The complainers got their wish, as finally a Sprint Cup Series event didn't finish under the uncertainty of fuel mileage at Dover. Oh, and the rain mostly held off for the second straight week. Let's celebrate, and dive in to the weekend that was.

HOT: If Carl Edwards was aiming to silently slip in to the Chase for the Sprint Cup points lead after three races, he's done a remarkable job. And if earning his first pit road speeding violation of the season was some mysterious way of throwing the rest of the field off of his scent, well, job well done.

OK, OK — that second part may be a stretch. But the first part is very real, as Edwards is now tied with Kevin Harvick for the lead of the 2011 championship fight with seven races to go. The upward swing for Edwards has come courtesy of a fourth-place finish at Chicagoland, an eighth at Loudon and a third last Sunday at Dover. In that span, Edwards has led 157 laps.

In other words, Edwards' start to his latest bid to win his first Sprint Cup

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Sometimes, we all need to remember just how big NASCAR really is.

Lost in all the hue and cry about attendance and ratings and allegedly vanilla drivers is the fact that this is one enormous sport with a vast reach. Proof? Forbes has just released its list of the Most Valuable Sports Brands, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the Daytona 500 both ranked No. 7 on their respective lists (athlete and event).

First, Junior. Numbers like this are why he continues to draw interest despite the fact that his winless streak now extends over three years. Earnhardt has a brand value of an estimated $9 million, putting him in an ultra-elite class. Only Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, David Beckham, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant ranked higher than Earnhardt. That's right: No NFL player, no baseball player, no full-time Olympian has a stronger brand value than Earnhardt.

NASCAR's marquee event, the Daytona 500, also ranks seventh with a brand value of $112 million. Beleaguered in recent years by

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Jimmie Johnson busts a move as he prepares to run at Dover. Surely you can come up with something more entertaining to say than that. Run with this, friends. Run far.

After the jump, some of the cast of Fast Five meets Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hilarity ensues.

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Andy:
"Dude, this stunt driver looks NOTHING like me!"

Vaffanculo:
Yes, I have been saved. Thank you for asking.

Razz:
Junior reluctantly shows some amused fans how the in-car port-a-potty works.

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Drama, thy name is Will Power.

A year after seeing the Izod IndyCar championship slip through his grasp, Power entered Sunday's next-to-last IndyCar race at Kentucky with an 11 point lead over Dario Franchitti, the driver who overtook him last year.

But instead of putting the title out of reach or extending his lead, Power left Kentucky trailing Franchitti by 18 points thanks to a pit road incident that wasn't his fault.

Ouch.

While oval racing isn't Power's strength -- he's a beast on the series' street and road courses -- he's steadily improved and won his first oval race earlier in the year at Texas in the second race of the dual races.

Power sat on the pole for Sunday's race, but on lap 49, he got hit by Ana Beatriz on pit road. The impact ripped a hole in the sidepod of Power's car, ruining the aerodynamics, and Power couldn't keep up with the pack.

Heading into the final race last year at Homestead, Power held a 12 point lead over Franchitti. But he scrubbed the wall, and ended

If you missed the truck race in Kentucky this past weekend, you missed this carnage: Miguel Paludo getting loose and taking out first Parker Kligerman and, off the rebound, Max Papis. That was unfortunate. Everybody be sure to visit their sponsors and make up for them missing out on the latter two-thirds of the race. Go trucks!

'Twas another fine week of racing around this great nation of ours, and not just because we had NASCAR's national series in two different locations so certain folks couldn't sweep all three again. Here, behold the best of the weekend, right up to Kurt Busch's takedown of Jimmie Johnson in the closing laps of Dover. Enjoy!

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, yes, it's time we remembered something very important about this Chase ...

Kurt Busch probably wouldn't have had it any other way.

Busch beat Jimmie Johnson off two late-race restarts to win the AAA 400 at Dover on Sunday and closed within nine points of new points leaders Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.

On the final restart with 35 laps to go, Johnson spun his tires and that allowed Busch to immediately pull away and over the closing laps, Johnson was able to run with Busch, but not get any closer.

The racing between the two over the final stages was clean, adhering to the pledge that was made after Richmond when Busch and Johnson got together twice, the latest chapter to their rivalry that started in earnest in 2010.

And while Busch got the satisfaction of beating Johnson straight up, not once, but twice, it wasn't a lost cause by any means for the No. 48 team. Johnson's second place finish moved him from 10th to fifth in the points standings, four points behind Busch and 13 behind Harvick and Edwards.

Edwards looked to be the car to beat during the first