What I'm Thankful For In NASCAR
- I'm thankful for double-file restarts saving the competitiveness from becoming worse than Formula One. More than anything else, they kept me from falling asleep during races... which happened more than once at the beginning of the season.- I'm thankful I'm seeing history made in the form of Jimmie Johnson, despite my not caring for Hendrick Motorsports, Chad Knaus, or anything Lowes-related. - I'm thankful for Kyle Busch being Kyle Busch and Juan Montoya being Juan Montoya and not hiding their personalities. Kyle scared us for a bit at Bristol, but it didn't take.- I'm thankful for Denny Hamlin and Brad Kesel

Proposition
We call the 2009 AMP Energy 500 from here on out The Race That Will Never Be Mentioned. I like it.

Kyle Busch Getting New CC For 2010
Actually, the last few races of 2009 as well.Dave Rogers, from the dominant JGR Nationwide team, will take over as the new Crew Chief for Kyle starting at Texas. Hey, as I've said before, if there's anyone thats earned a promotion it has to be this guy. He propelled the #20 to the Nationwide Owner's Points title last season, a feat that got surprisingly little attention. Rogers has worked with guys like Kyle, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Logano and has won with all of them. Kyle will get back to his winning ways in Cup soon.

Attention Martinsville!
The Catfish Show is going mobile, and for the first time, your blogger will be a credentialed NASCAR Media member. With a big, big thank you to On Pit Row, I'll be at Martinsville live all weekend. To follow me at the speedway, follow me on Twitter - @mattmercer if you haven't done so already. Also, be sure to follow @onpitrow and @benchracing. They have been nothing but fantastic and I cannot thank them enough for letting me write for them and giving me th

NASCAR Changes Part 2 - Points System
Previously, I decided to change the format of the Chase. Now I'm going to tackle the tricky world of points and points racing.The biggest complaint about the points - winning doesn't pay enough - will be taken care of with this system. Some favor awarding the winner as inordinate amount of points, but that's not feasible or necessary. However, there are fair points to make: winning deserves a nice bonus. Other changes I think that need to happen are for the top 5, top 10, and top 20 to be awarded a better percentage of points., top 5, top 10,