I e-mail the processed logos to my colleagues John Harvey and Robert Daski. I try to throw in a humorous line, just to break up the monotony. Like a gentle nudge at Atlanta Motor Speedway (actually in Hampton, Ga.) and a gentle reminder there is no such dateline as Pocono, Pa. Dorky things like that, stuff we all do at our job.
Anyway, the point is this: I’ve seen all of the Cup race logos this season. Some are nice little packages; others, though, are just hideous.
And obviously, I’ve not had any formal training in graphic design. I can design a newspaper page, but that’s a heck of a lot different than a splashy logo. So, to one untrained eye, the best and worst of Nextel Cup race logos.

THE BEST

1. 3M Performance 400 (Michigan, June 18): A simple yet effective design. I like the concentric rings that circle that black part of the logo, giving it a blurred effect (and, one could argue, a speed effect). I’m willing to forgive the very distracting line at the bottom, which kept this from being a perfect 10 in my informal rating system. (In fact, it probably should have been docked some more, but the main logo is too cool.)

2. UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 (Las Vegas, March 12): Luckily, the logo-makers resisted the temptation to fuse two corporate logos together (witness what happened with the unwieldy UAW-Ford 500 logo from the fall Talladega race). Instead, we can figure out what’s going on without even looking at the words: something hot (fast) in a place where you can roll the dice. Must be racing in Vegas.

3. Daytona 500 (Daytona, Feb. 19): We’d expect Cup’s biggest event to have one of the best logos, and it doesn’t disappoint. The simplified track layout mostly encompasses the name of the race, which is big and boldly displayed. Of secondary importance are some of the other 5 “W’s” — when (in a stylistic 2.19.06), where (the “Daytona” and flags are part of the track’s logo) and its moniker, The Great American Race.

THE WORST

1. Dover 400 (Dover, Sept. 24): OK, I’m willing to cut some slack to the folks in Delaware, since there wasn’t a corporate logo to integrate into their design. Still, the fonts don’t quite match between the “Dover” and the “400.” And the rock-faced monster seems really out of place, even if that guy is a part of the track’s logo. But the fact remains that it’s just not a very appealing logo.

2. Bass Pro Shops 500 (Atlanta, Oct. 29): It’s real simple to explain: a corporate logo adorned with a cheesy-looking “500” with some checkered-flag garnishments. I realize that, by itself, Bass Pro Shops doesn’t really lend itself to auto racing, so I can’t offer any better alternatives. In any case, it looks pretty slapped together, like someone just took the corporate logo and found some clip art to go with it.

3. Pennsylvania 500 (Pocono, July 23): At least there was some effort here, which prevented this logo from landing higher (or lower, if you prefer) on the list. But I can’t shake the image that it’s a very short hacksaw sitting on its side. The opening in the middle forms the handle, and the checkered flags form the teeth. (Of course, given that Pocono is one of the more forest-y locales on the circuit, maybe this logo is better than I’m giving it credit for. But that doesn’t change the fact that I just don’t like it very much.)

Ragan is Roush’s pick to take over the No. 6 Nextel Cup car next year. They’re using the final few races of the season to get him some seat time in the big series.

Problem is, Ragan’s only Cup experience so far has been at Dover (a one-mile track) and Martinsville (a short track, less than a mile long). And the results have not been good; SceneDaily recounted that he was involved in two accidents in Dover and finished 42nd. At Martinsville, Ragan was 25th, but managed to enrage a few people over the course of 500 laps – most notably Ken Schrader.

“The best thing would have been to black-flag [Ragan] and park him for the rest of the day and save half of the cautions,” Tony Stewart told NASCAR.com. “We had a rookie out there that was kind of a dart with no feathers out there.”

Ouch.

Ragan has almost no experience and, suddenly, has gotten on the wrong side of some respected Cup veterans at NASCAR’s slowest track. And he wanted to take his chances at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Cup cars run faster than they do anywhere else on tour?

This was a no-brainer, and NASCAR absolutely made the right call. Ragan has not run a full year in any of NASCAR’s top series – Cup, Busch or Truck – and has only three races’ worth of experience in Busch.

Ragan may turn out to be a superb driver. It’s easy to argue that he already is, advancing to the level he has at the ripe old age of 20. But he still has something to prove – that he can get through a race without drawing the ire of his fellow competitors.

Until he can do that, he will – and should – be out of the race before the haulers even leave the shop.

Can you blame a Redskin for wanting to get the heck out of dodge? Have you seen the newspapers or taken a gander at ESPN lately? The Skins are brutalized everywhere you turn. They’re overpaid, they’re over-hyped, they’re soft, they’re flat, they’re uninspired.

I’ll save myself some adjectives and put it this way: They stink. They’re 2-5 and, from the looks of their remaining schedule, will probably finish 2-14. They’re finished. Done. Finito.

That’s why they might as well take an early vacation, recharge their batteries or find something to do that will put a smile on their faces. Joe Gibbs especially. Have you seen his face on the sidelines? He looks like he just drank a pint of motor oil.

The most amusing part of the Skins’ stunning demise is watching the reaction of the Washington fans. There are two kinds - the 95 percent who bury their heads and find some other team’s bandwagon to hop on, or the delusional remaining 5 percent who honestly believe the Skins can turn things around.

It’s funny, really, listening to the latter discuss the team’s prospects: “All we have to do is string together a couple victories and then we’ll be right back in it!” Usually, immediate after this spiel, they run into their cars and sob, drowning out their cries by blasting old Journey tunes. It’s awesome.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to run out to my car.

To make the Chase good, I’d expect a handful of drivers, say the top five, to have distinguished themselves six races into the Chase. Instead, at least three of the top five spots have changed hands each race since New Hampshire, the first Chase race.
Only Kasey Kahne has not once appeared in the top five in the Chase standings. Kahne has not been able to recover the ground he lost at Dover after an early wreck left him with a 38th-place finish. Three different drivers have held the lead; Matt Kenseth is back there again, a position he hasn’t held since the Chase began.
It’s a weekly jumble. From that perspective, it’s been a competitive Chase, but not a good one. No one has distinguished themselves; no cream has risen. Instead, it rises, falls and rises again — or sometimes it doesn’t.
Kenseth believes it’s the least competitive Chase of the three versions we’ve seen. (Though I can’t help but think his ‘competitive’ is the same as my ‘good’.)
“Everyone thinks this is the most competitive one,” Kenseth told the AP, “but I kind of look at it the other way — it’s the sloppiest Chase we’ve had so far. The least competitive one. Nobody has been able to run in the top 10 every week. No one is putting up staggering numbers, or that dominating streak we saw the first two years. With no trouble, Jeff Burton is probably the runaway winner of this thing. But, what we’re seeing this year, is none of us are immune from trouble.”
Certainly, a good game (or Chase) has a lot of factors that have a pretty specific range to them. Solid drivers and teams? Check. Good track record and solid performance through the season? Check.
But so far, the Chase comes up short in the actual competition, just as two good football teams can play a stinker of a game. Except they call it winning ugly.
Whoever emerges from Homestead will certainly have won ugly.
• A LATER UPDATE tomorrow, sometime in the mid-afternoon. It’s hard to believe college basketball season is upon us, but here we are. (It’s been even harder to let go of the final moments of polo-shirt weather, but that’s just me.)
I’m off to the Colonial Athletic Association’s basketball media day tomorrow in D.C. That will take up the morning and stretch into the afternoon, so I won’t get online until later in the day.