Tony Stewart

The “Bermuda Triangle”

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The first race at Pocono this season is in the books.  Pocono is different than the other tracks the drivers go to on the circuit.  You have three turns that are completely different from each other.  And to boot, it is 2.5 miles around the thing.  This can make for a long and at times boring race.  I wasn’t worried about missing part of the race today with my weekly yard chores. I finished the yard work and came in to enjoy the air conditioning and lo and behold Mother Nature struck at Pocono.  This isn’t unusual for Pocono.  Sometimes it could be raining on one part of the track and dry on the next.  I mean afterall it is 2.5 miles around the dang place (oh yea I did mention that before).

Congratulations to Denny Hamlin.  This marks Denny’s 4th win at Pocono in nine starts.  I would have to say Denny knows how to get around the “Triangle”.  From what I saw of the last 80 laps, it was clear who the class of the field was at Pocono.  Even with late race strategies, Denny made his way to the front of the pact along with his teammates Kyle and Joey.  At one point it looked like the JGR team was going to have three cars in the top 5 along with a former JGR driver.  But that wasn’t the case…apparently Kevin Harvick had other ideas about the ending.  Kevin, in his typical Harvick fashion, laid a bumper to Joey and well…that’s where Joey went around.  It looked he was going to keep it from spinning, but the #20 was just too much for Joey.  The fireworks didn’t end there.  Joey definitely wanted to confront Mr. Harvick about his actions.  I have to say good for you Joey.  There are times I wonder what Harvick is thinking behind that wheel.  From what I could see from the replay, this spin did not have to happen.  Of course I wasn’t behind the wheel of the #29 so who am I to say what could or could not have been done to avoid the #29 laying the bumper to the #20.  This is not the first time Harvick has done this and as I can assume it will probably won’t be the last.  Either way, it was good to see Joey stand up and take it to Harvick.  

Quote of the weekend from Joey Lagano…”I don’t know what his problem is with me but it’s probably not his fault.  His wife wears the fire suit in the family and tells him what to do.”

What was the deal with the big crash?  That looked like a crash you see at Talladega not Pocono.  When Kasey came back across the track, you knew it was going to pretty.  Mark and Greg pretty much had nowhere to go.  From the what I could tell, it looked like Kasey was trying to make a move around his teammate and AJ through a block.  A block that pushed Kasey all the way to the grass.  Grass + NASCAR car at high speed = not a good outcome (excluding the “Pass and the Grass” move).  I guess it itsn’t the year for the word teammate. 

Tony finished 3rd.  Tony needed this finish.  He hasn’t exactly been lighting it up on the race track lately.  He has moved up to 13th in the standings.  Next week is Michigan and then on to Sonoma for some road racing at Sonoma.  Tony definitely  can make up some ground and perhaps get back into the top 12 in standings.  I loved his post race interview with TNT.  He wasn’t too upset about his finish considering he won the race last year (his first in the SHR #14).  I also have to chuckle at his beard.  Perhaps Denny, along with Tony’s teammate Ryan, should have used their pull as Gillette Young Guns get Tony a new stash of razors.  And can I just say…NO TO THE MULLETT!  That’s right…JUST SAY NO!  Neither Kyle or Ryan can pull that look off…and to be honest can anyone really pull of that look?

Alive and Kicking!

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That is what is has been of late for me.  I really haven’t had any desire to write.  I don’t know what it is.  It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, but I just haven’t felt the desire to do it.  There was at one time where I couldn’t wait to post something in The Park.  I would spend hours developing posts and thinking about how to entertain my readers.  Well, now, I just don’t know.

There’s been lots to talk about around NASCAR since I last posted something back in April (yes April…April 18th to be exact).  I believe that is the longest I have gone between posts. 

  • All Star Weekend–I am thrilled that NASCAR now has a Hall of Fame.  I still not had a chance to watch the induction ceremony (have it on DVR).  I have no disagreement with the first class of the Hall of Fame.  I think the 2nd class will be harder to pick.  There are so many drivers who deserve to be in the Hall.  I can’t wait to see who gets in.  The All-Star race was interesting.  I still don’t why Kyle as to be such a toot.  I couldn’t tell that Denny did anything wrong.  I think Kyle just drove his car into hard and well, there was Denny.  I know Kyle wants to win, but sometimes you just can’t win them all.  Patience is virtue and well, it may take a little longer for Kyle to get that word into his vocabulary.  Speaking of JGR cars, what was up with Joey?  His drive towards the front took out most of the field including Tony.  Once again patience is the theme of the night.  Of course, I wasn’t driving towards one million dollars.  As I told Postman, I would run him up into the wall for a cool million.  Next to the race, I love watching the Pit Crew Challenge.  This the time for guys over the wall to shine.  This is their night to shine.  Little Smoke loved watching it as well especially when Tony’s team was on display.  Congratulations to Denny Hamlin’s crew!
  • Lawsuits–Jeremy Mayfield’s case against NASCAR was dismissed as well as the Kentucky track’s lawsuit.
  • Can’t We All Just Get Along–Thank you Jeff Gordon.  I hate to say it, but I was rather excited that you were giving it to Jimmie.  You were racing him hard.  I don’t like Jimmie.  I never have.  I am not saying he can’t drive his race car.   He just isn’t the kind of racer that I like.  I think Jeff wants to win.  He has been right there in several races and it seems like he is just snakebit.  I still would choose Jeff over Jimmie though.  Of course Hendrick doesn’t want his two star drivers at each other, but I still think if it came down to a win for Jeff and the only car in his way was the #48…watch out!  As for the Denny and Kyle feud–I really don’t care.  Let them fight out on the track. 
  • Junior–I don’t know.  I have ideas about why he isn’t performing up to the expectations of his fan base.  There are times I wonder if he truly wants to be a racer.  I see interviews with him and to be honest, it’s depressing.  I have to say I saw him interviewed shortly after the induction ceremony and it was the first time he looked happy to be interviewed.  Other times it seems forced.  One of those things, “well, guess I have to do this interview because it’s part of my job” thing.  I truly thought once he left DEI and drove for HMS he would have more success than he has since coming to HMS.  He is getting the best equipment money can buy.  He has at his disposable the best technology and resources any driver dreams of having, but just because it looks good on paper doesn’t mean it is the best in implementation. 
  • Wing vs Spoiler–I haven’t noticed anything different.  I do know the racing has been better this year than last year.
  • Day ‘o Racing–that’s right folks…Sunday is the annual “Day o’ Racing”.  Indianapolis 500 in the morning/afternoon…Coke 600 in evening.  This equals 1100 hundred miles of some of the best racers going for all the marbles.  Even though I usually just spend the day sitting in front of my tv watching all the racing action, I am celebrating this “Day o’ Racing” with some of my friends this year.  Luckily, they understand when the only thing that will be shown on the television on Sunday is racing.  I have another television of course, but who wants to watch tv on 32 inch, non-HD tv in a cramped bedroom?

Finally, what I have been avoiding to discuss…the #14 team.  Wow what a difference a year makes.  This time last year, Tony was 2nd in the standings heading into Charlotte (Dover was after Charlotte last year) coming off a win at the All-Star race.  Now…he is sitting in 14th place, just two spots outside the Top 12.  There is still quite a bit of racing and we are entering the part of the year Tony traditional starts lighting it up, but if he has more bad luck, I don’t know…we will just have to watch and see what happens.   Happy belated birthday Mr. Stewart!

Have a great and safe Memorial Weekend!  If you see a veteran or a soldier…tell them “THANK YOU”~

Texas

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I have been incognito of late.  It has been a rough ride the last couple of weeks, but I am still hangin’ around.

I have been enduring the wrath of Mother Nature again.  What’s up with her?  It has been raining non-stop in Raiderland, well it seems like it has, for the past several days.  I believe I saw Noah in Home Depot the other day purchasing lumber.  I hope not.  Now she has taken her wrath to my beloved Texas Motor Speedway.  I was all set to watch the Nationwide race today and lo and behold…there’s a delay because of weather!  I guess she and the race gods are having some kind of “issue”.  Whatever the “issue” she needs to get over herself and move it on out of Texas.  I may not be at the race, but I don’t appreciate her taking things out on my fellow race fans out there in Ft. Worth!  But luckily TMS does have lights and Eddie Gossage will do everything in his power to get the race underway for everyone.  Go get ’em Eddie!

I was absolutely, positively, undeniably THRILLED that Tony will be starting on the pole Sunday.  Not only will he be on the pole Sunday, he will be making his 400th Cup start on Sunday as well.  I wish I was there watching him take the green flag and leading the pack on Sunday, but alas…I am here in Raiderland.   But I will be watching tomorrow…do you hear that Mother Nature?  There will be racing tomorrow!!!!!

The big news this week in NASCAR is the announcement Kasey Kahne will be ending his time in the #9 at the end of 2010 to head on over to driver for Hendrick Motor Sports.  That’s all we know at the moment.  We don’t know how Kasey will fit into the HMS family, but if history has shown Mr. Hendrick will take care of things for Kasey.  If I was a driver and Mr. Hendrick said, “hey, why don’t you come on over and be a part of our team?”  I would need to have my head checked if I said no.  Mr. Hendrick knows what it takes to build a championship team.  But what the driver and team do with all the resources is another matter.  Some think one team will be moved over to Stewart Haas racing–who is considered to a somewhat satellite team of HMS.  Whatever Mr. Hendrick decides it will be the best for HMS and Kasey.  I am going to be watching this closely.  Will Stewart Haas Racing be playing a role in all of this?  I think so…how?  I am not sure.  It’s still too early…it’s only April and we have quite a bit of racing left in 2010.  I can’t wait and see what happens.

Update…Mother Nature must be REALLY pissed.  Nationwide race postponed until tomorrow.  Looks like a doubleheader tomorrow at TMS.   We will get to see the Cup race first and then the Nationwide race.  That is if Mother Nature gets over her issues with NASCAR!

Hot Atlanta

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Congratulations to Kurt Busch for his victory today.

I am proud of the #14 team today. They started out at the back of the pack after changing engines after the last practice yesterday. He, and the #39 team, were experiencing drive train issues so it is better to be safe than sorry. Tony finished 13th. I would have liked better for Tony, but after having a tough day with the car, I will take a 13th finish.  Ryan Newman finished 17th.

Tires seemed to be the issue of the day (outside the whole Carl/Brad incident).  Several drivers, including Ryan Newman and Mark Martin had blown tires.  I can’t remember whose tire they showed, but it was shredded to pieces.  Were some of the teams too aggressive on their setup for yesterday’s race?  Perhaps, but you should be able to depend on one’s tires during a race especially if they were specifically tested at the track. I guess Goodyear needs to go back and do some more testing before the boys return to Atlanta in the fall.

Now for what I am sure will be the talk of all the NASCAR radio shows tomorrow on Sirius as well as everywhere else. Prior to the start of the season NASCAR told the boys to “have it”. There was quite some debate around this topic. How far would the leash be released before NASCAR would pull it back and say that’s enough boys?  Well, today will test this whole idea of “have it boys”.  Early on in the race, Brad K. clipped Carl which sent Carl up the track and into Joey Lagano.  This wreck pretty much ended Carl’s day.  Brad had minimal damage and was able to continue on with his day.  It looked like he was going to have a good finish. However late in the race Carl let Brad K. know how he felt about the earlier incident.  When Carl was interviewed after the first initial incident, he played it off as if it wasn’t a big deal.  Well, I guess it was a bigger deal for him than we all thought. I know this is going to set a firestorm of debate between all NASCAR fans.

The boys are off next weekend so this will give everyone a chance to spend some quality time with friends and family who are feeling neglected because of NASCAR. Heck, be daring and watch some other kind of television on Sunday. Have a great week everyone!

Tony Interview

/ Trixie / 1 Comment

Last week in Vegas one of my blogger buddies had the wonderful opportunity to interview Tony Stewart.  Man what a thrill that must have been.  I would have been a nervous wreck, but she did a great job and brought back with her a great interview.  Prior to her interview she put out a call for questions that we might want to ask Tony if we were interviewing him.  Wow..this was a hard request for me, but I wanted to give a least one question for her.  I know Tony is a racer who respects the history of his sport and so I thought this is where I want my question to go.  I mentioned this opportunity to Postman and told him what question I submitted and he thought he would be a good question.  So without further ado…my question and Tony’s answer.

Amy: If you could go back in time, what decade would you be a racer in?

Tony: Oh man. I would say….probably the sixties and seventies. It was a pretty cool era in the sport because there wasn’t all the technology involved. It was really about car owners that sat there with a piece of paper and came up and drew ideas. There weren’t the computers to create the ideas for them. Just racing was a lot simpler then. I mean guys would race Indy and run Daytona. To get to race with someone like AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti and guys like that would be pretty cool.

It sounded like he was intrigued by the questions.  Of course as a die-hard Tony fan, he answer did not surprise me.  AJ Foyt is his racing idol.  I would have loved to have seen Tony race against AJ and Mario.  Wow…what a race that would have been.

If you want to see the entire interview, hop on over to Amy’s Bad Groove.

Thanks Amy for a little more insight to our favorite driver and also for using my question.

BK Toys

/ Trixie / 1 Comment

Update…on Monday I posted about the new Tony cars at Burger King and how I was unable to acquire one.

Wonderful news…I went to get a sausage croissant sandwich this morning and there it was…the Tony cars. And yes, I did purchase one and it now sits in my office for everyone to see. I know it sound a little crazy, but I am sure I am not the only Tony Stewart fan who is scouring the Burger Kings across this country looking for the Tony cars.

Auto Club Speedway

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I must admit, I enjoyed the racing at Auto Club Speedway yesterday.  I will also admit racing in California is not my favorite thing to watch on a Sunday.  There have been times where a driver gets out in front and well, runs away with the race.  I like close racing where the leaders trade spots for most of the race.  But yesterday was a pretty good race.   I was concerned the race was going to be delayed or even cancelled with rain storms looming around the track.  After last week’s delay, I really didn’t want another one.  I know some times Mother Nature has her own way of doing things, but please don’t mess with my racing.

While watching the race, Postman asked me, “Is Tony racing today?”  I was beginning to wonder that myself.  There wasn’t much talk about where he was during the race, but that usually doesn’t bother me.  Tony finds his way towards the top spots and yesterday was no different.  Tony qualified 16th and finished with a 9th place finish.  Tony is 23rd in the standings, but this Smoke is not worried.  We have only run two races and there is still quite a bit of racing still left for Tony.  Not all was good for Stewart Haas Racing yesterday.  Ryan Newman started out the day 18th, but finished 36th after a blown engine ended his day.

I was impressed with the way all the Richard Childress cars were racing yesterday.  They struggled quite a bit in 2009, but looked better towards the end of 2009.  I know last year testing was a thing of past and perhaps they did hurt RCR a bit.  Last was also the first year for RCR to have four race teams.  Unfortunately maybe four teams wasn’t meant for RCR.  Sometimes more isn’t always better.  Yesterday was a good day for RCR:  2 (Kevin Harvick), 3 (Jeff Burton), 8 (Clint Bowyer).  I really thought Kevin had Jimmie in the last laps of the race, but alas Jimmie took the victory.

A few more notes…Danica did ok. She is still learning. I didn’t get to see the race on Saturday, but the finish sounded exciting. I was listening via my Sirius radio. Why does racing always sound more exciting via the radio than on television? I have always wanted to find another driver to follow. I guess because in case when Tony decides to call it quits I want to have someone in mind. I have tried over the past few years to find one and well, I haven’t been able to really find one. I have several drivers I like, but haven’t quite jumped into their fan base. I guess I am looking for someone like Tony. However, the more I watch Greg Biffle, the more I think I could get on board with Greg Biffle. You can’t convince me to be a Dale Jr. fan so don’t try. However, if you think there is someone else I could cheer for along with Tony give me a buzz.

And finally….I have to give a shout out to another Tony fan and fellow blogger Amy over at Amy’s Bad Groove. She is headed out to Vegas this week to attend the NASCAR festivities. I am excited for her because she always delivers some of the best reporting about her trips that I have seen. I haven’t been able to attend the races at TMS in a few years, but I am hoping to get back there either this November or next year. If you haven’t been to a race, you are missing out on what NASCAR is really about. I have met quite a few people through my passion for NASCAR. I have to tell you we are just like one big happy family. We accept everyone and everyone can root for any driver they want. Sure I am not a fan of Dale Jr., but I am still part of the family. I can be who I am as a race fan and not feel judged. We are loyal and we know how to have a great time. I just wanted to wish you a wonderful time in Vegas this week Amy! Say hi to Tony for me!