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What a Week in Atlanta!!

Click here to see the full race results at nascar.com.

 First of all, my heart goes out to you poor slobs in Atlanta who had the race blacked out (can you believe it? the race didn’t sell out). You missed a great race. Well, the first 200 laps were great, but then it turned into a Jeff Gordon sleepfest.

 I take that back. In hindsight we can say number 24 dominated the end of the race, but those who saw it know what a clinic number 24 and number 18 put on, dogging it out every lap to the end. Rain delays made it a long day, but the amazing performance by those two drivers really made it worthwhile. Mike Skinner was strong for the first 200 laps, but then his alternator burned out. He held on to a sixth place finish, but he wasn’t really a contender.

 But the biggest excitement for this race took place in y’all’s picks. There were a record number of accurate DNF picks, several people chose three of the top five accurately, and one guy even picked Joe Nemechek to make it to the Final Four!

 Speaking of Joe "Lord of the infield" Nemechek, Nathan had some interesting insight into the man, the myth, the travesty:

 "And speaking of Atlanta, Joe "New Car Every Week" Nemecheck will try to put on a show for the BellSouth crowd here in Atlanta. Any other driver would think that "putting on a show" would mean a top five finish. Not Whiplash Joe. He's going to run head-on into Buckshot "Rear Admiral" Jones. Fire, explosions, and lots of cheers from the crowd."

 Speaking of Joe, speaking of Atlanta, how about speaking of Nathan, this week’s points winner!!! Don’t ask me how he did it, folks, but the man voted most likely to get arrested for streaking beat out everyone with a whopping 60 points. Sean "Cakeboy" F. scored a strong fifty, keeping him on top of our cumulative points race. Chris "Do they still charge you to make calls from prison?" G. was also strong this week.

 In fact, most of y’all did real well this week. Three people scored 50, five scored 40 or better. I personally rounded out the bottom with Ryan "I won’t punch concrete walls anymore (I hope)" S. at 30 points.

 Something that’s been developing nicely is the competitive tension between you players. First couple of weeks everyone’s nice as can be, but now the words are flying, and some of them are sticking to the barn door. Kevin "I’m with stupid" K. opened his comments with jabs at Dave and Nathan:

 "Atlanta's my town. Sure, Nathan and Dave have lived here longer, but they're too busy with their "wives" and "work" to understand the vibe on the streets like I do."

 Ouch, fellas, he’s really going after you. Kevin’s not the only one trading hot words. Our points leader, much like Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt before him, has been taking some heat primarily because he’s topping the points. I can’t repeat the language here because of their controversial nature, but Tim said something like "shut your French mouth" to our leader. Strong words. Sean’s response? "Tim S. and Ryan S. are in over their heads in this league." And that’s not all Sean had to say:

 "Hey Guys,

again, out of his league[speaking of newcomer Duncan]. rookies won't produce this year. chris g.,

like mike skinner, may be off to a good start, but come the end of the

season it will be the guys that have been there before (me, you, has

and nathan) who will be battling for the championship, while tim,

chris g. and duncan are praying that someone throws them a bone and

gives them a ride for next year a la ricky craven."

Ouch, that really hurts. Y’all should read the comments in full at the big picks & comments page. It’s all action. Here’s the points breakdown. Remember, these don’t include whatever points you may get for your Final Four picks.

Cumulative Points Standings

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