Take out the Fork. DEI's Not Done Yet

Dale Earnhardt Inc. made a very strong showing at the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega on Sunday.

Regan Smith basically won the race, by outrunning the leader. He got penalized for it though and finished on the tail end of the lead lap, in 18th place.

Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard, along with Aric Almirola also had good cars too. Truex got wrecked while running in the front, but DEI cars were always contenders to win, all day long.

Truex was probably at least as frustrated as was Regan Smith on Sunday. A blown tire on the car of Brian Vickers ended his day early, when clearly, Truex had a car that was capable of running up front.

DEI's day will come, and probably soon, if they can keep up the kind of performance they showed at Talladega.

DEI has definitely shown some muscle in at least their super speedway program this past week, after it was announced that Paul Menard was leaving the team after the 2008 season for Yates.

I was among those who thought DEI was headed for trouble, but I stand here, totally reprimanded. DEI is still a factor, and even though the have no drivers in the Chase for the Cup, they still can upset the apple cart by putting a driver in Victory Lane.

Races are still won by drivers who have the ability to become, how shall we say, 'creative'. What Regan Smith did certainly wasn't a sin, at least to me. My NASCAR's standards, I suppose it was. To me, it meant doing what ever it takes to win, and that's what Regan did. If the guy ahead of you blocks you low, go lower. On any other track on the circuit, except Daytona, of course, this move would have been totally legal.

DEI is not out of the game yet. They still have some cards to play.