Let's take a quick glance at some of the Richmond post-race storylines:
"We lost the brakes."
Jimmie Johnson, as Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway proved, isn't the racing robot with a switch stuck on "Dominate" we've come to think he is after three-straight Sprint Cup titles. Nope, not even at a track where he's won three of the last four events before Saturday night's race.
In fact, it was an all-around miserable night for the No. 48 after brake problems caused him to spin once, get caught up in another crash and then race the rest of the way with a damaged race car. Unfortunately for the rest of the competition, his 36th-place finish won't be a barometer of his 2009 season.
Just weeks ago, the name Matt Kenseth was the only available substitute for '2009 Sprint Cup winner'.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver picked up the Harley J. Earl Trophy for winning the rain-soaked Daytona 500 and followed it up a week later with a 'W' in the season's second race at Auto Club Speedway.
Since then, however, Kenseth has fallen through the standings at a clip rivaling a Ryan Newman qualifying lap.
Throughout the Las Vegas race weekend, he made several trips to the infield care center for drugs and IV's after previous medications didn't quite work and before the race, he wondered aloud if he could stay focused and on top of his game during throughout the day.
Well, on lap 66 of the 285-lap Shelby 427, McMurray got a major wake-up call.
On a night when Hollywood was honoring its best just miles down the road, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series saw a mellowed star continue his rise back to the top.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It wasn't a full race, but for the driver from Cambridge, Wisc., it's still the Daytona 500.
Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, won the rain-shortened 51st running of the Daytona 500 Sunday night after NASCAR stopped the event 48 laps from the scheduled distance.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Here are a few rumblings from Friday, the calm before the storm at Daytona. DIS: Tournament Fishing Venue - Friday morning, the Darrell Gwynn Foundation and the Spediatrics unit at Daytona Beach's Halifax Hospital got a nice boost thanks to a nice use of Lake Lloyd -- the six-acre infield lake dug out to produce DIS's high-banked corners.
Featuring drivers like Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman and others, the Hot Rods & Reels NASCAR Drivers Charity Fishing Tournament -- sponsored by Miccosukee Resort & Gaming -- saw NASCAR's wheelmen take to the water in an armada of bass fishing boats.
NASCAR's testing ban doesn't seem to be working as well as officials might have hoped.
As expected, several teams have been cris-crossing the country over the past few weeks in attempt to shake down their race cars for the upcoming season. Instead, though, of testing at NASCAR sanctioned facilities, they've been testing at places such as General Motors' proving grounds in Mesa, Ariz., New Smyrna Speedway in Florida and Texas World Speedway.
The testing ban, instituted by NASCAR in November, forbid any NASCAR team from going to any NASCAR-sanctioned facility to help cut costs during the economic tailspin that has greatly affected many aspects of the racing industry.
And not so surprisingly, the effort to cut costs apparently hasn't been as gloriously successful -- although teams did avoid wasting their time in Daytona.
Toyota Racing Development -- long the rotten apple in the eye of Roush -- acknowledged this week in a conference call that it too expects budgetary cuts in the coming year thanks to an automobile market that's having a problem or two selling cars.
Nope -- he wasn't breaking NASCAR's testing ban to get a head start on the 2009 season -- but rather, McMurray made the trip to DIS for "Daytona Kartweek" for some Sunday practice and racing on Monday and Tuesday.
And according to some DIS release material, the Crown Royal driver made the trip to Daytona the day after Christmas with his dad from North Carolina -- via car.
"My dad and I left 8:30 in the morning after Christmas," McMurray said. "I drove the whole way. This might sound odd but I wouldn't want to drive to Cup races but I missed the fact of stopping at a truck stop and experiencing that. It's different."
Oh, the truck stop experience. Mediocre coffee, questionable restrooms and more knock-off brand gadgets than anyone can handle -- here's to hoping that McMurray got the fill he desired.
Wanna read some more? Just click the link above to the track's release.
Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.
Driver: Matt Kenseth Team: No. 17 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford '08 Final Standing: 11th (-500) Best Race: Dover (2nd-place) Worst Race: Lowe's (41st-place)
Season in a box: Kenseth started his 9th full-time Sprint Cup season for the first time with a guy that wasn't named Robbie Reiser aboard the team's pit box thanks to Reiser taking on a higher role at the Roush-Fenway organization. Unfortunately, with Chip Bolin now calling shots, the season turned into one where Kenseth was hardly ever a factor.
Let's take a quick glance at some of the Richmond post-race storylines:
Just weeks ago, the name 
Roush Fenway Racing
NASCAR's testing ban doesn't seem to be working as well as officials might have hoped.
Jack Roush
We already heard about 
