Boy, that guy is just sneaky.

Two weeks ago, all the rage was about Carl Edwards finally mounting a charge to overcome Kyle Busch's impressive stranglehold on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Then, Jimmie Johnson won two races (including Sunday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400), came out of hiding, and decided to play for the Chase for the Championship game as the veteran ace among championship newbies.

The weather at Richmond International Raceway is simply phenomenal the day after Tropical Storm Hanna breezed through, and after a day off, the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are ready to roll in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400.

Kyle Busch leads the field to the green just after 1pm/ET and FanHouse has you covered the whole way. Can David Ragan or Kasey Kahne make the Chase? Will Jeff Gordon get booted out?

Jump in below to the conversation as we get a heavy dose of NASCAR live bloggin' -- just in time to set the field for the 12-driver Chase to the Championship!

Stop by NASCAR FanHouse on Sunday at 1pm/ET for some good ol' fashioned live bloggin' of Sunday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400. It'll be Chase-tastic!

I've had a few days now to muse over the recent profile piece done in Rolling Stone on the always lovable Tony Stewart.

If you haven't had a chance to read it yourself, I'd highly recommend it. And if you have read it, I'm sure you'll agree with me on a couple of fronts:

1) If you love Stewart because of his rank attitude and keen ability to not adapt to what people say he should be, then this piece exemplifies why so many people are so passionate in cheering for Tony and ...

2) If you're not the biggest Stewart fan but enjoy reading about how drivers really live outside of the limelight, it's again right up your alley.

The article is loaded with juicy tidbits about Stewart's life and the language he uses when he's not around the media -- or at least attempts to refrain from using. It mainly follows Stewart over the course of a few races earlier in 2008 and includes written imagery about Stewart riding back on his airplane, what the inside of his Hummer looks like, and just how "lavish" his Columbus, Ind. home is.

The best part by far, however, is when Stewart bashes Kurt Busch during the qualifying session this past May at Texas Motor Speedway [and as a slight warning, the language isn't exactly Disney movie appropriate]:

Stop by NASCAR FanHouse on Sunday at 1pm/ET for some good ol' fashioned live bloggin' of Sunday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400. It'll be Chase-tastic!

Soon-to-be rookie Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano -- you've heard all about him I bet -- was planning to race Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway for the first time in NASCAR's top division.

Tropical Storm Hanna had other ideas, though.

The rain and winds from the weakened storm moved through the Richmond, Va.-area Friday night and Saturday, forcing the postponement of the event until Sunday afternoon, and in the process, forcing Logano to miss his first try at a Sprint Cup race because NASCAR canceled qualifying and set the field via points.

Logano was supposed to drive Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 02 Toyota in a paint scheme exactly opposite that of Tony Stewart's No. 20 Home Depot machine. Logano, of course, will be taking Stewart's seat at JGR in 2009.

In practice, he was 9th quickest on the speed chart.

Originally, his next start was supposed to be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway next weekend, though the plans for that seem to be evolving after the Richmond setback.

I'm not really sure why it took until Friday afternoon, but NASCAR and Richmond International Raceway's staff have pushed what-was-to-be Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 to Sunday thanks to Tropical Storm Hanna.

The bad part? We're not getting to watch NASCAR on a Saturday night.

The good part? FanHouse will be live bloggin' the race Sunday afternoon at 12:45pm/ET to make flipping between opening weekend NFL and the Sprint Cup Series easier to follow.

Saturday night's Sprint Cup race -- and potentially Friday night's Nationwide Series race -- appear to be in jeopardy of postponement thanks to the beautiful tropical weather.

And by beautiful I mean that nasty Tropical Storm Hanna that is currently churning off the coast of Florida.

Penske Racing made a solid choice Wednesday by selecting, officially, David Stremme to drive the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge in 2009.

From the team's press release:

"We're pleased to have David join Penske Racing as the driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge," said Roger Penske. "His past accomplishments and current experience as our NASCAR test driver, as well as his character and desire for success, make him a good fit into our culture."

And I certainly couldn't agree more.

Penske could have easily gone with one of the two trends in the NASCAR garage of recent years by hiring in either 1) a young guy with limited experience or 2) an open-wheel driver. Of course, the latter seems to not be working out so well.

But by hiring Stremme, they are putting a driver behind the steering wheel that not only has NASCAR experience (he drove for Chip Ganassi Racing before getting canned after 2007), but also has plenty of experience behind the wheel of a Penske Racing car.

Dario Franchitti is done with NASCAR, and if you're surprised, then, well, you shouldn't be.

Franchitti announced Tuesday that he'd be heading back to life in the IRL IndyCar Series with the same owner who drove for in NASCAR, Chip Ganassi. The move was a little puzzling especially knowing that Franchitti would be replacing Dan Wheldon -- one of the series' top drivers.

But more telling of Franchitti's move was how quickly the idea by NASCAR owners to bring open-wheel talent to NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series with limited stock car experience at best became a bust.

Franchitti is the third driver to take the reins in NASCAR with intentions of making a long-term career move at the beginning of 2008 to succumb to the economics of NASCAR. In other words, open-wheel drivers with limited experience struggle early in their stock car careers and sponsors just don't want to spend money and time on such a move.

That list includes Franchitti, Jacques Villenueve and Patrick Carpentier, and leaves just one question.

Who's next?

After reading about yet another one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s personal quirks, my head is still spinning.

And it's spinning because frankly I just don't get it, despite the article talking about his way of collecting old race cars like its an entirely normal thing. From the NASCAR Scene:

So whatever happened to the car that slid along the Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway wall last year, leaving a trail of flames as driver Brad Keselowski held on?

It's not at JR Motorsports.

It's at Junior's home.

OK, it's not inside the home, but it's on team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s property. [...]

"It's a good conversation piece," Keselowski said. "It's actually out back in the woods. It's on a hill and there's vines and stuff growing through it. It's cool because Dale left it completely intact. Every single piece other than the radio is in it. It's really cool to see."

So, in short form, Dale Earnhardt Jr. collects old race cars only to leave them to rust, rot, and generally just turn to nothing on the deepest parts of his property.

Is that not at all weird?