The staff of National DRAGSTER, the official weekly newsmagazine of the NHRA, is preparing for the annual Readers Choice issue. Each year, the staff offers its loyal readers the opportunity to suggest story ideas for this annual keepsake, then selects the best of the best to research and publish.

If you have a feature idea, they’d love to hear about it. Have you been wondering why — or who, what, when, or where? Let the ND writers find the answers. If your idea is chosen, all you have to do is sit back and read all about it, and, of course, you’ll get full credit for the idea! Send suggestions to readerschoice@nhra.com.

The deadline to submit story ideas is Aug. 5.

The staff of National DRAGSTER, the official weekly newsmagazine of NHRA, is preparing for the annual Readers Choice issue. Each year, the staff offers its loyal readers the opportunity to suggest story ideas for this annual keepsake, then selects the best of the best to research and publish.

If you have a feature idea, they’d love to hear about it. Have you been wondering why — or who, what, when, or where? Let the ND writers find the answers. If your idea is chosen, all you have to do is sit back and read all about it, and, of course, you’ll get full credit for the idea! Send suggestions to readerschoice@nhra.com.

The deadline to submit story ideas is Aug. 5.

Here's an interesting one — all the winners of the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 that were running in Sunday's race. You know 'em all, don't you? Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte, Sam Hornish Jr., Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. Surely there is conversation amongst these men, don't you think? Have at it.

After the jump, Harvick's team makes with the grocery-bagging.

Nixiechick:
One of the advantages of sending the pit crew to the grocery store is they can use their shirts as the shopping list.

Vaffanculo:
Dave Blaney pulled off and parked it by aisle 4.

kevin h:
"We told you not to mention her firesuit."

So ESPN, the third head of NASCAR's hydra-style television approach, has begun broadcasting. And with ESPN's arrival — specifically, with the fact that most of the Chase races will be on cable — come the inexplicable complaints about the race being shown on cable rather than broadcast TV.

Really? We're really still having this debate in 2010?

I realize this issue will tick off a certain segment of the fanbase. The economy is still in the toilet, and sometimes the cable has to go. That stinks. But to say that NASCAR is out of touch with its fanbase by putting its championship on cable? Well, that seems a bit ... let's just say "out of touch." After all, you're reading this on the Internet, aren't ya? Doesn't that cost money?

Still, curious about exactly how much reach ESPN has, I reached out to the World Wide Leader for some hard figures. Get this:

• As of July, ESPN is in 99.5 million homes, and expects to be in more than 100 million by the time the Chase starts. How many people in the United States have TV? About 115 million. In other words, almost everybody who's got a TV has — or has access to — ESPN.

• NASCAR isn't the only major sport to put marquee events on cable. Monday Night Football, college football's BCS games, baseball's and basketball's playoffs, hockey's Stanley Cup playoffs, the British Open, and on and on and on.  

• More to the point, ESPN possesses tremendous flexibility in scheduling postrace coverage, particularly when races run long. No more cutaways to run "America's Funniest Videos"; if the race runs long, it runs long, and "SportsCenter" gets pushed back a bit. Since some race fans scream about the lack of postrace coverage, this should be like Christmas every week.   

• ESPN was the only network to see ratings improvement in 2009, rising 5 percent. And as ESPN noted, cable TV subscribers make up as much as 95 percent of the audience of major broadcast events like the Super Bowl, the NCAA Tournament and the World Series. In other words, many of the people who don't have cable wouldn't be watching NASCAR even if it was on broadcast. 

All of this ESPN love is not to say that races should only be broadcast on television. TNT's "RaceBuddy" wins deserved accolades every single year the Summer Series rolls around. Navigating the thicket of rights involved in streaming races online is akin to unknotting a plate of spaghetti, but it can — and should — be done. Until then, though, we've got ESPN. That's where it is, that's where it'll be through Homestead.

So, yeah — I'm not sure if the whole "NASCAR needs to be on broadcast, not cable" is really an issue, or if it's just what sometimes happens in NASCAR — a few angry types making a lot of noise while everyone else just watches the doggone races. I do know that almost nobody younger than middle age sees any distinction between "broadcast" and "cable" anymore, particularly with last year's digital switchover. This argument, if there is one, is over and done with. Not only has this horse left the barn, he's gone out in the world, found himself a nice lady horse, raised a family, and now watches racing on freaking ESPN. True story.

OK, your turn. Have your say in the comments. Is this ESPN thing a thing?

If, before the season, you'd asked which owner would be riding highest come late July, Chip Ganassi would have ranked somewhere beneath Zeke McCoy Racing's shade-tree start-and-park operation.* After all, Ganassi's team was a hodgepodge mess of the remains of Dale Earnhardt Inc. and his own outfit, with special guest star Felix Sabates involved in some way or another.

But hey, we're in late July, and look where we are now. Ganassi has pulled off an astonishing trifecta: his drivers have won the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same calendar year. It's an astonishing rebirth for a team that only recently had to cut teams because of a lack of sponsorship funds.

"We had to pull our wings in a bit and make some changes, take it a little bit on the chin, which we did," Ganassi said after the race. "But we always knew we'd be racing. I think a lot of people in the media had us written off that we were bye-bye. Everybody was ready to kiss us off. We knew that wasn't the case."

Fair enough. It'll be a haul for Ganassi's teams -- either Jamie McMurray or Juan Pablo Montoya -- to make the Chase. But for now, Ganassi is simply loving life -- and building a new trophy case. 

*-Zeke McCoy Racing does not, technically, exist. But it should. 

The top three finishers at the Brickyard 400 Sunday came from Group F, with Greg Biffle losing to Brickyard winner Jamie McMurray despite finishing in third place.

McMurray was also only one of two underdogs, or a driver drawn from a pot lower than his opponent, to win at Indianapolis, with Brad Keselowski being the other. Keselowski looked like he was on his way to an 0-1 start, but got the win after Juan Pablo Montoya smashed the wall.

Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne both came up one place short, as Martin lost to Kurt Busch, who finished 10th, and Kahne lost to Matt Kenseth, who finished 12th.

After the jump, check out all of the standings for the NASCAR World Cup, and check back Friday for a preview of the matchups for the pivotal second week at Pocono. (How often do Pocono and pivotal appear in the same sentence?)

 

Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.

This, friends, is something to see. Helio Castroneves was leading Sunday's Honda Indy Edmonton race, but race officials ruled he illegally blocked Will Power and ordered him to back off the throttle. He refused and crossed the finish line first, but IndyCar officials stripped him of his victory. And oh, he wasn't happy. Here are the final few laps, followed by Helio's explosion, which happens about four minutes in:

Nice! Helio was fired up enough to take on a security guard!

Yeah! YEAH! Now that's a quality tantrum! And you know, he may in fact have a point. Still, the race is done, but this tantrum will live on forever. 

[Photos: Former 'Dancing with the Stars' champ Castroneves shows off his moves]

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The Brickyard 400 had one of the weirdest openings in recent memory, with carnage aplenty, before things settled down and came to a critical two-tires-or-four call. Here, have a little gander at what was almost an amazing run by Juan Pablo Montoya:

Congrats to Jamie McMurray on the victory! Better luck next time, JPM.

It was all looking so good for Juan Pablo Montoya. He was just about to erase the ghosts of 2009, when he lost an Indy race by speeding down pit road. But a late caution, combined with a crucial too-many-tires call, and Montoya was left trying to make something happen to get back to the front. And make something happen he did, but not the way he expected:

Ouch. Ah, well. At least that'll make 2011 a double-redemption for Montoya, right?

Now entering his third decade of Indy Car racing, Roger Penske would experience a flood of emotions from more hallowed victories at the Speedway to multiple Drivers’ deaths. Yet as always, once again The Captain has come out smelling like a rose with the inking of Will Power to a full time ride at Team Penske!

TELECONFERENCE: Penske first to the Barber

1989
Rocket Rick became the very first driver to ever capture five Pole positions at the Speedway that May aboard a Penske PC-18/Chevrolet, having tied Rex Mays feat of capturing four poles the previous year, in which Mays had accomplished back in 1948!

Yet, it would be Emerson Fittipaldi capturing his first Borg Warner trophy for Pat Patrick and Chip Ganassi in a customer Penske PC-18/Chevy that year, with “EMMO” enroute to the CART Championship crown at year’s end.

1990
Having been beaten by the customer “BAD HABITS” Marlboro team of Patrick/Ganassi... Penske did the sensible thing and hired reigning CART Champion Fittipaldi to drive for him, hence forming a three car line-up for the season.

And EMMO immediately repaid The Captain by claiming the Pole at Indy, securing Team Penske’s third consecutive Pole position at the Brickyard, with Rocket Rick starting from “P2,” while “Sully” (Sullivan) rolled off from ninth, but it was to be some cat named “The Flying Dutchman” Arie Luyendyk’s day at the Speedway instead.

1991
Rick Mears now looking somewhat out of character, in Marlboro red and white versus his most recognizable Pennzoil yellow, albeit having made the switch the year prior, garnered the sixth and final Pole of his storied career at Indianapolis that May, becoming the only driver to date to accomplish the feat.

Thus starting from Pole, in what has to be my most favourite Rocket Rick win at the Speedway, when he made the move affectionately known as “The Pass” upon Mikey Andretti enroute to his record tying fourth Indy 500 victory at the Speedway during the 75th Memorial Day classic, Mears would only contest a single Indy 500 afterwards before announcing his retirement.

1993
Rick Mears was replaced by a young, brash Canadian named Paul Tracy, who qualified seventh before crashing out on lap 94, while team leader Emerson fittipaldi started ninth.

Emerson went onto score his second and final Indy 500 victory after a late race tussle with Little Al, then driving for Rick Galles, as Unser Jr. stood by his wrecked racecar waiting for EMMO to pass by and then flashing him two thumbs up before going to the awaiting Ambulance.

Yet, I believe more noise was made over the Brazilian shirking tradition by drinking Orange juice in Victory Lane instead of Milk in deference to his burgeoning OJ concern back home in San Paolo vs. winning Indy.

1994
Truly an epic season for Penske Racing, as The Captain’s Indy Car team was nearly unbeatable, with Al Unser Jr. winning a total of eight races, including that year’s Indy 500 with the all conquering Mercedes Benz “Stock Block” engine enroute to his second CART Championship, while Paul Tracy scored two victories and Emerson Fittipaldi managed to secure a lone victory that year, it was to be one of Roger Penske’s most successful seasons ever.

1995
After a record breaking year in 1994, when Penske’s three car “Super team” of Lil Al, “EMMO” and Tracy had obliterated the competition in CART, unbelievably Team Penske was unable to get its two drivers; Unser Jr. and Fittipaldi up to speed aboard their Penske PC-24/Mercedes. And The Captain even went as far as to purchase two Lola T95/00 chassis for the driving tandem. But to no avail could either driver make the show. As Roger Penske would miss the next five years, as Tony George’s rival Indy Racing League left Penske and CART out in the cold for the 79th running of Indy, with his 25-8 IRL participants rule for the formation of his rival Indy Racing League, kicking off in 1996...

1999
While many may recall that this was the year that tragically Gregg Moore was killed on Halloween at Fontana Speedway, ironically owned by Roger Penske at the time, as Moore had previously committed to drive for Roger the following year, does anybody recall that Rookie Gonzalo Rodriguez was killed at Laguna Seca Raceway on September 11th, in what was to be only his second start ever, while driving for Penske Racing, which at the time had a revolving door policy for its second car alongside the slumping Unser Junior, as unfortunately Rodriguez was fatally killed at the “Zanardi Curve,” better known as the Corkscrew after slamming into a concrete retaining barrier at 140mph.

And we now also know, that it was Penske’s inking of Helio Castroneves as Moore’s replacement via Carl Hogan that apparently a slighted Emerson Fittipaldi felt obliged to drop the dime upon his ex-charge Hulio in a wrangle over management fees.

2000
Gil De Ferran driving a Reynard-Honda captures the CART Championship, breaking Chip Ganassi’s four year stranglehold on the Vanderbilt Cup.

2001
Having witnessed rival CART team owner Chip Ganassi’s Juan Pablo Montoya obliterate the competition at Indy the previous year, when the first seven finishing positions were held by CART Drivers, Roger Penske could not stay away from the hallowed Speedway any further, entering two cars for his team, which would see a most welcome return as Helio Castroneves would be victorious with teammate Gil De Ferran runner-up, who would also go onto capture his second Vanderbilt Cup for what was to be Penske’s final season in CART.

2002
Roger Penske rocked the establishment by deciding to leave CART in favour of the Indy Racing League, in order to be able to contest that year’s May classic fully emblazoned in Marlboro livery, as the nasty “BAD HABITS’ Tobacco sponsorship was now confined to only one series per team entry. And The Captain didn’t fail to deliver as once again Castroneves won the epic event enroute to becoming only the fourth driver ever to have his “Mug” etched upon the Borg Warner trophy two consecutive years in a row, which wasn’t too shabby of a batting percentage in his first two attempts at the Speedway. Yet I recall gleefully indulging upon Panther Racing’s Sam Hornish Jr. securing his second IRL title over Penske Racing that season.

2003
Gil De Ferran finally accomplished his goal of beating pesky teammate Castroneves enroute to earning his lone Indianapolis 500 victory before ultimately retiring from Indy Car competition, making way for perennial IRL thorn Hornish Jr. to join Penske Racing’s fold, as Roger had still not managed to win an Indy Racing League title!

2006
Finally, Roger accomplished his goal of winning an Indy Car crown as Sam Hornish Jr. not only won the Championship, but that year’s Indy 500 from the Pole position as well, in an epic last lap pass of 19 year old Rookie IRL competitor Marco Andretti, thus notching Penske’s unprecedented 14th Borg Warner trophy.

2009
For the 93rd running of the Indy 500, which begins the three year Centennial celebration, Penske Racing once again fielded two Dallara/Honda racecars for Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves in the traditional red and white livery of Team Penske. (Marlboro)

Yet obviously the big news for Roger Penske over the winter was the plight of “lead” driver Castroneves, as Hulio was indicted upon Tax evasion charges along with his manager/sister and lawyer, whom as we all painfully know were acquitted.

Thus, having previously inked Will Power to a back-up/replacement contingency Driver plan in case Hulio was incarcerated, Penske once again decided to field a three car armada for the month of May, with Power driving the Penske Racing No. 12 Verizon Wireless racecar, while Castroneves returned full time to his No. 3 and Briscoe continued on in his No. 6, while Power’s fate for the remainder of the season was unknown at that moment, Penske cleverly crafted together a partial season for the promising Australian.

Meanwhile excruciating fanfare was made over Castroneves scoring his third Pole at Indy after a late challenge from teammate Briscoe, with Team Penske cars rolling off 1-2, giving The Captain an unprecedented 15th Pole at Indy, while Power started a respectable ninth, the day ultimately belonged to Castroneves who scored his third Indy 500 victory...

2010
After winning for The Captain in dominating style at Edmonton in a retro-theme Penske Trucking paint scheme during the summer of ’09, Will Power had an unfortunate crash at Sonoma, CA which saw him break his back, leaving Power to ponder over the winter if he’d return to Penske Racing in 2010?

Fortunately for Will, Roger wisely decided to bring the Aussi back for a full-season ride in a third Penske Racing entrey, as The Captain would contest the Indy Car series with three drivers for the first time since 1994. And Power’s addition has paid off handsomely this season, as he’s simply dominated the Road/Street courses, currently the only Indy Car driver to have scored multiple victories, with three, not to mention a boatload of Pole’s, as Power currently leads the Points Standings and is a credible threat to bring roger a second Indy Car Championship...

GO WILL POWER!