Let's be honest, the Texas race wasn't much to two-step about; long long LONG green-flag stretches with about as much passing as a 1920s Yale-Harvard football game. But outside of the race? Oh, there was plenty of craziness to go around, from Danica Patrick's announcement of her 2012 schedule to Austin Dillon's new run in the No. 3 to David Reutimann's soon-to-be swan song to ... what am I forgetting? Oh, yeah, something with Kyle Busch. Wrap it all up right here so we can get on with Phoenix.

130010306

Alex Zanardi is an inspiration.

The former open-wheel driver, who lost his legs in a vicious crash in 2001, won the handcycle division at the New York City Marathon on Sunday with a time of 1:13.58.

From Yahoo! Eurosport:

Since retiring from international racing at the end of 2009, Zanardi has worked hard on hand cycling - and has competed in many international events as well as setting his sights on representing Italy in the 2012 Paralympics.

As well as his victory in New York, he has previously won the Venice Marathon in 2009 and the Rome City Marathon last year.

Zanardi won two CART open-wheel championships while driving for Chip Ganassi and while driving in the American Memorial CART race at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany. Exiting the pits, Zanardi was hit by Alex Tagliani and the front nose of his car was ripped off.

The always positive Zanardi wanted to continue his racing career, so he got custom prosthetics and drove touring and sports cars until he retired. After retiring

NASCAR has spoken regarding further penalties for Kyle Busch, and the word is this: a $50,000 fine plus probation until the end of the year. But he will be in the car for Phoenix and Homestead.

This, of course, is in addition to the potential winnings lost by not running in the Nationwide or Sprint series races in Texas over the weekend. And Joe Gibbs Racing has not announced if it will level any in-house penalties on Busch.

Busch lost substantial money for himself and his team by missing two races over the weekend. In the Sprint Cup series, Busch averaged a 12th-place finish this year; at Texas that paid David Ragan $116,625. In Nationwide, Busch averaged a fifth-place finish, which at Texas paid Brad Keselowski $24,225.

NASCAR has also begun the laborious process of drawing definitive lines for behavior, lines that the sport has until now been loath to set down in writing. "If during the remaining NASCAR events in 2011 there is another action by the competitor that is deemed by

Time for our latest round of Power Rankings. Each week throughout the season, we'll size up who's rising and who's falling, based on current standings, behind-the-scenes changes, expected staying power, recent history and general gut feelings. And all of a sudden, we've got ourselves a real race...

FORT WORTH, Texas — Carl Edwards may still be on top of the Sprint Cup points standings, but man, it doesn't feel that way, does it?

Despite Edwards' second-place finish, he was once again overshadowed by Tony Stewart, who dominated the second half of Sunday's AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway to win his fourth Chase race.

Because he finished second, Edwards is still three points up in the standings. And now this Chase suddenly has the feeling of a team having the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-2.

Yes, Edwards still has the lead and a seemingly unbeatable closer (Phoenix and Homestead-Miami are two of his best tracks), yet he's facing a bases-loaded situation with Tony Stewart coming to the plate. Who do you think has the upper hand?

"I think we're fortunate to have led the points for as long as we did this season and I think the guys, I know myself, we have a certain comfort level with it," Edwards said. "At the end of the day it truly doesn't

82139711Freestyle Motocross rider Jim McNeil died Sunday after suffering injuries while practicing for a FMX exhibition before Sunday's AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

McNeil, 32, was practicing in the midway area outside the frontstretch grandstands before the area was open on Sunday morning. He was taken by CareFlight to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

McNeil, who was known as "Jumpin' Jimmy," had competed in Freestyle Motocross for 11 years, and finished fourth overall in FMX at the X Games in 2006. He had been part of the Boost Mobile FMX team for nine years.

In Freestyle Motocross, riders are scored by judges based on a series of jumps and tricks. The most famous FMX rider may be Travis Pastrana, who is transitioning to NASCAR, or Carey Hart, who is married to the singer Pink.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
• Analyst maintains composure during earthquake
• Another win gives UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel better job security
• Lenny Dykstra is a no-show

131415846

Kyle Busch has issued an apology. Saturday night, Busch sent an open letter apologizing for his actions in Friday night's Camping World Truck Series race that resulted in NASCAR parking him for remainder of the weekend at Texas. Busch missed Saturday's Nationwide race and will not be allowed to drive in Sunday's Cup race.

Below is the text from that letter:

To all,

I've had a lot of time today to sit and reflect, and try to put my thoughts into words as best I can.

I want to sincerely apologize for my actions during Friday night's Truck Series race at Texas.

I apologize to my fans, all my sponsors, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports.

After talking with my team, it's great to have their support and encouragement to assure me that there are better days ahead. Even though this took place while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, I am sorry for how difficult this has been for everyone associated with Joe Gibbs Racing's Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series teams.

I'd also

Since Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick were the only two Sprint Cup Series regulars in Friday night's Winstar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway, many drivers took to Twitter to express their reactions to Busch's crashing of Ron Hornaday.

Here are some of those reactions: