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The best view of Chicagoland Speedway is through the rearview mirror. This race, as most of the others here, was largely forgettable. Yet, here I am reminding you of the few highlights. Highlight number one... they completed 400 miles in way under three hours! Yipee!

CHECKERED FLAG

David Reutimann scored his second Cup victory with the win Saturday night in Chicago. When his car is set up right, (seldom, I know) he reminds me of Bobby Allison. Just runs the same line as if the car were on rails, lap after lap. No give up, no slowing down, no taking a breather. He just wore down the other contenders.

GREEN FLAGS

Second place finisher, Carl Edwards led two laps Saturday night to double his season total to four. Jeff Gordon dug deep, just not deep enough while fading to third. Jamie McMurray won the pole and ended up fifth at the finish. Hometown boy, Paul Menard is looking better each week after his 10th place run here.

YELLOW FLAGS

NASCAR is often criticized for the unknown debris cautions that tighten up a strung-out field. I really don't mind, as I'd rather see close, albeit manipulated, racing than cars spread all around the track. So, why didn't they throw the yellow Saturday night when they were presented with two semi-legit opportunities? Late in the going, Greg Biffle blew an engine, and later, Scott Speed spun out at the entrance to the pits. Both of these incidents could have brought out a caution on any other night without too many conspiracy claims being filed. Maybe if it had been #18 leading?

RED FLAG

Chicagoland as the only Cup race in the midwest. Or, is Michigan considered midwest? If it is, someone needs to look at a map. Anyway, there are other, better, tracks in the midwest that deserve a Cup visit. Mid-Ohio, Iowa, Kentucky, etc.

BLACK FLAG

Buh-Bye, TNT. Six races was enough to wear out your welcome. Maybe we should have six networks each do six races per year? Evidently, a network exec has made Kyle Petty watch tapes of other telecasts. Now he just repeats the same talking points that we hear from Rusty, Mikey, and Darrell.... EVERY RACE! Wally Dallenbach had this gem after Robby Gordon had 30 seconds to lock in on sitting duck, Bill Elliott, "They say to aim where the car is, it'll be gone by the time you get there." Really? Who says that? Harry Hogg from Days of Thunder? No wonder you never came close to winning a race Wallster.