Do you have a favorite? Is there a driver you root for more than any other? I am guessing every race fan does. The driver that you buy his sponsors products. The car you look for each race weekend. But is your favorite the media's or the commentator's favorite?

Is he a driver who runs in the top 5 most races? Or is he the guy who goes to the garage and the only way you know about it is to look at the line going across the top of the television screen to see if he is listed as OFF or OUT? The guy the pit reporters don't break a sweat running after to find out what happened. Do you find yourself kind of wishing your favorite would have trouble on the track so you can see him on TV? Wouldn't it be nice to see him before the checkered flag waves?

Even a top 5 driver may not get much notice if he is not a favorite of the media. Maybe he isn't who they want or expect to win the championship. The guy they don't key the microphone to talk to inside the car while they circle the track doing the warm up laps before going green. Here I speak of Mark Martin. He has challenged for the Winston Cup series title all through the 90's. Did you know he came the closest in 1990, 1994 and 1998? Wouldn't that make 2002 his next best year? He sat quietly in 2nd place in the standings but still he was not the topic of conversation. Who did they talk about? Jeff Gordon and his winless streak and then Jeff Gordon's win streak. Even before it was a streak! He is definitely a NASCAR favorite though he gets a fair share of boo's during driver introductions. I think that actually helps keep his status as a favorite.

Did anyone go and find out why the #6 Viagra Ford had lost something the last few races out? Where was "that charge to the front feeling"? Why did he fall back during the race? Was it that set of tires? Did an air gun jam or a lug nut fall off? Did the car go tight? Missed the setup? Wrong gear selection? Was it that dreaded aero push? Who knows, he silently dropped to 3rd place after Jeff Gordon's second win. We probably won't ever find out what has happened to Mark Martin lately. He obviously isn't one of the favorites. So sometimes your favorite can be in the top 5 and still get no attention. And if he is a nice guy who stays out of trouble, forget about it.

Terry Labonte is another driver who is close to disappearing from race fans mind. You just don't see that number 5 car much do you? This is how we treat our past champions that are not Jeff Gordon. Why isn't he running well when his "teammates" Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are in the top 10 in points? Aren't they teammates who share? Did you notice that when Terry Labonte was the defending Winston Cup champion the media still talked about Jeff Gordon as if he were? This showed no respect.

What happened to the young and upcoming Casey Atwood? Geez, he really got the boot over at Evernham Motorsports. Casey was hand picked by Ray to move up to Winston Cup. Was he ready to be in the big series, this fan didn't think so, but who could turn down Ray Evernham after seeing what he did for Jeff Gordon's career? Under the wing of the famous crew chief now team owner. When he started to run up front he got moved out of the 19 to the 7 and basically looks discarded. He doesn't get any "young gun" interviews. He used to be the youngest gun. Isn't he still? When was the last time you even seen Casey Atwood?

Is the media fair to the guys who don't make trouble? Do we need to push the bad boys to bring in new fans? Isn't the racing enough? Do we have to look for enraged drivers ready to do battle to keep the fans glued to the television screen? I thought the wrecks did that. Obviously if you are a nice guy in this sport, don't count on getting media attention. Get angry or bump someone, and well, you won't be able to get out of the cameras way. You will start running from photographers who won't honor your right to privacy. You may even hit one out of frustration.

Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman are rookies. Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch are sophomores. Why are we constantly seeing interviews asking these guys about tracks they have little experience on? Where are the Kenny Schrader and Kyle Petty interviews? They have been racing a long time! Hey even Terry Labonte has long time racing experience at these tracks! Remember him, 2-time champion? I bet he can tell you some stories. It's a shame we won't get to hear them.

The battle that is expected by the media this weekend between Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace must mean that Richmond is not a good enough race to get the fans to watch it otherwise. Side by side beatin and bangin all around the ¾ mile track won't do it. We need to sit, wait and watch to see if the 2 and the 24 will be close enough to each other on the track to bump one another. Maybe we can even expect some possible bumping between Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch? Won't the weekend be a bust if they don't?

Every interviewer who speaks to Jeff or Rusty will bring up the Bristol incident. Give me a break! People, this is Richmond. It's a short track! There is going to be beatin, bangin and bumpin anyway. But now a just racin' incident may be called "retaliation". There will be 43 cars beating on each other. Hopefully we won't spend the entire race just watching two of them. Not everyones favorite is Jeff Gordon.

- gertie