Friday in his motor coach that was parked outside of Bristol Motor Speedway for a feature that will run in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated. As we talked about his departure from Hendrick Motorsports, about his contentment at Joe Gibbs Racing, and about his maturity both as a person and a racecar driver, Busch was brutally honest, reflective, and adamant about one thing: All he cares about is racing, pure and simple. He's not concerned with selling souvenirs, appearing in commercials, or pleasing his sponsors by being politically correct at all times. Frankly, this makes Busch somewhat unique among drivers. For my full take on the points leader, check out the magazine this week.

4. Jimmie Johnson is getting back on track --- sort of.

Last Friday afternoon, as a driving rain fell on Bristol Motor Speedway, I ducked into Johnson's hauler to speak to the two-time defending champ for a few minutes. Though Johnson's performance has been uncharacteristically up over the first month of the season, he's hardly panicking.

"We ran second at California [in the second race of the season], but we're never satisfied with that, so we tried some new things at Las Vegas," Johnson said. "Well, that was a disaster. I was like, 'Hello, this isn't us.' (Johnson finished 29th.) We were a little better last week in Atlanta (13th), but we've had a big problem being loose and finding grip. But hey, it's still early and we're making gains."

It appears they are, at least on the short track program. Because though Bristol is one of Johnson's weaker tracks -- it's one of six venues on the circuit at which Johnson has yet to win -- he stayed in the lead pack all afternoon on Sunday and appeared a solid lock to finish in the top 10 when he and Jeff Burton collided on the track late in the Food City 500. Johnson suffered damage to his No. 48 Chevy and he wound up 18th. The disappointing finish left Johnson 13th in the points, but his ascent in the standings should start soon after the Easter break because the next stop on the circuit is Martinsville, another short track where Johnson has won three straight races.

5. Dale Jarrett had a nice sendoff.

For a few early laps on Sunday, the old Dale Jarrett was back. As Bowyer tried to put the 1999 champ a lap down, Jarrett blocked Bowyer low, then high, then low again. Piloting inferior equipment, Jarrett put up a good fight, recalling the heady days of his career when won 26 races between 1996 and 2002.

But then Jarrett did what he's known for: He got out of Bowyer's way and let him make the pass. To me, these few laps were a microcosm of Jarrett's 22-year stock-car career, which ended on Sunday at Bristol when he made his final points-paying start. Jarrett could be aggressive when he needed to be -- you don't win over $59 million in prize money by being a softie -- but he was more known for being a gentlemen both on the track and in the garage. Intelligent and articulate, he's long been a voice of reason among the drivers, and in the five years I've been on the NASCAR beat, I've never heard a driver, crew chief, or NASCAR official utter a bad word about Jarrett.

He finished 37th on Sunday, his final points run, but for those few early laps when he dueled with Bowyer, he briefly flashed the talent that made him a Cup champion, which, in my book, is a fine way to exit the stage.