Wow!! Was that race exciting or what? Denny Hamlin–rookie–winning the Shootout in his first try. I was all excited Saturday because it meant the NASCAR season was beginning–but thanks to mother nature—the race was postponed to Sunday. There was quite a bit of beatin’ and bangin’ going on towards the end of the race, but it was great racing.

I was a little disappointed Jeff G. wouldn’t be able to finish the race–car ended up with terminal damage. What a save by Mark Martin after being bumped by Kyle Busch. Kyle was driving a little too aggressive for my taste–and then he got into Stewart, now I really don’t care for the boy (of course I never have been a fan of either of the Busch brothers). I, too, was upset at NASCAR for penalizing Carl Edwards. I agree with the first call (driving below the yellow line)–that was clear he improved his position, however the second time he was trying to avoid a wreck. Come on NASCAR—would you rather have had a 3-4 car wreck or someone using their better judgement to prevent one? UGH!!

And I see Chad Knaus may get suspended again..what was Jimmie’s qualifying lap DQ’ed for this time? Illegal altered rear window discovered in post race inspection? Gee–haven’t we seen Chad try something to circumvent the rules before??? We shall wait and see what NASCAR will do.

And how ’bout Jeff Burton–qualifying first for Daytona 500 and Jeff G. also on the front row–congratulations. It is hard to believe it has been 5 years since NASCAR lost Dale Earnhardt (#3). I think he would have loved yesterday’s shootout.

The Dual 150s begin Thursday–can’t wait–hopefully Tony will improve position. But it’s not about where you start–but where you finish that counts.

Good Luck boys–Daytona is only 6 days away.

That’s right…Speedweeks is just about a month away. Testing has been going on in Daytona this week. I have tried to watch the testing on the Speed Channel, but just haven’t been home lately. I am very excited about the new season. I am excited that Tony Stewart will be defending his Nextel Cup. It has been a joy for me to have “bragging rights” in my household. My husband is a huge Mark Martin fan and tends to root for other Roush drivers as well. Speaking of Roush, it will be interesting to see how Jamie McMurray will do under the Roush system. I think he will do better than Kurt over in the Penske camp.

I have been accused of not supporting my other driver Jeff Gordon as much this past year. Well, I am going to try to give equal time to Tony and Jeff this year. There just wasn’t anything exciting to write about with regards to Jeff. Last year was dismal for him, but he will be back think year. I hope Junior has a competitive year. As those who know me I am not a fan of the #8, but I hate to see a good driver have a bad year.

As mentioned before I have purchased season tickets to Texas Motor Speedway. I am very excited about going to the April race. For those of you who haven’t been to a race, you need to go. TV coverage doesn’t do justice on all the sights and sounds. Especially when visiting the pits. Talk about died and gone to heaven for me. I was just trying to take it in last November, now I will know what to expect and can enjoy even more of the spectacular. I am hoping this time around I can get some pictures of Tony. The only one I really have is from outside the pit gates and it was from a distance.

Just haven’t had the time or energy to post anything of late. I am going through what I like to call “NASCAR Withdrawal Syndrome”. I really don’t know what to do on Sundays without racing. I look for things to do, but it doesn’t seem to help. I read things on the web about NASCAR as well as my NASCAR Scene magazine, however I am still missing those Sunday afternoons. I guess football will have to get me through the rough patches. Just think the Bud Shootout is only 53 days away with Daytona about 60 days.

Bought season tickets to Texas Motor Speedway. Yep–I will be there for the April and November races. Not sure about the June truck race. I am so excited. It is so cool to actually attend the race instead of watching it on TV, however I do miss some of the stories and commentators, but it is still more exciting to be there in person.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS!!! TONY HAS WON THE 2005 NEXTEL CUP CHAMPIONSHIP!!!



Whew—we all knew it would come down to this race. We had a bit of scare Friday night in practice when Tony took his car for a little spin. Luckily he didn’t hit anything. We came out the next day and qualified 20. His closest competitors (Jimmie and Carl) qualified 32nd and 1st respectively. At the start of the race Tony would have to finish 9th or better to win the championship.

Once Jimmie hit the wall after his tire blew, all Tony had to do was finish 20th or better and the championship was his. Tony’s car wasn’t the best all night. Zippy and the boys tried to get the car dialed in for Tony all night.



Carl Edwards’ car was dominating most of the night, but in order for Carl to even think about winning the championship he would have to lead the most laps, win the race, and have something happen to Tony. He only got one out of three. Greg Biffle and Mark Martin came on strong towards the end. I was hoping Mark could have taken Biffle for the win. Wow–what a finish. Roush took 1, 2, 3, 4 place followed by Casey Mears in 5th. Casey’s car was some kind of hot rod last night.

The night wasn’t just about Tony…this was the last race for veteran drivers Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd. Thanks for the memories.

Well..there are only 81 days until the Bud Shootout, but I will survive the offseason knowing I have bragging rights in my household for an entire year. I will however be able to get my NASCAR fix during the offseason..there’s the awards ceremony, Daytona testing…and of course the Bud Shootout.

Have a great off season boys—see ya in February!!!

This is my first post in about three weeks. Haven’t been too motivated to post the last couple of weeks so I thought now would be a perfect time to do so.

Tony is going into Homestead with the champisonship lead…YEA!!!

Kurt B. was suspended by Jack Roush on Sunday for the remaining races in the season (Phoenix & Miami) for his conduct on Friday night. He was pulled over for reckless driving and cited, however he was taken in for suspcion of DUI. I don’t think Roush was too harsh on his punishment for Kurt. Kurt is the defending Nextel Cup champion. As so, you represent NASCAR, your racing team, and your sponsors. Kurt should have a higher standard of behavior for himself. He did apologize for his actions, but he needs to understand he is in the public eye and no matter if he likes it not his actions speak louder than words. GREAT JOB with the #97 on Sudany Kenny!!! You went from the very back to finish up #16. Not too shabby for someone who didn’t have any laps with the car. GREAT JOB!!!

For those of you who don’t know I was at the Texas race last weekend. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! If you love NASCAR as much as I do and haven’t been to a live race—GO–BOOK THOSE TICKETS NOW!!! I am obsessed with NASCAR–pretty much live and breath it. But I was so awestruck last weekend. I knew we would have access to the pits, but the amount of access was unreal. We saw several of our favorite drivers and a few others. My husband was in heaven when he got to see his fave driver (Mark Martin) up close. Saw Tony and Jeff too. Being in the pits was awesome…it puts my obessesion on a whole new plane…Let me see exlain it in terms to those who don’t understand it…imagine being able to go backstage at a conert of your favorite rock star. Imagine being able to see up close and personal evyerhting that goes on. See the guitars they will use. Interact with everyone and perhaps even get to see the rock star himself and ask for an autograph. That’s how it was for me in the pits. Sure I didn’t get Tony’s autograph or even Jeff’s (got a picture though). It was just the thrill of knowing I was thatclose to them that made my weekend. It made me fall in love with NASCAR all over again.

Well, this is the Championship week…Tony is in the lead at the present moment. It will probably come down to the last lap of the race. After Sunday…it will be only 81 days til the Bud Shootout! Yes–I have calculated the number of days from the last race this season to the next one of next season…I know Daytona is the acutal first race, but hey NASCAR racing starts 2/11/06!!!! Boggity, Boggity, Boggity, let’s go racin’ boys!!!!!

Ended up going to the ER last night…neck and back pain too much to take. I spent roughly three hours there. Three hours of my life I can’t get back! The did a CAT scan and x-rayed my neck and back. Everything looked ok. It’s mainly muscle and ligment strains, but the upside of it all is they gave me some good pain medicine and a muscle relaxer! I did however have a problem with the ER people. They gave me an allergy tag that clearly says “Motrin” on it. But what is the drug they try to give me before I leave and also prescribed to me–you guessed it MOTRIN. Hello morons—this little red tag you people put on me clearly says “NO MOTRIN”!!! At least my car insurance will pay for this little trip to the ER.

As I was headed into the ER, I received the call I had been dreading all day–the call from the body shop. Charles and I thought it looked like about 2000 or so damage…oh no, we weren’t even close. It was $7, 334.34 worth of damage. Let me repeat that figure one more time–$7,334.34! I have to pay of course the deductible, but luckily that’s it. I would like to think the person who hit me has insurance, but that’s asking too much these days. I won’t be able to pick up my car until next Friday (11/4), however since I will be out of town at the NASCAR event in Dallas, I won’t get to have my car until the following Monday. This means we have to rent a car because our little Dodge Neon wouldn’t make it out of Lubbock County. So there is more $$$ we have to doll out because of this idiot.

At least today at work I will be able to tolerate the pain with the meds I have. Ya gotta love the good drugs!

For those of you who don’t know I was in a car wreck on Friday morning (10/21/05) on my way to work. A driver did not stop at a stop sign from a side street and hit the passenger side of my Santa Fe (just barely a year old). After the car hit me, the driver kept going. Luckily a witness followed the car and got the license plate number. I am ok, but still a little sore. I think because I saw him start to pull out, my swerving in trying to avoid him helped with the impact. But it doesn’t matter, my car is at the dealership getting the once over. I hope all they have to do is repair the doors, etc. I really like my car and it is the first one I have ever had that was model year. Well…here are some of the pics of the damage.

I am waiting to here from in the Lubbock PD about my case. They say it will take about a week or so to get the report. I am also waiting to here from the body shop and insurance people about how much damage there was to the car. I hope they can get it fixed before next Thursday. We are going to Dallas for the big NASCAR weekend. I really don’t want to sit in a Dodge Neon for 5 or hours one way.