Ron Thornton

Mario Mendoza is a member of the Mexican Baseball League’s Hall of Fame, yet his legacy in the Major Leagues is not as illustrious. In fact, when one measures how competent a batsmen has been throughout a season and, indeed, his MLB career, the Mendoza Line is one players strive not to fall below. It began as a club house joke; hit below .200 and one has fallen below the Mendoza Line. Though he hit .215 over parts of nine Big League campaigns, in five of them Mendoza hit under .200.

Sometimes when you mess with the bull, you get the horns. This past weekend, there was one ornery Texas Longhorn who made his displeasure known. First to be gored were those fans who mosied on down to Dallas for a Sunday race.

Last year, it was the NRA. This year the Texas race is brought to you courtesy of Duck Commander, representing the first family of Duck Dynasty. While some might be a touch torqued to have another gun-endorsing group as a sponsor, I find it less offensive than, say, Chick-Fil-A.

Winning races gets your name, and that of your sponsor out there. You run where they can see you, or you do something that causes the cameras to wander your way. If that is the goal, it was mission accomplished for Kurt Busch.

I guess Jeff Gordon had reason to be somewhat hot this past week. Last Sunday, he came within a Clint Bowyer spin of taking the prize in California.

Tires, man. That was the story of the race at Fontana. If one was conservative in their set up, like those owned by Joe Gibbs, all was well. If not…well, they blew it.

Four winners, three of whom sit atop our leader board. As important as victories are this season in determining the Chase contenders, it would be hard to include Kevin Harvick among the best under normal circumstances.

Rain. That was the theme of the cool, overcast, and often wet event at Bristol last Sunday. Rain delayed things, then stopped it all together for two hours as we sat on lap 125 of 500 for a spell. Often in the past, we have seen the guys who are leading near the start of the race just happen to be the same dudes there at the end.

When you can tout an average finish of 1.67, as in the case of Dale Earnhardt Jr, or Brad Keselowski’s 2.33 you know you are doing something right. Each has a win, with Junior having a pair of runner up finishes compared to the two third place runs put in by the 2012 champion.

Three races in, and the story of the 2014 Cup season is the success of Dale Earnhardt Jr. He wins at Daytona, finishes second in Phoenix, and a hiccup in his fuel pick up was all that kept him from victory at Las Vegas. That and Brad Keselowski. Still, take a gamble, have it turn sour, and still come home second is not all that bad.