FanHouse Martin Truex Jr.

The water invading the hull of the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing sinking ship finally got to be too much for the talented Martin Truex Jr.

"I've given them everything that I could," said Truex on Tuesday after announcing he'd take over a ride at Michael Waltrip Racing. "There got to be too many questions, too many things that were uncertain."

Which is why, as we guessed a year ago, his one-year contract extension with the Teresa Earnhardt-run operation would be all for naught thanks to a nasty set of decisions and circumstances that have left a once proud team in survival mode, and might have left Truex settling for a team he might not have otherwise gone to.

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Tony Stewart is off to such a strong first season as a team owner, he's already open to expansion.

The Sprint Cup Series points leader said Friday he'd consider adding a third team to Stewart-Haas Racing next year if the right combination was available. Although he promised his team not to expand too quickly, their success so far this season has made him consider his options.

"I wanted to make sure we had two cars that were competitive and had a chance to win a championship," he said Friday at Infineon Raceway. "I'm proud of the fact that I think we're at that point. So if the right situation came along, we would entertain it."

One-fourth of the Chase for the Nextel Cup population had a good day (and night!) at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

The remaining three-fourths would have gladly taken Dorothy's trip to Oz instead of their 210 travels around the 1.5 mile circuit Sunday.

The disparity was pretty clean cut as Jimmie Johnson left with the point lead and Denny Hamlin left with a 248 point deficit in twelfth.

In between, Jeff Gordon again averted disaster by missing wrecks -- again -- and used an impressive drive in the last 30 laps to take to a fifth-place finish. Clint Bowyer now sits third in the standings after getting to the finish line first when Greg Biffle ran out of gas finishing 2nd.

Tony Stewart was a hothead after cutting a tire and then getting booted by Kurt Busch while trying to find pit road. That incident collected Carl Edwards, leaving him with his 2nd DNF in as many days at Kansas. Busch ended with a decent day in 11th that should have been oh-so-much better with the way his car handled before the second rain delay.

Kevin Harvick followed the same path as Busch and wound up sixth.

Others walking away disappointed from the crazy race included Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch who all got the wrong end of crashes.

The last time the NASCAR Busch Series was at Talladega Superspeedway, the track was old and gray. That was April 2006. The April 2007 version of the Aaron's 312 will be run on nearly brand-new surface with loads more grip.

The result? Reaaaaaly fast speeds.

In Thursday's first Busch Series practice, Mike Wallace ran a lap of 197.342 mph -- much too fast for the liking of officials because it gets dangerously close to the 200 mph barrier that NASCAR likes to abide by. According to the sanctioning body, the stock cars get a little too flight happy when at those speeds.

As a result, NASCAR cancelled the extra Busch Series practice and issued new restrictor plates that had four holes with a total of 1/8 inch loss of airflow than the old 30/32 inch plates. An extended happy hour was run later with the new restrictor plates.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. also suffered some cosmetic damage from debris on the track. (Maybe Tony is right... ha)

Talladega. The sound of it is enough to make any NASCAR fan's heart race. 500 miles of full-throttle three-wide racing. What's not to like? Jimmie Johnson won last year's edition, taking the first race of the Hendrick sweep at Talladega in 2006. Choosing a victor at Talladega is like eating healthy at McDonald's -- there's too much that can happen to get in the way of it. Anyways, here goes.


1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Talladega is always a great place for Dale Jr. to bounce back into thick of things. Big Red was on his way to a victory last fall until Brian Vickers showed up. He'll do it on his Daddy's birthday

2. Jeff Gordon - Gordon will undoubtedly have a strong car, but Talladega could be the place where something else could derail this magical start to a season.

3. Jimmie Johnson - Bad day at Texas, could never get all the way to the front at Phoenix, and last year at 'Dega, contact from Brian Vickers kept him from making it 3 of 4 in restrictor plate racing. He'll be strong.