I heard my phone ring around 6 pm tonight. I saw the call ID…TMS (Texas Motor Speedway) was calling. Now what could they be calling about at that hour? Perhaps I had won the contest they had been running on their website. I didn’t get to my phone in time, but I was left a message. Nope…all hopes dashed…it was just a recording reminding me I hadn’t purchased by tickets for the April race weekend. I have to give TMS some props, it wasn’t just your usual computer voice recording. Nope…it was a recording of Kevin and Delana Harvick. As much as I would love to head to TMS in April, there isn’t much in the old race budget this soon. But hey, if they really want me to be there, why not have the Harvicks purchase tickets for me. Oh well…perhaps I could purchase tickets for the race weekend in November. I mean after all…the government is sending out refund checks.
March Madness Has Begun
Do you have all your brackets ready?It all starts today. For the next two weeks it will be all about the brackets in office pools around the country. I haven’t had a chance to print out a bracket. I don’t work with people who tend to follow “The Madness”. I am just getting some of them used to the NASCAR thing. Baby steps my friend…baby steps.I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter this Sunday.
Bristol Baby!
Once again I am upset with the outcome of the race. Tony had the car to beat on Sunday. He once again lead the most laps at Bristol and once again didn’t win the race. I don’t blame Kevin for the spin out. It was just racing. All bets are off when it comes to the last few laps in a race. I have to admit it was a little boring…just a little. It was pretty cool to have the RCR drivers finish 1 (Burton), 2(Harvick), 3(Bowyer).
Congratulations to Jeff Burton. I really like Jeff Burton. He’s one of those drivers you can’t dislike. I am sure there are people out there who don’t like him. There are even those who don’t like Mark Martin. That’s right, there was a caller to the NASCAR channel who stated he didn’t like Martin. Thought he was whiner. I don’t know what kind of wacky weed he had been smoking, but as I say everyone is entitled to their opinion. Burton is one of the drivers who will race you clean and if you jack him up is not afraid to confront you about it…just ask Clint Bowyer, his own teammate.
I didn’t get a chance to listen to Smoke’s show on Sirius tonight. He is having his back waxed as part of fundraiser for Victory Junction. This has been a year in the making. Donations were collected on KHI website from fans and I believe Kevin Harvick chipped in the rest of it. This is definitely one time Tony is taking one for the team. His back should be all nice and smooth now. Now what can we do to get his hair chopped?
Bristol was the last points race for Dale Jarrett. He will race one last time at the All-Star race in May, but as of Sunday he is retired. He can now focus on his broadcasting duties for ESPN. It is a driver who has the respect from his fellow drivers and fans alike. I for one will miss seeing him on the track. I will also miss his UPS commercials. My favorite…the one where the little boy is with his father and they are watching the cars on the track. The truck zooms by and he goes flying in the air albeit holding his father’s hand. Also, the last one where he gets to “race”. Thanks Dale!
The boys are off this weekend to enjoy the Easter weekend, but will soon be back short trackin’ it at Martinsville.Hope everyone had a Happy St. Patty’s Day!
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head
Rain once again affected the racing this weekend. I didn’t get to watch the race because I couldn’t find it on its usual channel. I guess college basketball overrides NASCAR. Oh well…I finally find it over on ESPN classic just as it is over. Congrats to Clint Bowyer for his win at the rain shortened race today.I hope the mother nature will be a little bit friendly tomorrow. Even if they have to call the race tomorrow because of weather and move it to Monday, I will for once get to watch it. I am taking the next week off for Spring Break! WOO HOO!!!It has been somewhat interesting watching Tirewatch 2008. I am sure this will not be the end of it all. The season is still early. If this is something that will kick start things by all means discuss amongst yourselves. To be honest, I think everyone is still collecting data on the new car. I am sure the type of tire needed for this car is going to be different from the previous model. We are at Bristol this weekend, a place where the COT debuted so the teams have some data as opposed to last weekend. I don’t think this will be the last we will hear about the tires.
Georgia On My Mind
Congratulations to Kyle Busch for his first Cup win of the season. His win marks the first time since a Jag crossed the finish line in 1954. It was only a matter of time when Toyota would be in Victory Lane. I was just hoping it was going to be Tony to get the first win for Toyota, but I will take this victory. I believe Kyle could have been 3 out of 3 this weekend if it wasn’t for a blown tire on Saturday.Once again, Tony is speaking his mind. Tony was very critically of the tires that Goodywar brought to Atlanta. He stated in a post race interview, “That was the most pathetic racing tire that I’ve ever been on in my professional career,” Stewart said. “… Goodyear can’t build a tire that is worth a crap. If I were Goodyear, I would be really embarrassed about this weekend and what they brought here. It didn’t keep us from winning the race and how we got to second, I don’t know.”
(Trixie note…I know there will be people who will criticize Tony for his remarks and the way they were delievered, but if you don’t want an honest, tell-it-like-it-is opinion…don’t ask Tony.)
But Tony wasn’t the only one voicing their concerns regarding the tire issue…
Dale Jr.–“I’ll say that Goodyear Tire Company makes good racing tires, makes a safe tire,” Junior said. “There’s a lot of technology that goes into making the tires and I give them a lot of credit. It’s a reputation-risk, just to be in this sport for a company like that, especially … as far as criticism goes. They do a good job. This is just a bad combination. This tire at this track, it was just a poor combination.”
Jeff Gordon–“I felt like I was going to crash every single lap. “I’m exhausted right now. I feel like I’ve run a thousand miles here. That was the hardest day I have ever had at Atlanta, especially for a top-five finish. This car, this tire, at this track was just terrible.”
Now I know racing tires are bit tricky. You have to think about the type of track the tire will be used for, how is the race, weather plus many other factors I wouldn’t even want to wrap my brain around. Some tracks you definitely need a softer and some a harder combination. Plus this was the first time the newest model of the car has been run at Atlanta. I am sure the racing tire people are going to look at the performance of this tire at Atlanta and perhaps when the fall race rolls around, the tire is a better.
Other notes from Atlanta…Jimmie Johnson struggled somewhat, but finished 13th. It finished on the lead lap, however. He is now 13th in the points standing…just outside the top 12. If you had told me prior to the start of the season that both the defending champ and his fellow teammate (Jeff G.) would be out of the top 12 through the first 4 races and have yet to win a race. I would have had to ask you what you were smoking. But as we all know, you can never count out the HMS drivers.
Matt Kenseth finished a respectable 8th place yesterday after starting in the back of the pack. Matt has always been one of those drivers that quietly works his way to the front of the pack. He’s very stealthy about all of that. You can never count him out of anything unless he has gone to the garage and called it a day.
Now for the shoutout portion of the program…I have to give salute to Brian Vickers for his 9th place finish yestarday as well as a 12th place finish for Bobby LaBonte.
Now for the fun part of the season…SHORT TRACK RACING!!!
Free Curly Fries on Monday
If you regularly watch the N’Wide series, you know that Matt Kenseth drives the Arby’s car from time to time. Thus you know that if Matt wins on Saturday, everyone can get a free order of curly fries on Monday. So if you watched today, gear up for Monday…because it’s FREE CURLY FRIES for everyone!!!!
Randomness
I really don’t know what to talk about today. There are so many things that need attention out there that I can’t decide what to write about. So I guess I will write a little bit about nothing.
1. Thanks for the memories–After 17 years of playing in the NFL, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre will hang up his shoes and ride off into the sunset.
2. It’s primary election day here in the great state of Texas. If you live in Texas–go vote.
3. I hate being caught up at work. I know this sounds odd, but I really do like my job. And I hate it when I just sit around looking at the four walls in my “office”. I say “office” because I have two cubicle walls and two real walls and no real door. In fact, there is no door, but I do have a window. The upside of being caught up…I can write about nothing here in The Park.
4. I have been trying to understand my dislike for Jimmie Johnson. I think it’s kind of like my dislike for liver. I can’t really say why I don’t like liver, but I just do.
Seriously I really do want to discuss something here in The Park. NASCAR needs to look at putting safer barriers on the inside walls at race tracks. If not on all the walls at least think about protecting the drivers against crashes that occur near a track opening. They have made great strides in protecting the drivers, but after Jeff’s crash, perhaps more evaluation needs to be done with regards to the inner walls. It is still amazing to see a driver walk under his own power after a violent crash. One only has to look at Tony’s crash on Sunday. He was hurting that was clearly evident as he was assisted from his car, but he was able to walk away and race another day. This wasn’t always the case. The impact Jeff took from his crash late in race was unbelivable. The violence of the crash was something I would not want to ever experience in my life time. Jeff was able to walk away from this crash. But what is it going to take for NASCAR to seriously think about making the inner walls safer for drivers? Does the death of another superstar need to occur for NASCAR to sit up and take notice? I for one don’t believe the sport is ready for that kind of tragedy again.
Trixie's Trailer Park 
