Gordon extends top-five streak

Jeff Gordon extended his top-five streak to six consecutive races, although he overcame long odds en route.

Our View: Gordon was forced to pit on lap 101 when he felt a vibration in his wheel. After that, he circled the track a lap off the pace for more than 110 circuits before getting NASCAR's "Free Pass." He stormed to the front as soon as he was back with the leaders and eventually finished fourth.

Darlington's rapid rookies

Rookies are not supposed to run strong at Darlington and everyone waited for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano to stumble in the Southern 500. When the checkers waved, however, both of them were in the top 10. Keselowski finished seventh and Logano was ninth.

Our View: It's time to be cautiously optimistic about starting the rookies, especially now that we are closing in on the second half of the season.

Southern 500 Results

Hendrick Motorsports dominated the top five. In addition to Mark Martin winning the race, Jimmie Johnson finishing second and Jeff Gordon in fifth, their engines were in the Stewart-Haas cars raced by Tony Stewart in third and Ryan Newman in fifth. Another HMS driver, Brad Keselowski finished seventh.

Results

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg. Fin at track
1	12	Mark Martin	367	46	Running	12.00
2	42	Jimmie Johnson	367	2	Running	6.91
3	18	Tony Stewart	367	1	Running	11.94
4	3	Ryan Newman	367	48	Running	12.45
5	2	Jeff Gordon	367	6	Running	11.28
6	16	Martin Truex Jr	367	61	Running	11.25
7	31	Brad Keselowski	367		Running
8	11	Greg Biffle	367	117	Running	14.00
9	5	Joey Logano	367	19	Running
10	1	Matt Kenseth	367	16	Running	18.00
11	24	Kevin Harvick	367		Running	20.08
12	6	Jeff Burton	367		Running	11.48
13	23	Denny Hamlin	367		Running	8.00
14	19	Elliott Sadler	367	2	Running	18.65
15	40	Paul Menard	367		Running	27.33
16	8	Kurt Busch	367		Running	17.46
17	38	A J Allmendinger	367		Running	26.67
18	27	Bobby Labonte	367	2	Running	15.24
19	41	Reed Sorenson	367		Running	25.50
20	25	Juan Montoya	367		Running	22.00
21	29	Regan Smith	367		Running	25.00
22	20	Jamie McMurray	367		Running	16.44
23	7	Kasey Kahne	366	45	Running	15.29
24	34	David Stremme	366		Running	27.67
25	39	Tony Raines	364		Running	33.67
26	32	Scott Speed *	362		Running
27	26	Dale Earnhardt Jr	360		Running	15.07
28	28	Robby Gordon	353		Running	25.07
29	21	David Reutimann	347		Running	27.00
30	4	Sam Hornish Jr	344		Running	34.00
31	35	Brian Vickers	333		Accident	28.57
32	9	Carl Edwards	314		Running	15.67
33	10	Marcos Ambrose	312		Running
34	14	Kyle Busch	303	2	Running	20.40
35	22	Max Papis	302		Running
36	13	Casey Mears	238		Running	30.22
37	17	Clint Bowyer	221		Accident	21.00
38	15	David Ragan	199		Accident	23.33
39	37	Scott Riggs	101		Quit	29.67
40	36	Michael Waltrip	73		Engine	22.44
41	33	Dave Blaney	56		Quit	24.38
42	43	Sterling Marlin	38		Quit	18.91
43	30	David Gilliland	27		Fuel Pump	31.00
44		Jeremy Mayfield	0		Did Not Qualify	19.91
45		Scott Speed *	0		Did Not Qualify
	32	Joe Nemechek	0		Did Not Start	24.38

* Speed failed to qualify, and then worked out a deal to race Joe Nemechek's car, so he's listed twice in this week's results.

Stewart-Haas sweep top five again

Stewart-Haas Racing placed both Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman in the top five for the second straight week. Tony Stewart finished third and Ryan Newman was fourth.

Our View: Last week, Stewart was second at Richmond and Newman was fourth. These two tracks could not be any more dissimilar, and that underscores just how strong Stewart-Haas is this year. It's only a matter of time until they win, so fantasy owners should treat them both as place-and-hold drivers.

Hendrick dominates Darlington

Hendrick Motorsports dominated Darlington. In addition to Mark Martin's victory in the Southern 500, Jimmie Johnson finished second, Jeff Gordon was fifth and rookie Brad Keselowski was seventh. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was running in the top 10 until he hit the wall late in the race.

Our View: There are horses for courses and HMS is one of the best values on nearly any track, and a rough-surface track brings the cream to the top.

Martin wins Southern 500

The "Old Man" did it again. Mark Martin stayed out during a lap 319 caution flag and held the field at bay on old tires and very little fuel to win his second race of 2009.

Our View: Rick Hendrick lured him into the No. 5 with promises that he could win and challenge for the championship. Looks like he was right.

IRL: Castroneves on Indy pole

Helio Castroneves held on to win the pole for the Indy 500, with an average speed of 224.864 mph during four laps.

Our View: A 500 mile race is a long event, but there is no more prestige for any other pole in American racing.

Mayfield suspended

Jeremy Mayfield has been indefinitely suspended for violations of NASCAR's substance abuse policy.

Our View: NASCAR has said the team may continue to operate, but someone else will have to head up the operation. Mayfield failed to qualify for the Southern 500.

Gordon scheduled for work on his back

Jeff Gordon will have some work done on his back in between the All-Star race and the Coke 600, according to Dustin Long.

Our View: "(The treatment) is nothing invasive," Gordon told Long. "It's just some injections that are going to do deal with the pain. They say it's sort of like an arthritis and it's excessive because of some of the trauma that my back has gone through, maybe through some wrecks or something. So that's what we're going to do. That's the plan.'' If this increases his comfort, Gordon will be even stronger on race day.

Pit stall selections

Jayski.com has published the pit stall selection for the Southern 500.

Our View: As expected, pole sitter Matt Kenseth took the pit closest to pit exit. Jeff Gordon selected the final pit in the front group, with an opening behind him. Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Marcos Ambrose are the remaining drivers with an opening in front of them.

IRL: Castroneves takes pole from Briscoe

With a speed of an average 224.864 mph, Helio Castroneves has taken the provisional pole from Ryan Briscoe.

Our View: You have to love the four-lap qualification procedures for the Indy 500. That means a driver has to make four perfect laps.

IRL: Philippe crashes

Add Nelson Philippe to the list of drivers who have crashed at Indy. He destroyed his primary car.

Our View: Philippe does not have a backup at the track today, so he will not get a chance to qualify in the top third of the field.

Speed to replace Nemechek

Scott Speed will replace Joe Nemechek in the No. 87 car, which will allow him to start the Southern 500 after failing to qualify on Friday, according to a Tweet from Dustin Long.

Our View: Part of Nemechek's stable of cars are some on Red Bull Racing Toyotas, so Speed should be right at home.

IRL: Wheldon crashes in Indy practice

Dan Wheldon crashed coming off turn two during practice for the Indy 500.

Our View: There appears to be major suspension damage at the back of the car, so this will certainly cause the team to roll out their backup. This is the second damaged car for Panther Racing after Scott Sharp crashed on Friday.

Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Results

Kyle Busch dominated the Diamond Hill Plywood 200, but he was denied the victory in the closing laps because of a cut tire from debris from a Scott Lagasse Jr. / Joe Nemechek crash late in the event. The accident occurred with two laps remaining.

Matt Kenseth was chasing him down at the time, however, and they would have had a heck of a battle.

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status
1	6	Matt Kenseth	153	4	Running
2	7	Jason Leffler	153		Running
3	3	Carl Edwards	153	5	Running
4	5	Erik Darnell	153		Running
5	16	Justin Allgaier	153		Running
6	2	Ryan Newman	153		Running
7	19	Mike Bliss	153		Running
8	9	Jeff Burton	153		Running
9	31	Scott Wimmer	153		Running
10	10	Brian Vickers	153		Running
11	8	Brad Keselowski	153		Running
12	4	Joey Logano	153		Running
13	24	Scott Speed	153		Running
14	14	Steve Wallace	153		Running
15	11	Jason Keller	153		Running
16	1	Kyle Busch	153	143	Running
17	23	Patrick Carpentier	153		Running
18	17	Kenny Wallace	153		Running
19	15	Brendan Gaughan	152		Running
20	21	Brian Scott	152		Running
21	18	Tony Raines	152	1	Running
22	13	Scott Lagasse Jr	152		Running
23	32	Jeff Green	151		Running
24	29	Brian Keselowski	151		Running
25	30	Brandon Whitt	150		Running
26	25	Kevin Hamlin	150		Running
27	28	Danny O'Quinn Jr	150		Running
28	27	Eric McClure	149		Running
29	20	Michael Annett	149		Running
30	26	Jeff Fuller	148		Running
31	33	Morgan Shepherd	148		Running
32	22	Joe Nemechek	142		Accident
33	12	Michael McDowell	140		Running
34	35	John Wes Townley	117		Throttle
35	37	Kevin Lepage	57		Accident
36	36	Kenny Hendrick	54		Accident
37	43	Mike Harmon	36		Brakes
38	38	Travis Kittleson	19		Overheating
39	40	Mark Green	17		Quit
40	39	Kertus Davis	15		Quit
41	41	Terry Cook	13		Quit
42	42	Johnny Chapman	12		Quit
43	34	Casey Atwood	11		Transmission

IRL: Wilson's time disallowed

Justin Wilson's first qualification attempt was disallowed because he had weight or ballast in an unapproved position. Speculation is that the team failed to accurately gauge how his body weight would affect IndyCar's allowable balance.

Our View: This counts as one of Wilson's three attempts on pole day, but he still has two chances to lock his team in the race in the front third of the field.

Southern 500 Starting Grid

Starting position is critical to running well at Darlington and a race has been won from the front row there 33 percent of the time. Matt Kenseth blistered the asphalt with a new track record, but the biggest news is that he bettered his average start by more than 20 positions.

Jeff Gordon has the best average start among Saturday's starters with a 6.76, and he padded that with his outside pole run.

Starting Grid

Start	Driver	Avg. Start at Track
1	Matt Kenseth	21.38
2	Jeff Gordon	6.76
3	Ryan Newman	9.00
4	Sam Hornish Jr	13.50
5	Joey Logano
6	Jeff Burton	21.30
7	Kasey Kahne	10.00
8	Kurt Busch	11.23
9	Carl Edwards	15.00
10	Marcos Ambrose
11	Greg Biffle	8.22
12	Mark Martin	13.07
13	Casey Mears	19.56
14	Kyle Busch	18.20
15	David Ragan	18.00
16	Martin Truex Jr	25.50
17	Clint Bowyer	14.75
18	Tony Stewart	17.18
19	Elliott Sadler	11.41
20	Jamie McMurray	16.00
21	David Reutimann	21.67
22	Max Papis
23	Denny Hamlin	14.00
24	Kevin Harvick	16.23
25	Juan Montoya	28.33
26	Dale Earnhardt Jr	15.87
27	Bobby Labonte	15.69
28	Robby Gordon	30.86
29	Regan Smith	22.50
30	David Gilliland	33.67
31	Brad Keselowski
32	Joe Nemechek	25.48
33	Dave Blaney	22.54
34	David Stremme	22.67
35	Brian Vickers	20.86
36	Michael Waltrip	23.19
37	Scott Riggs	23.50
38	A J Allmendinger	28.00
39	Tony Raines	38.00
40	Paul Menard	34.67
41	Reed Sorenson	28.00
42	Jimmie Johnson	12.00
43	Sterling Marlin	15.74