by Jeff Hammond

Updated: April 7, 2008, 7:37 PM EST 41 comments

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Obviously, not everyone had the right set-up they would have liked to have. But you have to remember, you never hit it correctly every week and we saw some good racing.

You really can't say enough about what we are seeing from the Roush Fenway group this season when it comes to the 1.5-mile racetracks. Their race cars are strong from top to bottom, particularly Carl Edwards, who has been very impressive on this style of racetrack. Sure, we've been bragging about Kyle Busch a lot this year, but we better make sure to include Edwards from now on — both those young men can get up on the wheel and make it happen.

Still, I would hate to predict anything right now about whether these two are the odds-on favorites to win the championship. Both of these guys are young and relatively new to the full grind of a Sprint Cup season. Sure, we are seeing their strength right now, but the real battle begins in those final 10 races. We've seen in the past that some guys get stronger during the final 10 while others fizzle out. What you are seeing right now is a great motivator to get your season under way.

Don't believe me? Go ask Jeff Gordon. A year ago at this time he looked invincible, while this weekend he finished 43rd for only the second time in his illustrious career.

So the front running teams are saying, "OK, we are strong enough to make the Chase, so let's not mess it up." That's what you need to focus in on. Teams need to be good now. They need to accumulate information and keep good records. They need to break it all down and realize as the season goes on, a lot of people — like Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Gordon and Jeff Burton — these veterans and these teams that they drive for are going to get better.

You can't just go assume right now that you have it figured out, because it's going to change. Remember, we come back here to Texas for a second time. That track will have been under the hot, scorching Texas sun all summer long, but we will be racing under the lights. It'll be a big, big difference to what we had Sunday. If you ran well here on Sunday, then you want to break it down and analyze it so you are prepared when we come back later this year.

That's why it was so important to Jeff Gordon and his crew chief Steve Letarte to go back out there after crashing on Sunday. I have heard some say that the No. 24 team was simply embarrassing itself. That's wrong. They were of the mind-set that they wanted to leave there with some kind of understanding of what they did wrong.

That's what these teams are doing. They are trying to figure out what this new car needs at each of these tracks they go to. But you have to analyze all the information you have at your fingertips when you get back to the shop. You have to talk to the driver. You have to look at lap times. You also have to look at the tire data. You have to review how the track conditions changed throughout the course of the race.

When you have a veteran driver that can sit down and analyze the entire race by breaking it down into sections, it really helps the engineers and the crew chiefs make some decisions about what to do next time.

Do I need to bring this car back? Where are we missing it at? Can we do anything aero-wise? Should we do something different on the suspension? That's what they are going to be looking at.

Darrell Waltrip pointed it out during the race: The lap times actually picked up as the race progressed because those guys kept adjusting on their cars based on what the weather was doing and they got quicker. That's the same thing they will be doing when they come back to Texas in the fall. Carl Edwards said he wanted to come back to Texas in the fall and sweep both events. I think the veterans will have something to say about that. I don't think you can easily say, "Oh, it will be between Carl and Kyle Busch again."

Sure, it'll be between those two, but also six or seven other guys, because they know it's time to get up on the wheel because it's time for the Chase.

It wasn't just a good day for Carl

We saw Carl Edwards win with a dominant car. But along the way we saw folks like Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart, who both didn't qualify very well, but kept battling and battling their way to the front.

Someone else who battled all day was Kevin Harvick. He went down a lap early but kept fighting and fighting. He eventually got that lap back, but lost it again. Luckily for him, so did 33 other cars. Kevin was able to salvage a decent finish out of it and keep himself up there in the points.

No need to sound the alarms yet

The competition has caught up with Hendrick Motorsports. Obviously the direction the engineers were headed during the earlier part of the season was not the right way. But before you throw everything out and start over, look at what Chad Knaus was able to accomplish. Their No. 48 car wasn't very good in Atlanta and struggled at a couple other places. During the week off, they worked on their program. Were they able to win yesterday? No. Were they able to lead and be competitive? Yes.

That's what everybody is looking for. Put me in a competitive situation and let me stay in the top 10. Let me get up front on a regular basis and we will win races. That's what the rest Hendrick group needs to do. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole. He did lead the race in the early part of the event. Again, new car, adjustment, set-up, but they just weren't good when they needed to be at the end.

So they will combine all their data and come back stronger next time. No, it's not time to panic. You panic when you are behind and are running out of races to make up the difference. These guys are not in the type of situation. They are only missing it by a little bit.

The changes they need to make are on the race car. They need to look at it a little differently. They need to be a little more selective in their race set-up choices. But as they begin to get some races under their belt, even at places they haven't run the new car before, they should get better.

One last look at Friday's crash

Speed Mail Jeff Hammond
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The Michael McDowell crash on Friday during qualifying shows me that NASCAR has successfully constructed a car that can withstand what it went through, and they should be very proud of that. Everybody involved from the SAFER barriers to the HANS device to the seat manufacturers to the seat belt manufacturers — I mean everybody — should be proud because in my opinion. They gave us one back on Friday at Texas.

The bottom line is that Michael McDowell was able to walk away, and we should all point in one direction. That direction is to NASCAR because of their willingness to listen to people about what we can do to make our sport safer. They were willing to do that and, at the same time, we need to applaud Bruton Smith and Eddie Gossage at Texas Motor Speedway. The SAFER barriers there did exactly what they were supposed to do. A lot of times I think we don't give the tracks enough credit for stepping up and doing what they need to do to protect the drivers, crews and fans. It was a total team effort, and the beneficiary clearly is Michael McDowell, but also our sport as a whole.

I have been in this sport where we have lost drivers to injury or death, and it's not good. I saw Bobby Allison on Sunday and it reminded me of Pocono in 1988. Think back to Jerry Nadeau at Richmond. In both those cases, it wasn't a life-ending crash, but it definitely was a career-ending crash. Ernie Irvan is another example. These are just a few examples of drivers that would have been much better off today if the safety features we have in place today would have been in place for them.

When it's all said and done, you have to feel good about what went on there on Friday. We were in awe and in horror at the same time when that crash occurred. Plus, I think the sounds that were captured by our excellent NASCAR on FOX audio folks really puts into perspective what that boy went through.

I was down there and heard the crash with my own ears. The boom that happened sounded like a sonic boom to me when he hit the wall. It was just unbelievable. What a great feeling when you saw him get out of that mangled car under his own power and wave to the crowd. What a great feeling!

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FOX race analyst Jeff Hammond led Darrell Waltrip to two of DW's three Winston Cup championships as his crew chief. They also teamed to win the 1989 Daytona 500.

For autographed copies of Jeff Hammond's book "Real Men Work in the Pits" plus magnets, hats and more, check out www.dwstore.com.

For photos and appearances, visit Jeff's web site www.jeffhammond.com.