Random thoughts surged through the frontal lobe as the Sprint Cup Series raced past the midway point of the regular season Sunday at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.

Here are the best ones that survived the night:

Rockin' like a ...
Well, you know the rest. It's driver Kasey Kahne, and he's in a hurry to continue building on a mid-season surge that began with him getting voted into the All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway and then using that as a springboard to rediscover lost magic on the Cup circuit.

He didn't just win at Pocono Sunday; he dominated (read more | watch video). He captured the pole and clearly was the best, fastest car from start to finish. Kahne had to drive through most of the field after miscommunication between crew chief Kenny Francis and the team's tire changers led to confusion on pit road on Lap 63, ultimately knocking him all the way back to 38th place on the ensuing restart. The resolve shown by Kahne after that mishap -- there may have been times earlier in his career when he would have let it anger him and only lead to more problems -- was impressive.

If Kahne can keep it up and win a few more races while also coaxing better points finishes out of his car on days when it isn't so dominant, he will be a factor in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship and obviously could even be a strong contender to win it.

Wasn't it only a year ago that so many of the same tireless conspiracy theorists were questioning the dominance of drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, wondering aloud if somehow NASCAR had a hand in orchestrating it?

Whatever happened to ...
All the conspiracy theorists who have insisted in their persistent e-mails that NASCAR has scripted Toyota to win everything in sight this season? Well, truthfully and sadly, they are still out there -- despite Kahne's recent surge in his No. 9 Dodge and the obviously improved competitiveness of the Fords fielded by Roush Fenway Racing.

It's called competitive balance, and the improved Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing have only made it better this season no matter what the many critics say. Through 14 points races, Toyota (led by points leader Kyle Busch with four wins alone) has posted five race victories while each of the other manufacturers -- Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet -- have come up with three apiece.

Yes, JGR and Busch have surprised with their first-half surge. But it's not like other teams and other manufacturers haven't had their moments, too. The top-10 finishers from Pocono, for instance, included four Chevys, two Dodges, two Fords and two Toyotas.

The real whatever happened to question should be applied to Hendrick Motorsports. Wasn't it only a year ago that so many of the same tireless conspiracy theorists were questioning the dominance of drivers Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, wondering aloud if somehow NASCAR had a hand in orchestrating it? Now they have one win between them (Johnson at Phoenix).

And, by the way, it isn't ...
Bad luck when your otherwise great day is spoiled by a speeding penalty on pit road. Such was the case with Greg Biffle and his No. 16 Roush Fenway Ford late during Sunday's race at Pocono (read more).

Listen, everyone knows the rules when it comes to speeding on pit road. Everyone knows it is difficult to adhere to them when a driver is attempting to get back on the track quickly to avoid losing valuable positions. But this stuff is electronically monitored and it's the same for every driver out there.

So those who want to say it's another bad-luck break for Biffle -- or anyone else who gets caught -- are just making excuses. It's a stupid, costly mistake in a sport where stupid, costly mistakes are just as much or more punishing than stupid, costly mistakes in other sports.

Biffle admittedly has had more than his share of bad breaks this season, and they have cost him legitimate shots at victories. But Sunday's speeding penalty wasn't one of them. It was a stupid, costly mistake of his own doing, and he rightly suffered for it.

Oh, and the same could be said of Tony Stewart on Sunday as well -- lest the Toyota bashers think we're picking only on Ford and Biffle here.

One special night

There's so much that goes into putting on the exhibition Prelude to the Dream -- like Tony Stewart getting the Eldora track surface ready on a tractor.

• Complete story, click here
• Stewart dominates Prelude
• Complete video highlights

Speaking of Tony ...
Watching him operate at the Eldora Speedway dirt track he owns in Rossburg, Ohio, last week was really something. It's obvious Stewart deeply cares about the folks who help him run the place, the drivers who visit there to run races (and not just the Sprint Cup guys who come once a year to run the Prelude to the Dream), and the fans who come to watch.

Call it a hunch, but it also seemed to underscore Stewart's deep and long-standing relationship with Chevrolet. The more one thinks about it, Stewart seems destined to reunite with Chevy on the Cup level -- even though he has, at nearly every turn, attempted to say and do the right things when it comes to his current contract that has him driving Toyotas for JGR.

It has been six mostly silent weeks since it was revealed that Stewart is strongly considering opportunities outside of JGR when his contract expires at the end of next season. Would anyone really be all that surprised if he eventually tries to get out of the deal a year early and gets behind the seat of a Chevy by next season?

And if you're looking at possible scenarios for that to happen -- whether it be beginning in 2009 or 2010 -- how about this one? Stewart could hook up with JR Motorsports, which is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., and help transform that budding organization's current (and competitive) Nationwide program to a similar one on the Cup side as a driver and part-owner. They could continue to get their engines and other assistance from Hendrick while helping bring Chevrolet back to the front more often. Just a thought.

And finally, did you see ...
The sweet race move Earnhardt put on Jeff Burton to hold the hard-charging Burton off for fourth place in Sunday's race? After Burton had made his own strong pass, Earnhardt immediately retaliated with a swift and unexpected dive underneath. For all those Junior critics who say he can't drive, it was hard evidence that, well, yes, he can.

It isn't easy to post all the top-five finishes that Earnhardt has this season. It's even harder still to turn those good runs into ones that produce victories, and every week that passes without Earnhardt getting one has to eat at him as his winless streak has now stretched beyond two full years.

The sad reality of the great move he executed on Burton at Pocono is that after about 24 hours, no one ever remembers a move that produced a fourth-place finish -- no matter how great it may have been or how much it may have helped produce another outstanding points day. No one is likely to remember that it was important, too, because Burton currently is second and Earnhardt third in the suddenly tight point standings (after leader Kyle Busch's last-place finish Sunday).

Now if it had been a pass for first place that produced a victory, that would be something else entirely.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.