Rick Minter's OBSERVATIONS
Key story lines as the Cup series takes a week off.
Tire wars

STEWART

A week after publicly trashing the tires Goodyear provided for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart had backed off on his criticism of the exclusive tire supplier for NASCAR's top three series - Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck - but there's little doubt that all is not well between Stewart and Goodyear.

His toned-down comments came after a meeting at Bristol Motor Speedway with Stu Grant, Goodyear's general manager of Worldwide Racing.

"We're hoping that Goodyear will now work with us a little better on the racing side of things and rely on our input a little more, because we are the ones driving the cars," Stewart told reporters, adding that he didn't mean to personally insult the everyday employees at Goodyear.

"Our comments were strong to get somebody's attention high up in corporate at Goodyear. It wasn't meant to offend anyone else."

But relations between Stewart and Goodyear are far from healed. Goodyear's Greg Stucker, director of race-tire sales, told The Associated Press at Bristol Motor Speedway that Stewart isn't one of the drivers being considered for upcoming tire tests, tests that generally give participating drivers a leg up in future races.

Stucker said he wasn't pleased with Stewart's participation in a test last December at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"He was there, but I would say he probably really wasn't involved. He wasn't into it," Stucker told the AP. "If he's not going to be more constructive than he has been recently or was at that test, no, he won't get another test.

"We look for people that want to be engaged, that provide us with feedback, to be there to do what we need."

Drivers want voices heard

A large part of the debate in the days following Stewart's "tire-ade" was over the best way for drivers to have their voices heard. Some in the media suggested a drivers' union. Jeff Gordon told reporters at Bristol that he has a better idea.

"I would like to see NASCAR have like a quarterly meeting where they bring all the drivers into a room and bring up hot topics and talk about things and allow us to vent, or allow us to share our opinions and just listen to us," he said. "This going up into the trailer one at a time, and one guy says the exact opposite of what the next guy comes in, I think all it does is confuse them and so we're not going anywhere. I believe communication is key. ... I would love to work with them further on that, but I'm out of breath doing it individually because it doesn't go anywhere."

New points bring new lineups

Beginning in two weeks at Martinsville Speedway, guaranteed starting positions will be based on this year's car-owner points instead of last year's standings, which are used for the first five races of the season.

Unless the affected teams pull some sort of owner-points switch - with NASCAR's approval - several drivers, most notably Jamie McMurray, won't be assured of a starting spot because their team is outside the top 35 in points. McMurray is 36th. Drivers behind him include Dave Blaney, Dario Franchitti, Regan Smith and Kyle Petty.

Drivers on the safe side of the top 35, for now, include rookie Sam Hornish Jr., and all three drivers from Michael Waltrip Racing, who started the season outside the top 35.

SPRINT CUP STANDINGS

1. Kyle Busch
782; leader
2. Greg Biffle
752; behind: -30
3. Kevin Harvick
749; behind: -33
4. Jeff Burton
745; behind: -37
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
686; behind: -96
6. Kasey Kahne
674; behind: -108
7. Tony Stewart
656; behind: -126
8. Ryan Newman
635; behind: -147
9. Clint Bowyer
606; behind: -176
10. Kurt Busch
605; behind: -177
11. Matt Kenseth
604; behind: -178
12. Martin Truex Jr.
595; behind: -187