Have you noticed that the Sprint Cup Series has been pretty stout lately?

I mean, the series has always been plenty stout-y. But the stout-ness overfloweth this season.

Kurt Busch after the April race in Phoenix: "I felt like a third-place effort tonight was like a win because Mark Martin was stout."

But Busch, so generous with the giving of the stout, was himself stout.

After Phoenix, Doug Demmons wrote in the Birmingham News: "Kurt Busch turned in another stout performance with the new Dodge engine."

Sometimes drivers are not stout and they know it. They are un-stout.

Tony Stewart after the May race in Richmond, "We think we know what we missed tonight. We weren't really stout, but I'm so proud of the organization."

Sometimes you run stout, even though you did not finish stout, like Sam Hornish Jr. in March in Las Vegas. "We had a real good car. The Mobil 1 Dodge was pretty darn stout most of the day." He finished 16th.

You know who is almost always stout? Kyle Busch. We know this because he says so. He doesn't need anyone to tell him he's stout. After the Nationwide race in Richmond, Rowdy said, "It was pretty stout tonight, but it felt like Carl (Edwards) was really good on the long run too, but we had the best car when it mattered the most at the end."

Turns out Kyle Busch has been stout for a few years. Kurt Busch on Kyle after the 2005 race in Las Vegas, "The only time I beat my little brother today was to the media center. He was pretty stout."

Can anyone be stout?

Jeff Gordon has been stout.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been stout.

Even Joey Logano has been stout.

So, yes, it appears that anyone and anything in the world of NASCAR can be stout.

With the possible exception of this season's television ratings.