Garage Talk

An insider on one of the Cup circuit's top teams dishes on NASCAR's hottest topics.

1 Toyota doesn't have a driver in the top 35 in points, but they're making progress. Red Bull's Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger [qualified] at Bristol, and those are the two Toyota guys who'll make the most noise this year.

2 Hendrick Motorsports is ahead of everyone else with their CoT program, and on Sunday at Martinsville everyone is going to be chasing Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

3 Matt Kenseth got his crew chief [ Robbie Reiser, above] back from suspension [as did Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler] last week, but it had no effect. With e-mail, cellphones and GPS systems, chiefs still have an impact at the races even if they're not at the track.