I am still wondering what the hell happened last week at Lowes. It felt like the race would never end. I mean come on guys 5 1/2 hours and 22 caution flags (NASCAR record for any race). First things first, Jimmie did win his 3rd 600 in a row, but I would have enjoyed much more if Bobby Labonte would have been able to hang on right there at the end to win. It would have been great to see an ol’ Texas boy win one especially with the way things have been going for him. He seemed very disappointed about his 2nd place finish. Nobody likes to finish in 2nd, come on Bobby–you survived the melee of Lowes and so did your car–you did a great job!

I am sick and tired of Brian Vickers or Brian “Wreckers” as he was affectionately called in the Power Rankings this week on NASCAR.com. This is the first time he has bumped into another a car and caused a major wreck and for some reason (call me crazy) it probably won’t be the last time either. He took out Mark Martin and his own teammate Jeff Gordon.

Speaking of taking out teammates–what is up with DEI???? Come on Dale Jr. you don’t run into your teammate like you did. I would have come out slugging if I were your teammate and you crashed into my car and eliminated me from a race. And poor Matt Kenseth was just an innocent bystander. I think you should leave DEI and go with an owner that has no family ties. (I hear Jack Roush will have any opening next year or why not seek out Richard Childress–seemed to work for your father.) I love my family, but I wouldn’t want to work with them. I have never jumped on the #8 band wagon, but I do think Jr is a good driver and has a lot of potential, but I just don’t think he is in the right organization. I know he lives under a microscope because he is Dale Sr’s son and the amount of pressure is something I wouldn’t want to live under, but I think he needs to step back and look at things.

And poor Jeff Gordon–first he has a horrible experience at Wrigley Field (that’s right Wrigley Field..not Wrigley Stadium) and then the track attacks his car. Plus it was his fourth DNF this year–but look on the bright side–he is still in the top ten.

Mr. Edwards meet Mr. Jarrett. What would have happened to Mr. Edwards car if Mr. Jarrett had been driving the truck???

Watched the final episode of the Michael Waltrip Tourney on Speed last night. Was there any doubt that Tony would lose? I did make one observation about Tony..he was very anal with his chips. The stacks were even height and towards the end he had them arranged so they made some pyramid design. I think Elliot and Tony share the same grooming tips!

The commentators kept talking about the fact that Elliot “cleaned up” for the final game. It was getting a little annoying guys. I think Elliot looks fine to me. I wouldn’t kick him out of bed. And I just lovvvveeee his accent.

If they have this tourney again they need to find better commentators. Maybe they should get those guys from Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Show–at least they can be entertaining at times.

Now to this week–Dover!

Last year Mark Martin won the race after Kasey spun out in some oil. It would be nice to see ol’ Mark win. He has been having a good year.

Good luck boys–hopefully this week you will actually get to do some racing without a hint of yellow in the air.

Makenzie Franklin from Sundown, Texas finished his school career with 14 years of pefect attendance. That’s Pre-K through 12th grade. That’s incredible.

I don’t think I have ever had perfect attendance in anything. The only time I didn’t miss a class was in college. I was taking Greek I and if you attended class every single day you didn’t have to take the final exam. I couldn’t pass that offer up. I even had a bad case of bronchitis during that semester and Greek was the only class I went to that week I was sick. I do admire his tenacity for sticking it out and not missing school. I’m impressed.

Good luck Makenzie on your future plans!

**Note–Sundown is a community located about 45 miles west of Lubbock.**

Pete Rondeau is out as crew chief for #8 and Steve Hmiel is in. This is not suprising since #8 hasn’t won a race this season and his finishes have been up to #8’s expectations. I would have thought they would have given it some more time, but I guess they weren’t happy with him as crew chief. Of course I don’t know all the ins and outs of these things, but Michael didn’t have a good last year so DEI may have taken that into consideration as well. We will have to wait and see how these changes will effect #8’s season. The first will come this weekend at the Coca Cola 600.

This will probably be the topic of conversation during all the pre-race stuff. Ay Karumba!

Wow! This past weekend at Lowe’s was definitely an All-Star event. What a finish in the Open Race! I still think Brian Vickers spun out Mike Bliss to get his ticket into the All-Star race. I’m pretty sure I would have done the same thing. I mean come on..you have a chance to race for a million dollars!!!! That’s a nice piece of change in anyone’s pocket.

That was just the beginning of the excitement.

The All-Star race was even better. Tony did get into the back of Joe N., but that was racing. Tony didn’t take out Joe on purpose. And then the post crash festivities were a blast. That’s Saturday night at the races.

It was like being at the dirt track in Amarillo watching the guys get into one another after the main event. Kevin did fly off the handle a little too soon, but he was ahead of Tony. He had no idea that Joe got bumped into and that is why Joe’s car hit #29. For some reason I am becoming a Kevin H. fan. I guess I like the bad boys of racing. They are more exciting to watch.

Congrats to Mark Martin! He said he wasn’t sure if he was going to race in the next All-Star event because he didn’t know if he could get a ride. After he won on Saturday he decided yes I will run. I think Mr. Roush will make sure Mr. Martin has a ride for next year’s All Star race.

and it was really cool that he did a victory lap instead of a burnout or doughnut. Anyone can do those–in fact I can do that in my car in an empty parking lot.

SUNDAY!!!! INDY 500 AND COCA COLA 600!!!
GOOD LUCK BOYS!!!

I hate it when i get sick especially when i am constantly coughing and sneezing. It prevents you from having a decent nights sleep because every five minutes cough…sneeze…cough…sneeze. This happened so much over the past several days I strained my back muscles which makes it even worse. Luckily, I am finally feeling about 75% better than I did when all this crap started last Thursday. My doctor told me it was just allergies..hah..you don’t run a fever and cough up a lung with just allergies. I am surviving however, luckily I was able to stay home and sleep…well between the coughing and sneezing that is.

Last Wednesday I discussed the lubbock tornado..strange enough the next day on May 12..it was Tornado Watch 2005! It was like tornados were everywhere on the South Plains. Luckily most of it was north and east of Lubbock. There was one spotted in eastern Lubbock county, but it didn’t do a whole lot. Most of the tornados seemed to come out of the sky…touch down…and go back up. They seemed to be playing hide and seek with us. They were such a tease! If they did touch down it was in a relatively unpopulated area–farm land, etc. And you have to love the local weathermen…i know it is nice to be informed on all the sightings, rain, etc, but three hours worth of coverage!!! I understand you need to break in when a tornado is barreling down on a town, but come on…if it was me, the last thing i am doing is listening to these guys. I am cowering in my tornado shelter waiting for it to all blow over. After all the coverage I felt like I could give the weather reports. Each station had its share of technological gadgets, radars, etc, but I was just tired of it all by the first hour. Thanks for the lsson in meterology boys!

If you need a good cry..watch ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover. I swear that show has me tearing up in the first five minutes of the show. I am glad they help people who really need it unlike some of the other design makeover shows. Have you seen some of the houses they use on Trading Spaces?? TSome of those rooms don’t need a makeover. Those are people are just geniuely designed challenged. I have pretty much stopped watching Trading Spaces except for an occassional rerun (when the show was good). It’s not the same show without Paige Davis. I tried to watch last Saturday, but it just wasn’t the same. They need a host to meld everything together. I still get my fix however on Sunday nights with Ty and his crew.

Tomorrow the final installment of Star Wars opens…YEA!

Congratulations to Kasey Kahne! It was not if he would win a race, but when. It was strange how during the his “10 laps with…” segment, the one person he would like to beat out in a race was Tony Stewart. How strange that he did it in that race??? Maybe he should have said something before now. The All-Star race is on Saturday..no points…just racing for a cool million. Of course May 29 is a great day of racing the Indy 500 and then the Coca Cola 600.

I didn’t get to see exactly what happened to Jeff’s car (sleeping during race…very, very sick!!), but I woke to hear he was out of the race. On the other hand Tony was driving exceptionally well. But Kasey had the car to beat and sometimes no matter what a driver does, there is nothing he can do when someone’s car is running in the zone.

Good Luck on Saturday night!

the usually signs of summer for lubbock are here…ttu campus is a virtual ghost town. classes/finals have been over since tuesday. so the only students you will see are those taking care of few things before leaving town for the summer (nothing like last minute) or the whiny ones who realized that “d” isn’t going to get them that stellar gpa boost. plus if you look closely you will see proud parentals smiling joyfully as their child completes another major accomplishment in their life–graduation. i have always wondered how many years some of these students have been here..sure there are the ones who can make it out in 4 years (congrats), but they majority seem to take at least 5 years. oh well..congrats to everyone who will graduate on saturday–good luck whitney and antonia!

another sign of summer–the rememberance of the lubbock tornado…yesterday (may 11) was what i call tornado day in lubbock…it was 35 years ago yesterday that an F5 tornado greeted the great citizens of lubbock….but we have recovered nicely…talk about a weird conincidence…the waco tornado (F5 as well) hit waco on may 11, 1953. how eerie that i have resided in both communities…strange??? maybe??? here is a picture from the lubbock tornado devastation

speaking of tornados…have you ever noticed how the snack food bugles look like little tornados??

another sign–the more frequent wearing of flip flops–i still get when it happened…when did the wearing of flip flops become a fashion statement. i am an owner of flip flops–have 3 pairs..but i usually just wear them around my house or to take the garbage out, not as an acessory to my wardrobe…it’s just not limited to the girls..men wear them too..well if you are going to wear them at least pick up your feet when you do…my gosh…walk with a little pride people!

all the public schools will let out in a few weeks…including those who will enter tech in the fall as freshman…just to let you know those students who will enter as freshman in fall 2005 were born in 1987!!! still trying to adjust to that age thing…speaking of the eighties..i was listening to my rick springfield cd yesterday and it brought back quite few memories from back in the day…there wasn’t a day that went by that i wasn’t listening to my rick springfield cassettes or record (that’s right)…was in lubbock several months ago, but couldn’t find anyone brave enough to go with me..i bet diedra who likes rick would have gone with me…oh well…i will just keep rockin’ on to my cds…

only 7 more days still the final chapter of Star Wars is out…i am excited about seeing the final chapter of how anakin skywalker became Darth Vader…i will be there in the theatres with the rest of the star wars junkies to view the film…hope it answers all those naggin questions about just who is darth vader…the skywalker family has such disfunction…i mean i think luke wanted to hook up with his sister leia in the first movie…well he was smitten with her..talk about an episode of jerry springer waiting to happen….until tomorrow….