You should be ashamed of yourself if you were rooting for Mark Martin to take out Kyle Busch... I know I am... the ghost of Dale was nowhere to be seen Saturday night... second top ten in a row for Jr...

First time this season, pretty hard to believe... Smoke with his worst outing... luckily he can afford it... two races to go and the guys all around that 12 mark to get into the chase are all sweating a little... if you don't get in there's always next year but no one wants to wait till next year... fans... sponsors... owners... especially the drivers... off to Atlanta we go! PS

Just after Brooks and Dunn announced their impending split I got the opportunity to ask them firsthand how it came down. So many people have asked me WHY it's happening, I just had to be blunt. And, blunt I was.

It was Paul Shadt who said "why don't you ask them 'who Garfunkeled who'? So, I did. I think it was Kix Brooks who gave me a maniacal glare in a way that implied "Cathy, I thought we were friends."

Well, it was definitely the longest 3 seconds of my life before Ronnie Dunn finally broke the awkward silence to let me know that it was HE who finally got fed up with the musical compromise between label execs and duo. He just made up his mind right then and there and called it quits.

Kix sat muted in front of me. I had to drag it out of him, too... "so, Kix, how did you react?" He said he thought it best to end the act, too, and call it a good 20 years together. It had run its course and it was just "time" to end it.

So, as shocking as it is to some fans, it's really a miracle that two extremely talented musicians were able to hold it together so well, for so long. Both are excited about solo projects... writing, albums, winery biz, etc. But not so quick... there's still the farewell tour.

Finally... a win!... Congratulations to Brian Vickers... poles are great but there's nothing like a checkered flag... especially when you're trying to get in to the chase...

Jeff Gordon a consistent 2nd and who was that guy in third... looked familiar... just hadn't seen him around in a while... were you thinking there might be another Monday race headed our way?... I was... isn't this a fun time of the year... you've got a handful of drivers who might make the chase which makes these next few races even more exciting... go NASCAR and thanks for listening to PRN!

Many of you go to country music concerts or races with the hope of having a great time. It never occurs to us that it could be dangerous, does it? But, at races, you've seen it happen... a wheel flies off a race car at Indy and kills a spectator, even though every reasonable precaution is taken.

But, still... it can happen... like during the onset of a storm in Edmonton, Canada, recently. You heard about it. Billy Currington was on his last song of the set when it hit... the stage collapsed and a pole hit his head, giving him a concussion and a cut above his left eye... but, worse, his bass player suffered a severed artery and nerve damage in his arm, as he was pinned under the wreckage for half an hour.

Nearly 75 more were injured. Most tragic, was the death of a fan, a single mom who had been so excited to go to this concert and had won the priviledge of sitting on the side of the stage to watch the show and was crushed when part of the public address system fell on top of her.

There are outdoor concerts every day and most of the time, it's a celebration between the stars and their fans. We're sad for the victims and their families, but we also see some goodness in all this.

Kevin Kostner and his group were to perform next. He was actually onstage when it buckled and was pinned under some rubble. Although he wasn't injured, some of his crew had minor injuries. Kostner ended up going to the hospital and visited with the injured.

Some of the artists on the show have said they want to return to Edmonton in the future and help out any type of benefit to support the victims. Even in a time of sadness the heart of country music is still about relationships.

Good for Denny Hamlin and the gang at Joe Gibbs... 50 races no checkered flags hard to believe... I bet it won't take that long next time...

So what's the biggest surprise this season... Tony Stewart doing so well... Mark Martin chalking up the wins... or is it the flip side... Jr. on the outside of the chase... or is it Kyle Busch either winning or coming in 38th... certainly an interesting season... can JJ make it 4 in a row... we'll see... PS