AFTER DOVER....ON TO KANSAS

    Well let me start with the recap of Dover, Jimmie? Really? He broke a track record with his 8th win at Dover and really, I believe got he lucky with the dreaded "clean air" and was able to stay in front of 4 tires and second place finisher Dale Earnhardt Jr, whom I believe had the car to beat, I know what your going to say, "that's easy for you to say, your a big Jr fan."  Yes that is very true, but I will defend myself with this comment, he actually could pass cars when he caught them no matter where he caught them on the track, and he had a driver rating of 126.3 and was consistently the fastest car on the track. I think what held up Dale after the last restart was trying to pass the car on the bottom of the track, and the fact that Jimmie ran every place Dale needed to go to get around him, on the bottom. Dale's car was the best on the track when he could run and pass on the bottom of the track.

    Matt Kenseth had a hard time keeping up at Dover and ended up loosing all but 8 points on race winner and second place points holder Jimmie Johnson. Finishing up 7th at the end of the day. He had a hard time, if that's what you call a 7th place finish. I have picked Matt to win the championship this year because of just how well he has been running all season. Count them folks, 7 is his magic number "so far" and I am saying that because I know he has 1 or 2 more wins in him before the end of the season. As I have said before, and this weekend will probably prove what is fact so far this year, Matt rules the 1 1/2 mile tracks and this week we go to Kansas where he 1: won the last race here in April, did it from the pole, had the fastest qualifying speed of 191.864. He has raced there 15 times, won 2, 6 top 5's, 9 top 10's, 2 poles. Only snag at this track, Jimmie has slightly better stats here. But  I really think Matt has something Jimmie doesn't this year, the drive to show Jack Rousch that he messed up by letting Carl be the lead driver at at a place where Matt should of been the lead driver once Mark left. Jimmie, he has nothing to prove.

    On to Kansas, um what else can I say? I think Matt will sweep Kansas this year and I think he will do it easily. I wont predict he gets the pole again, but I do believe he knows that Jimmie did a little catching up and he needs to gain a few points back from what he lost last weekend and what better place to do it then the place he won at already this season. I think we will see another race where Kyle will have a good race and Dale Jr will continue his upswing in the points with another top 5 finish. The lower half of the chasers will be mixed as they have been with I think 2 exceptions, Dale Jr obviously and Carl Edwards will do ok but the rest will be mixed someplace between 15th to 25th.

    On the sponsorship front, Brad K. and Roger Penske were happy to announce that MillerCoors signed on through the 2017 season with Brad and Penske, but its only for 26 races a year, so who gets put on the car for the other 12 races (36 with the all star race and the duels at the beginning of the season.)

    The Points as of race #3 in the Chase:
1: Matt Kenseth(2149)
2: Jimmie Johnson(2141)
3: Kyle Busch(2137)
4: Jeff Gordon(2110)
5: Kevin Harvick(2110)
6: Greg Biffle(2108)
7: Ryan Newman(2101)
8: Clint Bowyer(2098)
9: Kurt Busch(2094)
10: Dale Earnhardt Jr(2092)
11: Carl Edwards (2084)
12: Joey Logano(2083)
13: Kasey Kahne(2071)


Until next time.......

AFTER NEW HAMPSHIRE

   Looks like Matt Kenseth has this seasons championship squarely in his sights. With now 7 wins this season, last 2 in a row and also Matt's 500th start. Only 1 driver has ever won in their 500th start and that was Richard Petty. So Matt is in good company for sure. While teammate Kyle Busch has stepped up his program this time and sits in 2nd after 2 consecutive 2nd place finishes. His normal MO is self exploding and ending in last place. He has surely stepped up his program and has managed to keep his temper under control and starting to show the talent everyone has known he has had. If he does not win this year I would look for him to be the front runner next season, and believe me it isn't easy for me to say that because I really don't like the guy personally. My opinion is he is a big ol whinny cry baby who freaks out when he doesn't get his own way.

    Hey I have to give a shout out to Greg Biffle, where the hell did he come from? That last restart he had some balls to make the moves he did, that was some crazy passing. I don't think he will be a factor in the end and I really don't think he will ever be a factor for the championship, not with Matt, Kyle and Jimmie always finishing in front of him and for sure not while he drives a Ford.
 
    The race this weekend was actually a good race, very short at only 300 laps, more like a Nationwide race then a normal Sprint Cup Series race. Passing as always was hard to do and was at a premium, but that didn't stop a lot of guys from passing a lot of cars on the way to the checkered flag.  With 19 lead changes between 11 drivers with Matt leading 106 laps. The next closest lap leader at 98 was Martin Truex Jr.

    Kasey Kahne had yet another hard start to the chase by ending his day early only finishing 278 of 300 laps, the only bad thing with not finishing all the laps in this race is only 5 cars were out at the end of the race, so Kasey ended up 37th and delegating him down to 13th place, the last place possible in the chase with a 71 point deficit and 8 races to go, he will need everyone in front of him to have multiple bad races for him to catch up. Better luck next year Kasey.

    I do believe the Jimmie/Chad parring has finally met their match. Think about this, Matt is in his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. New team, new manufacturer, new pit crew, new engineers, new crew chief....New new new and look at them now, 7 races won, first 2 chase race wins, I think he has won all but 2 races that have been at mile and a half tracks (not sure its 2, but I believe that was it at last count.)
    Folks I think Matt is on the proverbial roll and will be very hard to beat this year and maybe several years to come. I will say this, everyone from 4th on down....might at well sit back and relax and get their teams ready for next year because they do not have a chance one in hell to win this championship with Jimmie, Kyle, and Matt running like they are.

    Congratulations to Ryan Blaney for his great win at Kentucky. His first Nationwide win and I am sure not his last by any chance. Austin Dillion is making a slow but steady climb back towards the front of the points. Sam Hornish Jr needs to pick it up and continue getting top 5s or Austin might catch up with him being only 15 points behind him.

    Well folks that's it for today, I will have a race run down for the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway around friday. Oh one last thing..... you ever hear the old saying "everything is always bigger in Texas? Well Eddie Gossage out did himself on this one, he has a new toy at the track and he has a big name for it, "Big Hoss" its a 218 feet wide, 12 story high, 20,666.64 square foot video board that's 1080p HD, that was buit by Panasonic for the track. It has nearly 4.8 million pixels that can display 281 trillion colors. IN FREAKING SANE!!!!!!


    Until next time........
   
   

SILLY SEASON!!!!!! HOLY CRAP EVEN

    If you are new to NASCAR or have not followed it long, we have what we call "silly season," and what that is, is when drivers and teams decide to part ways at the end of the year and the drivers start looking for another team and teams start looking for another driver. This used to start.....about this time of year, but this year I do believe it started right after the checkered flag flew at the Daytona 500 way back in February. Every week I think I am safe to tackle this subject just to have something else goofy happen. So where exactly do I start? I have been asking myself that very question for the last month and still am really unsure. So I started it like this.

    Kurt Busch decided that getting into the chase with a team that last year could not do anything but stumble over its own feet was not good enough to keep him there and has  taken an offer from only a 50% owner in a team where the other 50% owner has had many of scuffles with on the track as well as off the track... Not only that, the owner that hired him did not even ask the partner if it was ok to hire him, he just put his money where his pen was and said I don't care what my partner says, your hired. The other part of this equation in the team is the second owner is also a driver for the team, Tony Stewart, another equation in this is also a silly season story in his own right, driver of the number 29, Kevin Harvick, who will be getting replaced by Richard Childress's grandson Austin Dillon, who will be driving a car rumored to have the number 3 on the door, (if you don't know the significance of that number, google Dale Earnhardt and start reading) Go back through the last several years and your going to see these two guys, Kevin and Kurt, have had more then their fair share of little skirmishes along the way. Ok so this is where I hope I continue to get this in the right order because from here it gets sticky as fly paper dipped in extra sticky glue then coated with syrup. Ok so when Stewart-Haas racing hired Kevin they had to get rid of a driver because co-owner Tony Stewart said in a press conference that "we don't have room here for a 4th driver right now and if we did Ryan Newman would be who we would put in that car." So by that you can tell Ryan was the guy that got fired. Ryan was only a week into understanding he just got screwed by someone he thought was his friend/owner and that friend/owner found out he got screwed by his partner all in one fail swoop of a reporters pen. Tony was actually still in the hospital for a crash he had in a winged sprint car...that's a whole other story we wont get into today. The screwing part came when he found out, guess what? They did have room for a 4th driver and not only did they have room, Gene Haas, the other owner of the team, is forking over his own money from Haas Automation to sponsor Kurt. Ok so a week later another chip fell in this odd season, Jeff Burton, driver of the 31 said he was safe for another year at Richard Childress racing.....just to learn that once Ryan came available, he was no longer safe and was let out of his contract that ran through the 2014 season and was replaced next season by Ryan Newman. 

   Are we following along ok still? Because it gets even better. Bobby Labonte found out after he was injured from a fall he had while riding a bicycle, he broke 3 ribs, that he was getting replaced by driver A.J. Allmendinger next season in the number 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota. 

    Then we hear that Juan Montoya will not be back in the Earnhardt-Ganassi  Racing number 42 Chevy and actually we now know that he will be leaving NASCAR all together and headed to Ganassi's rival in the Indy Racing league, Roger Penske Racing. After 7 years of NASCAR and only 2 wins, both on road courses, he has decided to go where he can win......a lot. 

    So far we have covered all the drivers that are going other places.......or have we? Today NAPA Auto parts announced they will be leaving Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of this season, effectively leaving Martin Truex Jr without a sponsor for the next 2 seasons. I feel so sorry for Martin because he, over the last 3 weeks, has been screwed more then any other driver this season. Not only has he been penalized for something he didn't do, not only did he get kicked out of the Chase for something his teammates did, (Martin raced his butt off the last several weeks just to get into the chase, oh and did I forget to tell you that he broke his right arm before the Chase started and has been in a cast for the last couple weeks, the cast he had on in Richmond actually was the wrong kind of cast and he was in a ton of pain to boot) he also lost his sponsor because of it. So without a sponsor for next season and it being long after big money sponsors have decided who they would spend money on, what are the chances that MWR can actually find a sponsor for Martin and if they cant find the money (takes anyplace from 15 to 20 million dollars on average to fund a cup team for a season) will Martin still have a car to drive next season? Michael Watrip says they plan on having 3 teams next season no matter what, but in the sport of big time auto racing, money dictates the final answer to the question I am sure Martin Truex Jr has asked his bosses over the last 24 hours when NAPA decided to move on the bigger and better things, do I have a ride next year? I actually would love to see Martin get back into a Chevy and hop into that 78 Furniture Row car that Kurt decided wasn't good enough. So if we have basically 1 car open, Earnhardt-Ganassi already replaced Juan with an up and coming driver Kyle Larson, and we have Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton both without a ride and possible Martin Truex Jr, I am sitting here thinking I am missing a driver someplace, but have no idea if I am right or not because my head is spinning right now from all the musical race seats hopping from team to team. Clint Bowyer's sponsor (in my opinion the driver that started the whole fiasco in Richmond and the only one really not hurt by the penalty) 5 hour energy is also looking at what their options for next year might be. If MWR loses yet another sponsor for another of its teams, they could be looking at the begining of the end. Aarons has been really quiet so far also. One could speculate they are doing some sole searching also. 

    Phewww! Just when I think I am done, I remember Mark Martin, who is subbing for Tony Stewart while he mends his multiple breaks from that wreck I said I wouldn't talk about right now lol. We still have no idea what he will be doing and from what I gather neither does he right yet, guess that all might be depending on if Tony actually heals like they think he should or not. Will Mark drive full time next season? I would say no, his distaste for both Daytona and Talladega would lead me to that conclusion. 

    Well.....I am about to spin into turn 4 with a flat tire on the right rear, this is just what normally starts the silly season. 9 races to go, Matt Kenseth firmly in front of the pack, teammate Kyle Busch closely chasing his tail, is this the year of Matt? Or is this finally Kyles year to show his maturity finally out weighs his fast temper? I have not even touched on last weeks race in Chicago.....no time tonight either. So look for a recap of what I think Chicago means for the top 13 drivers, I will even try and put together my very own power rankings, something I have yet to try because it changes every week and I will give my thoughts on race 2 of the chase and what I think we all can look forward too this weekend. 

    So with that being said....

Until next time.....

CRAZY WEEK IN NASCAR

WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH NASCAR????

    I am pretty sure by now you have all heard about the crazy ass rules changes/added a car to the chase/new spotter rules. I think a lot of teams will be totally confused about if they can help Thieu teammates or not? Team orders? lol that's laughable now because NASCAR quashed any such orders with one fail swoop. They made it abundantly clear... YOU HELP YOUR TEAMMATE IN ANY WAY AND WE ARE GOING TO LEVEL THE GIGANTIC HAMMER WE CONTROL!!!!!!! PERIOD! Oh and today during the drivers meeting, which I am sure will be packed with beat reporters, they will introduce yet another rule on race restarts.
    Ok so here we go, I will try and give my opinion on what I understand happened last weekend and all the fallout that has happened during the week. Bare with me because I am not even sure I get it completely because it was a penalty for something that's been going on since the first race team added a second car.
    Ok as you all know Michale Waltrip Racing was fined an ungodly amount of cash $300,000 to be exact, for 1 thing, for Brian Vickers being told to hit pit road so a teammate could make sure he was in the chase, the real benefit came to a driver from another team, Joey Logano, Who because of Brian and his move he gained the 1 point he needed to be ahead of Jeff Gordon to secure a wild card spot in the chase. Now the car that should of been hit the hardest, Clint Bowyer, for the bogus spin that brought out the caution that actually did change the look of the chase and the race, which Ryan Newman was running away with the lead with 10 laps to go. Because of the bogus pit and the radio communication between Brian Vickers and his spotter Ty Norris, and all that transpired after that,  NASCAR in its infinite wisdom decided to deduct 50 points from all 3 MWR teams...even though they said they couldn't prove that Clint spun himself, they decided to fine him and Martin Truex and Brian Vickers 50 points. Not sure why they fined Martin Truex because he was totally innocent in all that happened, but taking the points pre chase, knocked him out of the chase and dropped him back to 17th in points and because of the wild card spot vacant , Ryan Newman secured the open spot in the chase. Taking the 50 points from Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers did absolutely nothing, Brian isn't competing for the chase and Clint had secured his spot in the chase a couple weeks before this. Now ask Dale Earnhardt Jr what he thinks of Clints spin and he will tell you it looked totally on purpose to him and he should know, He's done this himself and hey, they see wrecks every weekend and see how they happened and you could call them experts of some sort because of what they do. On top of that every driver that has seen the video and heard the in car audio has pretty much said or thought the same thing. Some have voiced their opinion on TV, radio, twitter, face book and some I am sure have just kept to themselves. Top that off with all the reporters that have given their opinions and poured out the facts in many an article this week, and the fact that NASCAR had a huge sweep of the entire MWR team. I think with the fines and points taken away that this was their way of saying "boys we know you pulled some shit here, and we cant totally prove it, but don't do this crap again"
    And the other day guess who also gets into the chase.....Jeff Gordon????? WTF? This decision to add the 13th car and driver to the chase makes NO SENSE AT ALL to anyone. It only goes to prove that NASCAR makes the rules and those rules can change at any time lending to the idea that NASCAR is getting to be more and more like the WWE. I personally am loosing all respect for Brian France and Mike Helton and the whole NASCAR front office. This week makes me wounder if Brian France isn't hitting the bottle again and ruling NASCAR through the thick glass at the bottom of the scotch bottle. This decision to add a 13th car is unprecedented and unwarranted and if they are going to allow Jeff Gordon into the chase just because he would of been there if the race would of ended like everyone thought it would, then shouldn't all 43 drivers be in the chase because, hey, if they would of had a different finish in all those 25 races before Richmond, they could of been in the chase too. At the very least, why not put Martin Truex back in because HE actually RACED his way into the chase by winning and finishing good all year long and he deserved to actually be in the chase and not kicked out because of something his 2 teammates did. This whole week has been just flat crazy with BS rules changes and hey fans, another rules change today and one we wont know about until after the drivers meeting when all the reporters start tweeting about what Helton is saying in the meeting. @Jeff_Gluck, @bobpockrass, @nateryan, @MartySmithESPN, @JennaFryer, @dusinlong and of course @ClaireBLang. Then and only then will we know the new restart rules. Because its all hush hush for some reason.

    Now my opinion on all of this is this:
1: NASCAR totally screwed the pooch this week by taking Martin Truex Jr out of the chase for something his teammates did.
2: NASCAR totally screwed the pooch making up new rules at the start of the chase
3: NASCAR totally screwed the pooch putting Jeff Gordon in the chase adding a 13th driver because with 10 laps to go he was in position to make the chase and a caution came out changing that
4: NASCAR screwed the pooch not penalizing Clint Bowyer for his spin that was ON purpose not matter what he says, that was as hokie a spin as I've ever seen
5: NASCAR screwed the pooch penalizing Martin Truex at all
6: finally one not of NASCAR's doing....MWR lost a ton of respect among fans, fellow racers, and teams in the garage and I think the media shit storm that came about during the media rush they had after Richmond proves that no matter what they do they will look bad this year and for many years to come.
7: Clint Bowyer is a putz and needs to just come forward and admit what we all know (dude take some advice from AJ Allmendinger and fess up, shit gets easier if you do.) If he should happen to get the championship this year its going to have a great big * mark on the win because it will be tainted (listen to the crowd when they introduce Clint today and every week of the chase...I'm predicting a shit ton of booing going on.)
8: MWR and Michael Waltrip are both a total joke in my book. He has had issues since he started running in the Cup Series, from jet fuel in the engine, to this crap that happened last weekend in Richmond, his team is the Joke of all the teams in the garage. He has to have lost a ton of respect as a team, the person, he obviously has no control over what his team does, could you imagine this sort of thing going on at Penske, or Joe Gibbs? Um I don't think so.

    After the race...probably not today by what @NASCAR_WXMAN said, the chance of getting this in is about 20%, but tomorrow I will give a run down of the race and maybe I will try and add my thoughts on this years silly season run down.



Until later.......

NASCAR HITS MWR HARD

CHEATING IN RICHMOND??????

   Say it isn't so, tell me that MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) didn't do the obvious, tell me that Clint Boywer didn't spin on purpose, tell me please that Brian Vickers didn't come in and pit for no reason, then start back far enough during a restart that he was behind Joey Logano and gave Joey enough points to keep Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman out of the chase therefore letting their teammate, Martin Truex Jr, get the position and the points enough to get a tie with Ryan in points (with the points tie and the total number of wins tied at 1 a piece, NASCAR goes to the second place finishes then if thats a tie they go to 3rd place finishes and so on and so forth until they have a tie breaker on how man times they finished in whatever spot they have to get to to declare a winner, in this instance it went to 2nd place finishes) and therefore getting the 12 and final spot in the chase. Consequently Joey Logano finished 1 point ahead of Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers lined up behind Joey on the final restart when he should of been in front of Joey being that Joey was 1 lap down and Brian was on the lead lap. Not only did he line up behind Joey, on the last lap we slowed down so much that he was only doing 79mph (see picture below and check out the highlighted area) when the leaders were doing over 120mph, and teammate Bowyer also finished behind Joey when 10 laps before he was 2 laps ahead of Joey. From a video I seen posted on YouTube, Brian finished the race going down pit road because he never crossed the finish line on the track. The picture of the cars clearly shows (yellow circles) Joey in front of Brian Vickers on the track, Brian Clearly lined up behind Joey on the final restart when he should of lined up in front of him. Not only did Brian Vickers go into the pits on the final lap, he was told too by Ty Noris, Executive Vice President of Business Development and General Manager of Michael Waltrip Racing, "to pit, pit now" which Brian replied " are you talking to me? why do I need to pit? Do I have a tire going down?" Ty Noris replied " yeah you do" then a second later "we need that 1 point."  Then Ty told Brian that he would talk to him after the race and that he "owed him a kiss." The more you hear and see of what  happened Saturday night, the more you wonder what NASCAR might do. What Michael Waltrip racing did was willfully change the outcome of not only a race, but who got into and was eliminated from the Chase. If NASCAR does nothing in response to what we have now learned took place, what will the black mark on the sport be? let alone the integrity issue that will arise from all thats happened since Saturday. You can bet the WWE references will be never ending if nothing is done. If you follow Twitter you need to check @GeoffreyMiller and read his timeline, he covers the breakdown of events very clearly and is actually where I got both pictures I used here. Watch the YouTube video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=brrgyDs3CFE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Michael Waltrip Racing isn't new to the whole cheating game either. In 2007, the first race in Sprint Cup Racing for the Michael Waltrip Racing team of which Michael himself was the driver, the team was caught using what turned out to be jet fuel in the engine to help try and gain an advantage during qualifying, of course NASCAR caught onto that it seems a lot faster then they have this time. Sounds like NASCAR will be holding a meeting tonight to discuss what happened at Saturday's race. It has been said that what Clint did was just to get back at Jeff Gordon for the race last fall in Phoenix when Jeff took Clint out of the race and ending any chance Clint had to win the championship. I call bull crap on that because what Jeff did just affected Clint and Clint alone and what Clint did was change the outcome of the chase for 4 teams. In my opinion what NASCAR needs to do is bring the hammer down and very hard on the whole MWR company. This is unexceptable to the highest degree. 

THIS JUST IN NASCAR SLAMS DOWN HARD ON MWR 

Welcome to the chase Ryan Newman. In an unprecidented move NASCAR has come down and come down HARD on the MWR racing team as a whole. With a whopping $300,000 fine and spotter/General Manager/Executive Vice President Ty Norris was suspended indefinitely and Martin Truex's team was docked all 3 teams 50 driver and championship owner points and those points were assessed PRE chase seating, knocking Martin Truex back to 691 points and back to 17th in points therefore eliminating him from the second wild card spot and giving the 12th and final spot back to Ryan Newman. Along with that all 3 crew chiefs - Brian Pattie (15) Scott Miller (55) and Chad Johnston (56) have all been placed on NASCAR probation until December 31st. Clint Bowyer, the whole reason this all happened in the first place, got away with no real penalty for his part in the fiasco except the 50 points which effectively done nothing to hurt him. Which I seriously think is wrong for NASCAR to leave him out of the punishment and more then the 50 points should of been assessed, but I do believe this was a step in the right direction for NASCAR, they had to hit hard and fast on this issue to tell the other teams that actions like this taken by the teams, will be delt with and delt with in a swift and harsh mannor. If they had not come down on this issue hard, they possible would of had the same problem at the season finally in Homested. 

Ok onto bigger and better news for today. It is official, Ryan Newman will be driving the  Richard Childress number 31 with partial sponsorship by CAT, I would be surprised if Quicken Loans and the Outback don't go with him to RCR. Also on related news the entire crew including the Crew Chief of the 31 will stay with the 31 team. Ryan thinks the fact that Richard Childress racing does everything "in house" from engines to hanging the body, will help him be able to compete at a higher level. The team he is currently with, Stewart-Haas racing, gets engines and chasis and technical support from Hendrick Motorsports. With Ryan's engineering degree from Purdue, he will be a great asset for the Richard Childress company. Next year wont be easy for RCR, with grandson Austin Dillon going to the whats now 29 team, word is the 3 will be back on that car when the season starts next year, Paul Menard will be the lead driver on the team, that is if you go by seniority, my guess is Austin will be the top dog in the stable. 

More problems for NASCAR in the Nationwide Series, The final restart had many crying FOUL, specially home town boy Brian Scott. Brian led 339 of 350 laps and on the last restart it was painfully clear that Brad Keselowski jumped the restart and after the race NASCAR came out and admitted as much, but the way NASCAR sees it, when they crown the winner everyone goes home knowing who won the race and not much will change the lineup, including a mistake they agree they made. What should of happened is Brad fall back and give Brian the lead back and if the driver doesn't give the position back they get the black flag, if this all sounds familier it should, this was the case when Jimmie Johnson jumped the restart on Juan Montoya a few months back. Jimmie was black flagged and had to do a pass through down pit lane. Brian handled it very nicely. Hang in there Brian because the wins are coming and soon. 

Folks I wanted to get this published because of the breaking news so I will end this at this time and try to do some more on this story tomorrow after we get some reactions to the penalty. 

Until later.........

AFTER ATLANTA

I Didn't get to do a preview before Atlanta, life gets too busy some times I guess and I get in a slacker mood from time to time and this happened to be one of those times.

I also did not get to watch the racing action this weeked because I was spending much needed time with my wife, it was just the 2 of us this weekend and we calls those opportunity's "date night" but thanks to Sprint and NASCAR I can still keep up with the action using NASCAR Race View Mobile 13 and NASCAR Mobile 13 to watch and listen to the race along with catch updates on whats going on. Last night we actually did catch some great short track racing at our local short track, Meridian Speedway, and I took my phone, portable battery charger, and my ear buds and listened to the race thanks to PRN and the Race View App. When I got home I checked NASCAR.com and YouTube because I heard that there was a slap I had to check out. Only comment on that is, sometimes racing is hard and doesn't always go the way you think it should and if you can't handle it then maybe you should stay home and not come watch your boyfriend race. I think Max handled it just fine by just letting it pass without a slap fest ensuing.

Looks like Kyle Busch is ready to finally make a run at a championship. He has changed quite a bit since being married, usually happens to the best of us when we find the correct woman to support what we do, same goes for women who find the right men....ie my wife finding me lol. With 4 wins this season and the momenum hitting at the right time, I can see him being a honest challenger for the cup. The only thing he needs to figure out is how to be succesful in the chase, because once he gets there his history in the chase is not so great. In the chase Kyle has a best finish of 5th and a 10th, 10th, 8th and a 12th. The trend is not a good one, but with a possible starting spot of 3rd behind Matt and Jimmie, he might finally be ready to challenge for the Holy Grail of NASCAR, the coveted NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. With a dominating performance last night, he is ready to make a statement going into the final race before the chase. He is definitely proven that he will be a force to reckon with.

I did expect a little more last night from Carl Edwards, even to the point where I added him to my NASCAR fantasy league for the first time this season. He was fast in practice, fast in qualifying, but when it came race time, he seemed to do ok at the beginning, but the dismal 18th place finish was not what one could come to expect from Carl, specially at a place like Atlanta where Ford's actually do very well, much like Texas and Michigan. He's now tied with Kevin Harvick at 795 points with only 1 win this season.

Another driver having a bad day, Clint Bowyer, he's not having very good luck just when he needed to pick up the pace and try to score a win or two to get the good vibrations rolling to maintain the good position when they reshuffle the teams going into the Chase. As it stands he'll be down there with Dale Jr fighting over 9th and 10 place trying to gain on the guys with all the extra bonus points. Of course his bad fish of 39th really wasn't his doing, going out early with a blown motor, it's not what you want to be worried about with one race left in the regular season. With him and Toyota teammate Denny Hamlin both scoring blown motors(both JGR and MWR get their motors from Toyota Racing Development) and this not being the first time Toyota has had engine problems this season, one has to wonder what they got going on over at TRD. Denny said they were testing some things, being the guinea pig for their teammates in the Chase, but when Clint blew his motor you have to wonder if they could of been related.

Speaking of bad luck.....Kasey Kahne couldn't have worse luck and the most inopportune time. He's fighting for a chase spot with a wild card fight of his life. He's got the Chase spot wrapped up with the 2 wins, but ultimately will probably start 11 with no bonus points because he's outside the top ten. Would be better to slip into tenth so he could use the bonus points to skip him from 10th to 4th in the points. But hanging onto 12th won't cut it and will give him a long climb if he has any hope of capturing the championship. 10 points behind 10th place Kurt Busch shouldn't be all that hard to overcome, but with 1 race left and Kurt doing so well, it could prove to become a handful, specially if the not so great luck continues.

Jimmie Johnson.....wow! Another bad race, yeah he can afford to try some things before the Chase that might help in the Chase, but with several bad finishes right before the Chase starts? Momentum is definitely not in his corner and one has to wonder what's got them finishing so far back in the pack so many weeks in a row. With a 40th place at Michigan, 36th at Bristol, and now a 28th at Atlanta where he has 13 top 10s in his career with 3 wins is just not how the 5 time champion wants to go into the last race before the Chase starts. Only one time in the 5 consecutive championship years he's had a finish out of the top 15 and that was a 36th place finish in 2009. In the other 4 years 13th was the worst with 2 wins mixed in with 7 top 10's. The pressure is on and he's always dealt with the pressure very well. Could his mind be on the fact that his wife is due any time now with baby number 2? Guess we will see in the next few weeks. Right now after the reshuffle he will be in second behind Matt Kenseth who has 5 wins to Jimmie's 4. That is unless he wins next week at Richmond, the finally stop before the reshuffle.
Jimmie has 3 wins at Richmond with a 12 place finish earlier this year. 5 top 5's, 8 top 10s, with an average start of 12.7 and an average finish of 16.3. It's not a bad track for Jimmie, a win is definitely not out of the question.

Want to say a congratulations to Chase Elliott on his win at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, he is now the youngest NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner at a ripe old age of 17.

Sam Hornish Jr continues to be the points leader in the Nationwide series with a 10 point lead over Austin Dillon. Elliott Sadler, Regan Smith, and Justin Allgaier round out the top 5, with my home town boy Brian Scott in 7th, 67 points out of first place. With yet another "Cup regular" winning the Nationwide race, Kevin Harvick pretty much owned Atlanta on Saturday. It would be fitting to see Sam take the championship, he's having a great season.

Until next time........

TV deals and Road courses

    Let me start with the television deal set  to go into place in 2015 and run through 2025. We now have 3 networks broadcasting 38 races, with a 4th channel doing other shows along with some qualifying and practice days also. Those are TNT, Speed (turns into Fox Sports 1 in a week or so, we will get into that in just a minute) ESPN/ABC, and Fox, right now the only channel not on a cable network, but that's about to change. As most of you probably know, Fox bought the Speed Channel and will be changing the name to Fox Sports 1, which will now turn into an all sports network and will show everything stick and ball, that's right, no more motorsports based channel. All that cool programming will either have to be picked up by another network, or just go bye bye. With the network change will come a drastic change in NASCAR coverage. Fox also picked up 3 of the races that formerly TNT had, that's right, HAD. TNT along with ESPN will end the their NASCAR broadcasts at the conclusion of the 2014 season. It will then just be Fox and NBC, who also has a sports channel on cable, and fans, those 2 sports cable channels will hold about 85% of the races with just 16 races being on network television. 16......so the remaining 22 races including most of the chase races will be on cable. Oh did I happen to say that the new Fox Sports 1 wants a huge jump in money from the cable and satellite companies? Right now they do not have a deal with any cable or satellite provider because of the substantial raise in money. Jumping from around .25 cents a customer they now want .80 cents a customer. If they reach a deal with providers, as of right now Fox Sports 1 will be the only channel I get, so I will miss the second half of the season entirely.
    This deal brought a GIGANTIC amount of money to NASCAR, we are talking billions of dollars, with NBC paying 4.4 billion and Fox choking up 3.8 billion dollars....just over 8 billion dollars, 8.2 billion, that's $8,200,000,000 of which 65% goes to the tracks, 25% goes to the teams through the points earnings, and 10% goes to NASCAR its self. The sad thing about this is, that means more boogity boogity crap that makes me want to mute the sound....Hopefully this all works out and my provider will pick up both channels and I can at least watch them, the problem is when money gets tight, the first thing people start dropping is cable and satellite TV because lets face it, cable/satellite isn't cheap and its not getting any cheaper and its a want not a need.

I will say this about Pocono, THANKFULLY JIMMIE DID NOT WIN!!! That was probably one of the best races in a long time at Pocono, I was totally predicting a snore fest and it actually was not a bad race. The last couple restarts made for some great racing action and I for one was unable to predict who was going to win, just when it looked like Kasey Kahne was going to get it, along comes teammate Jeff Gordon and he stole the lead on a restart, then when it looked like Jeff was going to cruise to the win, another caution came out and the restart brought us another surprise, Kasey regained the lead. It was actually a fun race to watch. Yes they did get spread out during the middle of the race, but the commentary and the TV coverage showed the whole race all race long and I think they did a great job.

ROAD COURSES
   
    Ok who is excited for the road courses this weekend? ME! I love road courses specially when Marcus Ambrose is racing, the winner of the last 2 races at Watkins Glen. He is so good at road courses he has to be the favorite this weekend. Between him and Juan Montoya, Jeff Gordon, and new road course winner Martin Truex Jr, even Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch, and lets not forget NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski, and hey, lets also not forget AJ Allmendinger either,  he will be in the 47 this weekend, and his first and only NASCAR win in the Nationwide Series came just a couple weeks ago at what kind of track? yeah that's right a road course. Watkins Glen is a fast road course with long straightaways, and some sharp corners, I personally like this road course more then the one is California.
    In the first practice Martin Truex Jr paced the track with a best lap of 127.238mph with a lap time of 69.319, with Marcus Ambrose coming in second, Carl Edwards 3rd and Juan Montoya 4th and Casey Mears 5th. The second practice Carl Edwards paced the field with Michael McDowell coming in second, Clint Bowyer 3rd, Juan coming in 4th and Brad Keselowski coming in 5th. With qualifying only a few minutes away, with the new qualifying format, who do you think has the better chance to claim the pole? Starting up front here is very important because the farthest back anyone has come from to go on to win was 18th and that was Steve Park in 2000. Closer to the front is a must here. Also driving a Chevy has been a big plus here also, with 16 wins by a Chevy, 7 from Fords, 4 Pontiac's, 1 each for Buick, Mercury, and Toyota.


Until next time........

p.s. I get almost all of my NASCAR facts from a great website that is so full of information that I haven't even touched the surface of information this website has to offer and it is www.racingreference.info. Go check it out, it has everything you could want to know and more about all kinds of racing, not just NACAR.
    

INDY AND BEYOND

    First I will say sorry that it has taken me so long to get the second half of this topic done. Work has finally picked up and I have been busy, busy, busy.
Second lets get to on to Eldora Speedway and what I thought of the racing action there.
    Never actually going to a dirt race before I was very interested to see the racing action at this track. Would love to see it in person because being a race fan,  watching a race on a dirt track is like number 2 on the bucket list. Do I think it lived up to all the hype? That's the question I have been trying to answer for myself since I watched the race last week. In some instances, yes it did live up to what was hyped, but....yes there are always buts in a statement like that isn't there? Only a few times during the night of racing did I think it met expectations. The problem I seen and my son even commented on it, it didn't look like dirt to me, not the dirt that I would of imagined that it was. It looked like asphalt with golf ball size holes all along the track. When I thought dirt I was thinking something very different. I was not thinking hard packed clay that looked like it was so hard it could be used for paving. The racing action at times (mostly restarts) looked like what I envisioned, but other times it looked like the same thing we see on most asphalt races, single file no passing, ok wait wait just a second, don't start yelling at me yet. I know there are a lot of dirt track fans that don't see it like I do, we heard what Tony Stewart said about passing isn't racing after Indy, well actually yes Tony, passing is a very big part of racing and a very important part. Passing at that track was much like Indy in that, if you didn't set your truck up to run the very bottom of the track you had to run right against the wall as the winner of the race did. Only a few drivers had to run the bottom and it looked like that only 2 drivers really made that work for them, Ron Hornaday and Kenny Schrader. Watching Kenny go down to the bottom and slide it sideways in the turns trying to gain spots was exactly what I thought dirt racing was all about. In the top groove you couldn't sling the truck around and slide through the corners because, as I think every driver learned, you hit the wall and crinkle the right rear of your truck. I don't think even 1 truck escaped the right rear fender crunch, they all had the 100 mph tape on the right rear.
    Congratulations to Austin Dillon for winning the first ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Race on dirt at Eldora Speedway. Lets try this again next year and see if they can improve the track just a tad bit. I'm sure Tony would love to have them back next season and I am sure NASCAR would love to have them back there also. Folks that's the first time since maybe the first couple races at Iowa that a truck race sold out and it sold out extremely fast. That was a good sign, lets hope that race got a few more fans to say they need to go see one in person.

ON TO INDY

    Only one way to describe this race...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. BOOOORRRRRIIIINNNNG!!! This is one race on the list of ones that I can skip next year and not feel bad to just read what happened online. The highlight of the race for me was seeing if Dale Jr could come back from a lap 13 loose wheel, pit stop, and losing a lap. And he did, he came back and finished 6th. When Jimmie Johnson was out front and leading the race like by what seemed like 100 miles, I was wishing and chanting "anyone but Jimmie, PLEASE!!!!!" Now I am in no way whatsoever a fan of Ryan Newman, in my opinion he is a mediocre driver at best, but staying with my "anyone but Jimmie" pleading, I was praying the racing gods would let him, a native Indiana boy, actually win the race and as we all know he did and he was way out front with Jimmie only hoping he would blow a tire or have a last lap engine failure. Maybe even then, with the 2.657 second lead he could of just coasted to the victory.

    Now on to the passing issue. I don't give 2 flying figs what Tony Stewart says, passing is a very big part of racing and I think a huge problem with the lack of fans putting their butts in the seats at the track is the racing action. NOBODY really wants to spend all that money to go to a race, yes I used to go to 2 races a year and each race costs me about $2500 to $3000 to go to, now I only go to one because of the cost, and watch single file, follow the leader racing. As you can see in that statement, yes I also think cost of the races is the second major factor in the slow seat sells. But folks, that race sucked. There were 20 passes for the lead......only 1 was actually a pass on the track, the other passes were on pit road, yes you read that right, 19 passes on pit road, 1 pass for the lead on the track. That doesn't make for a good race and the fans are voicing that by not going to the races. The stands at Indianapolis were virtually EMPTY, I never heard the seat count, but usually when they are that empty 2 things can happen, they either don't report it, or they inflate the numbers a little so it doesn't sound so bad. But man they sure didn't fill the seats. What I thought was funny is the NASCAR Mobile 13 app, they put the race on the screen as a 3D rendering of the race, actually looks like a cartoon, even showed the empty seats, not sure how that works, but it did.
    The racers and crews think the racing was good, in their eyes they don't see what the fans see. They look at it with a different perspective though, they see it from a strategy point of view and not from a fan point of view. The majority of the fans want to see side by side for the lead racing and as of late, there have been very few tracks that actually provide that. The short tracks, road courses, and......that's it. The 1 1/2 mile tracks and bigger have produced boring, single file, follow the leader, snorefests. Now I have no idea what to do about the style of racing that we are seeing, I don't know what the answer is on how to fix what we are seeing. I hate saying this, but I think the folks at Fontana had the right idea for the race there this season, they shortened the race from 500 miles to 400 miles and they helped make that race a little better then what it once was. I still think that track needs a little more help to make it a great race. I would like to see them shorten that track by a little bit and bank the turns a few degrees more and see what that could do for the racing action. I think most of the races on the bigger tracks need to be shortened to give the sense of urgency to the teams and maybe, just maybe make it a little more racy.
    Indy was and has been a terrible race for a long timeas far as the racing goes. Even the IRL have had boring races and seeing fans not showing up at that track. The race, from my point of view, was not much of a race, would the way the TV coverage is presented help these races seem more exciting then they actually are? Yes I think the way its covered might help the fans at home, but as far as the fans in the stands, I'm not sure. No passing for the lead, no side by side racing except the first few laps after a restart, no excitement during the race, this is not the product a fan wants to see. I have been to several tracks on the NASCAR circuit, everything from Talladega to Phoenix, Vegas, and a few in between. Even Phoenix has changed the shape of the track trying to make the racing more exciting. It has helped the racing action there as far is what you see when your at the track. The banked turns (just a little banking made a big difference because it was virtually a flat track before) and then they changed the back stretch turn just a little and that has got the drivers trying something different to get through that little turn by going on the apron which has proven to be challenging. Do you know that Indy has a road course also at the track? hmm maybe they should use part of the road course there and do the half oval half road course race thing and see how that works to make it exciting. Much like the 24 hour race at Daytona does, that might help that race become something better then what it is. Just my crazy idea.

    On to Pocono this weekend, what will we see here this weekend? Looking like another Jimmie Johnson blow out. But most important, will it be yet another single file, spread out, boring race? Yes I am afraid so. This is another one of those tracks that needs a little help. They get so strung out with the leader usually being anywhere from 2 to 7 and even 10 seconds ahead of second place. The one bright spot is with the rules changes awhile back, they can once again shift in the corners, that always has a chance to break something if its done wrong and could lead to a few seconds of excitement. With Jimmie on the pole, can he take that all the way to the checkered flag and sweep this years 2 races at Pocono? After he was disappointed with a measly 2nd place finish last weekend, look for him to stay out front all race long and do it in a dominating fashion as he tends to do.

Until next time.........
P.S. I will try and include my opinion on the TV contracts signed by NASCAR with NBC and Fox for 2015 and beyond.

Pre Indy-Post Eldora

    Well I am going to do a short one this morning and follow up tonight with a little longer version because I feel Eldora deserves a little more that the one line comment I am about to make here. So look for a longer post after the race.

    Wednesday's Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway was hyped to the max, did it live up to the hype? I have never seen a stock car race on dirt before. So did it live up to what I expected? Was it the awesome race they hyped it to be? Read later tonight to find out.

    Nationwide races for the first time at Indy..... was this a smart move? Was there any excitement? Or was it single file boring race that Indy seems to bring to the fans? Much like the races of the Cup Series? I have seen on twitter and facebook that some reporters have described it as a snoozer and think it should go back to IRP or ORP or whatever they call it now. Should the Nationwide winner kiss the bricks? I have seen that as an early morning twitter question today also? What do you think?

    Sprint Cup race in about an hour, who's going to win today? Can Juan finally break through on an oval and collect such a needed win in NASCAR? Will there be another first time winner? Or maybe a first time winner at Indy? Or will Jimmie stink up another race? Can Kyle do what he did yesterday in the Nationwide race? Will Danica even finish on the lead lap? Or not end up in a wreck as she does most weekends? Will the world of NASCAR ever stop writing stupid stories about such a non issue driver like Danica? Oh I got the answer to that one...no they wont because she is the second highest cash cow in NASCAR. Stay tuned as I reveal my thoughts and Ideas right after today's race.

                           Until later..........

NASCAR at New Hampshire

    Well a few things to report as the first practice is under way at New Hampshire. As everyone knows, it was announced "officially" that Kevin Harvick will be going over to Stewart-Haas racing in the number 4 budweiser Chevy. That left several questions that needs answered. Richard Childres has already said 3 cars next season and possible a 4th car, no names have been even speculated about, but one, grandson Austin Dillon, car number? Looks more and more like the 3 will hit the cup track again next season with Dillon behind the wheel. No sponsor announcements on that car as of yet.
    Another question was, where does this leave Ryan Newman? Well we now know, he is out at the end of the season at Stewart-Haas, again looking for a ride. Tony did say that he would do anything he could to help Ryan find another driving job, but they were not ready to start a 4th team. The stable was full with the 4, 10, and 14. Personally I think they got rid of the wrong driver, but that's my opinion only.
    So what cars are open next year in cup? Ummmm......... Right now, can not think of one that could be open. Maybe someone could convince Joe Gibbs to start a 4th team? Maybe Rousch goes back to 4? Maybe....maybe there just isn't a ride out there right this moment, but knowing Ryan is now open to talk to other teams, this might force an owner to think hard about starting another team or doing a driver switch. With it only being July, anything is possible.
    Oh and can I say this.....only 8 races left until the start of the chase? Heard that today and cant believe it. I actually went to a schedule and looked, sure enough, only 8 races left until the chase starts. Wow! With the races counting down, the 8th-15th in points are really close and anyone could get on a hot streak and climb their way into the chase. Could guys like Kasey Kahn, Jeff Gordon, and series Champion Brad Keselowski not make the chase? Let alone 3 time champ Tony Stewart he is only 6 points ahead of the 56 driven my Martin Truex Jr. Tony and Martin both have 1 win this season and either could make it under the wild card provision.

    No I didn't forget about last weeks race at Daytona. I used to be a big fan of the 2 super speedways on the schedule, not so much anymore. These races are a snooze fest if you ask me. Again like the mile and a half tracks, once the lead car clears the car beside him on a restart, its pretty much over. Its way to hard to pass. For those of you that remember the "sling shot" move of the 80's and 90's, folks those days are so long gone its pathetic. Maybe it was a little, Jimmie Johnson freaking won again, and the fact that there didn't seem to be any way to pass the guy who was in front, because as we see, blocking was key and at any cost....like blocking a driver who ended up wrecking your teammate that you left hanging to block the car that was actually going to pass you. I think the short tracks is where the racing is the best, but hasn't that always been the case? NASCAR was founded on the short tracks across the southeast, maybe its time we put them in forefront and limit the tracks over 1.5 miles. There just isn't anything exciting to talk about when it comes to last weeks race. So much so I just cant think of anything else to report other then it seemed like a let down from times past. The sad part is looking in the stands at these races, from trucks to cup, and seeing empty seats.....a lot of empty seats.

Until next time...........

RYAN NEWMAN TO RACE ELDORA

Breaking news: Ryan Newman to race at Eldora speedway, a dirt track on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule, for Turner motorsports.
Today Ryan is testing at a dirt track in north Carolina. More details later as I get them.

Kentucky bumpy

    Well how about that.....first time I really can't say....Where did he come from! Matt Kenseth wins number 4 at Kentucky Speedway, also his 4th win this season on a 1 1/2 track, um there have been 5 mile and a half tracks so I think Matt and his crew chief have figured out this car on the D shaped ovals.
    From the truck race straight through the cup race, it was a good racing weekend for NASCAR. Attendance was low, but we can probably put some of that blame on the weather. Just a little of course, these mile and a half tracks are still a tad boring.
    Ty Dillon wins his first race of the season, in what's arguably NASCAR's best racing series at the track as far as racing action. These guys and gals have to be spot on right off the truck because they don't have much time to adjust anything during the short truck series races. Ty keeps improving and showing he's not just another Dillon, or not just Richard's grandson. He's making a name for himself quickly as a top contender in NASCAR's Truck Series.
    In the Nationwide Series last weekend it was yet another Cup regular, Brad Keselowski, that went on to take the checkered flag. The Nationwide Series regulars are going to need some help if they are going to actually win races in this series. When the cup teams top drivers come down and invade the lower series it's hard for the regular drivers to compete. What can be done about it? That's the million dollar question with no real solution that anyone is willing to do. When you ask a Nationwide regular what they think of the cup boys coming down to race, what can they say, but yeah we like it. Like it or not it's reality that they will continue to race all the while the commercials NASCAR puts out sends the message that it's still a feeder series.
     On too the Kentucky Sprint Cup race. It looked like another, leader gets clean air and runs away from the pack race, well actually that's what it was. Jimmie Johnson looked to have the only car that could pull out and run away from the pack. With the tire coming off Denny Hamlin's car and damaging Hendrick teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr's and Jimmie Johnson's car, Jimmie got the better end of that deal by pushing down the hood a little therefore giving him a little right side down force help while it wrinkled the splitter of Dale Jr's car and ending his hopes of winning.
   The final caution of the day Matt Kenseth and his crew chief figured track position was key and went with fuel only to lead them to the green flag, and after a couple restart tries, he managed to keep it together and stay out front for a great win. Although Jimmie wasn't happy with Matt and his restarts, it didn't seem to bother Matt at all.
    Fire, fire......
What a crash for Greg Biffle, Brad, Paul, Austin Dillon, Dave Blaney, and Travis Kvapil. Anyone think to themselves or even maybe say it "that was a damn bone headed move by Kurt Busch!" I did asking with a few other choice words. That was an idiot move at best. Everyone knew that section of the apron has a big ol bump in it and at speed, would probably have that exact outcome. Driver after driver said it. I hope lesson learned.
    On to this weekend...Well actually I'm late so on to today( I'll get the blog for last night's race tomorrow along with tonight's race..) We know the outcome of the Nationwide race so I'll leave that for tomorrow. Cup race today should be interesting, hearing the name Dale Earnhardt Jr out of a few people at the track this weekend, he's got a bounce in his step and a smirk on his face and is in a particularly good mood. No secret he likes this track and this style of racing in this car is more to his liking. Jeff Gordon has been a name on everyone's lips too, he hasn't won a race since last season's closer at Homestead, actually he hasn't really been a contender in any race this season except maybe 1 race, strange things keep cropping up and he's had a few bad finishes. What I'm not hearing is any Ford talk, the Ford's have had a rough start to the season with no really showings except maybe Carl Edwards. Can they pull it off and grab a win away from Chevy or Toyota? We will find out in just a few hours....let the racing begin!

Until next time........
 

Road courses galore!!!

AJ WINS, AJ WINS

    Well the header says it all. What a great weekend of road course firsts. In the Nationwide race at Road America in Wisconsin, AJ Allmendinger gets his first ever NASCAR win driving the number 22  Discount Tire Ford Mustang owned by the Capitan himself, Roger Penske. Second chances are a great thing and this weekend proved it. AJ dominated that race from the green flag. Leading 29 of the 55 laps, Billy Johnson, driving for Jack Roush, was the only other driver leading double digit laps with 10.

    Excitement was the word of the day on Saturday, with several cautions late in the race, the leader was one of several cars that wasn't sure they could make it to the end on fuel. With all the cautions and a couple tries with the green/white/checkered finish, AJ was able to hold off second place finisher Justin Allgaier. Late in the race AJ had trouble with only one driver, Billy Johnson, a road course ringer, they banged doors more then once in the last 20 or so laps with Johnson bumping AJ out of his way, putting AJ back about 6th place, AJ quickly passed a couple cars to get back into 4th right before another caution came out. After that bump by Johnson, AJ came on the radio and said that the 16 had one coming and on the next restart did his own version of the bump and run on Johnson and then made short work of then leader Justin Allgaier to overtake the lead for the last time in what was a scheduled 50 lap race that ended up to be 55 laps.
  
    As you can guess the victory burn out and the victory lane celebration were very sweet for the one time troubled AJ Allmendinger. With his slow climb back from the ditches of a failed NASCAR drug test right before the race in Kentucky in 2012, he couldn't seem to thank Roger Penske enough for the second chance in his post race victory interview, and rightfully so. Roger never gave up on AJ, kept in contact with AJ during his "road to recovery," the NASCAR version of rehab, and his subsequent return to get back behind the wheel of anything race related. Driving for troubled NASCAR cup series owner James Finch in the number 51 and driving the first of 5 races last week for the number 47 JTG-Dougherty team hasn't gotten him the results he's wanted quite yet but I'm thinking with his great performance on Saturday, more teams have taken notice that AJ is serious about his recovery and his racing in NASCAR in the future. And I believe with this performance, and his amazing positive attitude, he will soon find a ride in either the Cup series or the Nationwide series before the years end.

MARTIN TRUEX JR PULLS OFF THE WIN

    Ok I'm saying it again, where the hell did he come from? A first time road course winner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Martin Truex Jr, in only his second win in the cup series (the first coming at Dover in the number 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy owned by now defunct DEI)
    Now Martin has been in the lead late in races before, many times, but always something crazy happens right before he got to take the checkers. This time however, he absolutely dominated the race, leading a whopping 51 of 110 laps. There wasn't another car even close to him on the last lap and not one, I believe, that could of had something for him even if there was late race caution. Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch maybe could of kept him in sight had they been closer, but the number 56 NAPA Toyota was a rocket ship on wheels.

    Kurt Busch sped on pit road twice and ended up a lap down because of it, but with a great car and a touch of determination unseen in Kurt that didn't lead to a blow up (not the car, but Kurt himself doing the blowing up.) And I think he did a great job recovering with a 4th place finish. His brother Kyle didn't have the same luck though and finished a terrible 35th place. Not because he had a bad car, he just had a ton of bad luck. Anyone count how many times he spun out? Did TNT even show all of the spin outs?

    Speaking of bad luck.... several drivers had even worse days then Kyle, Bobby Labonte for one. That poor guy didn't even get to take a lap in the race because of a broken oil cooler, the 51, driven by Jacques Villeneuve, was on jack stands when the green flag flew and the 52 driven by Paulie Harraka, ran into the back of another car while they were coming onto the track from pit road to take their parade laps before the race.

    Tony Stewart ran out of talent and spun Jeff Burton out for no apparent reason other then running out of talent. And that's sad too because Jeff Burton has had some terrible luck in recent years and was starting the upward swing with several top ten finishes in a row before Tony pushed him out of the way. Tony finished 28th right in front of his driver in 29th, Darrell Waltrips sliced bread driver, Danica Patrick. Some thought she might have a better showing, but she had yet another bad day of racing. Even with the 29th place finish, she managed several mentions on tv for some reason. While teammate Ryan Newman with a 15th place finish, sorry folks no blooming onion, managed to give at least a decent showing for the Stewart-Haas team. Finally he was the one bright spot for the team.

    The Hendrick racing team managed all 4 cars in the top 12 this week, I'm sure they were happy to all be running at the end with all the problems they had last week at Michigan. Jeff Gordon finished a respectable 2nd, while Kasey Kahne finished 6th, Jimmie Johnson finished 9th and Dale Earnhardt Jr finished 12th.

   Top 10 in points after this week in order, Jimmie Johnson maintains his lead with Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Dale Jr, Greg Biffle(tied for 6th with Jr) Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr finishing off the top ten.

    Can Denny Hamlin make the run into the top 20 and win some races? After Sundays race it's not looking very good. He has a very long way to go and the chances are starting to dwindle quickly. He's 83 points behind 20th place Jeff Burton.

    Next week all 3 top NASCAR series are in Kentucky. Can the fans survive yet another boring race at Kentucky Speedway, where the most exciting thing to happen at that track is watching the fans attempt to get into the track grounds and then get out again after its all over? Are they ready for single file, follow the leader, snoozfest! Will we have another first time winner? How about another winner that hasn't won in awhile? Only time will tell.

Until next time.........

Michigan Stunner

    Well I have to say this, I was shocked that Greg Biffle actually was the Ford to win. Ford's 1000th win, and it was not Carl Edwards, who by the way said Greg wasn't his teammate, (Carl has had problems with every Rousch teammate to date thus far, not a shocker here at all that he would say something like that) after not helping him get some garbage off his front grill. So now 3 weeks in a row I have to say this about the race winner.....where the hell did he come from?
    Actually a good part of the top ten kind of surprises me, starting with Toyota driver Martin Truex's top 3 finish, and 4th place Kyle Busch. Now I am not surprised that Kyle got a good finish, but after the last couple weeks I am shocked that with reduced horse power, Toyota made such a great showing. With 4 of the top 10 being Toyota's, they seemed to have solved the horse power problems because Michigan is a horse power track...not to mention a track that has to have an engine that will last at sustained high RPM's throughout the entire race and its not secret that Toyota has had more then their fare share of problems as of late.

    Jeff Burton has had yet another great race, finishing 10th yet again, yes only the 3rd top 10 this season, but hat team is finally showing a little forward motion and that is a good thing. They have been struggling for so long that they might just be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone in the garage likes Jeff and it would be great to see him in the winners circle again.

Now JTG Daugherty did something that a few teams have done before....put another driver in their car to see if they can get some different information and try and find where they are going wrong. Red Bull did it to one of their drivers, the same driver that JTG Daughery put in their car this last weekend and 4 more weekends of racing. A.J. Allmendinger got to put his seat in the 47 while the normal driver, 2000 NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte ( who got into the 51 James Finch car) got to scramble to to find another ride to continue a streak of consecutive starts in NASCAR's premier series(that streak is now 705 races) Now A.J. finished in the top 20, placing 19th this weekend, which is not bad since that team has struggled to finish in the top 20 this season. With only 2 previous finishes in the top 20 this season, a 15th at Daytona and a 19th at Richmond, the team sits 30th in points. A.J. is hungry to not only have a break out win in NASCAR's elite series, but he is dying to prove once again, after his suspension for violating NASCAR's drug policy, that he can race and that sponsors and teams should put him in a car full time because he can get it done. And I for one sure hope he gets that chance. I enjoy watching A.J. race and I also think he has paid his dues and needs that chance to get into a quality ride. Maybe Roger Penske can see fit to give him another chance.

Ok I have put it off long enough.....what the hell happened to the Hendirck Racing team? Jeff wrecks in like lap 1, Junior blows and engine, and Kasey and Jimmie also hit the wall. This weekend cost poor(I use that word loosely because Rick has plenty of cash at hand) Rick a ton of money and also cost Jimmie a lot of points , now only 31 ahead of Carl Edwards.This is the second engine that Junior has blown this season. What had to be going through Jimmie Johnsons mind when he noticed his 3 teammates all had issues? Probably the same thing he was thinking after he himself hit the wall. Next week I look for Jeff and Jimmie to rebound at Sonoma and also Kasey does a nice job on the road courses so look for him to be there at the end. Can Dale Junior put one together at a track he has struggled at? He doesn't do to bad at Watkins Glen, but Sonoma not so much. With a 23rd in 2012, 41st in 2011, 11th in 2010, 26th in 2009, see the trend? He dropped from 4th to 7th in the points. While in the lead at Michigan he said that the car was bad fast before it blew the engine. I think once he got the lead he was going to be the car to beat, but having the lead yesterday was dangerous for the Hendrick team. Teammate Kasey Kahne had the lead and something gave way and he slammed the wall, presumably he blew a tire before hitting the wall a ton. On twitter Kasey said it was a very hard hit and was the first time he had to pull the fire extinguisher to put out a fire in the car.

Ok ok this one is for my long time friend Darrick. Yes Danica had a good finish yesterday, finishing 13th and she didn't crash and she actually finished on the lead lap. I am interested to see how she does slinging a 3500 pound car around a road course next week. I mean she did come from the IRL and Cart world, you would think she would be some what good at it, although she has stated many times she isn't a fan of road courses and this fendered heavy car will be a lot different then an IRL car on a road course, I wouldn't be surprised to see her get a top 15 at Sonoma. So there you go Darrick, I didn't say anything bad about her this week lol.

    The drivers to keep and eye on this weekend? Marcose Ambrose, 2 time winner at Watkins Glen, Juan Pablo Montoya, always a threat at a road course because not only can he win on a road course, he has and he even knocked his own teammate out of the way for the win( believe that was the Nationwide race in Mexico at the 2007 Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200 at Audodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and Scott Pruett was the teammate) Also you cant count out drivers like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, and Kyle and Kurt Busch. This is a track I wish Robby Gordon would be racing at because he was so fun to watch on road courses. Who will I pick on my fantasy team....? I probably wont even know until I actually hit the save button. Too many good road course drivers and not enough spots or money to pick them all.

    Until next time.........

POCONO: shorter race not so short on boredom!

        Well another weekend comes and goes and again, Jimmie Johnson racks up a comanding win...just another boring finish at another boring track?
Some people are saying it. Why? Well I will do my best to tell you what I think they mean. Remember its my interprtation of what I am seeing and hearing other people say mixed in with my own opinion. I am not sure which plays a bigger roll in what I am about to say, but here we go.

         Jimmie had such a large lead durring the race that there wasn't anything even close to a pass for a lead while Jimmie was on the track. If someone else took the lead it was because of a green flag pit stop, that once it cycled through, Jimmie was yet again 4 to 4 1/2 seconds in front of second place, hence the boring race as far as action. The only passing you seen was after a caution on the restart for about 1/3 of a lap. Then it went to single file.....follow the leader, if you could even see him.  Which most couldn't until he cam up and passed to putting you a lap down. Which 12 drivers ended up a lap down at the finish and even more were passed, but managed to get their lap back because of either the lucky dog or the free pass. Was there actually passing on the track during a green flag run? Yes there was, farther back in the pack I seen Tony Stewart pass a few cars along the way and I am sure there were plenty more passes during the race mid pack, but does that make it a good race? That seems to be the argument amongst the people who report on  NASCAR on a daily basis. My personal opinion is, I like the race at Pocono if for no other reason then the difference in the shape of the track. 3 distinct corners that they drive like a road course, shifting in the turns, but again does that make a good race? or good racing? I hate saying it, but.....it has not been a very good race as far as action up front. Once the leader gets "clean air" he's a goner. And no passing for the lead makes for a slow or boring race if you ask me. There was no threat once Jimmie cleared whomever started second during the restarts. In my opinion, thats just not racing, thats driving in cirlces fast following the guy in front of you.

            So the question is, what can they do to make the racing more exciting at Pocono? Folks thats the $1,000,000 question and I am not sure anyone has the answer. I know if I did I would be working for NASCAR or Pocono Raceway. From what I have been hearing and reading the concensus is to slow the cars down hoping that will put them in a pack with more side by side racing.....wait.....don't they do that at 2 other tracks and people scream because its too dangerous? I don't think thats the answer. Different tire compound maybe? Too hard they don't wear out and too soft they blow out and we are in the same quandary we were in at Indy a few years ago, changing tires every 10 laps. So....now what? They did a repave a couple years ago, so that didn't help much, but in the long run will it get better? And do we wait to do anything until the track wears in a little before we try something else? Again, another $1,000,000 question.

On to the race itself:

            Well we all know how Jimmie did right? so what about some others that might of surprized you? Like Greg Biffle for instance! I asked a couple weeks ago a question about another driver, (Tony Stewart) where the hell did he come from? Well same can be said for Greg Biffle in Pocono. Greg has not been a factor at all this year, only scoring 2 top 5's this season, one of which was Sunday at Pocono (scoring a second place finish) and 5 top 10's this season, only leading 39 laps. He is in the top 10 right now only 2 points ahead of 11th place Jeff Gordon. Can he now keep the upward swing going and gain some points on the leader or more importantly, score a win or two along the way to help secure his spot in the chase? With the reshuffle of points at the end of race 26, a win or multiple wins are really all that count, the bonus points for the win along with the placement of race winners in the chase are the closing argument when it comes to the points race after race 26. If you don't win at least 1 race, even in the chase, I really don't think you have much of a chance at winning the chamionship, the ultimate goal of all drivers and teams. Now the question with Greg iss, is he running well enough and consistant enough to actually pull off a win? I am going to stretch my neck out and say no, he isn't. Can anyone in a Ford actually challenge Jimmie and his Hendrick Chevrolet for the championship this year? I don't think so. Ford is lacking in the win department with Carl Edwards only collecting 1 win so far this season in Phoenix.
I don't feel Ford is up to snuff yet to make a serious run at Jimmie.

             Clint Bowyer was nowhere to be found last week, partly I think because of the Toyota dialing down the hores power of their engines because of all the engine problems they have had this year. I think he has the talent to run up front and challenge for a championship if Toyota can get the engine problem figured out, he proved that last year.

               Can another Chevy driver bring anything to the table to compete with Jimmie? Dale Jr? Jeff Gordon? Tony Stewart? Maybe even the newly crowned "closer" Kevin Harvick? Maybe, Jeff needs wins, but must first get better finishes which usually lead to a win or 2. Tony needs to Continue with his normal summer swing and win a couple more to get up in points close enough after the points shuffle after race 26. Dale Jr, plain and simple, he needs wins,       more then 1 and he needs to run like he did during the opening 5 or 6 weeks of the season. And Kevin needs to keep his team and himself on the same page and not become the typical lame duck most teams become when the driver is leaving at the end of the year.

                I truely don't think any Toyota driver can come close to competing with Jimmie with all the engine problems they have been having this season, and Ford seems to be missing a little something, but I wouldn't count Jack Rousch out just yet, he has the ability and the smarts to get the right people on whatever has them a little behind and I know Ford wont spare no expense trying to catch up with the Chevy group. That being said I do believe that Carl Edwards is the only Ford driver that has to talent or the ability to keep an eye on a championship. With Ford losing Matt Kenseth to Toyota this season, Carl has to rise to the occasion because he has a long way to go to catch Jimmie.

                 On to Michigan this weekend, can Dale Jr repeat? can Jimmie make it 2 in a row and win at a track that has him perplexed? can Carl or Greg make a run at the win? Fords have dominated the fall race here and is the home of Ford and other Jack Rousch businesses. Will we have a different winner? Will this be another snoozer? This track has that follow the leader style racing of most of the other D shapped mile and a half tracks have, only time will tell. Lets hope its an exciting race with full grandstands.

until next time..........
              

THE MONSTER SPEAKS!!!!!!!

Well I have not posted on here since Martinsville, partly because I have not had time to watch a race and partly because so much has been going on at home I have not had time to think about what to write. This week I actually got to watch the entire race on TV and my wife is gone for a few days so I have time to do a little blogging. Not that she keeps me from blogging, but I enjoy just hanging out with my wife and kids and forget to actually get on the tablet to bang away at the little keyboard. So here we go, my opinion, like it or not lol.....

First the race at the monster mile:

Where the hell did Tony Stewart come from? I will tell you were he came from.....1 lap down to actually come back and win, the 1 and only bright spot for weeks at SHR (Stewart Haas Racing) Ryan Newman has been less then stellar this season. With only 1 top 5 and 6 top tens this year so far and only led 11 laps and no poles this season to date. With an average finish of 19.5, and a contract year when everyone including SHR looking for sponsorship, this in not a year to be in this slump. He needs to be performing to his potential, they can't blame the equipment for sure because if you didn't know, they use Hendrick parts and pieces including engines. So what is it? crew chief? crew? Ryan? Its not a secrete that Kevin Harvick and Bud along with Jimmy Johns, are headed to SHR in the 2014 season, so is it that Ryan sees the writing on the wall? Will Kevin be in the 39 next year and Ryan out looking for another driving job? Of course all this is speculation, but with the lack of performance with the whole SHR team, you have to wonder whats going on over there. Tony, up until this week has had a lack luster year also with 1 win, 1 top 5 and 3 top tens this year.....wow can you believe that, only 3 top tens half way through the season, unthinkable! Of course then you have to factor in the dismal performance by rookie Danica Patrick, her actually being the only SHR driver to score a pole (Daytona 500) and 1 top ten. Average start, 33.7 average finish 27.2 and I cant tell you how many laps she has completed, but its not all of them for sure seeing as most races so far she has been at least 1 lap down. But by the way Darrell Waltrip says it, she's the best non factor driver on the track, because this week they showed her on the broadcast and he said she was doing really good and is hanging in there....she was 5 laps down and finished a drab 24th and like I said, 5 laps down.

Needless to say the team as a whole has 2 bright spots this whole season, the pole at Daytona and Tony winning yesterday. Can this win by Tony turn things around for SHR? You bet it can, they have a wave to ride, all be it is a small wave, Tony could turn it into a hurricane. He is known for his summer fire starters, when the track gets slick, Tony gets rolling.

On to the next subject....Juan Montoya? What the hell was up with that last restart? Was he trying to catch Jimmie off guard? Sure looks like it. Jimmie was a car length past the start box before Juan even hit the gas. Was that call by NASCAR the right one? NASCAR seems to think so. Jimmie didn't think so and I am still on the fence on this one. Jimmie went like he was supposed to, it looked like to me that Juan was playing possum. And it worked. Jimmie got the black flag, Juan went on to.....finish second to Tony. Not what Juan wanted, but with the season he has been having a second is like a win to the EGR team.
Speaking of the EGR team, poor Jamie McMurray, that guy had one hot car, he was doing great running in the top 10 all race long, until his engine blew up, a Hendrick engine to boot. Juan's second place could be the start of something good for him this season. He has been here in NASCAR awhile with only a couple road course wins, that has to be eating away at arguably one of the most talented drivers ever to get behind the wheel.

Jimmie took a hit in the points with this one, but still retains the lead by 30 points over Carl Edwards....speaking of Carl...and the whole Ford team. Where the hell are they? Biffle is struggling to say the least and Ricky Stenhouse is too busy playing footsie with Danica( wrecking her didn't get him laid last week for sure lol) Half way through the season he only has 4 top tens this season. Brad and Joey are lagging a bit also, but that could be understandable with the switch from Dodge to Ford, Brad and Joey losing crew chiefs and engineers for a couple weeks. But in the whole of it Fords have not been a bright spot this year at all. Falling behind at tracks over 1 mile, they seem to be down in horse power compared to the Chevy's and Toyota's. Toyota's seem to have a huge amount of horse power but are lacking in the finishing department. With Pocono coming up next weekend we could see a few Toyota's headed to the garage way early in the race. This is a long race even with the shortened race (reduced from 500 miles to 400 miles) the straightaways are really long and the RPM's have to be right at the max limit for long periods of time. I don't think the Toyotas will be a factor at Pocono this weekend. Denny is trying so hard to get back into the top 20 after his long absence from the seat while healing from a back injury and surgery to fix it. Just can't catch a break,  wrecking with 20 to go in the race and finishing 34th. Matt Kenseth blew and engine ending his great run with a 40th place finish and Kyle Busch finished 4th, the lone bright spot for the JGR team. Kyle had a good weekend all together winning the truck race and a 5th in the Nationwide series. Former teammate Joey Logano takes the win in the NNS (NASCAR Nationwide Series)

The Michael Waltrip team has had an up and down season so far, with Clint Bowyer leading the way in 3rd, 50 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, with Martin Truex who had an awesome race going until the TRG(Toyota Racing Group) engine decided to take a crap and start puffing big plumes of white smoke indicating a blown engine and dropped to 15th in the points. He was aiming for a win here, its been a very long time since his last win, ironically at this same track, but for the now defunct DEI.

Believe it or not Paul Menard is still in the top 10 in points...total shocker to me that mid way through the season and he is still 10th. Can he hang in there and continue to have good finishes? With the equipment he is in, it can happen. I say after the next 6 races if he is still there in 10th spot, he will stay there the remainder of the season....I know, I know, I usually don't speak very highly of Paul, but I must say with crew chief Slugger Labbe, he seems to finally be putting together a good year. Jeff Burton? good finish this weekend, but they are very far and few between. I hate to see Jeff doing so poorly, he is such a great driver and a great person, Jack Rousch used him up in his good years I'm afraid and did to him what he did to Mark Martin and did not give him what he needed to get the championship Jeff deserved.

Last but not least, I can't leave without a shout out to home town boy Brian Scott, driver of the number 2 Shore Lodge car. Holding tough in 8th in the points with some really great runs( although this last weekend was not one of them, he's hanging in there doing really great in that awesome looking Chevy Camaro. His Idaho fans are looking for great things to come later this season for Brian.

Until next time.........

Martinsville...some surprises and then some not so surprised.

HOLY CRAP SHE DIDN'T WRECK!!!

Well Danica surprised me completely, who would of thought that she would of only been in one little fender bender and actually have a top 15 finish? Sure the hell not me. She ran a decent race finishing 12th and on the lead lap. Now, do I think this will be the beginning of good things to come.... sorry, even though I was surprised she finished so well, I actually don't expect it to happen very often if at all again this season, but she shocked me this time, she can probably shock me again, I'm not holding my breath. (Someplace there is a picture on this page of her car crashed, that's how I expected her to finish last weekend, picture came from a USA Today post I found online, hope they don't mind me using it)

One thing that didn't surprise me though, Jimmie Johnson winning his 8th, yes count them 8 Martinsville grand father clocks. And he is the first repeat winner this season..Oh and he did take over the points lead, but not by much and its still very early in the season. Let's hope the trend doesn't continue, I really don't want to see him win yet another championship.

3 Hendrick cars did pretty well, 1 not so much. I would love to be able to ask Steve Latarte what the hell happened to the 88! They went from bad to worse. 3/4 of the way through the race they did find something wrong with the rear end part of the chassis, I hoped finding the problem would of rectified the problems, but seemed to get worse not better. Martinsville has always been a good track for Dale, chock this up for what not to do when they come back later in the year. I don't think this bad luck will continue into Texas though. Site of his first ever Sprint Cup points win(actually was Winston cup back then, don't get me started, in the off season maybe I will give my views on Winston cup vs. Sprint cup)

What can we look forward too in Texas? Well Greg Biffle has a great record here, winning this race last year and always competing well here, I'll have him as a fantasy pick this weekend for sure. I expect Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr. Kurt and Kyle Busch and of course our champion Brad K. to also do well and anyone of them could come out on top this Saturday night in Texas. I think you'll see Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr, just to name a few, fall back both at Texas and in the standings. In about another 3 or 4 races you'll see Paul Menard fall in the points like a rock, my prediction he will settle around 17th.

TRUCKS AT THE ROCK

You read it right, season number 2 of the trucks back at Rockingham Speedway. What an awesome thing to see. I really wish Andy Hillenburg could somehow persuade NASCAR to bring back the Sprint Cup cars, but I will be happy for now with the trucks racing there. I'm looking forward to this race for sure. And I believe the race is actually on Sunday. I'm looking for Ron Hornaday to whip up on the young guys, look for Brendan Gaughan and Johnny Sauter, and Todd Bodine(if he has a ride) to really put on school for the young guys like Parker Kligerman, Chase Elliott (if he's in this race) and a few guys I've never heard of. I'd really like to see Jennifer Joe Cobb do well and finish in the top 15. I wish she could find some major sponsorship and really show what she is made of. Also would love to see Johanna Long get a big dollar sponsor and teach the boys how it's done because I've watched her race and she is the real deal. She's won races in every form of racing she's been in. Unlike one female that is in cup, she will remain nameless, who has only won 1 race since she raced go carts....... hmmm wonder what neon green car she might drive?

The truck race this weekend is my race of choice to watch. And if you would rather listen to the race then watch it on tv or even mute the tv and listen to the MRN broadcast, I would say that would be the best way to hear it, we will have both Dave Moody and Mike Bagley in the booth and not in the turns, should be an awesome race to listen to. I really think these 2 will some day be in the booth full time.

Nationwide racing

This week it's a Friday night race for the nationwide series, and I would guess a cup regular will be in victory circle this weekend. Would like to see Brian Scott (3rd in points) do well, would be nice to have the home town boy win one. What happened to Elliott Sadler? He went from second in points last year (in the #2 RCR car that Brian Scott is in now, they actually just switched teams) to 9th so far this season, looks like Brian and Elliott not only switched rides, but switched places in the points. I think our points leader, Sam Hornish well do well this weekend, the Penske switch to Ford seems too agree with Sam completely with a 28 point lead over second place Regan Smith (driving the #7 JRM car) and what's happened to Brian Vickers? He's a drab 11th in points, I think we all expected him to do much better with several of the media picking him to win the Nationwide championship. As it is he's only 5 points ahead of Travis Pastrana in his first full season in NASCAR. It's an exciting season start in all three series. Hold on tight because Texas always has drama! At some point this weekend I'll tackle the whole NRA sponsorship and gun rights advocates to the gun control laws starring us in the face.....

Until next time .......