Dale Earnhardt Jr. spins out at turn 4 after colliding with Jamie McMurray during the LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images Photo) » More Photos

Is Dale Earnhardt Jr. covered in teflon? Why is it never his fault when something happens? Your comments about Jamie McMurray were brutal. When they showed the replay, Earnhardt was two lanes up on the track and made a hard left toward the commitment cone!! McMurray was right on the yellow line, when E came across him. It was just like McMurray described it, no hand signal, no warning from spotter, no nothing!!! Retraction please? — Henry Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla.

Sorry, Henry. There was plenty of blame to go around in that incident, including from McMurray’s spotter, who didn’t help him a bit, but McMurray never lifted when he hit Earnhardt, which tells me he never saw him. And the driver does have to be responsible for what’s directly in front of him. Earnhardt contributed to the accident, but some combination of McMurray and his spotter caused it.

How does NASCAR determine the winnings after a race? Drivers often win more money than those who finish ahead of them. I would expect it to be based on some sort of scale, but this does not seem to be the case. — Dave Powell

Great question, Dave. Prior to each race, NASCAR issues a basic purse distribution for that race and it declines for each position. In other words, first pays more than second, second pays more than third, etc. But there are a whole laundry list of bonus and incentive payments added into that. Coors pays $5,500 to the “eligible” pole winner each race, eligible presumably meaning not sponsored by another beer company. Goodyear pays $5,500 to the eligible driver who turns the fastest lap while leading a race, etc. There are roughly a dozen such awards handed out every race, by sponsors including DIRECTV, Dow, Mechanix Wear, Mobil 1 and others. Also, NASCAR has bonus plans designed to reward teams who win races, as well as teams who run high up in points. There are also contingency awards. A sponsor might pay a bonus to the top-finishing driver who uses a specific brand of motor oil in his car. In that case, if the top three drivers don’t use the brand of oil that pays the contingency award, the bonus money might go to the fourth-place finisher, etc. You add it all up and gets pretty complicated, but as you can see, there are multiple elements that go into it.

It seems like Brian France should rename the Sprint Cup Series, the Toyota Cup Series, he way they protect the Camry drivers when there is a dispute on the track. None of the Camry drivers are particularly great, yet somehow the cars outrun the Big Three cars every weekend! — Carl Lillis

This is where perception and reality collide, Carl. Actually, through the first 16 races of the season, Toyotas have won six times, compared with four victories for Chevrolet and three each for Ford and Dodge. So while Toyota does lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Manufacturers standing, the competition remains close.

In terms of drivers, Kyle Busch leads the point standings, with Denny Hamlin seventh and Tony Stewart ninth. Among the other top 12 drivers in points, six drive Chevys, two drive Fords and one drives a Dodge. Again, the competition is very close. I think what you perceive to be dominance by Toyota is more a case of dominance by Joe Gibbs Racing, because no other Toyota teams have won races this year or last or had near the success JGR has had.

Who does Kurt Busch think he is winning like that, Danica Patrick? — Les Wilson

Well-played, sir. But a victory is still a victory.

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to