--Pay close attention this weekend, folks--this could be the last chance to see Marcos Ambrose contend for a win before he goes back to Australia. No more unique, idiosyncratic accents in Nascar, at least until they let Ward Burton work as a track announcer.
--JGR is not going to appeal the penalties put on Denny Hamlin and his team, but its not like they had much of a case to stand on. I mean, when you start serving the penalty before you've even had a chance to defend yourself, you're kind of saying, "Yeah, just in case you don't buy our lame excuse, we're going to get this out of the way before the Chase starts".
--There's some confusion surrounding the National Guard's sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr., specifically that the Guard has said it will end its sponsorship while Hendrick Motorsports claims they'll be back in 2015. This is just like Junior's first Cup races, when Budweiser had to sponsor him when they really just wanted to sponsor Wally Dallenbach Jr.
--Watkins Glen is one of only three tracks where drivers make a right-hand turn, joining Sonoma and Dover (in order to get around the pothole).
--Nascar is considering adding tire pressure sensors to help stop the recent spate of blown-out tires. Of course, teams could just maintain the proper inflation on their own...