NASCAR 2008

Got Dirt?

/ Trixie / Leave a comment

There was plenty of dirt to be had last night in Rossburg, Ohio home of Eldora Speedway.  Last night Eldora Speedway hosted the Prelude to the Dream.  Once again I ponied up the money to watch this event on pay-per-view since I wasn’t able to make the trek up to Ohio. Last year’s event was a blast to watch so I was expecting it to be the same this year and it didn’t disappoint.

Several of your NASCAR favorites were there (sorry Junior Nation, Junior wasn’t one of those in attedance).  You had the likes of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, along with Red Farmer, and two drivers from the NHRA , Cruz Pedregon and Ron Capps willing to step out of their prospective comfort zones to spend time getin’ all “dirtied” up for a worthy cause.  The proceeds were to benefit the Tony Stewart Foundation who regularly donates to the Victory Junction Gang camp.  This year Tony wanted to raise $1 million to kick start the 2nd Victory Junction Gang camp that will be located in the Kansas City area. 

Now on to the festivities…

I consider myself to a well informed blogger, but sometimes I just know things.  First we had a qualifying session where Dave Blaney beat out everyone for the pole and set a new track record at 15.436 seconds beating the old record held by none other than track owner Tony Stewart.  I don’t know what this was for to be honest.  I am going to assume it was to set the order for the three qualifying heats or the feature main.  I really don’t know.  So if any of my regular readers know, please explain.  Anyhow, once qualifying was over, there were three qualifying heats.  The top three transferred into the feature main, but I think everyone that was invited to the Prelude was in the race.  I was so confused by it all.  But even so there was quite a bit of racing…and not just driving around in a circle.

The first heat was the most action packed with JJ Yeley spinning and collecting Mark Martin and Aric Armirola.  Unfortunately that was all the racing Mark would be able to do.  They were unable to repair his car and get him back for the feature main.  The winner of the first heat was Clint Bowyer which is no surprise here.  He owns his own dirt track team and in fact owned the car Jimmie JOhnson was driving last night.  The second heat had what I called some of the heavy hitters.  Heat 2 lineup: Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kenny Wallace, Bill Elliott, Cruz Pederegon, Kasey Kahne.  As no suprise to anyone, certainly not me, Tony Stewart won the 2nd heat.  The third heat winner was Robby Gordon.

Once the qualifying heats were over, it was on to the big race.  It was a 30 lap shootout for all the marbles.  There were only two leaders in this race, Kevin Harvick who lead lap one and Tony Stewart who lead the other 29 laps.  Even though Tony was giving a clinic on how to run on dirt, it was fun to watch.  I enjoyed watching Robby Gordon race.  You would have thought Robby raced quite a bit on dirt, but not the case.  He has raced on dirt, but not in a circle.  Last night was his first time to drive on a circle of dirt.  And where did Robby finish…that would be 2nd place.  Not bad for a first timer.  Robby wasn’t the only first timer at the Prelude.  Two-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was on hand driving one of Clint Bowyer’s cars.  I couldn’t understand why he was driving a white car.  I mean a white car on dirt.  Doesn’t sound like a good combo to me.  I am pretty sure the car didn’t stay completely white after the race. 

Kyle Busch also raced, but didn’t do fair as well as he did last year.  He almost won last years event.  He still drove like he stole it though.  He did hit the wall during his qualifying heat, but the car’s crew was able to repair the damage car to get him ready for racing for the feature main.  He wasn’t just standing by either, he had hammer in hand pounding out sheet metal.

The racing was good, but the best part of the event were the drivers.  You could tell these boys were having fun.  This race wasn’t about points or a championship.  It was all for fun!  You got to see them in an environment where the racing was about having a good time.  The drivers were smiling and laughing with one another.  To me, this is what racing should be about.   Another highlight of the evening was driver introductions.  It was funny to watch them trying to get the drivers corralled–kinda of like herding cats.  Some of them looked like they had no clue they were being introduced to the audience.  They were to busy talking with other drivers, etc.  I can tell this wasn’t your typical NASCAR driver introduction.  The only resemblence to a NASCAR driver introduction were the boos I heard when they introduced Jeff, Jimmie, and Kyle.  Even in Rossburg, Ohio, these three get majority of the boos.

I don’t know if I mentioned it but Tony Stewart walked away with the trophy last night and Kyle Petty walked away with a $1 million check from Tony Stewart. 

I would have to give major props to Tony Stewart for all the work he has done with regards to the Victory Junction Gang camp.  I believe this is the 3rd million dollar check he has presented to the Pettys.  Say what you want about Tony, but he truly gives of himself with regards to his foundation as well as Victory Junction.  I don’t know Tony personally, I only know what I read about him.  I do know majority of us see Tony for his on track personality, but last night was what the real Tony is all about.  So if you didn’t get a chance to watch this year’s Prelude last night, check out when they show it on Speed later this year.  I definitely say it was worth my $25.

Halfway Point

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

The season is now at the halfway point so I thought it would be a good time to look how things have shaped up over the last 13 races.  I would have to say Kyle Busch is leading the pack both in standings and wins so far with 4 wins.  While researching some things this morning about Kyle, I wondered where all the heavy hitters were this year compared to last year so here we go.

2008 Standings (after 13 races) (2007 points standing in red at this same time last year)

  1. Kyle Busch            10th                  
  2. Jeff Burton             5th
  3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.  14th
  4. Carl Edwards         6th      
  5. Greg Biffle             18th
  6. Jeff Gordon            1st
  7. Jimmie Johnson     2nd
  8. Clint Bowyer          8th
  9. Denny Hamlin       4th
  10. Kevin Harvick        9th
  11. Tony Stewart         7th
  12. Kasey Kahne          29th

What a difference a year makes for some drivers.  This biggest jumper has to be Kasey Kahne.  This team struggled last year after coming off a 6 win season in 2006.  It has been refreshing to see Kasey back challenging for wins.  I would also have to give kudos to Greg Biffle as well as Junior for where they are compared to last year.  As you can see they were both outside the top 12 sitting 18th and 14th respectively.  I am surprised a little bit by Matt Kenseth’s fall from the top 12, but he has had some bad luck this year.  This wouldn’t be the first time Matt was out of the top 12 and had to fight his way in. 

While I was elbow deep in all of this statistical stuff, I thought I would see how the big teams are fairing compared to this time last year.  As we all know there were a couple of high profile changes at both Hendrick and Gibbs.  Kyle Busch stepped into the #18 after being vacated by J.J. Yeley while Dale Jr. stepped into Kyle’s car.  Gibbs also made a manufacuturer change as well.  So 2008 was going to be a tale of two drivers and to be honest this tale is not a disappointment (for the Kyle Busch fans) so far.  How it will end remains to be seen, but I have a feeling it is only going to get better.

One of the biggest surprises for me has to be the HMS drivers.  I was sure the team would have multiple wins from multiple drivers, but alas HMS has only win coming from Jimmie Johnson at Phoenix.  I was sure Junior would have his first win in almost two years and Jeff would have at least one maybe two under his belt.  And perhaps Casey would have a win as well.  This time last year, Hendrick had 9 wins (3-Jeff, 4-Jimmie, 1-Casey, 1-Kyle).  HMS was dominating the series last year, but as with anything the winds of change have blown through the garage. 

Gibbs who already has 5 wins this year (4-Kyle, 1-Denny) with Tony right there challenging for his first win of the season.  Gibbs made a big move from Chevy to Toyota and I am sure this isn’t a fact that has been overlooked by any of this.  Many thought Gibbs would struggle with the Toyota, but from this race fan’s point view this isn’t the case.  Gibbs had NO WINS this point in the season last year.  I belive Tony will win this season if he can’t stay out of trouble and out of the way of the #19 team (wink, wink).  The biggest question however that will come from JGR is will Tony be back in 2009?  It remains to be seen, but if I was a betting gal, my money would be on somewhere else.

I musn’t forget Roush who got caught watching the paint dry (movie reference-Hoosiers).  His teams were struggling and seemed to be behind with regards to the COT, however this is not the case.  Matt Kenseth was the only driver this time last year with a win compared to now where Carl Edwards is the only driver who has won from the Roush camp with three wins so far this season.  Even though Carl may be the only driver with a win, all the Roush cars seemed to be performing better.  Greg is back in the top 12 and sitting in 5th place at the moment compared to 18th a year ago.  David Ragan seems to be coming into his own as a driver.  He is still outside the top 12, however he has improved quite a deal of the last year.  Matt has been stuggling a little this season and that can be attributed to several things.  First and foremost this is the first year with his new crew chief, Chip Bolin.   This is going to take some time for Matt to get comfortable with him.  As for Jamie, I don’t look for him to be at Roush next year.  He looks good at times and others not so much.  If he does leave Roush, I would believe he could find another team to drive for.

I know there are several other teams who seem to be having great years including RCR.  All three RCR drivers are in the top 12 and are competing for wins every single week.  Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer have already nailed down wins this year for RCR.  This time last RCR had two wins including the fantastic finish at Daytona 500.  It has been a long road for RCR since 2001, but as history has shown, that which does not kill us makes us stronger.  I really thought DEI would be competitive.  Martin Truex had a phenominal year last year with his first win and making The Chase.  However, DEI has struggled.  Martin is currently sitting  15th in the points.  Paul Menard is 27th.  Mark Martin who shares the #8 ride with Aric Almirola is sitting 24th.  And I know Junior nation is probably smiling on all of this, but I think there will be changes with DEI in the future and DEI will shine once again.

One more thing…Kyle has won 10 races over the three series this year (4 in Cup, 4 in Nationwide, and 2 in Craftsman).  He is leading the Cup standings and sits 2nd in the Nationwide Series.  Could he pull off the double championship?  Time will tell, but if anyone has a legitimate shot this year it’s Kyle.

Whew..that was a lot of information, but worth it all.  I hope the next 13 races are as exciting as the first 13. 

A NASCAR Fan

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

I have been thinking a lot lately about why I am a NASCAR fan.  People who don’t follow NASCAR just don’t understand what all the hubbub is about.  Why would someone want to watch cars go around and around for hours?  There are times I wonder that myself (i.e. Dover this past weekend).  But let me tell you something about NASCAR fans. 

We are some of the most passionate people around.  We will endure heat and humidity, you know the kind, the kind that just wears on as the day goes on, just to watch a race.  We will endure a several hour rain and/or snow delay just to see the race.  We will even endure a 3 day rain delay to watch a race.  We tailgate for days not just hours.  We drive hundreds of miles to see a race despite the increase in ticket prices, food & beverage, and yes even gasoline.  This NASCAR fan has been known to reschedule family events around a NASCAR race.  And I am sure there are those out there who have had weddings, births, and I would hate to say it funerals rescheduled due to a NASCAR race.  We proudly wear the colors of our favorite driver even though orange really isn’t a good color on you.  We endure long lines with other NASCAR fanatics just to get a glimpse of your favorite driver and/or have your picture taken with him.  This NASCAR fan has stood on her feet for hourson a several race weekends just hanging around in the pits just to watch the cars come in and off the track.  All the time standing in solidarity with other NASCAR fans.  We scream at the top of your lungs cheering on our favorite driver from the stands as he drives by even though he probably can’t hear us over the sound of the engines roaring by.  And we even boo at times for that driver we love to hate.  We defend ourselves to those who stereotype us as a fan group and we even cry when we lose our heroes because we feel we have lost a part of our family.  We are love our country, love our family, and our fellow NASCAR fans.  We may cheer for different drivers, but we are all part of the NASCAR family.  And  I am proud to stand up and say…

I AM A NASAR FAN!

Don’t Go To The Concession Stand

/ Trixie / 2 Comments

That’s right folks!  You don’t want to go to the concession stand because you might miss something.  That is what could be said of today’s race.  

The race wasn’t even in it’s 20 lap and BAM…it was a gigantic meet and greet coming out of Turn 2.  From what I could tell of the numerous replays Fox showed over and over, Sadler came down while passing the #40 and was clipped by the #38.  Next thing we all know, Elliott decided to make his own demolition derby.  Tony had no where to go but into the side of the #19 car along with several other cars.  I know it looked like Denny didn’t slow down, but to be honest going at those speeds that car probably couldn’t get whoaed up in time.  Of course, I saw other cars running around Denny able to whoa up, but I wasn’t driving his car.  For me the race was pretty much a wash.  Tony did come back into the race about a 100 or so laps down, but none the less back on the track.   Tony finished 41st and fell three spots in the standings to 11th.  Oh in case we are keeping score this year, this is the 2nd time Sadler has been involved in a crash that has taken out Stewart. On a lighter note the hood on Sadler’s car was pretty much intact for him.  He was planning to auction off the hood to his car from today’s race to raise money for autism.  

The race for me was pretty much a snoozefest and it wasn’t because Tony was just driving around the track, I really thought it was a snoozefest.  In fact I did take a nap some time during the race.  The race was pretty much dominated by three different drivers–Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch not necessarily in that order with several green flag runs.  Congratulations to Kyle Busch for his 4th win of the season.  Carl finished 2nd with Carl’s teammate finishing 3rd after having voltage issues.

In case anyone wasn’t aware Dale Jr. has gone 74 races without a win.  Of course this statistic didn’t escape the Fox broadcast.  This little tidbit was flashed on the screen at 1:41 pm Central Daylight Savings Time.

One last thing..

Little Smoke was busy playing in the house today because it was way too hot for him to be outside (it reached over the century mark today).  He decided to build a race car using some interesting items sitting around the house.  Please notice the “paint scheme”.  He is such a wonderful little boy who is very creative and will tell you that Tony Stewart is his favorite driver…just ask.  Apologies to my dad who just happends to be a Junior, but there will be no Junior fan in this household. He was so excited when Fox was interviewing Tony before the race.  He stopped what he was doing to watch.   Looks like this #20 faired better today.

 

I Fought the Law…

/ Trixie / Leave a comment

NASCAR has handed down penalties for the #70 (Johnny Sauter) and the #66 (Scott Riggs) teams for unapproved parts on their cars.

1.  Both Riggs and Sauter were penalized 150 driver points.

2.  Both car owners Joe Custer for the #66 and Margaret Haas for the #70 150 owner points.

3   Both crew chiefs, Bootie Baker (#66) and Dave Skog (#70) were suspended for the next 6 Cup races and put on probation until December 31.

4.  Both car chiefs, Derick Jennings (#66) and Thomas Harris (#70) were also suspended for the next 6 Cup races and put on probation until December 31.  Both were also fined $100,000.

5.  Both cars were confiscated by NASCAR as well.

These teams were not only the ones hit by the NASCAR police.  Penalties and fines were also handed down to members of JR Motorsports (JRM)

1.  Tony Eury Sr for the #88 which is driven by Brad Keselowski has been fined and put on probation along with two other team members.

2.  Tony was fined $1,000 and placed on probation until June 25.

3.  Michael Sandlin, JRM team member, will serve a one-race suspension from the Nationwide Series and suspended from NASCAR until June 4.  He has also been placed on probation until October 15 and fined $1,500 for failure to follow a directive from a NASCAR official and had inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official during the post-race altercation.

4.  Jordan Allen, JRM team member, has been placed on probation and $1,500 for failure to follow a directive from a NASCAR official and had inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official during the post-race altercation.

With regards to the #70 and #66 teams, this is similar to what happened to Tony Eury Sr and the #8 car last year.  I had a feeling NASCAR was going to hand down stiffer penalties than for the #8 car last year.  The teams have been told not to mess with the cars and well…here we are. 

 

What’s In A Name?

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

Ever wonder how the term “NASCAR” was born? Here it is…and let me tell you I was surprised as you.

I found this birthday card at Target over the weekend and couldn’t pass it up.  I just thought it was too funny not to share with everyone.  However, if you would like to find out the true origins of the name and other NASCAR History, you might want to pick up this book also found at Target.  

Day O’ Racing

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

I hope everyone enjoyed the Day O’ Racing.  

The day started out with the Indy 500.  It was nice to see Jim Nabors back this year singing the traditional “Back Home in Indiana”.  He was sick last year and was unable to make the festivities.  

Congratulations to Scott Dixon for winning his first Indy 500 and doing it from the pole.  Say what you want about Danica Patrick, but she isn’t afraid to let you know how it is going to be.  After getting crashed into along pit road by Scott Briscoe with 29 laps to go.  She got out of the car and headed towards Briscoe’s pit.  Luckily for Briscoe, Danica was directed away before she got to his pit stall.  It would have been interesting to see what she would have done and said once she got there.  In the words of Danica…“Probably best I didn’t get down there anyway.”

After the Indy 500 was over, I didn’t have to wait much longer for the festivities to begin for the Coke 600.  I always get chills during the prerace festivities on Memorial Day weekend.  I loved the bagpipes playing amazing grace and the ultimate salute to our members of the military, the 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps.  I wish the people on pit lane would put their hands over the hears when the Pledge of Allegiance and the Star Spangled Banner is played.  It just bothers me a little bit.

Now onto the race…

The race started out with Kyle Busch leading the field to the green just as he did last Saturday night.  Early on Kyle Busch began having alternator issues, but as we all know this is a long race and anything can happen.  First part of the race was pretty much uneventful.  I have to give driving props to Juan Pablo.  He spun out without hitting anyone and right across the Circle K logo “I Love This Place”.  I just had to chuckle when I saw this.  I felt bad for Brian Vickers.  He had a great running car, but you just can’t run a race car on three tires.  His tire bouncing all over the place reminded me of that McDonalds commercial with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan shooting hoops…Vickers tire when off the track, off #38’s hood, off the catch fence, over the infield wall, onto the camper roof…nothing but net!  I thought someone was going to have a great souvenir, but the NASCAR people came to take it away.  Party poopers!

The next part of the race begin to fall into place.  Nothing really exciting happened.  Kyle was still having voltage problems but still making his way around the track and staying somewhat competitive.  Sorry for all you Dale Jr. fans (well sort of).  I can’t say that I was upset by this chain of events.  Dale Jr. cut a tire and ended up scraping the wall.  I don’t know if JJ Yeley’s spotter let him know about Dale Jr…but dude…you had to have seen Jr. up against the wall.  Oh yea…it was mentioned that this was probably going to ruin Junior’s chance to get a win.  During this caution, Kyle came in to get his battery switched out.

Once again…Jimmie was making his way through the field and he eventually got to the front of the pack.  This didn’t surprise me one bit, because Jimmie has a way of rising to the top, but just like his teammate it wouldn’t be Jimmie’s night.  Jimmie’s engine decided it had had enough racing for the evening.  With about 50 to go Jimmie’s night was over.  Once again the face of the race changed again.

Well…guess who was in position to lead the race?  That’s right Tony Stewart.  I held my breathe though.  With the way things were working out, I was hoping Tony could pull it through to the end.  He came into the pits around lap 13 to top off with gas so he could make it to the end of the race.  And just like Junior and Jimmie, it wasn’t going to be Smoke’s night.  Damn tires!  I guess that bitch Karma came back to bite Tony is butt.  I think I said every kind of “not so lady-like” words at the television set.  With this set back, this gave the lead to none other than last week’s winner Kasey Kahne.  With his victory, Kasey became only the 6th driver to win both the All-Star Race and the Coke 600 in the same year.  Oh by the way…Kasey broke his 52 race winless streak tonight as well!  And Junior STILL hasn’t won.

With all the problems and struggles tonight, Kyle finished 3rd, Jeff Gordon finished 4th, and Junior finished 5th.  Where did Tony finish?  18th.  Ugh!  I have to give a high five to Elliott Sadler (8th), David Reutiman (10th), Bobby Labonte (11th), David Ragan (12th) and former Indy 500 winner Sam Hornish (13th).  Way to go guys!

Thanks for the memories Humpy! You may be stepping down, but your impact on NASCAR will be felt for years to come.

One more thing…

There were couple of commercials that I have to say made me laugh.  I love the Holiday Inn commercial where Jeff Burton is asked questions by random people.  My favorite question, “How come you don’t have a mullet?”  The look on his face when asked the question is hilarious.  The latest Vitamin Water commercial with Carl Edwards was funny.  Gotta love Ralph Macchio.  I am going to assume this was paying homage to his most role as the Karate Kid.  But of course these commercials don’t even come close to this one by Budweiser.

This commercial does remind me of the first race I went to at TMS. I don’t recall who was on stage at the time performing during the prerace show, but when soldiers were walking out to prepare for other prerace festivites, everyone in the stands stood up and cheered for them including myself. As we continue to move throughout the rest of the night and tomorrow, remember the real reason for Memorial Day. If you see a soldier or know a veteran, stop and say “Thank You”. I would like to say thank you to my Uncle Cecil, Uncle Junior, Uncle Bill, Uncle Chris, my cousin Joe, my father-in-law, and my father. Thank you for serving honorably for our country. I love you all.