Trixie radioed…

In true Homer Simpson fashion, can I say DOH! Confusion ran amok last night towards the end.

Of course I thought the race would end with Carl and Casey battling for the win in which they did…two words sychronized spinning.

Then it was Matt K. and Dave Blaney battling for the win. I thought Matty would take Dave, but Matty’s car got loose and spun.

Congratulations to Mr. Blaney for his first Busch win. Loved his sponsor Hass Avacados.

I would also like to congratulate KevIn Harvick on winning his 2nd Busch Series Championship.

With all of that said…he’s my only gripe.

I know Kevin won his championship last night, but I really wanted to see the victory lane celebration by Dave Blaney and his posse first and then Kevin’s interview and trophy presentation. That’s what I have noticed lately with the race coverage. I know we are deep in the chase and we want to know how the Chasers are doing, but there are 34 other drivers on the track including one of my drivers Elliott Sadler. There are some really good drivers who aren’t in the Chase and I personally would like to hear about them. I am tired of hearing about the HMS boys, blah, blah, blah. I guess that’s the nature of the beast.

Tonight’s the Cup race. Let’s hope we have no DOH moments!

Trixie radioed…

Roush has chosen David Ragan to replace Mark Martin in the #6 AAA Ford Fusion beginning 2007. After 19 years with Roush Racing, Mark is heading over to MB2 Motorsports to race a part time schedule next year. Davd and Mark currently share driving duties in the #6 F-150 in the Truck series. Congratulations to David. You have some big shoes to fill in the #6.

I know the buzz this week is probably still the whole “paybacks are a bitch” story, but this one is still weighing on my mind. I am still unneverved that AFTER 19 years Mark Martin is leaving Roush Racing. Postman is certainly not too thrilled by it either. He doesn’t say much, other than “I guess I will have to get all new stuff”. I can relate to him some since Candyman switched teams midstream. I was just starting to get my Elliott collection going. I’m sure both Roush and Mark did their best to keep their relationship going, but as we all know with relationships sometimes it’s just best to cut your losses and walk away.

Thank you UPS for delivering my brand spankin’ new #19 Elliott Sadler t-shirt on Monday! I am now officially ready for TMS in November!

Did anyone watch Inside Nextel Cup on Speed on Monday? I did and let me tell you it was interesting. Both Schrader and Waltrip were getting their digs in about the race on Sunday. There were times I felt sorry for Vickers. Brian took it like a man in my opinion. I know they were giving him a hard time because I guess that’s what guys do, but don’t completely throw him under the bus. And then of course there was Mr. DeSpain trying to play referee. It was very entertaining is all I have to say.

So…this week at Lowe’s will be interesting. They will have extra security for Mr. Vickers. Is this from the fans or his “teammates”?

Ponder this…as brought up in a conversation this week with a fellow NASCAR fan. Not trying to start anything just curious…
Scenario….
Jimmie is leading the race.
Junior and Truex are running 2nd and 3rd respectively
Junior pulls out bringing Truex with him
Truex clips Junior’s bumper
Junior gets turned into Johnson and crashes both of them
Truex wins
How would Earnhardt Nation react?

Just something to chew on….

Have a good one…that’s all from the Park today!

Trixie radioed…

MRI–no it’s not some racing team that I am part of, but it does sound kind of like one. No it stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. It is a a method used to visualize the inside of living organisms as well as to detect the composition of geological structures. It is primarily used to demonstrate pathological or other physiological alterations of living tissues and is a commonly used form of medical imaging.

I knew with my fear of closed in spaces this was going to be tough for me. I don’t even like to be in an elevator with 5 or more people. Even the crowds at a NASCAR race freak me out, but I endure.

I was in scrubs (i am going to go out and by some..very comfortable clothes–screw sweat pants) so that relaxed me a little. I went in head first. So far so good. I had ear plugs. The nice lady nurse told me to get comfortable because I had to lay still for at least 20 minutes maybe 30 at the most. Then I had to place my arms above my head. And gave me that “PANIC BUTTON” just in case. Then came the moment of dread for me...THE TUNNEL. I knew I would need to keep my eyes closed but I opened them once and told myself–“Dumbass shut your freakin’ eyes!” If you want to get through this painful experience keep your freakin’ eyes shut and focus on your happy place. I won’t share where I went during this time or who was there with me, but it was definitely helping. Breathing deeply helped as well.

I would occassionly hear “The Voice” asking if I am OK and how long the set of pictures would take. He sounded very cute, but when you are in a tunnel lying very still, any man’s voice will sound cute. I just imagined that Tony was on the other side of that voice. (Hey, ya gotta do what ya gotta do). The last round of photos would last 4 minutes. Granted 4 minutes isn’t a long time, but when you laying very still in a small confined space it seemed like 4 hours. The only other little annoying part about this experience was the noise the machine made during the whole imaging process. Sometimes it sounded like the intro to dance music I used to hear in the clubs. Had a good beat and rhythm, but I was waiting for the rest of the song to play and the disco lights to start.

All in all I survived this latest round of tests.

Trixie radioed…

I am not sure how to react to the ending of today’s race. There were a lot of things that went on at the end of the race. I was upset that Tony got mixed up in someone else’s mess towards the end of the race. I was happy to see old Gordo get mixed up in the “big one”. As in traditional Gordo style, he whined about the bump drafting and how NASCAR wasn’t watching it..blah..blah..blah.

After the last caution, it was all up to Earnhardt. He took command of the final 10 laps. It looked like Earnhardt was going to win today, but that wasn’t the case. I really thought Johnson was going to make a move on Earnhardt. I mean a victory for Johnson would have helped his championship hopes. I think he waited too late to make his move on Earnhardt. When Johnson finally got off the pot his “teammate” Vickers went with him. That’s when all HELL broke loose. Vickers caught the back end of the #48 and turned Jimmie into Earnhardt. I was cheering that Johnson was wrecked, but DAMN did it have to take Earnhardt out too. It took a few minutes to sort out all the mess. The only thing I know is Earnhardt didn’t win.

I know Brian wanted to win for HMS before moving to his new team next year. I think he wanted to win for Ricky. There was probably a lot on his mind, but I just don’t know. One the one hand I can see his frustrations with his current employer. It has been reported Brian has not been allowed to team meetings for the last two weeks. If this is true, that’s just wrong. I know Brian is moving on, but he is still a valuable employee. I know Gordo got mad at him a few weeks ago for racing him hard. Gordo thought Brian should have let him by because after all Gordo is racing for a championship. I can understand if Vickers was slower than Gordo, but Vickers had a good car that day. But that is another topic. I think Vickers was trying to be a good teammate by going with Johnson around Earnhardt. After all two cars are faster than one in a draft. I don’t think Brian hit Johnson on purpose. I think it is just one of those racing things. I know this may upset some of the Earnhardt fans out there, but it’s just my opinion.

Brian did get his first NASCAR Cup victory today. Congratulations.

Other than what happened at the end, today’s race was very competitive. The first caution didn’t come until Lap 72. There were several grooves for the drivers. The “big one” in my opinion was small compared to some of the others I have seen at Talladega.

Well…next week the boys on headed to Lowes for some Saturday night racing.

Trixie radioed…

It was the first time the Craftsman Trucks raced at Talladega and it turned out to be quite a finish.

I woke up (my back meds make me drowsy) and saw that Todd Bodine was being penalized for gaining position after going below that yellow line. He felt that Mark pushed him below the yellow line. From what I saw Mark was racing and he gave Todd room to come back up on the track to regain his spot. Of course that didn’t happen. This is one these things that is open to interpretation by the NASCAR officials. If you go below the yellow line and you gain position, you are penalized. However, if you are forced down and you have no choice, the driver is not penalized. If you go below the yellow and you don’t gain position and you go back to your line, no penalty. Now is that right? We all know how Dega can be. Sometimes it is difficult to see what really happens especially if the drivers are 3, 4, or 5 wide like the ending of today’s truck race. It will be interesting to see how tomorrow’s Cup race works out.

Well…Congratulations to that Crazy Old Man. I told Postman that if he wasn’t here Mark would win and I was right. Did you hear that Postman??? I WAS RIGHT!!!! I am a little sad that Mark will not be racing the #6 truck next year for Roush. You could tell from the interview today after the race he LOVES driving that truck. What was Roush thinking? As I said yesterday, I sill think there is more to this story than we all can see. How can someone just let Mark go? Mark is one of those rare individuals that everyone wants to call a friend. He has tremendous respect from his fellow drivers and fans. I don’t think I have ever heard an unkind word about Mark. I am sure there are people out there who don’t like Mark as a driver, but I haven’t met any. I for one will miss him in the #6 next year.

More news from Dega today…
Smaller restrictor plates for the boys to slow the speeds of the cars.

Kevin Harvick’s primary sponsor will change to Shell Oil. His car will be yellow instead of the Earnhardtesque black.

Prior to the inaugural truck race at Dega was Cup qualifying. When I looked up to see who had the provisional pole I saw the #38 was first. That’s right, Elliott’s old ride was leading the pack at qualifying. Just to review, this is a newbie to Cup who took over the #38 midseason from Mr. Sadler. After all the smoke clears…he held on to win the pole today. And who will start next to him tomorrow??? Mr. Jarrett. The defending race winner from last year. Qualifying first and finishing first are two different things, but I have to give major props to Mr. Gilliland. Way to go rookie!

In other non-NASCAR news…after beating Texas A&M last week in great fashion, they lose tonight to Missouri 38-21. At least state pride was defended today. Texas beat Oklahoma 28-10.

Trixie radioed…

That’s right folks. It will be another “Husband Free Weekend”. I went to my mom’s last weekend to celebrate her birthday and made a side trip to DFW area for some great deals on some NASCAR items. Bought an Elliott Sadler car (1.24 scale) for only $15.00. That’s right…you read it right my people. These usually cost around $50-$60.

This weekend my husband will be heading to Houston for a Letter Carriers Union School. He leaves on Saturday and won’t be back until Monday. Last time Postman went to his fall school his driver Mark Martin won. Will this happen this weekend?

My plans…absolutely nothing. I will not have to “fight” with Postman for the television. NASCAR will be on not the Cowboys game on Sunday. Sorry Postman. I can gurantee you Postman, if Tony or Elliott wins, YOU will know it!

In two weeks I will be headed to Indy and then two weeks after that TMS. Oh well…have a good Friday night!

Finally Mark has made a decision on his plans next season…he will be driving part time in the #01 car. This is just my observation, and my observation only…i don’t want to start any kind of rumors or have Bob D. report on this, but what happened with Mark running trucks with Roush? I thought he was going to run a full season next year in the #6 truck. And then now…he isn’t. Could there be more to all of this? Just to let you know, I love a good conspiracy. I just think there may be more to the story, but I could be wrong.

Oh well…it’s Talladega and the name of the game is SURVIVAL. I would love to see either Tony or Elliott crossing that finish line. Good luck to my boys—Trixie’s watchin’!

UPDATE…Congrats to Pablo Montoya for finishing 3rd in the ARCA race at ‘Dega tonight. Not bad for his debut. Race was called due to darkness.

How cool would it be to race ‘Dega under the lights? Just a thought…

Trixie radioed…

I finally decided to see my doctor about my back. I have battled chronic back pain since I was 19 years old. When I was younger it didn’t bother me so much, but now I needed to do something about it. I think the two car wrecks over the past year has just pushed my back to it’s limit.

My doc thinks it may be hereditary. My dad has the same issues that I have. So…what has to be done? One..I have to get an MRI. I hate MRIs. I am just a little clastrophobic so I will definitely be focusing on my happy place. Second…I will have to go to physical therapy 3/week for a month at $40/each session. I have my first session next week. I am going to see if I get away with just two. I am going to Indianapolis in two weeks and TMS the first of November…need money for those all important souvenirs.

Oh…but he did give me something for the pain!

And on top of that…I have a slight case of laryngitis. I am NOT supposed to use my voice for 24 hours…if you know me that is like telling Tony he can’t drive Sunday.

Here’s hoping for less pain…