Nationwide Series

Daytona…short and sweet

/ Trixie / 1 Comment

Sorry for the short post for now. I was a little jaunt to Ruidoso, NM this past weekend. It was definitely relaxing. Did a little sand surfing, snow tubing and hot tubbing. Mix in a little hissy fit…from Little Smoke, and not Junior, it was a great getaway.

Congratulations to Matt Kenseth for winning this year’s Daytona 500 even though it was shortened because of rain. I was able to listen to quite a bit of the race on Sirius. It wasn’t the same as watching it from the recliner, but I was able to get my Daytona fix.

I saw the little “hi, how are you?” between Vickers and Earnhardt. Enough already people! It was a racing deal in my personal opinion. They were BOTH trying to get their lap back. I have quite a bit to say about the matter (I have seen the clips on ESPN), but I want to see things for myself. I tivoed the race. I may post later on in the week once I recover from my little mini vacation.

I have to give kudos to Tony for finishing 8th yesterday in a back up car. Ryan Newman didn’t fair as well…he finished 36th. I bet Newman is just glad to get out of Daytona. And a WOO HOO to Tony for his win on Saturday!!!!

On to California boys!

The Bermuda Triangle

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Thank goodness…no more races at the Bermuda Triangle..oops Pocono. 

I am not a fan of this track.  It’s too long of a race and it’s just a weird racetrack.  And for some reason there is always a threat of bad weather.  But after last week’s race, I was looking forward to some racing.  Sunday’s looked very familiar (Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin were on the front row again for the second week in a row) and I thought for a moment perhaps I had had a nightmare and we were all watching the Indy race.  But alas the boys were definitely at Pocono.  Unfortunately Saturday’s practice sessions were rained out. 

Even though NASCAR was going to throw a compeotion yellow at lap 20, the first caution happened rather qucikly.  The boys didn’t even get a chance to finish a complete lap befor Joe Nemecek spins Kevin Harvick.  This put Harvick deep in the pack and he was going to have to fight his way to the front.  As with Pocono, when you have your “oops” moment will depend if you can recover for a decent finish.  Shortly after Kevin went spinning, Kurt Busch decided to try it for himself on Lap 7.   By the way, Kevin finished 4th, but Kurt wasn’t able to recover and finished 38th.

Weather tends to play havoc at Pocono.  Just ask Ryan Newman last year during the spring shortened race.  And this time rain did force soem fo the teams to show their cards.  SEveral teams decided to come in and get tires and gas while others chose to gamble with the impending weather and gambled.  Those who gambled included the spring’s winer Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin.  Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart chose to come down pit road to get gas and tires.  The race is red flagged on Lap 131 due to rain showers.  After a 41 minute rain delay the boys were back on the track with Kasey Kahne leading the way.  There was still a threat of rain in the area, however it never played a factor after the rain delay.

I have to say it was interesting to see who was going to try and play the gas mileage game.  Who was going to blink?  Unfortunately both Kasey and Mark decided to go in for gas because they were not going to make it on fuel.  Once this happened Carl Edwards inherited the lead.  And he too was playing the mileage game, his crew chief was telling him to conserve fuel.   Unfortunately, the points leader ran out of gas and was unable to refire once he hit pit road.  He finished 36th.  Of course this is better than the finish in the spring where he finished dead last.  Yikes!

Congrats to Carl for his 4th victory this season.

Tony Stewart had a decent day.  He came away with a 2nd place finish after starting 20th.  Kudos also go to David Ragan with his 5th place finish.  Some other surprises…Jamie McMurray (9th), Travis Kvapil (16th), Chad McCumbee (17th), and Tony Raines (18th), and how about Bill Elliott finishing in the top 20 with a 20th place finish.

Now the boys are headed to the final road race of the year at Watkins Glen.  I am crossing all my fingers and toes this week hoping for a victory for Tony Stewart.  If you told me at the beginning of the year that Tony would not have win by Watkins Glen I would have called you crazy, but it’s true.  The same would be said for Jeff Gordon.  It’s not for lacking of trying on the part of the two drivers, it’s just one of those things in racing. 

One more thing…in case you missed it NASCAR made history on Saturday.  The boys in the Nationwide Series raced in the rain up in Montreal.  It was interesting to watch them drive in the rain with the rain tires and windshield wipers.  I am still a little bit confused about why some didn’t install the wipers.  I know when I am behind someone in traffic during a rain storm, I get their back splash.  But I guess there was enough visabilitiy for them.  Unfortunately the race was eventually called due to the rain.  Congrats to Ron Fellows!

Saturday Night Special

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Whew…what a race, well at least in the closing moments.  I didn’t get to watch much of the race last night, Little Smoke was being a little ornery.  He’s 4 and a boy so no further explanation should be necessary.

But I guess I did tune in at the right moment, Kyle Busch took his car to victory lane last night breaking the Gibbs #20 domination over the last several races in Nationwide.  It was kind of ironic that a Gibbs driving did break the #20 car’s domination however.  But the real excitement wasn’t in Victory Lane, it was in the pits.  

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #88 JR Motorsports Chevy, bumped Hamlin’s back bumper under the yellow right before the green/white checker.  Apparently Denny wasn’t happy with the bump from behind so Denny proceeds to get into Brad’s left front corner panel.  And well…that’s where everything went south.  Pit crews were “discussing” the incident in the pits while Kyle Busch was celebrating his victory on the track.  Nothing like a good “discussion” on a Saturday night.  Reminds me of those Saturday nights I spent with  my dad at the dirt track.

Denny-“Give a guy two inches to let him clear, and don’t just hang onto my rear quarter panel,” said Hamlin, who made it clear that his retaliation was for the bump under caution, not for the way Keselowski had raced him. “You throw a rock, I’m going to throw a concrete block back.”

Brad-“I race one day a week, not two,” he said. “I have 200 laps to prove myself, not 400. I have to make the most of every lap.”

Junior-“What the hell did he do that for?” asked Earnhardt, Keselowski’s car owner, after the race. “Brad bumped him just a little bit under caution, and Denny knocked the fender off his car. Now the car’s all tore up.

Sounds like Denny doesn’t like to be raced hard.  Um…did Denny get the memo?  Isn’t that what racing is about?  This is NASCAR Denny.  Like I said I didn’t get to see all of the race so I cannot say if Brad was driving him too hard or not.  In my opinion, as long as the racing is clean what’s wrong with a little hard racing.  C’mon on now!  Hey Denny…it’s time to put your big boy undies on and deal with it.

One more thing…Congratulations to Donny Lia for winning the Ohio 250 yesterday in Mansfield, Ohio yesterday afternoon on a last lap pass.  This was his first win in 8 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series and the first time a rookie has a won a race since Carl Edwards did it in 2003.  Way to go Donny

Now on with the “Day O’ Racing”.  I got my food, my adult beverage of choice and a nice comfortable chair to watch all the action.  I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!

Friday

/ Trixie / 2 Comments

Whew..work was crazy today, but glad it was Friday.

Congratulations to Greg Biffle for gettin’ the Pole for tomorrow night’s race.

Congratulations to Tony for his win tonight! Woo Hoo!

I wasn’t able to catch much of the race. I was out taking care of some things and spend some of that money the government sent back to me.

If what I saw of the race is any indication of what tomorrow night will be like…kick the tires and light the fires…it’s going to be a bumpy ride

I Survived

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This NASCAR fan survived the weekend.

I would like to congratulate Danica Patrick for capturing her first win. I have always thought it wasn’t a matter if, it was when. She has a desire to win and she is a very competitive racer, plus she isn’t afraid to go toe to toe with “the boys”. This is a weight of her shoulders, of course, people will now ask when will she win Indy. Indy is a tough place to win a race just ask Michael Andretti. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in May. Good Luck Danica!

I peeked in and out of the Mexico race today. Congrats to Kyle Busch for his third win in a row in the Nationwide Series. Perhaps he will now think about running for the Nationwide title. That boy can drive a car.

Like the title of this post says, I survived. I was able to attend the annual Spring game at TTU. This was the first time I had attended the spring game. Next to NASCAR, I LOVE FOOTBALL! It was hot! Postman and I took Little Smoke with us. It is never too early to expose Little Smoke football and the Red Raiders. We stayed until the end of the first quarter because frankly I was tired and sunburnt. I know, it didn’t seem like I was that dedicated, but damn it was freakin’ hot! Besides we wanted to take Little Smoke to our local arts festival so he could participate in another Home Depot building workshop. I didn’t mind all that walking around because it was indoors with AIR CONDITIONING!

Here are a few pics from yesterday’s spring game.
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The boys will be heading to Talladega this week. Postman will also be celebrating his 37th birthday on race day. For those of our friends who will be celebrating his birthday with us will have to watch the race with us. It is Postman’s birthday and they can give him this…his day. Speaking of birthdays, my birthday falls on Father’s Day and race day. I know I will probably have to share my birthday with him since this will be his first father’s day, but I think I deserve something special….like race tickets and pit passes to the Texas race weekend in November!!! I told him it would take care of mother’s day, wedding anniversary and my birthday. I think it is fair trade!

Nashville

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Yes, there was NASCAR racing this weekend.  The Nationwide Series made a stop this weekend in Nashville.  I like it when the Nationwide Series races when the Cup boys have an off weekend.  There was only a handful of Cup drivers in the race today.  It gives the Nationwide regulars a chance to shine and show their stuff.  I was able to watch majority of the race while tending to Little Smoke.  It’s good to have it on in the background especially when you are raising the next generation of NASCAR fan.

Once again Kyle Busch made his way up to the front.  And just like the previous Nationwide races dominated the race until the racing gods bite back.  This time he went traveling through the grass and back on the track.  It was late in the race so he was not able to come back and take the lead.  This gave last week’s Nationwide Series winner Clint Bowyer to take the lead, but with just 20 laps left in the race fellow teammate Scott Wimmer passed Clint for the lead and the win this week in Nashville.   This is the second week in a row an RCR Nationwide Series car is standing in victory lane.  This was Scott Wimmer’s first Nationwide win since 2003.

I have to admit it was nice to see someone in victory lane other than a Cup regular.   There has been great debate whether or not the Cup regulars should be racing in the Nationwide Series.  I don’t mind the Cupsters racing in the Nationwide Series, but there needs to be some kind of limitation on the Cupsters.  Perhaps some kind of tier system, I guess that’s what you could call it.  For example if the driver had been in a Cup 1-3 full seasons, they could be given a chance to run a full Nationwide season or run at the most 50% of the races.  In year 4 & 5 in Cup, the number of races allowed to enter should be reduced by another 25% and a driver should not be allowed to run the full season.  After year 5, Cup drivers should not be allowed to race in the series.  I would think if you are driving full time in the Cup series and have been able to run for 5 full seasons, you are good enough to maintain your ride in the Cup series.  The Nationwide series should be the proving ground and development series for the next generation of Cup drivers.  I think some of these young drivers come up too soon.  There are expected to perform on a grand stage every single week.  There are those drivers who can come in and do just fine at the Cup level, but for the most of them I think they need the chance to develp their skills and establish a fan base.  So when they come up to the Cup level, they will have a bit more experience and perhaps a better rate of success.

I know NASCAR is driven by the sponsors and the all might dollar.  That’s just the way it is today.  A sponsor who spends millions of dollars on a sponsorship would expect to get their money’s worth.  If I was a sponsor, I would want to sponsor a team and a driver who could deliver week to week.  But sometimes you have to take a chance with someone.  What if Home Depot didn’t take a chance with JGR and a driver by the name of Tony Stewart?  Or what about Dupont?  I just think there needs to be some kind of happy medium.  Until then I will be watching…will you?