Did you know that The Marbles has been around since NASCAR's beginnings? It's true!* And we've just recently come across a treasure trove of old Marbles posts from days gone by! Check out what was being said right here during the greatest moments in NASCAR history, only on Lost Marbles!

Well folks, the 1992 season has come to a close and we've got ourselves a changing of the guard, but more on that in a minute. I'm still catching my breath from that epic championship battle.

Bill Elliott just needed to beat Alan Kulwicki by 11 points and the title was his. And all Kulwicki had to do was hold serve, and boy, did he ever.

Yeah, Bill won the race, but thanks to a great move by Alan's crew chief, Paul Andrews, The Hooters car (in the appropriately named Hooters 500) stayed out a few extra laps before pitting for a gas and go.

Those extra laps were the difference as when Elliott finally passed Kulwicki, he could only lead 102 laps. Alan led 103. That was the 10 point swing.

This was one of the best races in NASCAR history. What a great sport this is, given that the drivers were separated by just a couple of positions going into the final race of a 29 race season. I think we're going to have some more points races like that, and Alan's success bodes well for successful drivers owning their own race teams. This could continue to become a trend.

Back to that changing of the guard thing. Yes, this was the last race for the great Richard Petty, the greatest NASCAR driver who will ever live. But Richard got caught up in a wreck and finished 35th. However, he and his crew were able to get back on track for Richard to be running at the finish.

Some people think that this new kid, name of Jeff Gordon, is going to be the next Richard Petty, but I don't see it. His car control was terrible all day, and he hit the wall and finished 31st. You've got to have good car control to succeed in NASCAR, as well as a personality that resonates with the fans, and Gordon's California attitude and rainbow car and firesuit aren't something that many fans are going to take a liking to. You heard it here first: this kid's going to be a giant disappointment.

*-For the irony-challenged: no, it's not true. This is satire.

If you need any more evidence that we're not living in the old days of NASCAR any longer -- and that's not always a bad thing -- you need look no farther than Wednesday, when no less than five past and current Sprint Cup drivers jumped on Twitter for some impromptu question-and-answer sessions with whatever lucky fans happened to be online at the time. (You can tell they're the real guys, because they tend to be, shall we say, less concerned with rules of grammar and spelling than their PR reps.) Here's a sample:

• Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin): "yes i miss tony [Stewart] as a teammate.. but we are closer now then when we were actually teammates.. he is very good to me on the track." Hamlin also revealed that it costs about $120,000 to run a truck race.

• Kyle Busch (@kylebusch), on what color M&M is his favorite: "Red. He just like me. Hard outside. Soft sweet inside. Lmao"

• Kyle Petty (@kylepetty) gave the reason for why his father used to race with a rag in his mouth: "kept his mouth from drying out"

• Elliott Sadler (@elliott_sadler) gave his preferred form of fried baloney burgers: "fried in onions and green peppers wit butter!!"

Plus, Kevin Harvick (@kevinharvick) gave away tickets to Bristol and asked fans to help him select his intro song at BMS, and Scott Speed (@scottspeed) asked fans for fashion tips: "Should I dye my hair black with Blue chunks? Kinda like Scott from Austin powers? If I get 75% Y I am ganna do it for Bristol! Promise ;)"

Okay, so it's not groundbreaking info, but it's still a cool connection to drivers. The people who are on Twitter, Facebook and other social-networking services are a tiny fraction of the overall fanbase. But those who are, are more plugged in than anybody else. So jump on -- follow The Marbles at @jaybusbee if you do -- and get in the game. You never know when your favorite driver might give you a shout.

Yes, He With The Chin Hair vs. He With The Muscles is even more obvious than last week's McMurray-Montoya feud, but that Barbaro has been beaten enough. He's getting tired.

Instead, let's talk about Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of He With the Chin Hair's flip on Sunday.

Why Atlanta? Well, because Atlanta seems to be the odds-on favorite to lose a race date to Kentucky Speedway.

So should Atlanta go on an all-out jihad against Kentucky, finding a way to slip the grease from the Varsity's grease traps into the water at the Jim Beam distillery in an attempt to sabotage the state's reputation? (Cue the "does Kentucky have a reputation enough to salvage?" jokes.)

Probably not. Kentucky Speedway is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc., the same track that owns Atlanta. If NASCAR and Bruton Smith, the chairman of SMI, can get their legal battles smoothed over, Kentucky's getting a race, and the only way that Kentucky can get a race is if another SMI track sacrifices a race date.

That's not going to happen at Charlotte, which is NASCAR's hub, or New Hampshire, which is the only NASCAR presence in the Northeast. And if Bruton even so much as threatened to take away a race date from Bristol -- a ridiculously farfetched idea to begin with given the attendance -- NASCAR fans would get even more riled up than they do when Junior's in the lead.

According to various estimates, Atlanta had anywhere from 60,000-70,000 people at Sunday's race, and the track capacity is roughly 100,000. The logical scenario is to let Atlanta keep the Labor Day weekend date, allowing the Southeast to keep the tradition (I know, I know, it's not Darlington) and transferring the spring date to Kentucky. Of course, March may be a little chilly that time of year near the Ohio River, but the 2011 schedule isn't going to look much like the 2010 one.

Hey, dig this! Dale Earnhardt Jr. is going to be a cartoon on the Handy Manny Show! First announced at the Daytona 500, "Handy Manny Big Race" is now officially on the Disney Channel slate for March 20. 

Now, I don't know much about Handy Manny -- I'm a Spongebob Man myself -- but according to the plot summary, Manny and his tools will serve as a pit crew at the Wood Valley 500 race. (Must have been a tough year in Wood Valley; no sponsorship packages.) OK, so here's the deal: "Manny and the tools have to help Elliot fix up his used race car in order to enter the race, and luckily the car turns out better than expected, but not Elliot! Elliot is too nervous to drive!" (Hey, you would be too, if Carl Edwards was on the track.)

So anyway, enter Junior. "Dale’s character, Chase Davis, must step in to help out and Manny gets behind the wheel to try to win the race for the entire team." (Hey, why isn't Dale driving? He's a NASCAR driver, and ... oh. Never mind.)

Anyway, check the show out on March 20th on the Disney Channel. And send us clips. Please.

Those of you complaining about the Edwards/Keselowski drama, cheer up -- at least we're talking about on-track action. Could be worse; remember that this time last year, we were about to descend into discussion of meth use and urine tests, courtesy of one Jeremy Mayfield.

Alas, the story's not done yet, and won't be for some time. Quick version: Mayfield failed a drug test in May, was suspended, protested, was reinstated, failed another drug test, and was suspended again. Court cases and accusations of everything from home meth labs to murder followed; you can see a complete timeline here.

One particularly fascinating aspect of the case is the defamation lawsuit that Lisa Mayfield filed against her stepson after Jeremy accused her of being involved in the 2007 death of his father. According to Scene Daily, Lisa Mayfield's attorney is now seeking to depose ESPN.com reporter David Newton: "ESPN reporter David Newton and ESPN are essential and material witnesses to the facts and circumstances involved in this cause of action," Lisa Mayfield's attorney wrote in a request to the North Carolina Superior Court.

And in related -- literally speaking -- news, Mayfield's former brother-in-law was one of two crewmen suspended on Tuesday for violations of NASCAR's substance-abuse policy. William David Keith, spotter for David Gilliland and brother of Mayfield's first wife, was suspended, as was Matthew Huffstetler, a crew member on the Daisy Ramirez Motorsports No. 1 Camping World Truck series team.

Keith has been involved Mayfield's ongoing legal problems; he claimed in a deposition last year that he saw Mayfield using methamphetamine on multiple occasions. Keith's statements were part of NASCAR's motion to force Mayfield to undergo a comprehensive physical and mental examination; that motion is pending.

Of course, one might expect that seeing a significant witness in a drug-use case get tagged himself for drug use might weaken said case. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston tried to put a positive spin on the situation in a statement to Scene Daily: "It just shows that anyone can be tested at any time, and a positive test results in an immediate suspension." Front Row Motorsports expressed disappointment with Keith.

Bottom line, the Mayfield story won't be resolved for many months yet, if ever. Here's hoping it doesn't wreck too many more lives along the way.

So ... quiet days in NASCAR these days, huh?

We've had the Edwards/Keselowski Atlanta spin, we've had Dale Earnhardt Jr. failing to live up to his pole position, we've had Jimmie Johnson not winning! And we've had plenty of new visitors to our site this week. If you're one of them, welcome. This is where we hang to talk about anything and everything, NASCAR or not.

Oh, and after reading through the first hundred or so of the thousands of driveby comments, well, I kinda lost it. Not so much "lost it" as decided to offer up a few responses, via Twitter, on the most common quickie comments. Yes, it got fun on Monday night.  (Yes, this is a shameless bid to get you to sign up for Twitter and follow me at @jaybusbee. Trust me, if you like The Marbles, the Twitter feed is like the must-see DVD extras.) Anyway, here's what I had to say on Twitter Monday night:

Notes for commenters: 1. Calling it "CRAPCAR" or "NA$CAR" isn't nearly as funny as you think it is. 2. Racing was NOT better in... (cont'd)....the "old days." It wasn't. Deal with it. 3. If you say you're giving up on NASCAR, beat it. Nobody wants to hear your whine. (cont'd) 4.NASCAR IS a sport. And even if it wasn't, who cares? Does any other sport have this many whiners? (Well, Duke hoops, but it's the team.)

I feel so much better now ... though it's looking like I may need to offer up a sequel after Tuesday's NASCAR statement on Edwards. Feel free to leave your own rants in the comments below, and we'll see you back here soon!

Imagine for a second if it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. flying through the evening Atlanta air Sunday night instead of Brad Keselowski.

Imagine if it was a start-and-parker who sent Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson airborne with a deliberate tap to the bumper.

Still think we'd be talking about a three-race probation?

When NASCAR handed down its penalty for Edwards on Tuesday -- three races of probation, the equivalent of being told "I'll let you go this time, but next time, mister, next time ... " --  reaction was immediate and split right down the middle. Some fans and media indicated they were satisfied with the punishment (particularly the media who made sure to pat themselves on the back at how right they were in guessing the sentencing). Others screamed that this was far too weak of a punishment for such a violent act of retaliation.

But those were the fans. Let's look at some of the drivers' reactions, via Twitter (all responses sic'd]:

• Robby Gordon: Just heard the news. I wonder what would of happened to me in that situation? Hmmm someone playing favorites? :)

• Kevin Harvick:  huh! suprised by the penalty lack there of ... i'm thinkging about asking for a refund for all of my penalties!!!!

• Kyle Busch (responding to Harvick): Me too! Let me kno how that goes. Lmao.

• Regan Smith: Gotta say I think NASCAR handled the situation the right way, glad 2 c they ackowledged the car getting airborne is the biggest issue

• Kyle Petty: For me I am deeply saddened by the decision that #NASCAR made on this issue. I love this Business,will always support it, but not this...

Many other drivers, including Clint Bowyer and Elliott Sadler, expressed a desire to find out exactly why Keselowski's car flipped and declined direct comment on the punishment.

Clearly, though, there's a sentiment that Edwards got off easy, possibly because of his burgeoning "golden boy" status in NASCAR. (As Delana Harvick, Kevin's wife, put it on her own page: "i can't understand what a 3-race probation actually does. maybe @kevinharvick should awe shucks more. seems to work.")

And you know what? He did get off easy. If it had been someone else other than a controversial rookie flying through the air, if it had been a less notable driver causing the wreck, you can bet the hammer would have hit harder.

But Edwards is the new face of NASCAR, a guy with nearly as many commercials as Dale Earnhardt Jr., and you can expect him to be carrying much of the public-face load the closer Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon get to retirement. After his own wreck at Talladega last year, Edwards visited everyone from Ellen Degeneres to Larry King; think that'll happen with Keselowski?

NASCAR, like every other enterprise, is a celebritocracy; the brighter lights get the biggest breaks. In this instance, Edwards may well have sweet-talked his way into a lighter punishment. If Robby Gordon were to do the same thing, we'd be looking at a ten-race suspension. Is it fair? No. But it's the way of the world.

Hopefully the rest of NASCAR's celebrity elite won't be trying the same moves as Carl. "Could have been hurt" is a lot easier to blow off than "was hurt."

Time for another Marbles chat! Whatever, oh ever, shall we talk about? Chat commences Wednesday at 1 p.m. Eastern. Be here, or we'll spin ya into the fence.

NASCAR has made its ruling: the boys can keep on havin' at it.

On Tuesday afternoon, NASCAR president Mike Helton announced his decision on punishment for Sunday's spectacular Carl Edwards/Brad Keselowski wreck: probation for three races. No fine, no suspension. 

In the immediate aftermath of the wreck, NASCAR summoned Edwards to the hauler, where they "made it very clear these actions were not acceptable," Helton said. "This did go beyond putting driving in the hands of the drivers." Helton indicated that Edwards understood the severity of his actions. NASCAR plans to hold a sit-down with Edwards, Keselowski and their respective owners, Jack Roush and Roger Penske, to "clear the air" and allow them to get back to "hard, competitive, side-by-side racing."

(On a related note, Helton also questioned why the 12 car took flight at a track like Atlanta, which traditionally doesn't see the kinds of flying cars that occur at places like Talladega. NASCAR will be investigating how exactly that happened, with the intention of figuring how to prevent it in the future.)

Certainly, this decision won't sit well with those who feel NASCAR already plays too fast and loose with driver safety. Many fans and media observers wanted Edwards parked for a race or the season, with some going to the absurd lengths like advocating criminal charges.

On the other hand, NASCAR had said that this would be a year in which the gloves would be off and drivers would be permitted to police themselves -- "Boys, have at it, and have fun," as NASCAR VP of Competition Robin Pemberton famously put it back in January.

So NASCAR was thus in a bind -- do they condone this kind of violent retaliation, or do they drop the hammer and negate the whole "have at it" philosophy? 

The fundamental question in the wreck was whether the punishment should address the intent of the wreck, or the outcome. The intent was obvious; Edwards meant to screw up Keselowski's day by spinning him and denying him a top-10 finish. It's the kind of payback that happens all the time. The outcome, of course, was far beyond that, the kind of scary aerial maneuver that can end very, very badly. 

The Edwards/Keselowski feud is now all square. But here's betting that the next driver to send somebody airborne isn't going to get off quite so easily.

_______

For more daily NASCAR and automotive news throughout the 2010 season, click here to bookmark Yahoo! Sports' From The Marbles blog and follow us on Twitter at @jaybusbee.

Related stories:
Did Keselowski deserve Edwards' payback? A video compendium
Jimmie Johnson doesn't have a nickname? Really?
Let's not mince words: what the heck happened to Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Ever get the feeling that you're not watching the same race as the crew broadcasting it?

Well, if you have, you're not alone. Numerous times during Sunday's Kobalt Tools 524.5, basic facts were misstated about the race and its events. No wonder Twitter is becoming the place to go to actually know what's going on during the race. (Make sure to follow Jay and me there.)

For example, Jeff Gordon didn't pit under green a second time; he had a speeding penalty. Darrell Waltrip started explaining that the yaw in the Hendrick chassis was putting stress on the right side tires, and therefore causing all of the tire problems. Certainly a plausible theory, but DW apparently didn't take into account that Mark Martin and Tony Stewart had left-side tire problems. Larry McReynolds told us that Kenseth was losing positions -- as he was sitting in fourth and holding. (And did anyone else notice that it took all the Hendrick cars but Jimmie Johnson to have a problem for Larry Mac to conclude that Hendrick may be doing something to cause them?)

And since tire problems were a constant theme of the race, why couldn't Fox have asked a spokesperson from Goodyear a few questions? Goodyear had a rep taking questions in the media center, so even the Monday morning newspapers beat Fox to the tire story!

I don't think it's that big of a deal to ask for a broadcast crew to get their sequence of events and facts straight. Heck, isn't that part of the job description? However, given some bad production, Fox was heading for a bad grade even with a good performance from the guys in the booth.

The Good: Fox did a good job of getting Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski as soon as possible.

The Bad: Viewers completely missed Kasey Kahne passing Kurt Busch for the lead with approximately 70 laps to go. Passes for the lead during the midpoint of races sometimes happen under commercial, but it wasn't even replayed after they came back from caution! When Denny Hamlin blew a tire while leading with about 40 laps to go, Fox took their sweet time getting back from commercial to tell us that Hamlin had a problem. No one mentioned that Michael McDowell was the first to park and therefore subject to an engine takedown. Where did the field rundown at the end of the race go? First it was too big, and now it's gone. Is there no happy medium?

The Grade: C-. There are enough flashes of competence to think that Fox is going to have a complete broadcast, but Sunday was incredibly disjointed.