RPM

43 You know, before the NASCAR season started and I found out that AJ had left RPM to fill the vacant seat at Penske (and Best Buy went to the 17), I thought, "Here we go again."  Things had started to look pretty good when Kasey was still there and had won a couple of races, and the overall program was improving.  It took Marcos a couple of years to get into the swing of turning left and filling Kasey's shoes and AJ was finally looking good at the end of last year.  In fact, during the Chase races, the 43 had top 10 points over those 10 races.
Well, after today's race at Dover, with both Petty cars finishing in the top 10 -- the 43 being in the top 10 most of the day, finishing 6th, and the 9 fighting back from adversity to finish 10th -- coming on the heels of the fine runs they had at the 600 last week, I have reason to fill the reset won't take as long and that this team can be competitive week in and week out.  You have no idea how happy I'd be to see the 43 in victory lane once again.  How long has it been?  That's your trivia question for today and no cheating.
In the modern NASCAR with super teams I think it is an impressive accomplishment for RPM to be where they are right now, and much of the credit goes to The King's tenacity, leadership and optimism.
On a short separate note, I have enjoyed the racing the last few weeks and think that is largely due to the venues, Darlington and Charlotte and Dover.  Most of the races at these cookie-cutter mile-and-a-halfs just have no personality and very little real racing.