Carl Edwards should not be listed as the winner of the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week.

His car was illegal.

He drove to the checkered flag in a vehicle that was outside the NASCAR rulebook.

NASCAR basically said he wasn't the winner of the race by taking away not only 100 championship points but the 10 point bonus for victories which is used to see the "Chase."

But rather than strip him of the win completely, as should have been done with the victory awarded to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - the second place driver but the first to cross the finish line in a legal car - the win stands.

That's been NASCAR's policy for years. There have been numerous times when the "winning" car was found to be cheating. Yet despite fines and penalties the win stood.

That does nothing but hurt the sport's credibility.

If a player hits a game-winning homerun with a corked bat, he doesn't keep the homer on his record nor does his team get the runs scored from the blast added to its game total.

Only in NASCAR can an athlete drive what amounts to a corked bat to victory lane.

It's time to change that policy or be faced with the prospect of even less of a credibility factor than Tony Stewart claimed last year.

All the hype and talk is over and Speedweeks 2008, highlighted by the 50th running of the Daytona 500, is now history.

And overall, things are off to a good start.

We saw competitive racing all throughout our week in Daytona with the Budweiser Shootout, the Twin 150s, the truck race and the Nationwide season opener all putting on good shows.

That was an excellent lead-in to the 500, which had a few stretches of boredom thrown in (show me a 500 mile race anywhere that doesn't), but built up to yet another exciting conclusion.

I didn't think we could get two years in a row with the 500 coming down to the wire but we sure did and I'm sure NASCAR as well as FOX were thrilled. Every race can't come down to a photo finish, just like the Super Bowl can't be won on an overtime field goal every season or the World Series decided by a walk-off homer. But the 500 has produced back-to-back nailbiters.

The pre-race show was a bit lame (Chubby Checker, Michael McDonald and Kool & The Gang just don't define one of the biggest sporting events in the world in my book) but Trisha Yearwood's National Anthem and the Thunderbirds' flyover brought chills.

As did the last lap finish and the storyline of Tony Stewart messing up to pave the way for the open wheel protege Ryan Newman to win "The Great American Race." And to se "The Captain" standing there in Daytona's "victory circle" was equally a thrill.

Kudos to Daytona to getting the season off on a strong note. One down, 35 weeks to go boys and girls.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his sister Kelly weren't all too pleased at Texas Motor Speedway's attempt at humor with their billboard campaign that depicted Junior with Reason No. 88 to have NASCAR fever as "Step Mom."

Ya think?

This whole deal between Junior and DEI is tiresome and ridiculous. The media continues to try and make a story about this rift and truth be told, I've written about it and discussed it on several radio segments so consider me part of the guilty party.

There was such a furor made over the fact that there wasn't any Dale, Jr. stuff on display at DEI during last week's media tour stop it was laughable. It was explained that in order to accomodate the media for a luncheon, some of the historic No. 8 cars were moved out of the showroom.

It was also explained DEI does not have the license or rights to sell anything Dale Jr. or Budweiser-related in its gift shop.

Now while I believe DEI management could have stopped a lot of this he said, he said stuff by pointing out those logical facts from the start, I don't have any problem with the team trying to downplay its past somewhat as it tries to move forward.

I have a friend who went through a divorce and has gotten remarried. I don't remember seeing any photos or memories of the ex at their new house last time I visited.

DEI is trying to move on as is Dale, Jr. himself. They should be allowed to do so.

And note to Texas Motor Speedway, I think the rest of the billboard campaign is as lame as the one the Earnhardt's objected to.

But homor is subjective, or lack of it, is subjective right?

You'll hear much about the history of the Daytona 500 in the coming days as we count down to the 50th anniversary running of "The Great American Race."

If you're a long-time NASCAR fan, you know how the inaugural running of the race in 1959 ended in a photo finish with Lee Petty finally being declared the race winner over Johnny Beauchamp three days later when NASCAR studied the photo of the incredible run to the finish line.

But there are some names from that first race you may not be so familiar with, drivers who were part of that historic 59-car field that christened the mammoth 2.5-mile superspeedway.

They weren't superstars of the sport but pioneers just the same.

Fritz Wilson, Larry Odo, Shorty Rollins, Ken Rush, Larry Frank - journeyman drivers who didn't get rich or famous but strapped into a racecar for the pure love and challenge of the sport.

One of the names in the 1959 rundown may sound familiar - "Tiger" Tom Pistone, who led much of the race and finished eighth. The uncle of this reporter went on to win a couple of Cup races in his career and was probably known more for his antics than his driving skills. Who could forget a guy who bolted an oxygen tank into his car for the 500, afraid he would wind up in Lake Lloyd in a crash. Did I mention Tiger can't swim?

It's amazing to me that more than 50 years later people remember guys like Tiger as well as some of these other pioneers of the sport. And so they should.

As we get ready for the golden aniversary of the Daytona 500, these guys should forever be remembered for the golden memories they gave us all.

(**Shameless plus - "Tiger" Tom Pistone will be Dave Moody's guest on "Sirius Speedway" Friday afternoon, January 11th at 6 p.m. ET)

I will all but guarantee the television ratings for Sunday's NEXTEL Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway will be down, continuing a trend that has gone on pretty much all year.

The Colts and Patriots put on one of the best games in NFL history Sunday afternoon in a contest that will no doubt lead the sports TV numbers this week and crush the NASCAR Dickies 500.

And NASCAR will have no one to blame but ABC.

Sunday's race was about as riveting as it could be down the stretch with a late race side-by-side battle between Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth, complete with championship implications.

But by starting the race at 3:30 p.m. ET, only diehard racefans were watching the finish with most every other sports enthusiasts' sets tuned into the NFL battle of the unbeatens.

Start that race at noon and it's over well before the fourth quarter of the NFL nightcap kicks off.

Networks say they want later start times to ensure the west coast audience can tune in at a reasonable hour. We've had these 3:30 green flags for nearly two years now and guess what - it's not helping.

I have no doubt we'll see more Saturday night races in the future during the Chase as the networks finally realize going head-to-head against the might NFL is ratings suicide. Until then, a step in the right direction would be to start the Sunday afternoon races earlier in the day.

If you live on the west coast, is a 10 a.m. start time really that bad anyways?

One of the best kept secrets in NASCAR is the annual Toyota All-Star Showdown held this past weekend at California's Irwindale Speedway.

It's a short track racing fan's dream and although the event has changed since its inception, it's still a great showcase for grassroots racing and the future stars of stock car racing.

The main event is now a showdown between what's known as the NASCAR Busch East Series and the NASCAR West Series, both featuring full-bodied stock cars that compete on the two regional tours of NASCAR.

More and more NEXTEL Cup operations are using these circuits as development training grounds, which have replaced the role the Busch Series used to fill.

This year's Showdown champ was young phenom Joey Lagano, who has been on a tear all year and has a bright future as part of the Joe Gibbs Racing operation.

The current trend of using established open wheel stars as Cup pilots has blocked the road for some of these young stars to work their way up to NASCAR's premier division. But this event, and the regional tours, still offer the opportunity to gain valuable experience and exposure.

Although NASCAR has helped take a bite out of the grassroots and local racing scene with more Saturday night races, this event and the Grand National series concept are assets.

Let's hope it grows and that the young and talented drivers who made their mark this year have a chance to work their way to the top very soon.

You may not know who Ray Cooper was, but if you are a devoted race fan, you sure knew his work.

Ray, or "Coop" as all who knew him called him, was a part of the racing community for pretty much his whole life. He was an award-winning writer and journalist and most recently a manufacturer's representative for Dodge Motorsports.

Ray was one of those guys who was just always a part of the scene, someone you kind of took for granted you'd see at the next stop on the NASCAR tour and a fixture in the media center at every race weekend.

It's hard to believe that in such a short period of time, he's no longer with us, losing his battle with cancer Friday night.

What's even harder to swallow is how someone can be gone in almost an instant, and that was certainly the case with Ray. He sat with our table during one of the dinner stops on last January's annual NASCAR Media Tour in Charlotte, was at every race I covered in the first half of the season and then suddenly, he was gone.

His illness stopped him from going on the road in mid-summer and here it is, only ten months from when he sat and laughed with a group of us media types on the tour, he's gone.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. And his memory is another reminder to us all to cherish those who are close to us in this life, whether they be family, friends or just "another" member of the racing community.

It's hard to believe that drivers could be bored racing at speeds near 200 mph.

But after hearing most of the comments after Sunday's UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, that was exactly the case.

It's a sympton of restrictor plate racing for drivers to simply try and save their cars, hang back and stay out of wrecks to be in the hunt for a win at the end.

Jeff Gordon played that strategy to perfection - but even he was bored by it.

He should have imagined watching it.

It's not the COT's fault much of Sunday's "race" wasn't much more than a single-file parade. NASCAR will no doubt play with the COT's aerodynamic package in time for the next plate race, which happens to the the Daytona 500 next February.

But to me the new car wasn't the blame, it's the plate.

The cars are so equal, it makes no sense for a driver to risk damage by pulling out of line to race three or four wide - until it actually matters in the closing laps.

I don't have an answer on how to fix it. The plate is here to stay. And unfortunately so will races like Sunday's when the total distance is 500 miles but only 30 or so really matter.