Gear jammin': Pocono

Top 4 stories from the Pennsylvania 500 on Sunday...

1st gear -- Busch snaps winless drought: When Kurt Busch left his championship-winning team at Roush Fenway Racing at the end of 2005, he likely hoped he'd find greener pastures at Penske South. Instead, though, Busch had won only 1 race behind the wheel of the No. 2 Dodges entering the weekend. He snapped a 51-race winless drought with the victory Sunday, and in doing so, pushed himself ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 12th and final spot in the Chase.

2nd gear -- Robby Gordon parked: After a fiasco of a Busch Series race in Montreal on Saturday, Robby Gordon wasn't allowed to participate in the Cup race Sunday. Of course, Gordon ignored repeated directives from NASCAR during the Busch event, including several black flags. There is something to be said for Gordon here, though -- it's interesting that NASCAR issues more severe penalties for a driver who dares challenge its autonomy than for Chase teams that deliberately bend the rules (see: Nos. 24, 48 and 8).

3rd gear -- Sorenson in the hunt, again: Anyone else notice that Reed Sorenson suddenly appears to have come of age? The Chip Ganassi driver has turned a corner over the last 5 events. He's qualified inside the top-10 for 3 of the last 5 races, and finished inside the top-12 on 2 occasions. Pit strategy handed him an outside shot at a win on Sunday, though he eventually was involved in a wreck that took him out of contention. Still, he rallied to stay on the lead lap and finish 28th. He also picked up a Busch win at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

4th gear -- 500 miles too much: 3 hours and 47 minutes is about 62 minutes too long for a race, and Pocono routinely puts on some long 500-milers. Cutting at least 1 of the 2 annual Cup stops back to 400 miles would make for more interesting racing and a little less monotony, plus it would make that 1 race that is 500 miles a little more "special." Not that 500-mile races carry the same cache they did back in, oh, 1955.