Tony Stewart

Coke Zero 400 and a little extra

/ Trixie / Leave a comment

I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th weekend.  Like Tony, I too was under the weather. 

I want to touch on a couple of things before getting into Saturday night’s race.  Congratulations to the #20 Nationwide team for winning another race.  This time it was Denny driving the #20.That makes what 9 wins this season for that team with Tony leading with 5 wins for the #20.  

Looks like the #5 will be occupied for the next two years by none other than Mark Martin.  Mark Martin announced this past weekend that he will run a full time schedule in 2009 for HMS.  I guess Mark wants to give it one more shot at winning a championship before he makes his exit out of NASCAR.  Well, he has a pretty good shot over at HMS.  But as with any championship run it will be a challenge, but if anyone is up to the challenge Mark Martin is.  Postman was very excited about the prospect of his favorite driver making a run for the championship next year.  I think it is kind of funny that he will be doing it in an HMS car.  He is not a big fan of the #88 and don’t even get him talking about the #24.  He told me the other day #48 is growing on him (and I have to admit it too, #48 doesn’t rub me the wrong way as in year’s past).  But either way he will be rooting on Mark. 

Now on to the festivities…in case you didn’t know with the numerous annoncements throught the broadcast and with commercials…if a Coke Racing Family driver won the Coke Zero 400 everyone would get a free 20 oz Coke Zero.

I have to say I enjoyed the race for the most part.  Nothing out of the ordinary really upset me other than the fact that Tony had to come out of the car.  I have to give major props to J.J. Yeley for bringing home the #20 in pretty good shape.  In fact he was in the Top 10 late in the race, but several cautions prevented J.J. from giving the boys a decent finish.  The #20 finished 20th and Tony dropped 3 spots to 12th in the point standings.  I know drivers hate to come out of their cars and hand it over to another driver, but at some point you have to decide what is best for your team as well as the other competitors and that is what Tony was feeling on Saturday. 

From the get go, I thought this was going to be an HMS dominated race and for the most part it was.  But with everything that is Daytona, only one of the 4 drivers finished in the top 10.  Dale Jr. who lead the most laps finished 8th.  While Jeff, Jimmie, and Casey finished 23rd, 30th, and 34th repsectively.  I would have found it somewhat funny if Jeff had gone on to win the race.  I mean, here we have THE Pepsi driver winning the Coke Zero 400.  I wonder if the Coke Executives were having heart attacks when they saw the #24 that close to victory.  Do you think they sent a case of Coke Zero to Carl?  And what was up with Jimmie in the pits?  Every time he exited his pit stall he swung wide. There were times he was moving cars close to or on the grass.  I believe one of the broadcasters mentioned about the pit selection causing some of the issues.  If that is the case, Chad needs to make note of it.  Next time choose a different pit.

As always with Daytona racing gets pretty hairy within the last 25 or so laps and Saturday was no exception.  As well all have been told cautions breed cautions.  Starting with lap 131, when the 6th caution flew, we had caution 7 (lap 136), caution 8 (lap 140), caution 9 (lap 149) and caution 10 (lap 157) what seemed like back to back cautions.  Just when the cars would get up to speed and moving, another caution would come out.  Caution 10 of course caused the race to move into overtime.  Jeff Gordon brought the field to the green and the next thing you know, there goes Jeff heading for the infield.  No yellow was thrown until Michael Waltrip, Sam Hornish, Dave Blaney, Travis Kvapil, J.J. Yeley and a host of others decided to come together. 

Have viewing footage, it was determined that Kyle Busch was ahead of Carl Edwards when the caution flew.  Congratulations to Kyle for winning his first race at Daytona and his 6th win of the season.  Was it me or did I hear fewer boos and more cheers from the fans?   There were still quite a few of boos, but now there were more cheers than weeks past.

Way to go David Reutiman…what was it 5 Lucky Dogs?  You finished a respectable 21st and on the lead lap.

Elliott Sadler is off the market.  Apparently Elliott is now engaged and is planning on a wedding some time next year I believe I heard them say.  Congratulations Elliott.

One last thing…testing policy changes…not sure how I feel about this one.  If NASCAR is going to change their policies regarding testing they need to make it fair for all teams.  I don’t know if just opening up Pandora’s box will fix things.  Because once you open it up, it will be a little difficult to close it.  We will just have to wait and see.

Funny thing happened on the way to work….sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself.  I was heading down to the ladies room at work this morning and noticed there was something not quite right with my shoe.  I thought maybe there was soemthing on it and that is why it felt weird.  If only that were it…but no it wasn’t.  I looked down and saw the problem.  I WAS WEARING TWO DIFFERENT SHOES!  Yep…that’s right I have on a brown sandel on my right foot and a black sandel on my left foot.  It wouldn’t be so bad because I have a pair of brown sandels that look like the black one I am wearing, but I put on the nice pretty one that has a decorative strap.  It’s ok to point and ridicule and even roll your hinies off laughing…because if you can’t laugh about life, then why bother living.

Park milestone…I reached the 20,000 vistor mark sometime this weekend!  Thanks to all of my regulars and lurkers.  Here’s to another 20,000.

So Long, Farewell

/ Trixie / 1 Comment

Chip Ganassi Racing announced today they are shutting down the #40 team of Dario Franchetti due to sponsorship issues. I have to say this was a little surprising. I mean he has only been in the car this season and he didn’t even get a chance to run all the races. Franchetti missed 5 races due to an ankle injury plus he has failed to qualify for 2 races as well. The #40 is currently sitting 40th in owner points. CGR is committed to developing his Nationwide Series program for Franchetti.

But I can understand why CGR did what they felt they had to do. Running a race team isn’t cheap these days. I can also understand it from a sponsor’s side as well. A sponsor pays quite a bit of moolah to invest in a race team and expect to see their driver in victory lane or at least competing for wins every week. I am sure they don’t want to see their driver on camera for another spin or crash. You get coverage, but it’s the coverage they probably want to see. Is this going to be something the smaller teams will have to do in order to survive in NASCAR? Only time will tell.

One last thing…check this picture out of Tony and Matt…

 

For one this isn’t a very good picture of either driver.  The caption under the picture over at ESPN.com is “Neither former champion, Stewart or Kenseth, is safely in the Chase”, however I think maybe there should have been another, more appropriate caption. My hubby, Postman, thought it looked someone had just walked by both Tony and Tony and well, whiffed one.  I mean look at both of them.  They have that look.  I just thought it was a funny observation that I had to share.   

Post #492

/ Trixie / 1 Comment

I just couldn’t think of anything to call this particular post so I just went with some generic title.

I will however start on a good note for all us Stewart fans out.  Tony won another race for the Nationwide Series #20.  This is the 8th win for this car which has had 4 different drivers behind the wheel this season including Joey Lagano who got his first win this year.  It was wonderful to see Tony back in Victory Lane albeit in a Nationwide Race.  His victory came on an audible by his crew chief Dave Rogers who decided to take only two tires.   Unfortunately the great pit strategy on Saturday wouldn’t translate over to the Cup race on Sunday.

I really thought Tony would carry his momentum from Saturday over to Sunday.  But once again another heartbreak for Tony.  Tony started back in the pack in 28th position.  I don’t usually take stock in where Tony qualifies because one way or another he finds his way to the front and yesterday was no exception.  Tony took the lead for the first time after a caution on lap 138.  He came out of the pits in the lead just inches ahead of Casey Mears. 

And then Lap 271…

As Earnhardt is slowing down to come down pitroad, Jamie rear ends Junior as well as collecting teammate David Ragan.  This brings out the 6th caution of the day.  We knew there were going to be drivers short on fuel.  There was also the approaching thunderstorm.  This was probably going to be the “money stop” for teams.  Several drivers including Kurt Busch stayed out.  Stewart headed down pit road.  He was the first driver of the bunch to take 2 tires.  This put him back in 14th spot.  The final caution came out as Hornish and Bowyer have a meet and greet.  This was lap 280.  NASCAR brings out the red flag four laps later due to the rain and decides to call the race done and declares Kurt Busch the winner.  Tony finishes 13th after leading 132 laps.  Tony became only the 13th driver to lead 10,000 plus laps.  Right before they called the race TNT intereviewed Tony, you could see the disappointment in his eyes as well as disappointment in his voice.  Upside of this is Tony did move up to 9th in the overall standings.  Sometimes it just isn’t your day.

Here is the Top 10 from yesterday

  1. Kurt Busch
  2. Michael Waltrip
  3. J.J. Yeley
  4. Martin Truex
  5. Elliott Sadler
  6. Reed Sorenson
  7. Casey Mears
  8. Denny Hamlin
  9. Jimmie Johnson
  10. Bobby Labonte

Yep…that’s quite a top 10 there folks.  I am not saying they didn’t deserve to be there, because there are times when you have to roll the dice, but there are only two drivers in that whole top 10 who are even in the top 12 in standings.  Like Michel Waltrip said in a post race interview…”he is going to take his 170 points and call it a day.”

Couple of notes…

  • Ron Hornaday wins the truck race on Saturday night.
  • Congratulations to Patrick Carpentier for snagging his first pole.  He finished 31st.  Even though he finished pretty far in the back of the pack it is still a positive step forward. 
  • Tight race for that elusive 12th spot in the standings.  Matt is out of the Top 12 and Kevin Harvick is in, but Matt is only 15 points behind Kevin for that spot with Martin Truex and Ryan Newman biting at the heels.
  • Kyle again tangles with another driver on the track.  I am sure there was some beatin’ and bangin’ going on between the two.  Juan did intentionally spin Busch out and made no bones about it, but Kyle stood his ground.  I believe Juan was penalized two spots in the race finish for his spin (if not please let me know).
  • Casey Mears out of the #5 over at HMS.  While watching the race yesterday all I could think of was..Mears-Penske..Mears-Penske.  Sound familiar folks? 

One final note…I don’t usually make too many predictions/projections because I am usually wrote 99.9% of the time, but I am going to make one here.  I believe Tony has made up his mind about his future.  And I belive we will all know before the end of July. 

Tony Stewart Experience

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

While listening to my Sirius online I hear this little promo for the chance to enter this contest…Tony Stewart Experience

I registered, don’t know if I will win, but you can’t win if you don’t enter. If you want to enter, you have until 5:00 pm EST, July 7, 2008 to enter.

I called my hubby, Postman and mentioned the contest and asked him he could handle the exeperience. His response was very lukewarm. Said he probably wouldn’t be able to take off work. I know he is not a big fan of Tony’s, but come on now…this would be a once in a life time chance to hang with Tony. Of all my peeps, he would be the only one that would understand the NASCAR thing. I guess if he doesn’t want to go (if I were to win), then I would have to find someone else.

I don’t care…I still entered!

What’s a Gal to Do?

/ Trixie / Leave a comment

I really thought this was going be the race.  Tony moved towards the front of the field after starting back in 39th place.  Late in the race Tony was able to get within reach of Kyle Busch and possibly get the win, but once again this Tony fan was disgusted.  Tony was thisclose and BAM!  Tony passed Jamie McMurray to move into 2nd place and the next thing I know Kevin gets into Jamie and collects Tony.  All three cars pull of the synchronized spinning combination.  If Tony had been a little further ahead of Jamie, we might perhaps be talking about Tony instead of Kyle.  

And you can tell the frustration in Tony’s voice with his post race interview with Marty Snyder. Marty…he told you that he didn’t want to comment until he saw the footage. What part did you not understand? UGH!!!

Tony was able to finish with a Top 10 and remain in the Top 12 in the standings.

Congratulations to Kyle Busch for his 5th win this season and his first road course win. Perhaps his decision to focus on his Cup championship run made a difference.

Kudos to Marcus Ambrose. This was his first Cup race. He had a good run all day until he got clipped by Elliott Sadler. Even though Marcus finished 42nd it was a good run for the Wood Brothers. Another kudos goes out to David Gilliland for his 2nd place yesterday. Part of me feels a little bad about the #19’s luck yesterday with the flat tire but the other part of me says oh well. Elliott finished 19th.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Scott Kalitta who passed away on Saturday during a qualifying run at the NHRA competition this weekend. Rest in Peace Scott.

Gettin’ the Mojo

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

The last couple of weeks I haven’t been too inspired about posting.  I couldn’t decide what it was that has caused this funk, but that is going to change.  Just like Kyle Busch who has decided to focus on the Cup championship, I too am going to put my energy on the big picture.  So with that being said, I have put the Bon Jovi on and I am ready to get over this funk.  Bon Jovi usually brings me back from whence I was residing. 

The last several weeks has not been kind to Tony.  Last week he posted a top 5, but for this fan I want more for my driver.  I want to see him in the winner’s circle again.  I think that is the real reason I am in the funk that I am.  I mentioned last week that Tony is still in contention for the championship.  It was very scary how the 2008 season and the 2005 season looked similar in nature, so I did some more research and found the following.

In 2005 after finishing 2nd at the first Michigan and sitting 6th in the standings, Tony won the next week at Sonoma and Daytona.  By the time he was finished he had rattled off 2 more wins, New Hampshire and Indianapolis (his first win at the famous Brickyard).  He was also sitting in the top spot going into the Chase that year.  And in case you lived in a cave or were without cable tv, radio, internet and cell phone or just plain stuck on a deserted island, Tony won the championship that year.  One side note to that year, Kyle Busch was a rookie.

Here we are in 2008, right now Tony is sitting in 11th spot 439 points behind teammate Kyle Busch.  He finished 5th last week at Michigan.  So if everything falls into place, like it should or would hope it would, Where are they racing the next three weeks?  Let’s turn the page and see….Sonoma, New Hampshire, and Daytona.  And least we forget Indianapolis, which is July 27.  I know Chicago is squeezed in there as well.  What was his finish at Chicago in 2005?  He finihsed 5th.  So, if Tony follows the pattern, he will rattle off 4 wins over the next several weeks. 

I went back to look at 2002 when Tony his first championship and I found some interesting stats as well.  He didn’t rattle of 4 wins like in did in 2005 after Michigan, but he did have one win at Watkins Glen.  If the Chase format had been in place back in 2002, he would be sitting 5th going into the Chase races behind leader…wait for it…Sterling Marlin.  One other fact, that was Jimmie Johnson’s rookie year and where was Jimmie sitting after Richmond…3rd.  Some things never change I guess with Jimmie.  He was even contending back then.

With all this informaiton one would tend to believe Tony will be hoisting that trophy at the end of the season, but 2008 will be a bit tougher for Tony.  Now drivers receive 10 bonus points for winning a race.  Tony would have received 50 points for his wins that year if they bouns points had been in effect that year.  Tony also has to contend with the COT this year–something that he didn’t have to bother with in 2005 or 2002.  He is currently sitting in 11th spot which is further down in the standings than he was at the same time in 2005 or 2002. 

So what is with all this statiscal stuff?  I guess I am trying to bring all the MOJO back to Mr. Stewart.  Perhaps I am trying to feed all the positive vibes to the #20 Home Depot Toyota.  I am only going to think happy thoughts and try to be one with the #20 this weekend. 

Good luck Tony!!!!

The Uninspired

/ Trixie / 3 Comments

Happy Friday the 13th!

I don’t know what it is this week, but I haven’t had the inspiration to write about anything.  I just can’t put my finger on it. So here are some theories I have come up with as to why I feel so uninspired.

1.  The death of Jim McKay–I have to say I was shocked when I saw this scroll across the screen last Saturday.  For those who don’t remember ABCs Wide World of Sports, you missed out on some that I think will never come along again.   Rest in peace Mr. McKay.

2. The heat–it has been down right HOT in this part of Texas over the last few days.  The only good thing is we don’t have the humidity out here in this part of Texas.  But 105 is HOT no matter how much humidity is in the air.

3.  Work–things are just crazy around here.  I have been trying to keep ahead of things, but it’s like bailing wather out of the Titantic.  No matter how much water goes out, more comes in and to be honest the boat eventually sinks.

4.  My birthday–you would think I would be happy with this one, but this year not so much.  It happens to fall on Father’s Day this year.  This happens about every 7 years.  This year however, I have to share my birthday with Postman since this will be his first father’s day.  The only upside…if he wants to watch the US Open, he will have to go to the other room.  I mean I have been celebrating MY BIRTHDAY a lot longer than he has been celebrating Father’s Day.

5.  1990–I work at a major university in Texas.  The campus has been bustling with all the new students who are here for orientation.    That means these 18 year olds will be gracing the campus’ presence come August.  Buth here’s the fact that I think may be the root of my funk.

These kids entering as college freshmen were born in 1990!

6.  1988–yep…that was 20 years ago which means MY 20TH high school reunion is staring me in the face.  I haven’t heard much from my former classmates and to be honest I don’t know if I will.  I was only there for three years and I wasn’t close with that many of them.  Of course, we only had 20 people graduate in my class.  However, there were a couple of classmates who I would love to see again and haven’t seen in quite some time.  But until that time…we are cool, we are great, we’re the class of ’88!

But seriously folks, I have been making the rounds, but just haven’t had the time to get to all that I need to get to this week. 

Richard Petty Enterprises–I am sure this wasn’t a decision entered into lightly, but perhaps this will benefit the Petty Enterprises in ways we haven’t even conceived of yet.  I am hoping this will allow for major changes to occur, but yet keep Petty Enterprises, Petty Enterprises.   Is this the wave of the future for NASCAR?  Will the teams that have been rooted in NASCAR (Wood Brothers, Yates) for quite some time have to look elsewhere outside of the sport to be able to compete on Sunday with the “super teams”?  Will the idea of a one-car team be a thing of the past for the sport?  With the rising cost of trunning a full time cup program increasing and the demands of sponsors, fans, etc.  I believe Petty Enterprises realized in order to remain a foothold in NASCAR and to be competive in the sport on Sundays, they had to make this move.  I am hoping this move will bring Petty Enterprises back to Victory Lane

Tony Stewart–It has been a rough year so far for us Tony fans.  Thisclose to victory at Daytona.  The heartbreak at Charlotte even though I know some of you didn’t miss the irony of that situation.  Then the Dover Demolition Fest.  And last week with the speeding penalty…sorry Tony you are on your own with that.  But June is suppposed to be where Tony gets his groove in gear.  Sunday the boys are in Michigan.  As I have shamelessly plugged, it is also my birthday, so if he is going to win, let it be SUNDAY!  What are the chances?  Let’s take a look here…

1.  He only has one win (2000 at the spring race), 8 Top 5s, 12 Top 10s, and average finish of 12.9

2.  In 2005 when he won his 2nd championship, he was 10th in the standings 380 points back from leader Jimmie Johnson.  He had no wins to that point in the 2005 season, 3 top 5s, and 6 top 10s.  And he went on to win the championship that year.  Where is he today? He is sitting in 12th 470 points back of teammate Kyle Busch.  By the way, Kyle was a rookie in 2005.  He still has no wins and he has had 4 top 5s, and 6 top 10s.  So, on paper it looks plausible Tony could make a run for the championship.  Unlike 2005, however, there were no bonus points for a win and no COT. 

So what are my chances of Tony winning this weekend on MY BIRTHDAY and yes, Father’s Day?  Pretty darn good.  I for one will have all that MOJO pointing towards the #20 this weekend.  So perhaps I have found my inspiration to get me through the day today!  Thank you Tony!