nascar 2009 <> after week #6 -- before week #7

who was it that said "those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat its mistakes" ... jimmie johnson has now won six of the last five races at martinsville ... yet only floyd heeded the lessons of recent history at the paper clip oval ... the rest of us ... every one of us ... we went the route of jeff gordon's gonna win one soon ... its been so long ... he's been so close ... he is the master of the short track ... he's the points leader ... today's the day he defies recent history ... oh well, so much for that route ... now here comes texas ... and jeff gordon has never won at texas motor speedway ... he's won 4 sprint cup championships ... he has won at 20 of 22 tracks .. he has never won at texas ... in fact, jeff has finished 43rd only three times in his career ... two of those dead last finishes were at texas ... anyone willing to bet "the lessons of history" will be defied tomorrow in dallas

fox coverage of sunday's race kicks off at 1:30 pm ... if pre-race festivities are texas big ... green flag should wave about 2:30 pm ... after texas comes nascar's easter break ... happy easter to one and all ... on the other side of the break ... phoenix under the lights ... saturday night, april 18th at 8:00 pm edt

pool standings AFTER WEEK #6 <> goody's fast pain relief 500 at martinsville

• jason -- 825 points / 2 winners
• floyd -- 823 (-2) / 1 winner
• kevin -- 803 (-22)
• rich -- 778 (-47)
• tom* -- 753 (-72)
• robin* -- 741 (-84) / 1 winner
• jim -- 703 (-122)

*denotes rookie competitor

pool picks FOR WEEK #7 <> samsung 500 at texas (for most points <> for race win)

• jason -- matt kenseth (17) <> kyle busch (18)
• floyd -- joey logano (20) <> carl edwards (99)
• kevin -- joey logano (20) <> jimmie johnson (48)
• rich -- matt kenseth (17) <> kyle busch (18)
• tom -- kasey kahne (9) <> jimmie johnson (48)
• robin -- david ragan (6) <> kyle busch (18)
• jim -- carl edwards (99) <> jeff gordon (24)
• tommy* -- dustin pedroia (15) <> kevin youkilis (20)

* denotes "just for fun"