DOVER, Del. – Thoughts, observations and questions after the MBNA RacePoints 400 weekend at Dover International Speedway.

• Remember when everyone was talking about the Roush juggernaut and its five cars in the Chase? "That's half the field," they all complained. Well, two races into the Chase, the Roush cars are anchoring the bottom of the Chase field. They're fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth and 10th. Think Jack's getting a bit frustrated?

• Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 team's performance Sunday reminded us that this is the team that was the championship runner-up in each of the last two years. Johnson and Co. know how to perform when the pressure is on.

• It had been 16 races (Charlotte in May) since Johnson's last visit to victory lane. Some (including yours truly) had written the 48 team off, but maybe with Robbie Loomis acting as a consultant to Chad Knaus, these guys' title hopes need to be reconsidered.

  "Robbie has been a huge asset to me more so than anything else with the race car," Knaus said. "He's a very calming individual and he has a good sense about him and he has been through a championship chase."

• Give Kurt Busch all the credit in the world for running as hard as he did on Sunday, and in the process leading a ton of laps (192). But let's face reality: He's 170 points behind leader Johnson with eight races remaining. Stick a fork in him.

• Speaking of Busch, Rusty Wallace said in his postrace interview that he wants to get a win before he gives the car to Busch, which raised the question of whether or not Busch will be in the No. 2 Dodge next season. Wallace responded, "Yeah, I think so. The lawyers are trying to work it out now. But since I'm not a partner with Penske anymore, Roger's keeping that stuff kinda secret."

• Anyone notice that while Johnson was leading late in the race, he had to battle for several laps with Joe Nemechek to get around the Army car? Nemechek was a lap down, but he drove like he was racing for position with Johnson.

  "Yeah, I wasn't real happy ... at that point," Johnson said. "Being inside of somebody is pretty difficult here and especially coming off the turn. There were a couple of close calls where I almost spun off inside of him and got a little upset. But fortunately it didn't have an effect on the outcome of the race."

  Then when Mark Martin, who was next in line to pass Nemechek, came up on Nemechek's bumper, the Army driver immediately pulled to the side and let Martin pass him with ease. Hmmm ...

• Ryan Newman must be looking for the culprit who put that piece of kryptonite under his driver's seat before Sunday's race. Newman went from looking invincible in Saturday's Busch race to looking like the same old Newman on Sunday. He's still third in points.

• Show of hands – how many of you love a green-white-checkers finish?

• With concrete light poles placed all around the infield at Dover Downs, expect both of Dover's NASCAR weekends to be run under the lights next year.

• With Todd Bodine's win in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas on Saturday night, Toyota could easily win the remaining six races on the schedule this season. Credibility is a major issue with the Japanese manufacturer, as it has to convince team owners in the Nextel Cup garage to switch their alliances when Toyota goes racing in that series in 2007. Winning more races and a truck title in 2006 would go a long way toward bolstering their reputation in the garage.

• Kudos to the No. 38 interim crew chief Kevin Buskirk and that entire team for giving Elliott Sadler a great two-tire pit stop that put him out in front – albeit only for 26 laps. Sadler gave the field a good run for its money for a while. This is one team that had the Chase in the palm of its hands and let it slip away.

• What would have happened if Kyle Busch had taken his teammate Jimmie Johnson out during the final laps of the race?

• Martin Truex Jr. seemed a lock for the Busch Series championship. Now it's not so clear. With Clint Bowyer just 26 points back and the next race being at Bowyer's home track in Kansas, this year's title chase is one worth watching.

• Prior to the race, voice artist Nancy Cartwright, who is best known as the voice of cartoon character Bart Simpson, visited the media center and entertained everyone with her incredible talent. It was extremely strange to hear the voice of a little kid come out of the mouth of a middle-aged woman. She also gave the "gentlemen ..." command at the start of the race in one of her character's voices.

• Erin Crocker's Busch Series career isn't off to a bright start: two wrecks in two races. On Saturday, the wreck came just 10 laps into the race. Justin Labonte tagged her rear bumper and she lost control of her car. Not that it was an intentional hit, but it was one of those racing deals that most drivers usually can recover from without wrecking the car. Hopefully she won't get too frustrated. Hang in there, Erin.

  I'm still placing my bets on Californian Allison Duncan. Richard Childress told me she had a successful Busch test and he expects she will come to the East Coast to race in the very near future.

• I wonder how deep NASCAR president Mike Helton's "we really mean it this time" speech in both drivers meetings this weekend will sink in. Helton reminded the drivers of how important it is to respect each other. He also requested that anyone who cannot play within NASCAR's rules "get some help."

  I still can't help but think, however, that there's a certain bit of "a wink and a nod" going on here between NASCAR and the drivers and crew chiefs.

• Next week: Talladega. All bets are off. Time to shake, rattle and roll, and break out the Tylenol. My early favorite? Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Veteran motorsports writer Bob Margolis is Yahoo! Sports' NASCAR reporter. Send Bob a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Monday, Sep 26, 2005 6:16 am, EDT

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