As far as “highlights” from California Speedway, man that was a hard lick that David Reutimann took. Pretty hard to watch the in-car camera footage, too, especially at first when he was slumped over the steering wheel, not even moving.

Congrats to Brian Vickers for getting Toyota its first top 10 finish and for leading a few laps along the way.

‘Tis a shame that Happy had a tire go down there at the end, as it was shaping up to be another close finish the way he’d been reeling Kenseth in right before the last caution.

It’ll be interesting to see just how “part-time” Mark Martin’s schedule remains throughout the season, especially if he continues to sit near the top of the points standings. He can claim all he wants that he’ll stick to the plan of driving a limited schedule, but I’d bet you more than a few shiny American dollars that all of that will go out the window if he’s still in the hunt. And I don’t think anyone would blame him a bit if he waffled, especially given how well he’s running so far.

Sake’s picks? Tony Raines, Dale Jarrett, and Scott Riggs.

Far be it from me to criticize a sea lion, but I think I’m going to go with Jeff Gordon to win this one.

So Jeff Gordon grabbed the pole at Fontana, who seems happy to leave restrictor plate racing behind for awhile:

“It feels good to me just to get out from restrictor plate racing and have a car that has downforce and be able to drive it through the corners and work with the teams on the handling.”

Kasey Kahne was second to Gordon, with Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, and Junior rounding out the top 5.

As far as the latest in the As Toyota Turns soap opera developments, Brian Vickers managed to snag Team Red Bull its first start in Cup racing by qualifying 15th, and Dave Blaney and David Reutimann also drove their way into the race Sunday. Dale Jarrett made the show as well, but only because of his past champion’s provisional. Michael Waltrip will be watching this one from the sidelines, and was ironically knocked out of a qualifying spot by his teammate Reutimann.

This one really was a no-win situation for NASCAR officials, as far as whether to throw the yellow or not. If they do throw the yellow, everyone gripes about it (regardless of whether Mark or Kevin was declared the ultimate winner), pointing out that the wreck was well behind them and had no effect, that they easily could have raced to the finish without endangering any wrecked cars, yada yada yada.

And those people would have been right. One of the reasons NASCAR went to the green-white-checkered format was to address the complaints of fans when races ended with a whimper, under caution, so it’s a little hard to hold their feet to the fire as questioning their decision to let them race to the finish and not throw the yellow. I think most fans and drivers alike would agree that a race to the finish is best option, assuming that it’s safe to do so.

On the flip side, everyone pointing out a lack of conisistency in when NASCAR throws the yellow in situations like that is also absolutely right. Technically speaking, the fact that it’s the last lap shouldn’t have any impact on whether or not you throw it, how fast you throw it, etc. Any other time in the race the yellow would have been immediately out, as that was a pretty massive wreck and not just someone tapping the wall. I imagine everyone watching was a little surprised that they didn’t throw the yellow, as I know VroomChick and I definitely were.

Even though I’d personally rather see them race to the finish, I guess I end up on the side of those asking for a little consistency. It’s always going to be a bit of a judgment call, as far as what warrants a yellow, but in a wreck like that it’s kind of hard to argue for not throwing it, even if it is Daytona, even if two cars are neck and neck, racing for the finish line.

What’s a flagman to do?

Should the caution have come out on the final lap? NASCAR was in an impossible spot.

Throw the caution and people would scream, and you’d also have the issue of deciding who was ahead of whom at that moment. It would have been a mess.

But by waiting until Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin finished, you have a mess, too. That’s why consistency in officiating is so vital.

On any other lap, there’s no question the caution would have come out immediately. NASCAR has to make it a practice of calling the last lap just like the first.

If you don’t let guys race back to the caution on the final lap at Pocono in July, they shouldn’t race back to the caution on the final lap of the Daytona 500, either.

Sure, they save the trouble of figuring out who was where when the flag came out by not throwing the flag out … but they did throw the flag out once Harvick and Martin crossed the finish line. How does that make it less confusing? I think that makes it more confusing. Now they have to figure out where everyone was as they bounced around like pinballs over the finish line. Had the flag come out as soon as the wreck started, wouldn’t they have had a pretty clear picture of where everyone was just prior to that?

NASCAR is definitely a nation of its own with a government of its own… and its own red (and yellow and green and checkered) tape.

Blaney’s strong showing may give Toyota some hope, especially since he was mixed up in an early wreck but managed to rebound nicely. He never managed to really challenge Harvick but was good enough to grab second, ahead of Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, and Mark Martin.

NEXTEL Cup regulars dominated the action, grabbing the top 12 spots and 15 of the top 20, with Scott Wimmer the highest finishing Busch Series regular at 13th place.

Not exactly going out on a limb here, but give me some credit for not picking Tony, as the bulk of the masses are (and for good reason). I’d like to go with my heart and pick Junior but for whatever reason I think Happy is going to take the victory today.

Other random prognostications, in no particular order:

Sterling Marlin will do something stupid, like jump out of his car and tug on the sheet metal or drive too fast with a tire down until his car catches on fire.

Fox will continue to show that dumb 3D animated car feature for this race but realize it’s absolutely dumb and silly and drop it shortly thereafter.

It will be pointed out by the announcers 162,172 times that some drivers got in trouble during the week for rules infractions.

It will be pointed out by the announcers 162,171 times that it’s the anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s death.

Robby Gordon will wreck but it will be someone else’s fault.

The Winners

Tony Stewart: Smoke is looking pretty dang fast and motivated so far, winning both the Shootout and his Gatorade Duel. If he can dodge trouble he’d have to be the odds-on favorite at this point to finally get the Daytona 500 win that’s been eluding him.

Robert Yates Racing: Regardless of where David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd end up finishing, it’s been a great week for RYR, rebounding nicely from a pretty disastrous 2006 season.

Juan Pablo Montoya: If anything he might have run too well this week, as far as setting expectations very high for his first full season in NEXTEL Cup racing.

Boris Said: He’s well on his way to proving that he definitely belongs in NEXTEL Cup racing, and not just on the road courses, either.

Joe Nemechek and Mike Wallace: Both were on the qualifying bubble and raced well enough in their Duel to make the big show on Sunday.

James Hylton: Yeah, he didn’t make the race on Sunday, but he managed to stay competitive in his Duel on Thursday, despite racing against some drivers one third his age who were piloting much better equipment and cars around the track.

The Losers

Michael Waltrip/Michael Waltrip Racing: I’m not going to spill any more cyber ink detailing the situation here. Let’s hope they run well (but not too well) in the Daytona 500 and we put all this rocket fuel brouhaha behind us as quickly as possible.

Evernham Racing: All their drivers got slammed for rules infractions, with assorted fines, suspensions, and docking of driver points.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth rounded out the “cheater” crew, getting slapped with fines, suspensions, and losing drivers points.

Jeff Gordon: He’s more an unfortunate loser, as his car inadvertently ended up an inch too short in inspection after winning his Duel on Thursdsay, sending him to the back of the starting grid for Sunday.

Toyota: Not only did they have RocketFuelGate to contend with, but not a lot of oomph from their cars on the track.

Team Red Bull: Not a good debut, with both drivers (Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinge) disappointing on the track and not making the race on Sunday.

The good news is that on Thursday he raced his way into the Daytona 500, finishing eighth; the bad news is many people believe he shouldn’t have even been on the track after someone on his team was caught cheating by NASCAR. He claims that he considered not even running on Thursday, but not only did he decide to, he managed to run well enough to qualify for the Daytona 500.

On the bright side, all three of Michael Waltrip Racing’s (MWR) cars will make the Daytona 500, as Boris Said’s finish in the first Gatorade Duel was good enough to have the ripple effect of guaranteeing MWR driver David Reutimann a spot in the Daytona 500, based on his qualifying speed last Sunday. Dale Jarrett (the third MWR driver) struggled in the Duel on Thursday but gets into the 500 based on his past champion provisional.

On the not so bright side, what would normally be a cause for celebration for MWR is in actuality pretty glum, and only serves to point out the current black eye the team has. How should Mike Bliss feel right now, watching all three MWR cars in the Daytona 500 on Sunday, as he barely missed making the race in his Duel when he was nosed out by Boris Said at the finish?

The results would normally have been a nice boost for Toyota, but now it only serves to fuel talk of their rocky entry into NASCAR, with some people suggesting that it was a poor choice to go with Michael Waltrip Racing, based on recent events. I think that’s a stretch but it’s hard to argue that Toyota is also in a difficult spot now, through absolutely no action or fault of their own.

Let’s not even discuss the firestorm that’d erupt if Mikey somehow managed to win the whole thing on Sunday.

“We’ve got people’s attention now,” NASCAR competition director Robin Pemberton said Wednesday.

Waltrip, a two-time Daytona winner, lost his crew chief and team director right before the biggest race of the year. The two were suspended indefinitely after an illegal substance was found during inspection for the season-opener.

Waltrip, docked 100 points, will be allowed to participate in Thursday’s races that determine the field for the 500.

David Hyder, his crew chief, was thrown out of the garage and fined $100,000. Team director Bobby Kennedy also was kicked out.

Waltrip said he was “so sad and embarrassed” but tried to shift blame to an unnamed individual within his team.

“This is not the action of an organization, a manufacturer or a sponsor,” Waltrip said in a statement. “This was an independent act done without consent or authorization from me or any of my executive management team.”

You’re a nice guy, Mikey, if not the greatest driver in the world. You’ve carved out a nice niche for yourself and I think you’re an intelligent, likable person. My wife likes you, I like you, a lot of fans like you.

But that’s a pretty pitiful excuse and “explanation”, and doesn’t help your case any at all. Do you really expect us to not only believe that some renegade member of your team monkeyed with the car in the dead of the night but also that no one else happened to notice it? Despite all of that checking over and tuning up of your car before qualifying, do you really expect us to believe that something like that would somehow go unnoticed by everyone, except for the officials inspecting the car?

Aside from weak excuses and explanations, you’ve also apparently managed to draw the ire of other teams as well for breaking the unspoken rule that cheating and creative engineering is fine as long as you leave the engine, tires, and fuel alone.

Nice work, Mikey. Way to kick off the season on a high note.