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Heading to Loudon, Carl Edwards trails by 127 points behind Kyle Busch and hopes to close the gap in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings. Carl finished in the top five at this race last year and hopes to take home the win Saturday when the race starts at 3PM on the ABC network.

I’ve covered a lot of NASCAR races in my days but I have never been so shocked, stunned, angry, and just plain disgusted as I was at the end of the Federated Auto Parts 300 at the Nashville Superspeedway last Saturday night.

After the little display of disrespectful actions of Kyle Busch in Victory Lane I left the track without staying for the after race activities which I usually do. I just could not get the images of what he did out of my mind.

Photo by Steve Langley

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had better be stepping it up a bit, or history is going to repeat itself and he won’t be making the trip to the banquet in Las Vegas.

His year has not gotten off to a great start for one reason or another, but mostly simple mistakes in the pits lately have been the cause of his bad finishes. Bad pit stops, loose lug nuts, missing his pit stall… all have led to many of the problems with the finishes that could have been much better.

In ten races, Dale Jr. has only three top tens and one top five for the season. He’s currently 18th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points, after loosing three spots last week in Richmond.

Photo by Steve Langley of MotorSportsNews.Net; click photo to view full size version

There was a drowning that occurred after Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. The victim was a female inside Victory Lane with race winner Brad Keselowski.

(photo by photographer Steve Langley)

No folks, she didn’t actually drown, and the victim was really the Sprint Cup girl (either Anne-Marie Rhodes or Monica Palumbo) you see just about every week with the winner in Victory Lane.

Brad was having a fun time after his very first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory and got a little carried away with the champagne.

Our staff photographer, Steve Langley, was able to attend the Aaron’s 499 racing weekend on a media pass, and took some fantastic photos…

Here’s a small sample.

Now it’s time for some real racing, real close, and real fast. This is the race the veteran fans look forward to each year. Talladega is rich in history for some of the most exciting racing of all the tracks. One small mistake out there and, let’s just say, don’t make any mistakes.

Talladega Superspeedway completed its fourth repaving on Sept. 19, 2006. The new surface should be ready for some better grip and hopefully tires won’t be an issue at this race. Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 races, more than any other organization. Mark Martin has been of fire with pole positions lately so watch for this team to do well this weekend.

Mark Martin broke his winless streak of 97 races by overtaking Ryan Newman, who stayed out after a late race caution for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s wreck. Newman took a chance on older tires but was no match for Martin, who overtook the #39 Newman, and passed him for the final time claiming his 36th career win. He started on the pole.

Mark has had a good start of the season, and now has a win with Hendrick Motorsports and three poles in the #5 Chevrolet. “No burnouts for me,” he radioed his crew. “Just a backward Polish victory lap for my man Alan Kulwicki.” Many drivers and crew members were anxious to congratulate Martin on his win on pit road and in the winners circle.

Brad Keselowski Had a good showing at Nashville Superspeedway last weekend, posting a third place finish after starting 19th in the field, but quickly headed to the front of the line with a fast car and great pit stops during the entire day.

“Joey Logano and Kyle Busch were pretty much the class of the field,” Keselowski said. “I just couldn’t get to them on those last couple restarts. I’m really pleased with this third-place run though for sure. I’m even more proud of my guys and the work they did on pit road. Getting me those five spots early in the race was key to our success and I can’t thank them enough for their hard work week in and week out.”

Our staff photographer, Steve Langley, had the privilege of spending last weekend at the Nationwide Series race at Nashville, Tennessee (article 1, article 2), which Joey Logano won, and took some additional photos.

Joey Logano might want to invest in lessons for the new Gibson, hand painted by artist Sam Bass, Les Paul edition guitar he won at Nashville Superspeedway Saturday. He took the lead for good with nine laps to go in the race to finish ahead of Kyle Busch. The pair of Joe Gibbs racing team members swapped the lead back and forth for a total of 172 of the 225 laps in the race.

Carl Edwards started on the pole but the strong Gibbs team was no match for Number 60 Save-A-Lot Foods Ford.

During Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Nashville SuperSpeedway, Joe Nemechek took a wild tumble through the frontstrech grass, turning over and landing back on the track, ending his day in a brand new car with only seven laps remaining in the race. The #87 car, driven by Nemechek, was listed as owner Andrea Nemechek with Crew Chief Phillippe Lopez, and Nationwide Insurance ‘Dash For Cash’ as sponsor.

Next up for the NASCAR Nationwide Series is the fast and furious race at Nashville Superspeedway. Nashville always brings an exciting race with its high banks and concrete surface. Strategy plays a big part there because the abrasive surface makes teams use tires wisely and they don’t want to end up with their last stop and not having any tires left for the end of the race.

David Reutimann showed his muscle taking the pole position on the fastest NASCAR track on the circuit, Texas Motor Speedway. Reutimann said the car felt great in practice and he knew he had a good car right “out of the box”.

Jeff Gordon, in his DuPont Chevrolet, took the other spot on the front row. Gordon missed the pole by .048 of a second from the number one spot.

Matt Kenseth, David Regan, and Paul Menard fill the top five positions.

Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Joey Logano rounded out the top ten. Mark Martin, who was fastest in the first practice, slipped on his qualifying lap ended up in the twenty-third starting position.

Kyle Busch won the pole Thursday night for Saturday’s Nationwide Series O’Reilly 300. Busch won both of the Nationwide Series races at Texas Motor Speedway last year and has positioned himself for making it three consecutive.

Matt Kenseth will start second and Paul Menard qualified third. Fourth will show David Ragan with Jeff Burton rounding out the top five. Carl Edwards, Terry Cook, Tony Stewart, Dale Jr., and Joey Logano finish out the top ten.

Those that did not qualify were #40 Scott Wimmer, #43 Josh Wise, #26 Brian Keselowski, #49 Kertus Davis; and #31 Kerry Earnhardt.

Photo by MotorSportsNews.Net(work) photographer Steve Langley