By MIKE MULHERN, Winston-Salem Journal

After a two-year drought, any win is a good win for Dale Earnhardt, Jr.But even Earnhardt conceded that his win Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway may need an asterisk -- * -Victory on gas mileage.

Shut up and race?

The Fox network guys finally begin their break from NASCAR last weekend, after posting some solid ratings for the first half of the Sprint Cup season.They handed off to the TimeWarner-TNT crew for the summer stretch, beginning with Sunday's Pocono 500.

It is one of the NASCAR season's biggest mysteries: What is going on -- rather, going wrong -- at Rick Hendrick's shops?Hendrick is one of the most successful NASCAR team owners ever, the Chevrolet kingpin, the man whose top two drivers, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, blew everyone away down the stretch last fall to win another NASCAR Cup title.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. may well be right when he says that the NASCAR winged car is almost bipolar, with distinctly different personalities: When you're out front and sailing, things seem fine. But if you're back in traffic with everybody else, it's a demon.But then how to explain Kasey Kahne and Ray Evernham's suddenly rejuvenated Dodge team?

CONCORD, N.C. -- Consider it a shot over the bow, that new Toyota engine design that Joe Gibbs' drivers -- Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart -- put on the track at Lowe's Motor Speedway last weekend.

CONCORD, N.C. -- If Saturday night's no-caution, no-crash All-Star race is any indication of what to expect in next weekend's Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR drivers and crew chiefs aren't going to be very happy.Kasey Kahne finally got a Dodge back into the winner's circle, but analyzing this 100-lap race may take a while.

CHARLOTTE -- Who's the best right-front tire guy on the NASCAR pit crews? Who's the best jack man?What driver has the best pit crew?

It was called the Dodge Challenger 500, but maybe Saturday night's NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway should have been called the "Dodge Challenged 500."Dodge teams were hard-pressed to get anything going -- about the only thing that Dodge had out front all night was the pace car.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jeff Gordon seems to be getting a bit testy these days.He's not alone.This season's stock car has been awkward to drive. And now teams are heading to Darlington, just repaved, with its stunning 200-mph speeds, and then to Lowe's Motor Speedway for a couple of weeks of work.