As the exhaust fumes dissipate and the good ol' boys of NASCAR prepare to don their finest threads for the bright lights of the big city, here are a few things to remember before Tony Stewart puts the wraps on his first Winston Cup championship:
Ryan Newman holds a 20-point advantage over Jimmie Johnson in the Rookie of the Year standings. As everyone familiar with NASCAR scoring knows all too well, one win and 21 top-10s trumps three W's and 19 top-10s. ... And whatever happened to Shawna Robinson?
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, Jack Roush. ... And, obviously, plane crashes. Living through April's harrowing brush-with-death should be enough to salve Jack's fourth runner-up finish in the points race as Mark Martin holds serve at Homestead.
The split between Ricky Rudd, Robert Yates, "Fatback" McSwain could have been, maybe even should have been, much more amicable. Does anyone think Rudd's chances for a first Cup title are enhanced by a move to the Wood Brothers? However, McSwain joining Bobby Labonte may prove to be a boon for Joe Gibbs. As for Elliott Sadler joining Yates ... well, good luck with that.
Chin up, Jeff Burton. For the fourth consecutive year you've won more than $3 million. Of course, in loving brotherly fashion, Ward has taken a bit of the luster off. His $1,409,017 payday at Daytona jump-started his $4M year.
Tough sledding, Casey Atwood. Maybe jumping into a Cup car at 19 wasn't the best career move, but with Ray Evernham at the helm, who could blame you? There's not another stock car driver wannbe who wouldn't have jumped off that same bridge.
Matt Kenseth has a series-leading five wins. He's also eighth in points. Matt, meet Rusty Wallace, who once won 10 races in a single season and still finished second. Then, the next year, Wallace won eight and finished third.
OK, so Stewart left Daytona nursing a 43rd-place finish, dead last in points. But I'm more impressed with Kurt Busch. He was mired in 11th place following the EA Sports 500 at Talladega just five races ago. Now he's third in points.
File this under how not to challenge for the championship: In eighth place after the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte, Bill Elliott has completed 1,280 of 1,453 laps. He's fallen to 13th, while failing to complete any of the past four races.
OK, Little E, with a couple more wins this year, you've now won at least two races in each of your first three full seasons. Not even The Intimidator could make that claim.
For a guy who has only five top-10 finishes -- and is 19th in points -- Dave Blaney sure does have a fat wallet ($2,597,309). With only two DNFs, it goes to prove there's money in crossing the finish line.
The Bodines -- pick one, any one -- are officially off the hook. Says Stewart of Robby Gordon: "I like the guy. He's fun to hang around with. But he's the worst race car driver I've ever seen." Truth be told, the Bodines -- pick one, any one -- aren't bad drivers; they just cannot get out of their own way sometimes.
Now that Johnny Benson has shucked the "best driver never to win" label, who's holding the torch? Kenny Wallace. Don't worry, Rusty, you're still the best driver not to win this year.
Let's hope Kyle Petty is on to something. For the first time in three years he has surpassed $1 million in earnings ($1,911,922). He's also completed 97 percent of the laps this year. That's more than Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Dale Jarrett -- the past five Cup champs.
Hey, didn't you used to be Kevin Harvick? A win, eight top-10s (even six in seven weeks), but not having a points position higher than 19th all season? And even that was for only one week. ... Better luck next year, dude.
All of this to say, if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays, folks. Daytona is only three months away ...
B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for CNNSI.com.
