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Assorted randomness ...

Lap 1: Mike wrestles with the Jamie McMurray-as-odd-man-out-at Roush here, and AOL does much the same here. (McMurray, meanwhile, says he's sticking around.) The calculus is pretty simple for Roush, which needs to shut down one of its five teams to get to NASCAR's max of four. A Roush stable of Kenseth (past champ), Edwards (has made three Chases in four years), Biffle (Chaser in 2005 and probably this year, too) and Ragan (up and comer) is a pretty stout bunch. McMurray, with two wins in 199 career starts and who's now 22nd in points, is clearly the fifth wheel.

Would I hire McMurray? Sure, if Jeremy Mayfield or J.J. Yeley already were signed. And, yes, I know it's only the first full week of June, but it's never too early to talk Silly Season.

More after the jump ...

... your points leader would be Travis Kvapil!

Kvapil used to baffle me. Back in 2005, Penske gave him the keys to the No. 77. Kvapil, on paper at least, looked like a decent choice -- five wins and four straight top 10 season finishes in the Truck series, including the title in 2003. He kept the truck between the walls -- always a plus for any incoming driver who didn't want to work his fab shop guys to death.

But 2005 was a disaster. He racked up four DNFs in the first nine races and limped home to a 33rd-place season finish. When Kodak got out of NASCAR at the end of 2005, Penske shut down the 77 and Kvapil was out. He caught on with Cal Wells in the 32's (and Tide's) final season in 2006. That season was even worse, and Kvapil went back to the Truck Series for 2007.

Funny thing was, Kvapil was very very good last year -- 4 wins, 12 top 10s and a sixth-place season finish. And this season, he's the biggest surprise next to David Ragan.

Think about it. Yates was nearly DOA at the end of last season. The No. 28's sponsor deals are week-to-week, if they even exist. Kvapil had two crappy seasons in Cup. And ... he's not bad.

Don't think that Kvapil's any threat to win a race, much less make the Chase -- he's not. (He's 18th overall.) But he has finished every race this season, and sometimes he's bringing it home on the lead lap. Good for here.

The updated Small Team Standings after the jump. ...

What stood out this weekend:

Lap 1: Kyle Busch is not perfect. Second Friday night at the Truck race at Texas, 20th (and three laps down) at the Buschwide race at Nashville on Saturday night, then dead last on Sunday at Pocono in his Cup car. His 43rd at Pocono dropped his lead over Jeff Burton in the Cup standings went from 142 to 21. Normally that would have been a big deal. But Shrub is in no danger of not making the Chase, and it doesn't matter where you are in the standings going into the Chase. Call it a wash.

For the record, Busch raced 788 of a possible 1,050.5 miles (75 percent). He has two wrecked Cup cars to show for it.

More after the jump ..

One word: Finally.

It was good to see the Hendrick cars more or less kept up with the pack *and* getting good mileage. It's hard to do both, but it seemed to work Sunday at Michigan.

Let's go to the numbers:

Lap 1: Believe it or not, Junior's 76-race winless streak wasn't the longest. That honor belongs to Ken Schrader, whose last win came 533 "gentlemen, start your engines" ago at Dover on June 2, 1991. Bobby Labonte, Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip all have losing streaks well into the 100s. Mark Martin is 0-for-his-last-77. Now that Junior's off the schneid, the Biggest Loser Who Should Win Sometime Soon honors go to Kevin Harvick, who hasn't won since he took the checkers at the 2007 Daytona 500.

Full list o' losers is here.

More after the jump ...

Today's stupid question: Will a road-course ringer win Sunday's race at Sonoma?

No.

This has been another answer of Simple Answers to Stupid NASCAR questions. ...

Lap 1: Kyle Busch drove Sonoma on Sunday like he was on a rail. Nobody was going to catch him, not even Four Time on his best days at Sonoma. That was impressive. PASS.

Lap 2: I'm with the Dude on this. Last year's Sonoma race was full of suspense. This year's edition about put me to sleep. The red flag right at the end didn't exactly help. FAIL.

More after the jump ...