Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

The sun was out in Alabama, Benny was back in the booth, and Mark Martin finally announced his plans so the media and his fans could finally begin to settle down. The only thing spoiling the racing soup was the issuance of a smaller restrictor plate, which some teams were rumored to be quite peeved about. Ah well. As long as we know what Mark Martin is up to, then we can all embrace serenity.

HeartRacers:

• It was refreshing to have a guest passenger on ‘Wally’s World’ who is also a NASCAR fan. Sterling Sharpe knew what restrictor plates are, said he understood the devotion to Dale Jr., and knew how to correctly say ‘Talladega’ like a real NASCAR fan would (“Talla… DEGA”).

• A traditional rendition of the National Anthem was given by the 151st Army Band, followed by a flyover formation of F-15 Eagles. Very stirring.

• Dave Gilliland (No. 38 Ford) led the field around to the checkers. It might have been only a fleeting moment in time, but he still managed to finish 15th. Not too shabby, Dave.

• Despite Mark Martin (No. 6 Ford) anticipating the consumption of him and his car by the Talladega track (as has happened to him many times before), he finished in the top ten.

• Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Dodge) keeps digging in and hanging on. Another top ten for one of the grittiest teams on the track.

• After all of the chaos, Carl Edwards (No. 99 Ford) finished in the top ten, and is now back to being a contender for the 11th place in the standings. We’re sure the Edwards fans are happy about that.

• Whether you are happy or not about how Brian Vickers (No. 25 Chevy) got to Victory Lane and his first Cup win, he did get the trophy, and he dedicated the victory to Rick Hendrick. Despite Jimmy Spencer’s declarations that NASCAR will be taking away the win, it appears as of this writing that he will remain the victor. Vickers fans must be thrilled.

HeartBreakers:

• We think that Kenny Schrader (No. 21 Ford) was probably wishing he could exchange places with that Little Debbies stand up that he impersonates in the commercials. After getting in a Talladega tangle and sustaining front-end damage, he just spent the rest of the race just driving in big circles.

• J J Yeley (No. 18 Chevy) had a less than spectacular day. He spun, he got he penalized, and he finished 32nd. The hits kept on coming, and some looked like they hurt.

• Unless Jamie McMurray (No. 26 Ford) has a very positive attitude, we are thinking he might be gnashing his teeth a little bit. He was having a nice run, until one of the ‘big ones’ on lap 137. While he had started eighth, he finished a dismal 37th.

• The Tony Stewart (No. 20 Chevy) fans probably left the track with good representations of his surly curled-up lip. Talladega bit Stewart on lap 173, and he ended the race in 22nd. Not too much fun the week after a victory.

• Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Chevy) was one of the Chasers being singled out as a possible victor of the race. It was not to be, however, as he got snagged in the wreck on lap 137, and ultimately did not finish the race. Seeing the Dupont Chevy heading to the garage must have been hard to take by the Gordon fans.

• The biggest HeartBreaker has to be the most obvious one, the wreck of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Chevy) and Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Chevy) on the last lap of the race. Both drivers had overcome adversities and things like blown tires to rally back to the front. When the dust cleared (literally) Earnhardt had finished 23rd and Johnson had finished 24th. We do send out kudos to Dale Jr. for being calm and non-accusatory in post-wreck interviews.