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someone, even a numbskull like Bill Weber, telling us that the race was sponsored by [insert ten names here] every few minutes than I would have to go to a commercial break. Plus, when they did play several national commercials, they were played in a small window to the right of the screen, and were customized commercials for NASCAR fans. Bravo to TNT for breaking the mold.

-However...Those Pillars Still Need to Go
Their Wide-Open coverage may have been a spectacular departure from their usual commercial-laden broadcasts, but TNT seems to have taken a page from the ESPN book by treating their fans like they are kind of slow. Their new CG-ed pillars that they are super imposing across the screen at every track are terribly stupid and unnecessary. They were most annoying at Sonoma when they disturbed the screen by putting one at each corner, but the restart' pylon at Daytona was hideous as well. Fans either know where the restart line is (or they'll quickly figure it out), or they don't care. When we watch the race, we want to see the race as if we were sitting in the stands. We don't need TNT to help' us understand the race better. The pillars are almost as bad as Bill Weber explaining every rule in NASCAR every time they are used. Almost.

-The Hard Luck Award
This week it goes to Boris Said, who was sitting on the provisional pole when NASCAR ended qualifying, due to rain, with only a dozen and a half cars left to go. Because the field reverted to owner's points, Said went from pole sitter to couch sitter, as he didn't even make the race.

-The "What Were They Thinking?" Award
This one goes to NASCAR race control for their insane inconsistency in Saturday's Busch race. With 6 or so laps to go, Montoya spun himself down onto pit road, which brought out a caution, even though he was not in the way of anything.

Then, with only a couple of laps left, a car spun much closer to the racing surfaceand no caution. Inconsistent? Absolutely! Surprising? Not in the least.

-Chase Watch
No changes in or out of the top-12 this race, however, after getting caught up in wrecks, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all lost a lot of ground numbers-wise. It didn't help Junior that the new 13th place man in the points is Jamie McMurray, who won the race. Kyle Busch, with his runner up finish, picks off Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. to take over 8th in points. After wrecking with his teammate, Denny Hamlin loses a bunch of points to leader Jeff Gordon, but then

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