BETHESDA, Md. -- While attending Tiger Woods' press conference to promote the AT&T National on Tuesday, I was reminded of something that a person close to Woods told me recently: "Tiger is only going to tell you what Tiger wants you to know." I'm not sure that statement ever rang truer, as Woods bobbed and weaved his way around some specific questions in regards to his recent arthroscopic knee surgery and subsequent recovery. Sure, he allowed a few glimpses into life on the comeback trail and beyond -- yes, the knee is still sore; no, he won't miss next month's U.S. Open -- but by and large a Tiger gathering with the media is all pomp, no circumstance when it comes to revealing any hidden secrets. The flip side of the aforementioned statement is that when he wants you to know something, Woods can be a thoughtful observer and engaging storyteller. Heck, the guy can even make everyone in the room giggle a little bit when he feels like it. Let me offer a sampling of some of the lighter moments from Tiger's time at Congressional Country Club on Tuesday. On his soon-to-be 1-year-old daughter's burgeoning golf career: "Sam is doing fantastic. She is walking already. She is moving around the house. We had a little putter that she smoked me in the head with yesterday. I have a hard head." On whether losing has become more palatable since Sam's birth: "Yes. Never been easy not winning a tournament. That's the ultimate goal; going out there and then not getting it done that certainly puts a bad taste in your mouth. But you come home, just because I missed the 3-foot putt for par on the last hole, she doesn't care. Her dada's home." On Annika Sorenstam's recent announcement that she will retire at the end of the season: "I knew that was going to happen. She's done it all. She's been through it all. ... Who knows? She might come back or not. I doubt it. I don't see Annika ever doing anything half-assed." On his employees: "If they don't work hard, they're fired." On who will present the AT&T National trophy to him if he wins (as the host, he presents to the winner): "As far as me giving the trophy, I might as well give it to myself, that's fine. I will thank all the sponsors. Make sure everyone has applause. '2008 champion, blah, blah, blah, blah. Tiger Woods, here you go. Tiger, what do you think of this?'" Like I wrote, thoughtful and engaging stuff. Until there's something he doesn't want you to know, of course. And then it's back to "Tiger is only going to tell you what Tiger wants you to know," all over again.

-- Jason Sobel

Nationwide Series: Good news and bad news

DOVER, Del. -- Clint Bowyer's ninth-place finish at Dover wasn't anything special, but it got the job done for another weekend. Sure, Carl Edwards' runner-up effort to Denny Hamlin allowed him to gain some ground on Bowyer in the Nationwide Series standings, but it wasn't a huge chunk.

Heading into Saturday night's race at Nashville Superspeedway, Bowyer holds a 121-point lead over a snakebit Kyle Busch, while Edwards sits 144 points off the lead. David Reutimann is 166 points back, and Brad Keselowski trails by 212.

Bowyer's ninth-place run was hardly impressive, but the pit-road incident between Keselowski and Busch effectively ruined Busch's chances at winning, and late-race contact from Braun Racing teammate Jason Leffler ended up relegating Busch to a 28th-place finish.

At one point during the race, when Bowyer was really struggling, Busch had the points lead, but that vanished once he was behind the wall. Crashes have sidelined Busch in four of the 14 races thus far; otherwise, he might be running away with the points lead.

Unfortunately for Bowyer and Edwards, the wrecks haven't gotten Busch to the point where he has publicly given up any thoughts of running for the Nationwide Series championship. Busch will be in Braun Racing's No. 32 Toyota at Nashville, while precocious Joey Logano is in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 20 entry.

Busch won't say he's running for the title, but if he wasn't still considering it, he'd have no reason to show up in Music City -- outside of his quest for another victory. Busch led 125 laps at Nashville earlier this season before spinning himself out, although he was in the No. 20 car at that time.

But he's shown the past two weeks that he's just as strong in Braun's entry, so if Bowyer doesn't pick up the pace he could be in for a real fight in the near future.

And Edwards, who last won at Nashville a year ago, is also showing signs of turning things around, even if he wasn't completely satisfied with a second-place run in which he failed to lead a lap.

"It was all right. Second place is not a lot of fun, but I do enjoy racing here," Edwards said. "My hat's off to Denny and everybody over there at Gibbs; they've been doing a great job. It was a good points day for us, which is the only conciliation for not winning the thing, but it's good.

"I'm proud of my guys for getting this car fast. In practice we were not good at all. We qualified on the pole and ran second, that's a step forward and hopefully we can continue this and run better and gain some more points for this championship."

From the outset of preseason testing at Las Vegas, Edwards was worried that his Roush Fenway Racing Ford wouldn't be as strong as it was a year ago, due to the use of the tampered carburetor spacer. And while there's talk that the Toyota teams have more horsepower, Edwards doesn't believe that's the only reason he's failed to reach Victory Lane.

"With as much as we have to gain in the way we [run] our team and our engineering and things like that, I'm just excited to be able to stay that close to them," Edwards said of Hamlin and Busch. "I think we have a lot to look forward to, some of the things we're starting to work on.

"I'm excited about hopefully catching them and being able to have them chase us by the end of the year. I don't think it's one thing, I think they've got the whole package right now."

-- Mark Ashenfelter

Speed continues run of first-time truck winners

While the Craftsman Truck Series has long served as a proving ground, new drivers generally haven't been able to prove much right away -- until this season.

Scott Speed won Friday at Dover, Del., in a Bill Davis Racing Toyota for his first NASCAR win in his sixth truck start. It was the second rookie triumph in a week, with TRG Motorsports' Donny Lia winning on May 24 at Mansfield, Ohio, in his eighth career start.

Add veteran Matt Crafton's win at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 17 for his first title in 178 starts, and that's history in three consecutive weeks.

The last time three events in succession were claimed by first-time winners was 1998 with Andy Houston, Terry Cook and Jimmy Hensley, but the series then had fewer than 90 races completed in its four-year history.

Nowadays, longtime truck combatants dominate the series -- though that hasn't shown in Victory Lane this year. One race in each of the last two years featured a first-time winner; three races can boast that this season and two-thirds of the schedule remains. Three full-time regulars with long winning histories (Todd Bodine, Dennis Setzer and Ron Hornaday) have won so far in '08, such drivers last year won seven of the first eight races.

Kyle Busch, a part-time interloper with two wins already on the year, appeared poised to add No. 3 after leading the first 96 laps on the Monster Mile -- and he started third, if you need another indicator of how quickly he goes to the front. But the Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota was slowed by transmission problems and the best Busch could muster was 27th, 17 laps down.

Hornaday took the point for the next 36 laps but his Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet ended the day third, behind teammate Jack Sprague. Bodine, the points leader coming in, led 15 laps but was passed by Speed with 51 laps to go, then with 30 to go his Germain Racing Toyota had a right-front tire blow up, sending him into the wall and out of the race.

Speed, the former Formula One driver signed to a NASCAR developmental driver deal with Red Bull, enjoyed smooth sailing over the final laps and won by 3.3 seconds. He enjoyed congratulations in victory lane from Mike Skinner (seventh at Dover) and Johnny Benson (10th), BDR teammates chasing a bigger prize.

The points championship will be won by a regular, and at the moment race wins aren't a factor there, either. Circle Bar Racing's Rick Crawford moved into the lead with a ninth-place run coupled with Bodine's miscues, and he has led one lap all season and owns one top-three finish, a third at Martinsville, Va. But Crawford is 20 points clear of Crafton and 24 ahead of Hornaday, with Bodine in fourth, 49 points back. Benson is fifth, Sprague is sixth and Skinner seventh.

Just two of those top seven have won this year, and who knows if that will change Friday at Texas Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile oval. There are plenty more drivers itching for a first win and paying one's dues appears to be overrated.

-- John Schwarb