Endurance day pays off for Mears

Well, the endurance race of NASCAR has come and gone and it was nice to see some “new” names in the top five. OK, not exactly new names but not-so-regular top five finishers.

What a gamble on fuel Casey Mears took. And that little roll of the dice paid off big with his first NASCAR Nextel Cup win! Just how nice was that to see. Of course, he ran out of gas just after crossing the finish and had to be pushed to Victory Lane.

Following Casey across the line were J.J. Yeley, Kyle Petty – yes at long last – Kyle Petty, Reed Sorenson and Brian Vickers in a Toyota.

Who’d have thought you’d see a Toyota that high in the finishers this season. Toyota hasn’t exactly been tearing up the tracks.

As happy as you were for Casey’s first Nextel win, you had to grin from ear to ear and let out a happy giggle for Kyle Petty. It was the first time in 10 years he’d finished in the top five and went to the post-race press conference.

And in the nation’s midsection earlier in the day, the Indy 500 had a Kentucky connection with winner Dario Franchitti. He’s married to Ashley Judd of the Ashland Judd fame.

During the FOX broadcast, Darrell Waltrip offered his congrats to his Franklin, Tenn., neighbor Franchitti. Dario just doesn’t sound like he lives in Tennessee. I guess the Judd accent hasn’t rubbed off on him yet.