by Lee Spencer

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It would be a wonderful story. Johnson would be the first driver to win three championships in a row since Cale Yarborough, who won in 1976, '77 and '78. NASCAR could tout a "back-to-basics" storybook ending for the 2008 season.

No one doubts Johnson's tremendous talent, even if Jeff Burton was an unwelcomed visitor at J.J.'s "house" on Saturday night. Arguably, the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team is one of the best, if not the best, on the tour. That would be the case even if Johnson & Co. weren't leading the point standings. When faced with adversity, this crew systematically fights back and generally returns stronger than before. No one is surprised when Johnson experiences a flat tire or problems in the pits and still ends up winning the race. Yes, under the direction of crew chief Chad Knaus, this team is that good.

But as the sky clouded and the rains came on Thursday, NASCAR looked at the schedule, studied the radar and called off qualifying. It was the right decision. Once a track like Lowe's Motor Speedway is lost to the elements, it takes nearly two hours to dry it. However, the rainout resulted in NASCAR setting the field by points for the eighth time in the first 31 races this year. There is a distinct advantage to starting from the pole position, particularly considering how aero-dependent the new car is (as was starkly evident by Burton's runaway finish late Saturday night), and allowing the point leader to select the first box at the end of pit road is undeniably a gift.

How many times this season has Johnson, or Kyle Busch during his tremendous run in the regular season, drag-raced the field off pit road with nary a raised eyebrow from the officials to secure his place at the point? Races can be won or lost on pit road. Pit selection is too paramount to determining the outcome of a race to simply award the best stalls to the top teams to begin with.

Certainly, there will be weekends where the schedule is too tight to accommodate the rescheduling of qualifying. In the old days, (before, some say, Rusty Wallace wanted Saturday afternoons off to devote to his golf game), second-round qualifying was the warm-up act for the Nationwide Series race or whatever companion event was on the calendar. And Happy Hour followed the race — a time that offered competitors conditions that more closely resembled the next day's race setting.

If NASCAR wants to further separate the haves from the have-nots, continue what it's doing now. If NASCAR is serious about "back to basics" racing, it must create a level playing field by finding a better way to squeeze in qualifying so pit boxes are chosen in an equitable manner.

Now back to the Bank of America 500 and other hot weekend topics.

First, the good stuff

1. Jeff Burton's phone wasn't ringing off the hook when Jack Roush dumped the veteran midway through the 2004 season in favor of Carl Edwards. Roush Racing's marketing team said Burton wasn't sellable. Richard Childress didn't believe it. The pair dug deep, realigned RCR's shopworn operation and Burton and Kevin Harvick qualified for the Chase two years later. In the last two seasons, all three RCR squads have made it to the postseason. While Burton trails Johnson by 69 points, his leadership continues to rally the entire operation.

2. It's been a brutal year for Dodge since Penske teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch finished 1-2 in the Daytona 500. For the first time since the New Hampshire race in June, more than one Dodge driver finished in the top five. Kasey Kahne could not duplicate his Lowe's win from May, but scored his first top five since June. Busch, who finished third, scored his best result since July and the first top five for the new Dodge R6 engine in its second outing. There's still plenty of work needed for the Dodge program, but the runs of Kahne and Busch offered long-needed promise.

3. It's good to be home, as being in metro Charlotte allowed racers to raise money for some of their favorite charities. The NASCAR family raised more than $100,000 on Wednesday night for the Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund, named for the official who was killed in a car accident earlier this year. Expect Dale Earnhardt Jr. to rock the philanthropic house at his Whiskey River drinking establishment on Sunday and at his Celebrity Sports Auction on Monday at the Concord Convention Center. Could NASCAR's Most Popular Driver have picked a better way to celebrate his birthday weekend? We think not. For more information visit www.TheDaleJrFoundation.com.

Now back to the drawing board

1. Once and for all, NASCAR needs to provide fans, racers and the media with the actual speeds on pit road. Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart received speeding penalties on consecutive laps for entering pit road too fast. Stewart had led his 42nd lap of the evening before pitting on Lap 258. Busch had run in the top 10 most of the night. Both drivers, who had extremely competitive cars, went a lap down as a result of their infractions. Busch recovered to finish fourth. Stewart finished 11th and remained seventh in the point standings. Only 60 points separate Stewart from fourth-place Carl Edwards. Had Stewart been in contention to win, today's storylines would have been significantly more compelling.

2. Speedway Motorsports Chairman O. Bruton Smith spent close to $4 million resurfacing Lowe's Motor Speedway to repair the nightmarish levigation process from 2005 — a process that smoothed the notoriously bumpy track surface but resulted in tire problems for the drivers. NASCAR must follow Smith's lead and make changes to improve racing. The competition this weekend was racier, but with the close competition produced by the new car, the driver in the lead takes off. NASCAR must do whatever it takes to repair this problem or the final three intermediate-track races will be as just as lackluster as Kansas was before Carl Edwards bounced off the wall while challenging for the lead.

3. Speaking of Kansas, word on the street is the 1.5-miler will replace one of the Martinsville Speedway races in 2010. This week the tour rolls into Martinsville, the oldest track to survive on the Sprint Cup schedule. It's also the only track besides Talladega Superspeedway that could provide a significant shake-up in the point standings. Now fans, imagine sacrificing a short-track date in favor of another cookie-cutter race. Looking at the stands at Kansas Speedway, it's obvious from a revenue standpoint which venue generates more cash flow for parent company International Speedway Corp. — and NASCAR. But if you want to save one of the last connections to racing's glory days, join me at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday and show your support.