by DUSTIN LONG THE ROANOKE TIMES , The Roanoke Times

Along the way ABC missed a lot of very good racing. "That's not to say that every lap was a barn-burner, but there was some seriously intense racing as well. Interestingly, a caller on Sirius NASCAR Satellite Radio [Monday] morning said that he first watched the race on ABC then listened to the MRN broadcast and said, 'It was like two different races,' referring to the excitement and action portrayed on the radio broadcast.'' The Talladega race has gained greater scrutiny in light of the single-file racing during the event and NASCAR telling competitors two hours before the race there would be no bump-drafting allowed in the corners. ABC aired team radio communications noting the lack of excitement in the race, including a comment from Tony Stewart when he asked his team to tell him something interesting "so I don't fall asleep out here.'' Work continues After seeing two cars go upside down in Sunday's race at Talladega, NASCAR officials are looking into what caused the problems for Ryan Newman and Mark Martin. "You can't gear up for every situation, but when something happens, we take the information and go to work on it,'' said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. "We're already working on scheduling wind tunnel time and do some work with the cars.'' Up-and-down year Jamie McMurray's win at Talladega gave Roush Fenway Racing its first victory since February when Matt Kenseth opened the season with wins at Daytona and California. The drought has challenged car owner Jack Roush. "I keep waiting for the next race to see it turn and, of course, it hasn't turned,'' he said on how he's handled this season. "We hit a brick wall when we got to Las Vegas (third race of the year) and it didn't improve when we got to Atlanta and Bristol was a disappointment, so the year has been up in some regards, but it's primarily not been what we'd hoped for based on wanting to continue the momentum we had last year and seeing that frustrated." New ride Brad Keselowski replaces David Stremme in the No. 12 Penske Racing ride beginning this weekend at Texas. The move is being made to get Keselowski ready for next season when he drives for the team full time. New look AJ Allmendinger will drive a Ford this weekend at Texas for Richard Petty Motorsports and the remaining two Cup races after that. The team is switching from Dodge to Ford after this season. The move allows the team to begin understanding the car's nuances. The other three RPM drivers -- Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson -- will be in a Dodge the rest of the season. Pit stops Sadler and his wife are expecting a baby boy in March 2010. ... Jimmie Johnson's 184-point lead on second-place Martin is one of the largest gaps from one position to the next in the top 35 in the driver standings. Only the difference between 12th and 13th (1,649 points due to the totals being reset before the Chase) and the margin from 16th to 17th (315 points) are larger.

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