Dale Earnhardt Jr. has stated many a time that he's not one for controversy and stirring the pot like his father Dale Earnhardt used to.

Thursday at Darlington in preparation for Saturday night's Dodge Challenger, I can bet Junior was trying to just be done with the entire Kyle Busch incident, and said that Busch has a very similar driving style to the elder Earnhardt. Here's the quotes:

"On the racetrack, there may be some comparisons there," Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday. "He's fast ... he's slick, he's aggressive."

"That's the way dad raced and Kyle has that same style," Earnhardt Jr. continued. "Very aggressive."

Hmm. Bold statement, Mr. Earnhardt. Bold.

I definitely understand where Junior is coming from in this situation, but it seems a little over dramatic. Is Kyle Busch aggressive? Does trouble to seem follow him? Is controversy nearly a synonym for his name?

Well, because I answered "Yes" to my own three questions, I'm going to have to say that on track, Busch can be very similar. Earnhardt was the only driver that I had even seen race for position in 43rd like he was going for the win.

Busch can do, and has done, the same.

I think Earnhardt Jr. makes a valid description, but after the week of Kyle Busch vs. Dale Jr. comments after their incident at Richmond, I'd like to hear your side. What say you?

Is Kyle Busch the next Dale Earnhardt?

It sure didn't look like anyone could get around Denny Hamlin until a flat tire pulled the No. 11 car back to the field.

And when Hamlin's frustrations showed his classless competitive nature, Clint Bowyer took advantage of the series of events to grab the lead and hold on to win the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 in a green-white-checkered finish.

It was Bowyer's 2nd-career Sprint Cup Series victory, and probably one of the most unlikely wins he'll ever score. Regardless, though, his 13 laps led meant a heckuva lot more than Hamlin's 381 of the extended 410 lap event.

Of course, Bowyer's win will likely be overshadowed this week by a number of things, including:

It was Denny Hamlin's race to lose, and when he did, things got ugly for the benefactor of his troubles.

Hamlin led 381 of 410 laps at his home track until his right front tire started going down with 20 laps to go. The slow leak allowed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to pass the No. 11 along with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin refused to pit and eventually blew the tire with ten laps to go.

At the time, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was cruising away with a lead of over one second, and instead of coming to pit road, Hamlin opted to stop on the race track -- bringing out a yellow. Of course, Hamlin being as tactful as ever, was able to immediately continue once the yellow flag waved.

NASCAR enforced a two lap penalty on Hamlin, but the damage was done. Earnhardt Jr.'s lead in the Dan Lowry 400 was gone.

Whether it was the threat of rain, Dario Franchitti's grinding wreck, or Kevin Lepage's horrendous move, Saturday's Nationwide Series Aaron's 312 was a fun ride all the way to Tony Stewart crossing under the checkers for his first time at Talladega Superspeedway.

Stewart, who led a race-high 80 laps from the pole, has never won at Talladega in either the Nationwide or Sprint Cup prior to Saturday's race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. mounted a terrific challenge from second-place off of turn 2 on the last lap after hanging off of Stewart's bumper to get a run on the No. 20. Junior's No. 5 entry pulled alongside Stewart's Toyota on the backstretch, but the help Earnhardt Jr. had behind disappeared and Stewart pulled back in front.

With the checkered flag nearly in sight, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the race car to win the 2008 Daytona 500 in his first official start with Hendrick Motorsports in February.

He didn't, though, have the right calls from pit road to help him find that victory after his tires began to wear and the No. 88 never came to pit road.

With that in mind, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to be very, very stoked to be heading to Talladega Superspeedway for Sunday's Aaron's 499.

The day will already be memorable for the third-generation stock car driver as he makes his career start No. 300 at a track where he has won five previous times.

Unfortunately, Dale Jr. has gone nearly a fourth of his career since his last victory in the Sprint Cup series -- a number that translates to 70 races since his 17th career win.

Could he make Talladega Superspeedway his 18th on Sunday?

I know I'll find it hard to bet against Dale Earnhardt Jr. with Hendrick Motorsports at Talladega. Heck, it'd be hard to bet against him if he was driving for Petty Enterprises.

He's just that good with the restrictor plate program.

Jeff Gordon has assumed the as the ace of the restrictor plate tracks since the passing of Dale Jr.'s father in 2001 by picking up four wins at Talladega since the spring of 2004. Teammate Jimmie Johnson and former teammate Brian Vickers have picked another pair of Talladega wins in that period, which means two things for Dale Jr.

One, he's got the performance package to win Sunday, and two, likely his stiffest competition will come from those who will work with him the most.

What: Samsung 500
Where: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
When: Sunday, April 6 1:30pm/et FOX (Green Flag Approx. 2:15pm/et)
Distance: 334 laps, 500 miles
Weather: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. South wind around 15 mph. :)
2007 Winner: Jeff Burton
Predictions: Keep Reading





Good God Almighty: It's Sunny! - Is there really anything else I need to say here? Though I know it isn't true, it has sure seemed like nearly every race in the 2008 Sprint Cup season has been dogged by rain, moisture, coldness or a variety of other non-Chamber of Commerce weather.

The Lone Star State isn't letting us down, though!

Most of the time, the driver that wins the pole on Friday for a Sunday Sprint Cup Series race is the main story.

That wasn't the case Friday at Texas Motor Speedway as NASCAR's most popular driver couldn't even take the top story despite winning the Samsung 500 pole.

Of course, when a driver has the hardest and most violent crash of the next-generation car era, that'll happen.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pole-winning run of 190.907mph put the Hendrick driver in good position to win his first event in the past 68 Sprint Cup races he's competed in. Additionally, if Earnhardt Jr. scores a win at Texas -- the site of his first-career Cup win -- it would put to bed all of the stories of Hendrick Motorsports struggling tremendously in 2008.

Earnhardt Jr. will lead Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson to the green flag.

A couple of the go-or-go-homers had more than respectable qualifying runs with David Reutimann securing a spot by qualifying sixth in his No. 44 and Mike Skinner qualified 9th in the Red Bull No. 84.

Dario Franchitti missed his first race of 2008 as did Chad McCumbee who was driving for Kyle Petty in the No. 45. Burney Lamar also hit the trailer after qualifying.

Five races into the 2008 Sprint Cup season, the Fanhouse recaps the Top-5 lessons learned in 2008. Check back each day to get revved up for Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Nearly every site a NASCAR fan will visit this week has something about Hendrick Motorsports and its lack of winning ways in 2008.

People just can't get over the fact that five races in, there hasn't been a guy named Johnson, Gordon, Mears, or Earnhardt Jr. splashing Gatorade, AMP, or Pepsi around in victory lane.

Oh, the humanity!

This reminds me of the now-famous blow up that former Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora had after losing a game in 2001 in which the term "playoffs" took a whole new twist.

Five races? Five races?!

Despite the fact that there are 39 other drivers competing for race wins any given Sunday, apparently five races (five races!) signals that ultimate demise of Hendrick Motorsports. I understand that Hendrick was the dominant team last year -- 3 wins in the first five races -- but each race had a Hendrick driver running with some good luck.

Five races into the 2008 Sprint Cup season, the Fanhouse recaps the Top-5 lessons learned in 2008. Check back each day to get revved up for Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

NASCAR on Fox has had a better start to its broadcast season over 2007, and no one is completely sure why.

The ratings have jumped 5.7% on average -- including the rain-plagued Auto Club 500 -- over last year's numbers. There isn't much that has changed in the sport that I'd think would increase ratings. A new car? More foreign drivers at the back?

Those don't seem like plausible reasons. Maybe it has something to do with Hendrick Motorsports being winless so far, or even the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. even has a legitimate shot to win races right now.

People tire quickly of watching the same winner in each race especially when its Jimmie Johnson winning two of the first five in 2007, or Jeff Gordon starting from the pole in two of those races.

Sure Carl Edwards has won two in 2008, but he's penalty after winning at Las Vegas kept people involved, not bored.

If Aerosmith was in town, they'd be belting out "Same Old Song and Dance" right about now.

Carl Edwards took his second Sprint Cup Series victory in a row Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His win -- the ninth of the Missouri-driver's career -- at the UAW-Dodge 400 put Edwards into the points lead of the Sprint Cup Series for the first time.

Edwards also won last week's Auto Club 500 in California.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton rounded out the Top-5 in the second race of the weekend at LVMS to set new records for cautions.

Saturday's Nationwide Series event had a track record 13 cautions while Sunday's Sprint Cup event won by Edwards had 11 cautions -- one over the track record.

A few of the cautions saw NASCAR's biggest names involved in some of the day's biggest hits.