Green flag at California! 
Hmm..checking the schedule, Atlanta`s next week, and Bristol after that. Mikey does *decent* at Bristol. That might be his best shot to give Toyota and his team a top 15-top 20 finish. They need something. I`d hate to be in his shoes, because now he`s the owner.. Bad enough to worry about making races when he was just the driver. 
Agreed. Unfortunately, Nascar won`t do something like calling the race until a driver gets seriously injured, or worse. Got to keep the sponsors, fans, networks, manufacturers, and loony-toons track owners happy -- until it`s too late. 
Bobby Labonte has made a dramatic move - backwards. He`s in 26th after starting 6th. Not very promising. lol
2007 Nascar Nextel Cup Schedule
*Updated 11/18/07*
*Upcoming race is displayed in default size, and highlighted in red.*
Date/Time (ET) :: Race :: Track :: 2006 Race Winner :::: 2007 Pole :::: 2007 Race Winner :::: TV
*2007 Race winner links to results*
Feb 10 8:30 pm Budweiser Shootout Daytona International Speedway Denny Hamlin FOX
Sunday, Feb 11, 2007 Daytona 500 Bud Pole Qualifying
Feb 15 2:00 pm Gatorade Duel 1 Daytona Elliott Sadler
Feb 15 4:00 pm Gatorade Duel 2 Daytona Jeff Gordon
Feb 18 3:15 pm Daytona 500 Daytona International Speedway Jimmie Johnson David Gilliland FOX
Feb 25 3:30 pm Auto Club 500 California Speedway Matt Kenseth Jeff Gordon FOX
Mar 11 4:30 pm UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson Kasey Kahne FOX
Mar 18 2:00 pm Kobalt Tools 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne FOX
Mar 25 2:00 pm Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway Kurt Busch Jeff Gordon FOX *The Car of Tomorrow Debuts*
Apr 1 2:00 pm Goody`s Cool Orange 500 Martinsville Speedway Tony Stewart Denny Hamlin FOX *COT*
Apr 15 2:00 pm Samsung 500 Texas Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne Jeff Gordon FOX
Apr 21 8:30 pm Subway Fresh Fit 500 Phoenix International Raceway Kevin Harvick Jeff Gordon FOX *COT*
Apr 29 2:00 pm Aaron`s 499 Talladega Superspeedway Jimmie Johnson Jeff Gordon FOX
May 5 7:30 pm Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 Richmond International Raceway Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeff Gordon FOX *COT*
May 12 7:00 pm Dodge Avenger 500 Darlington Raceway Greg Biffle FOX *COT*
May 19 7:30 pm Nextel Open * Lowe`s Motor Speedway (Charlotte, NC) Scott Riggs FOX *Non-Points Event*
May 19 9:00 pm NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge Lowe`s Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson SPEED *Non-Points Event*
May 27 5:30 pm Coca-Cola 600 Lowe`s Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne Ryan Newman FOX
Jun 3 1:30 pm Neighborhood Excellence 400 Dover International Speedway Matt Kenseth Ryan Newman FOX *COT*
Jun 10 2:00 pm Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway Denny Hamlin Ryan Newman * TNT *Rain shortened
Jun 17 1:30 pm Michigan 400 Michigan International Speedway Kasey Kahne J.J. Yeley TNT
Jun 24 5:00 pm Toyota/Save Mart 350 Infineon Raceway Jeff Gordon Jamie McMurray TNT *COT*
Jul 1 2:00 pm Lenox Industrial Tools 300 New Hampshire International Speedway Kyle Busch Dave Blaney TNT *COT*
Jul 7 8:00 pm Pepsi 400 Daytona International Speedway Tony Stewart *Qualifying was rained out - Jeff Gordon started on pole by virtue of points position* TNT
Jul 15 4:00 pm USG Sheetrock 400 Chicagoland Speedway Jeff Gordon Casey Mears TNT
Jul 29 2:00 pm Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Indianapolis Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson Reed Sorenson ESPN
Aug 5 2:00 pm Pennsylvania 500 Pocono Raceway Denny Hamlin Dale Earnhardt Jr. ESPN
Aug 12 2:00 pm AMD at The Glen Watkins Glen International Kevin Harvick *Qualifying rained out, grid set by points* ESPN *COT*
Aug 19 *Race ran on Tuesday, 8/21/07 @ 10 am due to rainouts* 3M Performance 400 Michigan International Speedway Matt Kenseth Jeff Gordon
Aug 25 8:00 pm Sharpie 500 Bristol Motor Speedway Matt Kenseth Kasey Kahne ESPN *COT*
Sep 2 8:00 pm Sony HD 500 California Speedway Kasey Kahne Kurt Busch ESPN
Sep 8 7:30 pm Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Richmond International Raceway Kevin Harvick Jimmie Johnson ABC *COT*
--------------- Chase Races ---------------
Sep 16 2:00 pm Sylvania 300 NHIS Kevin Harvick Clint Bowyer ABC *COT*
Sep 23 1:30 pm Dover 400 DIS Jeff Burton Jimmie Johnson ABC *COT*
Sep 30 2:00 pm Banquet 400 Kansas Speedway Tony Stewart Jimmie Johnson ABC
Oct 7 2:00 pm UAW-Ford 500 Talladega Superspeedway Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip ABC *COT*
Oct 13 7:30 pm Bank of America 500 Lowe`s Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne Ryan Newman
Oct 21 1:30 pm Subway 500 Martinsville Speedway Jimmie Johnson Jeff Gordon ABC *COT*
Oct 28 2:00 pm Bass Pro Shops 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway Tony Stewart Greg Biffle ABC
Nov 4 3:30 pm Dickies 500 Texas Motor Speedway Tony Stewart Martin Truex Jr. ABC
Nov 11 3:30 pm Checker Auto Parts 500 PIR(Phoenix) Kevin Harvick Car Edwards ABC *COT*
Nov 18 3:30 pm Ford 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway Greg Biffle Jimmie Johnson *Jimmie Johnson clinches 2007 Nextel Cup Championship, Season Over. ABC
COT denotes scheduled Car of Tomorrow race
Ouch, nasty wreck! Riggs gets loose coming out of turn 2, collects Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson. All three cars are torn up pretty bad.
hendrick owns cali 
Actually Reutimann missed his first race - he made Daytona and California. I just like looking at those MWR Toyotas with the chrome wheels and cool paintjobs, I even like those yellow sideskirts.
Why do NASCAR top 35ers get the free pass in? Look at other sports...
NHRA - Top 16 qualifiers get in. You could be the points leader, blow up or run too slow and miss the race. Unlikely, but possible.
Hockey, Basketball - #1 overall team could still be knocked out by the #8 team in the first round. Unlikely, but possible.
Top 35 rule is a safety blanket that shouldn`t exist. It`s unlikely that a top team could miss the show, but if they get rid of that rule it forces every car to run like a Go or Go Home car and makes qualifying much more exciting.
Bristol was in dire need of a repaving anyway.
Not sure how many are interested in the Craftsman Truck Series, but Mike Skinner won the race. Mark Martin was leading with 5 laps to go, Ron Hornaday was in 2nd. Hornaday spun Martin out on the restart and for whatever reason NASCAR didn`t penalize him. It was pretty blatant.
Funny post race interview...
Ray Dunlap (SPEED reporter): "You`ve never finished very well here and now you`re in Victory Lane!"
Mike Skinner: "Yeah, we suck here!"
I loled.