nascar 2009 <> after week #5 -- before week #6

rain washed out friday's qualifying ... points leader jeff gordon will lead the field to the green flag ... rain also cancelled today's practice sessions and forced rescheduling of the truck race to monday ... the sunday forecast down in martinsville, va looks more promising

did you know ... martinsville is a shorter short track than bristol ... around martinsville's pancake flat paper clip oval is .526 mile ... the high banked cereal boval that is bristol measures .533 mile ... this spring's race sponsor is goody's fast pain relief ... last spring it was goody's cool orange ... top 5 last spring <> hamlin <> gordon <> burton <> johnson <> stewart ... last fall's top 5 <> johnson <> earnhardt, jr <> edwards <> gordon <> hamlin ... looking back to spring '07 its the same names <> johnson <> gordon <> hamlin <> ky busch <> earnhardt, jr

thru 5 races ... the "bow tie" is winless ... who woulda thunk ... that means hendricks, childress and stewart-haas are winless ... that means gordon, harvick, stewart, johnson, burton, newman, earnhardt, jr, bowyer and martin are all winless so far ... somethings gotta give on sunday ... cause cheby has won 10 of the last 12 martinsville races ... johnson has 5 wins, 3 in a row ... gordon has won 4 and smoke once

uconn from the big east has advanced to the final 4 ... either pittsburgh or villanova from the big east will move on in the next 30 minutes ... tomorrow louisville from the big east gets its shot at a trip to the final 4 ... and, oh by the way, congrats to syracuse of the big east for an awesome run ... what an amazing year for big east basketball

pool standings AFTER WEEK #5 <> food city 500 at bristol

• rich -- 687 points
• kevin -- 657 (-30)
• jason -- 645 (-42) / 2 winners
• floyd -- 633 (-54)
• tom* -- 623 (-64)
• robin* -- 576 (-111) / 1 winner
• jim -- 513 (-174)

*denotes rookie competitor

pool picks FOR WEEK #6 <> goody's fast pain relief 500 at martinsville (for most points <> for race win)

• rich -- kyle busch (18) <> jeff gordon (24)
• kevin -- mark martin (5) <> jeff gordon (24)
• jason -- denny hamlin (11) <> jeff gordon (24)
• floyd -- denny hamlin (11) <> jimmie johnson (48)
• tom -- kevin harvick (29) <> jeff gordon (24)
• robin -- jeff gordon (24) <> jeff gordon (24)
• jim -- jimmie johnson (48) <> jeff gordon (24))
• tommy* -- boston red sox (1) <> new york yankees (3)

* denotes "just for fun"