Rumpus Time Is Over

DUH and/or HELLO?!

2010-02-19T16:04:00.001-08:00

Normally I don't post randomly during the week. But this just irks me to no end, so a post is necessary.

Minutes ago, during her 20 minute late press conference, Danica Patrick said she didn't know what to feel about her car since she doesn't know what she's supposed to feel. Ok, fair enough, you don't drive these cars, it's hard to gauge what's off when you don't know what on is. But at this level, and with 2 Daytona races (ARCA and NNS) under your belt, you should have a feeling as to what makes the car feel fast, and what makes it feel slow.

Then apparently, she was magically transported away and in her place came Jessica Simpson. This dullard asked a room full of at least 75 MEDIA people why everyone went and bumped Jamie McMurray after the race last week. Really. No, yes, REALLY. That's what she REALLY asked. YES, I know that in open wheel racing, it's not exactly easy to bump someone a congrats, but come on. Has she never seen a baseball game where a pitcher or player has been patted on the butt in that sense? Did she not see the Summer Olympics where the women's volleyball team would pat each other in the same way after a good set? Or when then President George W. Bush respectfully declined to pat their butt and instead patted them on the back? Has no one ever clapped her shoulder in appreciation? For goodness sake woman, how hard is that to figure out? How do you not get that? Let's say you don't get it, it's your first time watching a race ever and you see some people bumping into the guy who just won the race cleanly. Do you wait to announce this question nearly a week later to a room full of people who's job it is to quote and write about you, or do you turn to your friends/significant other/crew chief and ask them?

I'm not saying I've never said anything stupid or embarrassing, especially in public, but the way she's gone about her introduction to the NASCAR fanpool, to me it's just disrespectful. She says she didn't understand what yaw was in the beginning and thought it was just Tony Eury Jr's drawl. She's consistently late for scheduled press conferences. She's snappy and mean to reporters who honestly know more what they're talking about than she does. She's just putting a bad, bad taste in my mouth and I'm not falling for her. I said earlier if she could prove her salt I would eat my words and stop ragging on her, but she's really making is easy for me to keep saying "See, told you so, smoke and mirrors..." I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing to be honest. Her lack of knowledge and respect for the sport that we all love so dearly is bad for NASCAR because she's making it seem like just anyone, with a big enough name and sack of cash, can hop in a race car and be great. But at the same time, her stupidity makes the high class open wheel drivers look dumber than those "redneck" good ol' boys runnin' them stock cars round and round. Which, is in turn, bad for the open wheel drivers who are good at what they do.

I understand that she's (allegedly) bringing in ratings, but it's certainly not because of her prowess in a race car. It's because she's a girl in a man's world and was brought there by the Chosen One himself. I'm going to be at the track tomorrow and Sunday and as much time as Auto Club Speedway put into hyping her West Coast debut, I'm FAR more excited to see Kelly Bires' Jr. Motorsports West Coast debut. Show me someone who can get it done in the car. I'll cheer them on and show up to their press conference. I'd even wait 20 minutes for them.

Rant over.

Possible updates from the track tomorrow, but more likely than not, it will just be from Twitter until Tuesday. Click here to check out what's happening via my Twitter. Happy race weekend, and Keep It Rowdy Y'all!!

-NasKal

There's a Hole, There's a Hole, There's a Hole in the Road of Daytona

2010-02-16T22:37:00.001-08:00

There's a trophy on the fish on the #1 on the hole in Daytona.... you know the rhyme.

GOODNESS! With the 2010 NASCAR season officially underway, they start off in a hole! Good news is, they can dig themselves out. Bad news, well, in my opinion, there really wasn't THAT bad of news! Up until lap 122, the racing had been pretty good, everyone was racing each other clean and hard, just the way the Great American Race should be. There had been a few cautions and there had even been a *GASP!* moment for the reigning Sprint Cup Champ Jimmie Johnson. All in all, just some good racing, nothing to really write home about. Then suddenly, as they drove around under caution, my favorite on track reporter/track inspector/safety officer/rule enforcer Kyle Busch piped up over his radio "Uhmmmmmm yeah, that's a HOLE!" I'd been putzing around the house doing this or that and hadn't been listening intently to his radio. I assumed he meant something about his car or suit or even position on the track. Then the talk of the TV turned to possible red flags as there was a hole in the TRACK. WHAAAA????!!!!!???? Sure enough, there was a slew of driver's chatter all about the whole and then ta-da, the hole itself!

How did that happen? Well duh, the same way any pot hole forms; rain+cold+use/abuse=erosion. There are a few new pot holes around my neck of the woods thanks to the insane rain we've had (and been ill prepared for) recently. So I shrugged it off, took the red flag to grab some breakfast and do a few chores while the drivers, still tethered to their cars by NASCAR, took the red flag to nap in the sun like the kittens they'll soon by sponsored by. Sidenote: Seriously Toyota, who works in your advertising department? They are amazing. They need a raise. I would drive your cars even if they didn't have brakes period thanks to those commercials. I folded laundry and made the bed while I listened to the endless drabble Fox was forced to come up with to fill the 1 hour and 45 minutes of red flag calm. No biggie.

To me at least. But the Twitter media world EXPLODED with disbelief and outrage. I honestly didn't understand, and still don't, why everyone seemed to be so up in arms about the situation. It's a hole. That we can outsmart and defeat (eventually) and can continue on with our race. I'm sure if it REALLY came down do it, they would have tried to have them race around the hole, which many, especially dirt track specialists Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer wanted to do. The hole wasn't a race killer. It was a momentum killer sure. It was a time killer absolutely. But race killer? Never. I'd take a hole delay over a rain delay anyday. Rain you don't control. There's no fix for rain. Rain is like race cancer, there's no beating it. The hole was like race flu, it knocked you out for a bit, but once you got a hold of the fix, you were able to continue on your way. Personally, I rather liked the little "half time" break to be honest. It gave the drivers a chance to talk out what was happening with their cars when they weren't trying to drive them around Daytona at 180mph +. It gave them a chance to talk to their teammates and friends about just what the hell was going on out there. This made the cars better, this made the racing better, this made the entertainment and payoff better for the loyal fans who sat and waited for 2 hours for the race to finish. That's all a fan could ask for. I've sat thru 4 hours of rain delay at FONTANA, Fontana people, just hoping that they could get the race to at least halfway. It was cold, it was raining and I was soaked and I was in Fontana! And I sat there hoping the race would start up again as I watched wrecker after wrecker, ambulance after ambulance and jet dryer after jet dryer circle the track more times than the actual race length itself in vain attempts to dry the soaked, weeping track.

I always say quality of quantity, but in this case, the quantity of time led to a better quality race. Add to that the new challenge of setting up a car that was only supposed to run in the daytime to run at night, and you've got drama Fox couldn't have dreamed up. It was like a good M. Night Shymalan movie; set up, set up, TWIST!, amazing conclusion. What a way to finish that race too. Hard fought, well earned and exciting, Jamie McMurray gave us all those things with his win. He deserved to win. His car was strong all week, all day and he stayed up front for most of the time. Even while performing so well, he stayed under the radar for the most part. That is until it really counted. He took charge at the exact right time. Managing his way through 3 green,white, checkers attempts, he finally took the checkers and raced his way to Victory Lane where tears of joy and Gatorade were a much welcomed form of precipitation.

All in all, the hole was a literal bump in the road in what turned out to be a show of racing at it's best. Is there anything else a fan could ask for?

Other Notes:

-Danica Patrick was there this Saturday. She raced a car. She wrecked in said car and didn't finish the race. The End.

- HUGE thanks and kudos to Kevin Harvick, who although he was leading at the time of the second red flag, said he would prefer to win the race under checkers. That's a real racer there folks. Someone who stands behind himself, his car ad his team.

-Jimmie Johnson broke his car. He blamed the hole, but it didn't look like the hole could have broken what broke. He admitted to acting like Chicken Little about the repatched hole in an attempt to get a caution to work on his car.

-Congratulations to Kyle Busch and Samantha Sarcinella for getting engaged this past weekend! And for them both joining the Twitter ranks! Best of luck to them both with each endeavor!

That's all for now everyone. I'll be reporting live from Auto Club Speedway this weekend and I'll be sure to see what kind of trouble I can raise there. Until then...

Keep It Rowdy Y'all!!!

-NasKal

2010 and Back in the Swing of Things!

2010-02-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

First off the bat, please excuse my complete lack of postings for the last however long. Things get crazy and sometimes the fun stuff in life is overlooked. BUT, with that being said, I promise to be back at it as best I can for the new season!

It's nice to have cars back out on the track again, even though I haven't seen any myself yet. The confines of the office walls eliminate that ability. However I'm pretty excited to get home and see what kind of recaps we have going on. And in all honestly, thanks to the wonderful world of Twitter, I can keep up thanks to the likes of @jeff_gluck, @NASCAR, and half the field of drivers out there (@dennyhamlin, @scottspeed, @jpmontoya, @kaseykahne, and more)!

So until I get my much needed fix of some televised racing, I'll finish off with some picks and thoughts/predictions on the upcoming season.

-I don't think Jimmie will win a 5th Cup. Nothing against the man, I like him more now thanks to the HBO 24/7 show, but I just don't think it's in the stars this year. I hope that his new baby will bring him all the extreme joy and happiness he needs this year.

-I think that Joey Logano will win a race, but not thanks to rain. He's been making steady improvement since this time last year and has really matured. You could even tell how much he's grown when interviewing him. The difference from April to November was huge. I think he'll make a believer out of more than a few fans this year.

-I desperately hope that Kyle gets a few more wins and has much better luck than he did last year. Don't take this the wrong way, but homeboy has got to step up to the plate. He threw too many tantrums last year and that affected who he was behind the wheel too much. Again, love the guy, super nice and down to earth off the track, but he's just got to straighten up and listen up and then he'll do much better. Chase contender at the very least.

-I really saw the fire and the passion behind Denny Hamlin's eyes when he spoke at PIR last November (NO, not just when he vented about Brad Keselowski), so I really think he's going to be a much more commanding presence on the track this year, top 3 in the Chase at least. He's worked really hard to earn the respect, and he's finally starting to see it. I hope this continues. And no, I don't think his ACL is going to hurt him as much as some others think. He's a tough guy, I just hope he's got a good XBox NBA game to keep his hoop dreams alive!

-Danica will be like one of those firecrackers that makes a lot of noise, but ultimately does nothing. The fact that a proven Nationwide talent, Kelly Bires, is being swept aside from his new deal so that she can run the show is pretty disheartening to me. If she goes out there and proves me wrong, I'll eat my words. But for now, she's just a lot of smoke and mirrors.

-Mark Martin will continue to work well and perform well, but I don't think to the same caliber as last year. He will still be great at what he does, but his performance last year was like that of KB in '08. New team, new chemistry, heightened excitement and easier wins. I think he will taper it down a bit this year. Still make the Chase, but not be as major a player.

That's all I can really think of at this point, but as I watch the Shootout and Speedweeks, I'll keep updating my thoughts. But most importantly, I'll post at least once a week!

Keep it Rowdy y'all-

NASKAL

How Can I Stand To See Jimmie Johnson Win Again: Special Guest Blog by My Mother

2009-09-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

This weeks blog is going to be a guest post from my mother. Mom's always have a way of working their way into their kids business. In this case, it's not such a bad thing. Please enjoy the absolutely wonderful story of how my mom (and myself) will be able to stomach a 4th championship by Jimmie Johnson...

How can I stand for Jimmie Johnson to win yet another Chase? Since rediscovering the sport in the summer of 2007, Jimmie Johnson is the only champ I've ever known. Yet even as a relatively new fan, this year I was on that bandwagon of folks hoping for just about anyone but Jimmie to win and liven up this year's Chase. That is until I met Cam. Cam changed my perspective.

As a recently infected devotee I follow just about anything remotely related to NASCAR, including the commercials associated with race broadcasts. [Insert statistic about how brand loyal NASCAR fans are here. lol] No, I have no desire for male enhancement products or to strip off my zip-up leather jacket in a bid to become a GoDaddy girl, but a simple public service announcement by Greg Biffle on behalf of the NASCAR Foundation DID catch my attention.
Decked out in his 3M/Red Cross sponsor's firesuit, Biffle was simply asking me to donate blood. “Come as a fan. Leave as a hero.” All I had to do was show up at my local track on September 11 for the NASCAR Foundation blood drive. I could do that. In fact, I could use the event as an opportunity to meet up with my daughter who I hadn't seen since early spring. We'd both go. Plans to rendezvous were made and shortly before 5:00 on the evening of the 11th we pulled into parking spaces not 2 minutes apart from one another.

If you've ever been to a track when it's not a race weekend you know that it's a completely different entity than it is when it's abuzz with race excitement. Wheeling my way through acres of empty parking lots, the hulking behemoth that sits where the old Kaiser Steel facility once did looked to be abandoned. Sure there was a crew moving those portable, bike rack type barricades in readiness for the coming weekend's swap meet and newly themed Copart banners hung from the pedestrian causeways inside the first level of the stands but otherwise the Auto Club Speedway was nothing like its race day incarnation. The only outward appearance of activity for the blood drive was a small toy-hauler, a roped-off AAA show car with 'Do Not Touch' signs , and a local radio station presence with a table under one of those pop-up canopies.

Undeterred, my daughter & I wandered up to the guy manning the table for the show car. Friendly as everyone I've ever met in relation to NASCAR is, he offered us posters, brochures and info while we listened to the pre-race for the night's Nationwide race. We demurred until after our donations and went inside the building holding the drive.

Donating blood is a multi-step process. First you have to fill out paperwork, then it's to the finger-stick station to check for iron levels, temps & pressures (not engine & tire, but close enough), followed by the amazingly-intrusive-question section where they ask such strange things until finally you're to the actual donation area of the experience.

There were a lot of people in the building. Each segment had a waiting area of sorts. My daughter & I joined the group awaiting a turn at the paperwork section. As in any group, we sized one another up. There was guy with girlfriend he was trying to impress... Guy with embarrassing ring tone that kept going off...Two track employees on a break from their usual track duties...My daughter & I... and Cam & his family. Except of course, i didn't know that he was Cam yet.

Cam was there with his mom & dad. I first noticed him as a bundle of little boy energy as he went from his mom's chair to his dad's chair and back. Dressed in shorts, sandals and a Batman t-shirt I found him to be amazingly well-behaved for someone so young and I felt sorry for the long, boring time he was about to have to endure while his parents donated blood.

I need not have worried. Cam, as I later found out, is three. Three-year-olds do not lack for inquisitiveness and so, are never bored. Spotting an electrical outlet in the floor, Cam crowed to his father, “Dad!! What's this?!!” Waiting in his mother's lap while she had her photo snapped for her ID, he needed to inspect the web cam the volunteer was using. To his parents' credit, they patiently answered all of the little guy's questions.

As we moved through the gauntlet of stations I never quite lost track of young Cam, but it wasn't until I reached the amazingly-intrusive-question section that I caught back up with Cam & his mom. Taking a seat I asked her if she was next to go.

“No,” she replied, “my iron count was too low. I guess I should move, huh?”

I assured her she was just fine where she was. Then I spotted Cam racing an old #25 Casey Mears 1:64 die cast car around the floor near his mother. Continuing our chat, I remarked, “Oh, are y'all Casey Mears fans?”

“No, we just bought tickets to this fall's race over at the ticket office and they gave it to him over there.”

As I watched that car fly across the floor at speeds comparable in scale to actual race speeds only to end in countless barrel rolls, it dawned on me that despite the enormous industry die cast collectibles has become, this little boy's play was their best possible usage. He didn't take it home to store away on some pristine cabinet shelf awaiting the day it appreciated enough in value to sell. Cam was racin'!

As we sat waiting, Cam's mom & I chatted some more. I learned that she was completely new to racing fandom and that they were there simply because they had a brand new fan in Cam. She was perplexed that at 3 years old he could become so enraptured by NASCAR. They'd even taken him to a dirt track race in Wisconsin over the summer so great was his interest. His mom was puzzled at it all but assured me he had a favorite driver he'd picked out all by himself – Jimmie Johnson.

My turn came for questioning and I was swept back into the flow of the donation process. Having failed to pass inspection to try and make qualifying, Cam's mom became the designated caregiver as his dad continued on. I again lost track of them until I lay reclining on one of the numerous donation cots, where I was joined by Cam's dad and my daughter. Ever curious, Cam was granted special permission – a HOT pass, if you will – to go inside the little corral of cots and inspect the whole procedure. He was fascinated ... for about 2 minutes and then it was time to go off and explore other areas with his mom.

Following a blood donation donors are asked to spend 15 minutes in the canteen area, eating a light snack & drinking juice. Cam's dad finished his donation first and was in the canteen when I was through and since the only chair open was next to him I asked if he minded if I joined him.

“No, of course not.”

“Where'd your wife and son go?”

“Oh they went back outside to look at the car again. He's a BIG NASCAR fan.”

Just then I heard the unmistakable roar of a stock car engine... Chuckling, Cam's dad leaned over to peer out the door...”They're letting him sit in it!”

Soon we were joined by my daughter, his wife and one very effervescent little boy. I eagerly awaited hearing what he had to report to his father.

“DAD!!!!!!!!! THEY'VE GOT A CUP HOLDER IN THE CAR!!!!!!!!!”

And with that simple yet forceful declaration I fell in love with the innocence of NASCAR racing all over again.

Here was a pure fan. He had his reasons for being a fan and none of them included sponsors, wealth or celebrity. Cam likes NASCAR and he got to sit in an actual running stock car and he was most impressed by the fact that just like his, their cars have a cup holder. Cam is genuine.

We sat and visited for quite a while longer than our 15 minute requirement. Cam's folks told us how they'd signed Cam up for the track's Kids' Club and as I wracked my brain trying to remember the name of the driver who was going to read a book with the kids as part of that experience Cam's mom won me over completely with her earnest naivety... “Ryan Newman, is he Paul Newman's son? I know he liked racing cars.”

Here were these parents making memories for their son without knowing much of anything about the sport. Luckily Cam will keep them on the straight and narrow. HE knows his stuff. I know. I quizzed him as he became comfortable with the two strangers his parents were talking with.

“Who's your driver?”
“Jimmie Johnson”

“What's his number?”
“48”

“Who's his crew chief?”
That hung him up, so I persisted, “Who's the guy that helps him with his car in the pits?”
“I don't know”
I gave Cam bonus points for NOT knowing that one!

“Who's his sponsor?”
Again that confused him a little bit, so his mom tried to help with, “What's on the side of his car?”
Rolling his eyes in his best irritated-at-the-media's-stupid-questions style Cam repeated, “48”
“What's on the hood of his car?”
Disgusted at the clear ignorance of the adults he was humoring, “Lowe's”

At about this point his dad chipped in that not only did Cam have a favorite driver in Jimmie Johnson he also had a driver he rooted for to lose in every race. Quickly I broke in with, “Careful! I don't want you to hate my driver! He doesn't drive the candy car does he?”

“No, it's Tony Stewart. We don't know why but he cheers against him in every race.”
That's when I found out how old Cam is. My daughter chimed in that he probably didn't like Tony because he used to drive the Home Depot car and that was a rival of Jimmie's sponsor.
“He's only three. I don't think he can remember back to then.” Nope, Cam is his own person and a fan for his own reasons. If he likes Jimmie and doesn't care for Tony, I'm not one to argue.

As we'd been visiting I'd remembered that I'd read online that if you went to the day's blood drive and bought tickets to the fall race that you'd also be eligible to go on a hot lap ride-along in a pace car on the day before qualifying. I asked Cam's folks if they'd gotten those. They hadn't, so I urged them to call and request them.

Later we ran into them again at the show car and Cam's dad came over to thank us for telling them about the ride-along. They'd asked and been given the rides. NASCAR – Big family, even bigger hearts!

So, how can I stand for Jimmie Johnson to win another championship? Well, I can because to me it'll represent all the good things about NASCAR wrapped up in one of Jimmie's biggest fans, 3-year-old Cam, who hasn't even been alive to see another champion.

Now please do me a favor. If you see Cam on a ride-along on Oct 8 or happen to be reading a storybook to him on Oct 9, mention to him that you too have a cup holder in your car. That is unless you're Tony Stewart, in that case, I'd suggest you run!

Long Time No See!

2009-09-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Firstly, an apology. I've failed miserably at keeping up with this blog. Sometimes, life happens and you just can't do the fun things. So I'm sorry for being a terrible blog writer. But, on the same level, I don't exactly like writing about guys winning that I don't really care for. As much as I'd like to be a pro and write all the races up the same, I just can't. I don't think it's just my Kyle bias talking here, but this season has been a bit of a snooze...

Now that I'm back, let's do a super quick recap! I do pit road reporting at Phoenix International Raceway now. I love it. I met a lot of really amazing and wonderful people there over the weekend in April. I'm glad to have gotten this chance and am so thankful to all those who helped me make it a successful weekend.

My thoughts on the season:

1) Mark Martin- Everyone loves him. LOVES him. Not me. I'm sorry, he gave me the creeps in Phoenix. And I guess I have a chip on my shoulder about Hendrick and the 5 car. I liked MM just fine when he was with DEI, but now, he just rubs me the wrong way.

2) Tony Stewart- Congrats to him for making his team such a strong one and so successful, but again, the Hendrick influence irks me...

3) Juan Pablo Montoya- I admit, I used to loathe the man. I did! I tagged a picture of him from an ACS race last year as "There's JPM, the big fruit in his Juicy Fruit car". I'm terrible. BUT! Thanks to my love of Twitter (that has grown to exponential numbers over the year), he has become of of my more favored drivers! You can't not like a guy who tweets about watching Spongebob with his kids on race morning! Coincidentally, I think it brings him good luck! You may notice an overabundance of exclamation points, that's just JPM style!!! "Going to dinner!!! So freaking tired!!!" Love it. Other Tweeting drivers I love to read; Kasey Kahne and Kevin and DeLana Harvick. They tell it like it is, whether it's going to McDonalds for lunch or bonding with squirrels in the backyards, they don't edit themselves. Which I find refreshing.

4) Tom Cruise- UGH! GO AWAY! You are RUINING NASCAR! He ALWAYS brings rain or bad luck or BOTH! Both Jimmie Johnson and Kyle had terrible luck the last two weeks. Guess who visited both of their pits. Voodoo! Go away! I can't stand the man.

5) Of course, last but not least, Kyle. Oh my dear, dear Kyle. It turns out that Daytona was going to foreshadowing of the season; start out great, bad luck kills you in the end. Part of me almost feels like when he got demolished at Daytona, a lot of the momentum from last year got taken out too. Yes, he had his good runs in Vegas, Bristol (both times) and Richmond, but there were some stinker weekends that ultimately cost him a spot in the Chase.

As for the Chase. People ask if it's fair that drivers with no wins made it in the Chase, while a driver who was tied for 1st based on number of wins alone did not. I say yes and no. Of COURSE my answer is biased, but it's my blog, my opinion. Should Kyle, a driver with 4 wins, be in the Chase? Absolutely. Just look at the obvious amounts of talent he has. Should JPM, a driver with no wins, be in the Chase? I say yes. He's improved vastly every week and has been a serious contender to win more than once. Should Greg Biffle or Ryan Newman, both drivers with no wins, be in the Chase? I don't really think so. Don't get me wrong, I really like the two. Having talked with them at PIR, they are both GOOD guys, genuine people. But do I think their on track performance this year warrants a bid for the cup? No. Nor do I think Carl Edwards deserves it. Again, having talked with him and seen his true side (SPOILER ALERT! It's exactly the opposite of what he shows on camera and to fans) and having seen his lackluster performance all year, he does not deserve a spot in the Chase.

Kyle's main fault this year, all around, was being too passionate about winning. He wants wins, not just points, and went all out, sometimes pushing his car and beyond it's limits. As with anyone truly passionate about something, he got frustrated and at points, shut down when things just wouldn't go right no matter how much work they put into the cars. This cost him spots, points and the Chase. I truly believe that when a driver is tied for most wins with a Chase driver, he's got as much right to be there as the Chase driver. And Kyle raced for all of those wins. None of those wins are a rain delay win or fuel mileage win or anything like that. He raced his way into each of those wins. If that doesn't merit a chance at winning a championship that should be based on overall talent, I don't know what does.

But the reality is we start the Chase this weekend and Kyle isn't going to have a chance at winning the championship. My hope for him is now he can race to win and not worry about points. His talent will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that his spot in the Chase was wrongfully stolen and that just because he's down, he's not out. Watch out NASCAR, you may have created a monster...

Until next week, Keep it Rowdy Y'all!

-NasKal

Johnsonville

2009-04-01T22:19:00.001-07:00

Jimmie Johnson went into Martinsville on a Quest for G[randfather Clocks]*

photo credit-AP

Inevitably, one of the biggest stories out of Martinsville Speedway every year is that of the illustrious Martinsville Hot Dog. The consensus of broadcasters was they are perfection, while the consensus of drivers (at least the ones Fox interviewed in their segment) is they're to be avoided like the outside wall; you get it once and that's enough.

Well all this talk about hot dogs got me hungry for one of my own (just plain ketchup please) but alas, my refrigerator failed me. I did have a package of delicious bratwurst however. Johnsonville Bratwursts. My delicious honey mustard covered Johnsonville Brat sealed the deal for Jimmie Johnson and the 48 team, who won their 5th out of the last 6 Martinsville race. They really could rename it Johnsonville with those kinds of results, but I think the hot dog people would be a little annoyed.

Jimmie gets quite thirsty in his Quest for G[randfather Clocks]

So the cycle was kept in tact for Jimmie and Hendrick. The win marked the 25th anniversary of Rick Hendrick's first win, which took place at this very track. As Mikey said on TWIN (This Week In NASCAR) last night, everyone really respects Mr. H and all he does and I'm sure that's true. I'm still a little sore on how I've heard him ask his drivers who are running well to move over and let another by (ahem, Kyle at the end of 2007). I've seen interviews where he seems like a perfectly nice guy, which I'm sure he genuinely is, but it's hard not to notice all the breaks his stables get. As soon as I saw Chad pitting Jimmie over and over, I knew something was up. Eventually, it worked and Jimmie tapped Denny Hamlin out of the lead. I wasn't listening to either's radio then, but as I heard on TWIN, Denny seemed to just shrug it off as "that's just short track racin for ya." Yeah, but DENNY! You HAD this one! Get mad! Get upset! Get emotional! He was so PC in his response that I was honestly disappointed. (Apparently so was DW.) No one called foul on Jimmies move, but you can bet your grandfather clocks that if that had been Kyle and Jr, the Nation would have exploded.

In his Quest for G[randfather Clocks], Jimmie told Denny, "Step aside, or I shall be forced to move you!" photo credit - nascar.com

Speaking of Kyle, his cycle of winning every weekend was broken. As was the Busch Bro winning cycle, which didn't sit well with either of them. GOOD. NESS! Kurt and his spotter/team owner Roger Penske sure went at it on the radio! I know it's the heat of the moment, but gracious, that was heated. As for Kyle, things were awful on Sunday, but things seemed to get straightened out toward the end, which is good for the next race here, but too late to make a difference for this race. Steve was optimistic that this point was exactly where they would start the car in the fall and go from there to make it right.

Not a good day for Kyle. photo credit-AP

Then on Monday's rain rescheduled truck race, things looked like he would be able to make it three in a row if he could just hold off Harvick. That was, until 1 of 3 things happened: #1, he genuinely forgot/didn't know about the commitment line; #2, he hoped that everyone else forgot about it; or #3, was so frustrated by Sunday's performance and the recent contact with Harvick that he just wasn't thinking straight. Scraping along the inside wall to straighten out his fender, he drove over the white commitment line for pit road, hence committing a commitment line violation. Since NASCAR.com doesn't offer scanner for the trucks or Nationwide races (please change that!) I didn't get to hear what was said on the radio, but I'm positive it wasn't happy. You don't run away, literally, from a good day at work. I really couldn't figure out where he was running at that point, but it was soon clear that he was just trying to recapture the magic and become THE FONTANA FOX, making a break for the fence! Actually it turns out that the haulers were all outside the track so that's where he went off to.

Harvick makes his move and gets in Kyle's head. photo credit-AP

Other notes:

-Congrats to Harvick for winning in his own truck this week. That battle between he and Kyle was some great racing and certainly entertaining for the handful of fans able to make it back on Monday. I've been to a Rainy Monday race before and it's really a lot of fun. Heck just being in the right place at the right time took me from the grandstands to Terrace Suite Seats and even Victory Lane! If you have the vacation saved up, take the day and enjoy the race without the huge spectacle.

-Ingrid's Hair! I love/hate it. I hate it because it reminded me too much of Katie Holmes' Robot hair. Jeff has always reminded me of Tom Cruise (look wise) so it was shockingly natural to see her hair go that short. (Not that I think they're hopping on the train to Scientologyville). I love it because it's so dramatic and very fashion. I had long hair like hers and chopped that off 2 winters ago, so I know how liberating it is to get rid of all that work! And not to start a rumor, but don't new babies like to play with long hair? Maybe plans are in action to get Ella a baby friend!

-Yet again, my dear sweet Ella was missing! Short tracks just aren't her style I supposed. I hope she's here in Texas this weekend, and hopefully wearing some adorable baby cowboy boots to make up for the loss of utter sweetness these past two weeks.
A huge and gigantic THANK YOU to The NASCAR Insiders for linking me in a story they ran about firesuits last week. That was pretty darn cool of them. So thanks so much T.C. and Journo. Do check them out (here), they have a great site and since they're actually in the know, it's a wonderfully informative and helpful read.

Well let's move onto Texas this week, which may offer the Roush boys some redemption! I've always liked the racing at TMS, lets just hope no more Michael McDowell style wrecks!

Keep it Rowdy Y'all!!

-NasKal

*The Quest For G, in case you never saw the commercials, was a really well done parody of Monty Python and the Holy Grail but with well known sports champs like Jimmie Johnson. If you know the movie, it cracks you up. Check it out here.

Also I'm a little proud DW wants to call it Johnsonville too. I promise I didn't steal it from him.

I've Been Bad

2009-03-31T22:29:00.000-07:00

Kitten says blog can wait, must sleep now.

With all the new exposure I've gotten over here, you'd think I'd be on top of things as far as getting the Martinsville update on here. But unfortunately, my full time job is more than extremely demanding at the end of the month (I'm like a spotter at Dega, but with paperwork, analyzers, parts, and invoicing) so I've been drained by the time I get home. Funny thing is, I wrote up a rough draft (my high school English teacher Mr. Schag would be so proud) at work during lunch today, but forgot it at the office when I stayed 2 hours late today.

So technically, the new post is written, but on the steno pad at my desk instead of here. I promise I will remember it and post it tomorrow. Apologies all around.

-NasKal

I've Made It!

2009-03-24T21:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm no American Idol, (actually, that's a good thing) but I feel like I've become a real somebody. As I mentioned yesterday, I recently joined Twitter and thanks to Fox's insistence to check out their Twitter page (here) I found a whole slew of new NASCAR friends and family to tweet with. This led me over to the page of radio show The Final Lap with Kerry Murphey (here) which led me to a guide of all those associated with NASCAR, be it driver, team, family, media or blogger, and a way to be added to the guide if you were so associated. Seeing as how I was, I tweeted and now I'm proud to say you can find me via Your Guide To Everything NASCAR on Twitter! HOORAY!!!

Much thanks to Kerry for adding my humble little blog. It's not much, but if you're new, I do hope you enjoy. And feel free to follow me on Twitter (you can find me or already did via the Guide), where I mostly tweet the goings on of my day to day life (thrilling, trust me) but I'll get some good NASCAR tweets up when they happen.

Humbly Obliged-

NasKal

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Bristol (Repeat)

2009-03-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

photo credit- getty images

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with repeats. When it's the middle of the season and the producers throw a repeat at me, I get a little peeved. But sometimes, that repeat is one of your favorite episodes from earlier days and you relish the chance to watch it again.

Since his first win at California back in 2005, Kyle Busch has been like the first season of a new show, 13 brand new wins with no repeats. Until yesterday when he finally repeated himself with a commanding win at the fastest half mile around, Bristol Motor Speedway. Winning the same race 2 years earlier (and the first COT race) this was a welcome repeat for Kyle. And while it was a repeat for Kyle, it was Steve Addington and the #18 crew's first win at Bristol. Despite the somewhat corny "Snacklish," it was a sweet "victoreat" for everyone. (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

Kyle proved to be the "Chompion" at "Victoreat" Lane.
photo credit - getty images

Some repeats would not have been welcome on Sunday however. A repeat of the costly pit road mistake from Saturday's Nationwide's race would have put the poor boy over the edge. Still feeling the sting of losing a race he pretty much had in the bag through no fault of his own, Kyle wasn't taking 80% on Sunday from his crew. It was all 'er nothin' Sunday, and when it came down to the wire, the crew gave it their all and got their boy out with a perfect stop and onto the checkers. Kyle praised them at jobs well done throughout the day and scolded them when things went less than perfect. No threats of hammering in their heads, no cursing, just simple, terse phrases your dad would say to cut right through you. "Get better." "Not good enough ladies, it's got to be perfect." And wouldn't you know it, at the end of the race, who was cheering and celebrating the most as Kyle did his burnouts? That's right, his crew.

Now, one writer over at nascar.com wrote a story about how mean and hurtful Kyle was to his crew on Saturday, giving an example of how he said "Y'all suck!" after losing that tire. Well what was he supposed to say? "Thanks guys!" This story goes on to suggest that because Mean Ol' Kyle hurt their wittle feewings they would probably sabotage his race Sunday, "Would they give him too much wedge on purpose? Slip water into his fuel cell?" I didn't realize that the races this writer has been watching were ones run entirely by teenage girls, where that type of shenanigans would be normal! These teams, especially winning teams like the 18, are chock full of professionals, they aren't conniving children, bent on revenge because someone said a mean thing about them the day before. And yes, I know it's not the same entire crew, only 2 do double duty. Does it hurt to have your boss tell you that you suck? Yes, of course it does. But when he says it in a situation where your screw up hurt his performance, you don't take it personally as a mark on your character. You man up, say, "Yup, I sure did suck right there, but I'm great at my job and I just have to prove it by doing the best I can next time. This is NASCAR sir, not Gossip Girl.

The crew goes to work, as all professionals do.
photo credit - getty images

Jeffie didn't have any memorable quotes yesterday, but he did make a brief cameo as he walked behind Coach Gibbs after the race in Victory Lane. I love to see a smiley Jeffie. He was also highly praised by Kyle during the race. But of course you won't read about how thankful and appreciative he is to Jeffie, Steve and the whole crew anywhere but here. You'll only read about the stuff that fits the part he's been chosen to play, that of the villain. Which, for the record, he says he's ok with. Just keep bringing home those trophies hun!

2 times is twice as nice!
photo credit - getty images

Other Notes:

Congrats to Kevin Harvick for reaching another "finally!" milestone by winning his first race with his own car at the Nationwide race on Saturday. He's my other fantasy team member and I wish things had panned out for him better on Sunday, but at least I held onto 2nd in the league!

At one point of the race, I thought I had been struck with selective deafness since I had not heard a Digger mention! Really, only once did I ever notice it.

Chatter of the week goes to Travis Kvapil's spotter, who in wanting him to pass the 5 of Mark Martin said "Come on and pass that old man!" Hilarious! And coincidentally exactly what I say to Mom as we're driving in Palm Springs.

I finally joined the Twitter bandwagon, feel free to follow me here. And thanks to the M&M's Racing Twitter page, I found Kyle's PR guy Bill's Twitter as well! RidinWithRowdy is updated as the race progresses with updates that are very much like listening to the scanner. Earlier today, he tweeted a story that 100% proves my point from earlier. Read this and call Kyle selfish.

And finally, my second favorite little person in the world (Jeffie is the first) was M.I.A. Sunday! Where was Ella!?!?

That's all for this week everyone, glad to be back and what a great way to come back. See you back here for another Rowdy Roundup!

Until then, Keep It Rowdy Y'all!

-NasKal

The Video of the Week

2009-03-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

Wander your little selves over to NASCAR.com and check out this truly AMAZING video of my absolute most favorite person in the world, JEFFIE!!!

He is the best. Y'all know how much I love my Dickerson and even tho I just got home from what was definitely one of the most awful days in recent recollection, this just made my day! It's nice to see Jeffie at work since I normally just hear him.

Anyhow, I'm glad to get back to racin' this weekend, I missed everyone last week. Even the decent tan I got from all the perfect weather here in So Cal doesn't make up for my lost time with the boys.

Keep it Rowdy Y'all!

-NasKal

My Turn

2009-03-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

photo credit- getty images

So it turns out that 18 was an unlucky number for Kyle this week. After getting caught up in the Idiot Move of the Race (more on that later), my poor KB couldn't gain back the ground he'd lost and finished 3 laps down (!!!) in 18th. Ouch. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper. At least not on Sunday.

However, his camping buddy from Dumont, none other than Big Bro Kurt sure was. It had been since Pocono the Second of '07 since Kurt had been to victory lane by racing his way to the checkered flag. (He had the rain shortened win at New Hampshire the First last year) But that all changed on Sunday afternoon when Kurt took off from the rest of the pack and really commanded the field, winning the race by a fair margin over Jeff "The Bridesmaid" Gordon. And you know what? Good for Big Bro! Again, as the Big Sis of my family, I always cheer for him to do well. It's really hard to see your younger, and therefore inferior, (KIDDING) sibling excel so well at something that you had been doing before them and should therefore be better at. It kills me sometimes that my Lil' Sis is a real mover and shaker, but then I realize that I just have to get back up on that horse and do what I can do. So congratulations Kurt! Everyone could see you had the best car and you really held your own and raced the hell out of that track and deserved it.

I read an interview he had done where he credited Benny Parsons (I call him Uncle Benny as we share the same last name...) for teaching him where the cars have the most power and that in tracks like Atlanta and Darlington, you have to race the track, not the other cars. Once you tame the track, you've already got a leg up on the competition as they're running two races, with the track and with each other. I think that's exactly how Kurt figured out how to win this race. He said he knew that the car was gonna drive like crap all day and no amount of chassis changes would fix that, it was up to him to figure out how to drive it. Radios screamed all day about the loose conditions. Drivers screamed for changes here, there and everywhere to fix it fix it fix it! Can't drive it! Can't turn it! Can't go fast! Fix it! But nothing helped. Frustrations boiled over. Jr offered to realign his crew's heads with a hammer and Kyle snapped at Jeffie and Steve like any upset and annoyed 23 year old would. But not Kurt. He admitted that when he slapped the wall, he'd forgotten to race the track and was trying to race cars, losing his focus on the most important task at hand. And once he focused, he led the most laps but most importantly, the last lap.

Homer Simpson would call those speed gashes... (photo credit getty images)

As for the Idiot Move of the Race, well you're an idiot if you don't know what that was. I admit, I've kinda jumped out and done stupid things before. Made a silly mistake and been all embarrassed about it, but I've never run into traffic. Especially not traffic going 180MPH+. Not to go all Seth Myers on this guy, but REALLY!? Really? REALLY! That's really all that needs to be said about that. He's got to feel bad enough, he's made at least a dozen very powerful enemies.

I guess Atlanta makes you do crazy things. Billy Ballew was pinched for a DUI on track property (where he also owns a condo). I don't know the whole story as I'm not in law enforcement in Georgia, but it sounds like he had an open container in a golf cart which is a no-no but an automatic DUI? Anyone in GA want to help out in the laws on that one, feel free.

At least his star pupil gave him a really nice "Bailed Out of Jail" present. Like I said, Kyle was not a happy camper Sunday, but he was King of the Camping World on Saturday with his seriously amazing come from behind win in the Truck Series. Having a pretty good truck all day helped keep him up front, but towards the end, he lost both 2nd and 3rd gear and had to jump from 1st to 4th in his transmission. I don't know if you've ever driven a stick, but, uhmmm, you really need 2nd and 3rd gear! Without them you go about as fast as those "racecars" out in front of K-Mart back in the day you stuck a quarter in and rode for 1 minute. Putt, putt, puttering along. After the restart with 8 laps to go came and the up front Kyle puttered down to 10th place, the announcers all but totally dismissed him as a factor in the race. Then with 5 to go, Kyle came roaring back to life and went on to win his 4th Atlanta truck race. Of course I was so happy as it once again proved to all the haters how much he can DRIVE, even with a messed up car. Had that been me, I'd have sat there in the apron mopey and crying. But I'm a girl and that's what girls do.

Closing thoughts....

How many times can we mention The Damn Tilted Kilt and how much Bodine needs this sponsor to stay on or else he won't race next week and Tilted Kilt sky is blue Tilted Kilt Digger Tilted Kilt PLEASE STAY ON!!!! We will say your business name 18 times in a sentence if that would make you happy! I for one, have decided to boycott. Some are coming to my end of Cali and I'm never going.

Congrats also to Martin Truex Jr for not only racing but racing well and finishing in the top 10 on Sunday after passing a kidney stone. I've had to take a boyfriend to the hospital with them before so I know the pain they go thru. Of course, I'm sure Marty had the resources to sonicate that thing out of there, but didn't get the pain meds for it. Ouch.

Watching an older episode of House on USA on Sunday after the race, noticed House drinking a NOS! WHAT!?! House is the OG Kyle Busch! Woooooooooooooot! And in tonight's episode, he wanted to go to a Monster Truck rally. Seriously, BFF's.

Daylight savings time is the worst thing in the world. No one springs forwards. We begrudgingly trudge ahead.

And congratulations are in order for Mama and Papa Busch as their two sons rule the NASCAR world right now. So congratulations to the whole Busch Family!

photo credit- getty images

Keep it Rowdy y'all!
-NasKal

Say Goodnight Gracie!

2009-03-02T21:13:00.001-08:00

I always knew 18 was a lucky number. Especially for my boy Kyle Busch. In 4 starts, Kyle just couldn't get the cards to line up right for him in the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400. The 267 laps of those events just weren't enough to seal the deal.

Cut to 2009. The race is renamed The Shelby 427, in honor of the beautiful Shelby 427 (cu. inches in the engine) created by Mr. Carroll Shelby. And the race is lengthened by 27 miles, which translates into . . . 18 laps.

And it was with those 18 extra laps that the driver of the #18 excelled, and in his 5th try, made it to victory lane at the track he had watched be built from the ground up as a little boy racing Legends cars next door at The Bullring. Careful not to jinx himself or get his hopes up too high, he had said in pre-race interviews that both he and Big Bro Kurt saw this as "just another race", but it would be a cool deal to win here. I'm sure Gaye was proud as can be that her sons were starting right next to each other on their home track. Too bad that Kyle had to rerouted to the back to get things underway. But as we've seen before (April's Talladega comes to mind...) Kyle CAN drive a car from the rear of the field to the front.

And that's exactly what he did. At lap 229, KB took the lead for the first time (not counting green flag pit stop cycles) and really held his own. After the 12th caution, he restarted 4th and 6 laps later was in first place, thanks in part to my beloved Jeffie's cheering him on. Jeffie pulled him thru the 3 cars ahead of him, and in his last push past Clint Bowyer, demanded "Come on! Come on! Corner! CLEAR! SAY GOODNIGHT GRACIE!" The announcers incorrectly credited Kyle as having said this, but as a fellow 23 year old who did NOT understand Jeffie's reference, I knew this was absolutely not true. Plus I'd just heard Jeffie say it on my scanner. Kyle later explained that he didn't know the meaning of it and the only Gracie he knew of was Gracie Lou Freebusch, played by his favorite actress Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality. Thankfully, Mom explained to me this was from George Burns and his wife Gracie and at the end of their comedy show, George would always tell her what to say, and that was "Say Goodnight Gracie..."

Understandably emotional and ecstatic, Kyle couldn't stop smiling and that made me never stop smiling. My favorite moment of the whole win was right here.

photo credit - getty images

As a big sister who knows she's going to witness her little sisser accomplish something they both wanted to before she does, this moment touched me. They've had their tiffs, but at the end of the day, they are brothers and they do love each other. After all, Kyle was the first one to Kurt's car when he won the championship back in 2004, it was only fitting.

I enjoyed the race and really wish I'd been there. But no worries, I'm making plans for next year. I'll be there then!

Congratulations Kyle, you truly, truly deserved this one.

Keep it Rowdy y'all!

-NasKal

LVMS: Calamity Corner at The Sams Town 313 Demolition Derby

2009-03-01T09:35:00.000-08:00

To quote Denny Hamlin, "Hoooo-lyyyy shit!"

I really wasn't prepared for Vegas. I wasn't ready for the carnage that was getting ready to unfold in front of me, LITERALLY, directly in front of me about 9/12 times. I wasn't ready for how much I was going to like the track and enjoy myself there. And I wasn't ready really for the drive home. Its about 250 miles from the desert I call home to the desert NASCAR is calling home this weekend, which translated into about a 5 hour drive with stops. Driving out I was pretty excited so the sleepies didn't kick in at all. As mentioned in earlier, we got there without much incident. I forgot how much I enjoyed the billboards on your way to Vegas, but I certainly saw some good ones. They've gotten a bit more bold. Clearly...

That's what she said!

HA! I won't bore you much with my "excited to see Vegas again" pics, but here's a few...

THEhotel at The Mandalay Bay and another great billboard

Luxor, Excalibur (or as Baby NasKal called it back in the day, Castle Castle) and New York, New York

More Excalibur, MGM Grand, New York, New York and The Monte Carlo

Kyle's favorite place on the strip!

Once we got to the track, the traffic was handled really well and professionally, with people directing you to a spot, similar to Disneyland. That way spots were filled rather than people parking randomly here and there. It really was a much nicer experience than parking at Fontana.

The walk from the car to the track wasn't far at all, and once we got there, we picked up our tickets, courtesy of NASCAR Scene, and headed over to the Hauler Villiage, which was outside the gates and that's different for me. We tried to take a look at Kyle's Merch, but it was so jam packed we couldn't get anywhere near the front. So we headed inside the gates and towards our seats, which were just PERFECT! Right in the corner of Turn 4, where it starts to straighten out. Oh, and also where EVERYONE wrecked! We watched Happy Hour, which was great and I got a lot of great shots of some of the guys headin' into the pits and comin' around the corners...

The BEAUTIFUL Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Jeff Gordon and Aric Almirola head back to the garages

The Neon Garage and Haulers

David Ragan, KB, and Kasey Kahne come around 4

Makin' a pass on Kasey

Lil' Joey heads to the garage

Big Bro brings it to the garages

Tony Stewart's ride sounded ok, not great, at practice

Denny Hamlin at Happy Hour

Carl Edwards waddles on to pit road

KB was so fast all the time that he was blurry

Ryan Newman

Matt Kenseth. Can he make it 3? Doubtful.

Casey Mears, he was just mediocre

KB comes around hot

Maybe too hot, kissed the wall a bit and scuffed his car

Denny wraps up the practice session

Right after practice was over, I went and got a hot dog and beer (which was $1 off and a 16oz-er so I was quite pleased!) and got back for driver intros for Nationwide. They really don't waste any time here in Vegas. Again, here's some pictures of a few drivers as they make their way around...

Just after getting a check from last week

Kelly Bires. He's a doppelganger for my good friend Tony.

Carl and THE DEVIL!

Denny and KB

From the back...The Interstate Batteries suit is still hideous

Harvick and The Weasel

The stands are REALLY crowded! I love it! Cars on the line ready to go
Denny's ready to go

One thing I noticed as they were getting ready to go, all the drivers had their odds of winning listed with them. Only in Vegas! The anthem was sung, the flyover was flown, but was completely undramatic because after flying over, the planes made a U-ie and turned around to go back to Nellis AFB. It was like "Wow! There they go!! That was cool!... oh and here they come again..."

But then things got under way. Here's the field getting set to go.

Here we go!!!!

Things didn't really get going, as Denny got a little loose and spun in front of us, and at the same time collected Keselousy (Brad Keselowski) who got into Mike Bliss and took a trip to the wall. After the caution was lifted, he had a BAD tire rub which put him BACK into the wall right next to us and brought the caution out again. Things were already testing my nerves as there had been LOTS of close calls in front of me. What happened next, well, it wrecked me too.

Gaining spots...

Before...

Sadly, after. Thank GOD he was ok!

Scott Speed ended up in the pits, crunched. Lil' Davey is up there in the grass.

Emergency crews clean up both guys

DIRECTLY in front of me. The crews pick up the pieces of KB's car.

Loading him up and cleaning the box where Speed ended up.

Scott Speed's pole sitting ride is towed in

Flatbedded. Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch!

Later in the race, he's all packed up and headed back to North Carolina.

And the rest of the race went that way. Caution after caution, spin after spin, cars just slipped and spun right in front of us the whole time. Harvick, Denny, The Devil Car several times, the 62 in the pits, it was a demolition derby. Harvick and his spotter said so, right before he was taken out. I was too beside myself with disbelief to get many more pictures, but here's Denny being unloaded.

So it was a bad day for the JGR Nationwide effort, but it was some of the most exciting racing I've ever seen. They were ALWAYS racing! Justin Allgaier was ridiculously fast for a while, passing Denny like he was standing still, which prompted him to say "Hoooo-lyyyy shit! He's FAST!" It was great and what I had just said. The whole thing was well worth the trip. There were a lot of pit road penalties, some of which seemed unwarranted. Denny let go a string of profanity to rival the dad from A Christmas Story's after his SECOND penalty which he got after completing his first. A lot of drivers complained the pace car driver was not pacing them correctly. Which makes sense, especially with SO many of them getting busted. After the race ended, anticlimactically when Carl backed down from Biffle, we headed back to the car and waited in traffic about 45 minutes in the parking lot, but luckily a track worker came by and told us to turn around and head a different direction, which got us out much faster.

Bye LVMS! At least for now...

The strip was pretty at night, I forgot how glitzy it all was. The drive back seemed longer, but it wasn't bad. We stopped in a little town called Baker, which is where you turn off to go to Dumont and we stopped by Alien Fresh Jerky. It was here that I discovered why the pace car driver was messing up their speeds!

Ah-HA! It's Tom Cruise driving it again!

At least they're better drivers than Britney Spears, the baby is in a car seat in the back!

We went in and I got some delicious jerky and had my future told!

I was a little scared at first, but he said that even tho things were tough today, I would persevere and make it a great day tomorrow. And now that the Shelby 427 is over, I know that the fortune teller was RIGHT!!!! I'll recap that one later, but for now, have a great night and if you live close to Vegas, come to a race here!!!

Keep it ROWDY y'all!!!

-NasKal

Checkers or Wreckers...

2009-02-28T14:17:00.000-08:00

And today was wreckers. Right in front of me. Poor KB. As he just said, he was racing too hard too early. Scott Speed was innocent there, but smashed head on into KB. Ouch. Glad they are both ok. Red flag lifted now, back to caution.

Before the green flag flies...

2009-02-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

I'm absolutely blown away by how nice this track is. Happy Hour was a pleasure to watch and I got those tingles I got at my very first race. My seats are amazing, thanks to NASCAR Scene for them. I only wish I had tickets for tomorrow. Turns out $5 beers and $5 hot dogs are just as good as $1 hot dogs and beer.

I think I'm going to have to skip winter Fontana and come here instead. IN THIS ECONOMY! Here we go boys!!

-NasKal

Finally in Vegas!

2009-02-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

It was a long drive, seeing as how my driver refused to top 75, but we just passed the strip and are crawling along at snails pace on the 15 on our way up to the track. Lots of construction so keep that in mind if you're heading out here this weekend.

I haven't been here since I was 8 years old, so everything looks so much different. Things look a lot smaller and less impressive, it used to be more spread out. At least that's how I remember it. Particularly the Luxor.

Anyhow, the traffic has picked up so we're moving, about 4 miles from Speedway Blvd now, so I'll be sure to update later as to the days events. But so far, I'm most excited about the $1 hot dog and beer combo back at Terribles at state line!

-NasKal

Fontana Fever

2009-02-24T19:59:00.000-08:00

Whew! What a weekend! Seriously, my calves still ache from all the walking. But hey, I wouldn't have it any other way. And as promised, I took plenty of pictures.

My adventure started early Saturday morning after some much needed Jamba Juice. Mom and I made it to the track without issue and gathered up all our things, including the happy birthday sign for J.D. Gibbs (it was his 40th on Saturday) that I meant to leave in the car until after the truck race, and headed inside without incident. We got there right as they started Nationwide qualifying, so we went straight for the pits. Just as we started to turn down pit road by the infield care center, I saw something out of the corner of my eye and looked up. I realized it was an animal on the track! Having seen what happened with Le Mans cars in Morocco and dogs on the track (spoiler, it's sad) I didn't look much longer as I knew Jason Leffer was still on the track. I thought it was a cat (it wasn't just you Lil Joey!), but we looked a little more and it looked like a small coyote, but we had no idea what it was. I turned back around and saw the emergency response guys shooing it off the track and was happy the little guy had been spared. Once I came home I watched the DVR replay and Jeff Hammond says it was a Grey Fox. THE FONTANA FOX! Mom was tickled that she just knew they were gonna say "He's out there lookin for Digger!" on the broadcast, which they did. And there was much rejoicing.

Qualifying was otherwise uneventful (from my perspective, i.e. in front of the 18 car). The Nwide drivers came out and were gracious, KB, The Weasel and Pee Pants all signed autographs and were very nice. Here's a great shot I got of KB right before Cody pulled him back to go run his laps.

Carl put down the fastest lap (since he had to make it to his Surfboard Walk of Fame ceremony I'm sure) and KB brought home the second fastest lap. After watching his laps, we decided it was time to hit up the concessions and souvenir haulers. And perhaps most importantly, find the Sprinkles Cupcakes! (amazing)

Trusty map in hand, we quickly found KB's hauler between Kellogs and Jr. Nation. Literally, that's what it said. Poor guy! Well, not so much, since his lines were huge! Yes! We got our new 09 cars and my mom picked up a credential holder and walked around to a few more places. We walked by Jeff Burton's hauler and a stuffed panda caught my eye and when I asked the lady "Why a panda?" she shrugged and said she asked the same thing. So on the plus side, now he has a nickname, The Panda. And we also picked up our 2009 NASCAR Day pins. How many of you have done that yet? All the while, I was still looking for these cupcakes. This is what I looked like while on the hunt...

And while I was a big fan of her's before, Gillian Zucker was to me what that lady was to poor Stains. She held out those cupcakes but I couldn't get to them for the life of me! Seriously, they were hidden! I never found them all weekend and believe me, we looked everywhere. I asked everyone that seemed nice, even checked pit road. NOTHING. And so now I'm forced to go to Fashion Island in Newport and get a delicious Ginger Lemon cupcake. But only on Wednesdays. Guess I'm going tomorrow. Anyway, point being, if you have time to print up these maps WITH the inclusion of the Sprinkles ad blurb, you have time to add their location to them map! Allegedly, they were behind APEX. I say allegedly because I looked there. And unless they were cleverly disguised as kettle corn or churros or ice cream bars or hot dogs or ATM's, then they were NOT there. You let me down here Gillian. And to think, I jokingly said I was going to email her on Thursday before the race to ask where the cupcakes were going to be. Turns out I needed to.

The truck race was entertaining, thanks to Jeffie, as always. The one major wreck happened in front of us so that was cool. Otherwise it was sorta like Nationwide last year, KB just stompin' (his words) the field. Once the checkers finally flew and it was time to get to the burnouts and bows, we were just behind the flagstand so here's our view...

We were also sitting right below Jeffie, so I snapped a picture of where he lives. I still don't know where he stands, but I love him no matter.

After we got our fill of the win, we went to get some lunch and head back to the pits for Happy Hour. I gave my sign/card for J.D. to a very nice crew member who was setting up KB's Nationwide War Wagon, Eric Groen, who was genuinely so nice. This is why I love JGR y'all. He's the rear tire carrier for Lil' Joey's Cup car, so I will always cheer him on now. Again, we missed the action in Happy Hour, I did notice some scrapes on Tony's car tho. I saw Richard Petty in the garage lookin over what I now know was Reed Sorenson's messed up car. We headed back out to the grandstands for the race and we sat back at the same seats and really enjoyed the race. AND, Jeffie came thru and gave us the quote of the week! When Michael McDowell blew up and caught on fire, Jeffie said "Well, you gotta hand it to Michael McDowell, he doesn't half ass it. When he goes, he goes!" HAHA! Oh Jeffie, I seriously get grumpy without you. He was equally as funny after the truck win since there was a Nationwide driver meeting right after the race was over that KB wasn't gonna make it to clearly (thanks to the win) and Jeffie assured him "we're excused!" Awesomeness. Anyhow, KB held off Carl Edwards for that final round of laps and took the checkers again and again, we had a great view.

Great job darlin!!!

After the day was done we headed home and got ready to do it all again. I was exhausted and my shoulders hurt from hunching over all day but it was one of those pains you love.

I took two steps out of bed on Sunday morning and found my calves were almost obliterated after running up and down the stairs to get the frequency list. I was worried I wouldn't be able to make it the whole day. But I got up and made it out the door, albeit a little late to head out and meet up with Mom at our designated spot, In N Out Burger! (Oh and btw, Kyle did NOT mention INOB to my knowledge and I'm disappointed.)
We got our lunch and headed over to the track, which we assumed would be no more than a 10 minute ordeal. WRONG! Turned out it was a HUGE ordeal (apparently there was a fender bender, but I didn't see it), 45 minutes later, I was finally parked in the tan lot and walking the distance to the gates. I don't know how far it was, but it was long enough. I had barely handed over my ticket when I heard driver intro's being called! So much for Sunday's visit to the pits. While I had parked in the tan lot, Mom got routed over to the blue lot since the green lot was full at that point. So instead of parking by the gates like we always do, Mom was out in turn 2.

I got to the seats as the top 10 were being announced and Mom made it after the anthem. The shot above is just before the anthem. The seats were more than completely overtaken by the overly large lady next to us, but she left after the second rain delay, so we got to stretch out a little after that. I'm getting ahead of myself tho. House came out and made the call and I love him. We turned on the scanner and looked at the list and saw KB had 2 frequencies to choose from and I COULD NOT find him! I looked everywhere! So for the first half of the race, I fiddled around with the scanner trying to find him and was grumpy as I couldn't hear my beloved Jeffie. Denny griped about the rain "Oh come ON NASCAR! This is just stupid!" and Lil Joey said it was "rainin' cats and dogs out here!". It wasn't, it was a sprinkle. Which actually made for a better racing situation for that track. When they get too spread out with a long green flag run, it gets boring. Sorry, but it does. So the "competition cautions" as KB later called them, really helped make the race a race.
I was happy it wasn't The Auto Wrecker 500 that I watched last year in the rain, nor was it The Jimmie Johnson Parade Lap 500 that I watched last fall, so I enjoyed the little rain breaks. I've read complaints that the race almost had to be called because of the rain, let me assure you, it was NEVER close to that. And besides, Tom Cruise wasn't there, and races only get called because of rain when Tom Cruise is there (see Daytona this year, and this race lat year). Finally, at lap 146, I figured out how to tune into KB and I heard my lovely Jeffie! The race really started for me after that and I was happy. And as Kyle said on the radio "this is pretty cool, California is actually getting some good racing, too bad I'm not a part of it.", the racing was actually good. I giggled and waved bye as Jr pulled into the garages and called it a day when he finally went. His car sounded pathetic for a long time before. I sighed in a little relief as Mark Martin packed it up too, but only because he was on my friends fantasy team this week. Then I bit my tongue and remembered Karma as Kevin Harvick (one of my fantasy team members) blew an engine and lost it up into turn 2. The people in front of us were really nice and big Harvick fans and they were so upset. I felt bad for them. And my fantasy team. So now my friend and I were tied at 1 driver left running apiece. Lucky for me, my driver was KB.
When the checkers flew, Matt Kenseth crossed the line first, proving to everyone that he didn't win on luck alone, he's got the racing talent to back it up. So good for him. Ella's Dad finished 2nd, which I honestly wasn't upset about. I do find it ironic that last year at this race, Jeff's engine blew at lap 249, and this year all his teammates lost their engines (Mountain Man Jackson's kept popping gears. So kudos Hendrick, you figured out the problem you had with the 24 last year, but you blew it, literally, on your other 3 cars. HA!)
KB was happy with a 3rd place finish, he was hoping to have just a top 10 car. Jeffie was [jokingly] confused, "we didn't win? I don't get it! Aren't we always supposed to win here?" It was a good little smiler line. Getting out of the race was an adventure, I tore up the heels of my boots walking thru all the rocks and mud of the tan lot. No, not high heels, I'm no lizard.

All in all, it was fun. I'm mad about the Sprinkle-less weekend, but they were gonna be wasted calories anyway. But now it's time for LOST, my most favorite obsession on the planet, and I'll update everyone on the Nationwide race from Vegas next weekend!

Keep it Rowdy y'all!

-NasKal

Pretty views of the track and mountains.

Before the green flag at the Sprint Cup race

KB at Happy Hour

The Weasel trying to get pointers from KB.

Pee Pants at Happy Hour

and again earlier at Qualifying

Lil' Joey at Nationwide Qualifying

KB inspecting the car at qualifying

Pre wall scratch Tony at practice

Big Bro at practice

KB's truck ready to go from the pole

And For the Record...

2009-02-20T21:17:00.000-08:00

I use nicknames for all the drivers and I'll use them all weekend. They aren't really commonly used nicknames, so I'll explain them. Some are easier than others, but some are out there until you hear the meaning. They don't all have one but I'll go by number anyway.
#2- Kurt Busch- Big Bro. Self explanatory.
#6- David Ragan- Lil' Davey. He's 2 months younger than me. Hence, lil'er than me.
#9- Kasey Kahne- Baby Kasey. Cuz he's got a baby face!
#11- Denny Hamlin- The Ma'amer. He looks like he would say ma'am a lot, like a good Southern boy should.
#16- Greg Biffle- The Weasel. He always kinda weasels out of reasons as to why he didn't win or do so well, it's never HIS fault, always someone elses.
#18- Kyle Busch- KB. Duh. And maybe The Pickle since he loves them so.
#20- Joey Logano- Lil' Joey. He's so young!
#26- Jamie McMurray- Meteor Boy. Once on the radio, Jeffie told KB to hang where he was but be careful because the 26 was near him and "you know how he runs. Things will be good and then he'll get hit be a meteor or something." Which is true. Ahhh Jeffie, I love you still.
#48- Jimmie Johnson- Mountain Man Jackson or MMJ. Ever since he grew out the beard, I joked that he's been out in the woods living with Bear Grylls. Then when he cut his finger open/off, I joked he wasn't used to metal tools from the Bronze Age as he'd been using stones out in the mountains. So I called him Mountain Man Jackson. Jackson is just a more mountainy name than Johnson.
#99- Carl Edwards- Pee Pants. During Talladega, he ordered a regular water, a Vitamin Water and a windshield pull on a pit stop. I didn't know why he wanted TWO waters, and why one had to be regular. Then I watched the in car camera and it showed him pouring the regular water all over his lap. Figuring it was prolly hot in Alabama in the fall, I wrote it off as he was cooling himself off. Until on TWIN, Mikey Waltrip said he'd probably peed his pants in the long race and was diluting it. So, from there and forever on, he's Pee Pants. Also Litter Bug since he always litters!

And of course, Jeffie is Jeff Dickerson, my favorite voice in the whole world. I wish I had an alarm on my phone that was Jeffie talking to me and telling me to get up. I would NEVER be late for work ever again. He's so motivational.

Almost Time!

2009-02-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

I'll be at the race track all weekend. Here's somethings that I'm looking out for.

1- HOUSE! Just found out that Hugh Laurie is going to be there as the Grand Marshal. Its now my mission to see him. Maybe he'll say something mean to me!
YAY HOUSE!!!!

2- I'll be counting how many times drivers mention the end all be all of fast food finery: In N Out Burger. So far, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson haven't let me down. Kyle needs to bring it up soon or I'll be disappointed.

3- Kyle's Interstate Batteries firesuit. Sorry darlin, but it's just awful. The green is just all wrong and it's not doing the manweight any favors. The booty is a little diapery. It's just not good. In any way. Please get a new design STAT.

That being said, it's time to ready everything and get ready to get up and drive out early tomorrow morning, the weather looks beautiful and we're in for some good racin ladies and gents!

Catch up with y'all periodically over the weekend or entirely on Monday. Keep it Rowdy!

-NasKal

Oh Daytona, I Had Such High Hopes...

2009-02-16T00:23:00.000-08:00

Well it's over and done. The 51st Daytona 500 is in the books, 48 laps short of the complete 500 miles, but when it rains, it rains. Nothing anyone can do about that. Congratulations to Matt Kenseth, who kept his nose clean all day and raced himself into a special place in owner Jack Roush's heart by winning him his first Daytona 500. I'm ok with Matt winning, he's a nice enough guy and had a bad season last year so he deserves a good win. I'm also ok with Kevin Harvick finishing 2nd, that helped out my fantasy team. Thanks for that Happy. Let's get to recapping, shall we?

The day started off good enough, I'd just put down some laps at the go kart track and was proud that as the rookie, I didn't put it in the wall. I finished 3 laps down (ugh) but I finished and didn't get spun or turned or any of those shenanigans. Made it back home in time to get the scanner turned on and the TV synced up and I was READY to watch some good ol' fashioned racin!

Things were racy from the get go! My boy Kyle Busch started strong and was comin' like a freight train! 2.5 laps in and he was where he is most comfortable, right out front. And he stayed there, for 88 laps. Again, helping out my fantasy team by giving me the most laps led points. Much appreciated KB.

But it turned out that 88 was not a lucky number today. This whole SpeedWeeks, poor Dale Jr. just couldn't get his mind 100% in the race. Pit road mishaps at the Bud Shootout, Duels and Nationwide race, a wreck in the Shootout and unfortunately for him, it didn't stop there. First he completely missed his pits, then was held a lap for completing a stop with a tich of his right front outside the box. I wasn't listening to his scanner, but I'm sure it wasn't sunshine and gumdrops on that radio. The guy just couldn't focus (as he later fessed up to during the rain delay). That lack of focus was not only costing him dearly, but was about to cost 10 other guys a lot too.

Lap 124. (Weird fact, all the numbers I've mentioned so far are all Hendrick numbers...) After David Stremme blew a right rear, the restart came. It started off good, dicey, but it's what's to be expected when you're at Daytona. In the 500. Racing the weather. That's when all hell broke loose and we all saw that aftermath. Once the dust settled and I stopped smacking my hands on the couch, 10 cars had been banged up. Some worse than others. Sadly, that was the day for KB.

I am appalled at the reaction to the Lap 124 incident. Firstly, NASCAR. Shame on you. I know we just got back from a long break and I’m a little rusty still too, but when you flaunt your rules in my face on Saturday, you need to continue to follow them on Sunday. Jr. made a move that was eerily similar to the move Jason Leffler had put on Steven Wallace in the Nationwide race just the day before. Except after that 2 car wreck, NASCAR held Leffler 5 laps as a penalty for rough driving. And after this 10 car wreck, with far more dire consequences, and what seemed much more apparent to this girl, no penalties, no review, no questions. Just the position and one caution later, a reward of a lap back!

This is just unacceptable. Was I mad that Kyle got the brunt of the impact? Hell yes. Of course I was! But when there was NO penalty, that’s what really grinds my gears. How could you pull that rule out one day and so blatantly and conveniently forget it the next? Or is it just a ‘by driver’ rule. Or ‘by team’? I know I’m not the only one who feels like those who run under the Hendrick flag are given a bit more leniency than all others. Was that move not considered rough driving? Or was it just that Dale Jr. was the one who caused it? It would be one thing if basically the same thing hadn’t happened just a little more than 24 hours before this incident, but it had, and it was FRESH in our minds. Secondly, Jr., you need to take at least a little responsibility here. YOU clipped Vickers which sent him off into Kyle and 9 other guys. His rain delay interview was interesting to say the least. For one, it was the most animated I had ever heard the man. But calling on NASCAR to change the rule about pitting out of your box? COME ON! Why not just park in another guys box halfway, forcing him to not pit? There are reasons for the rules, and while you and your teammates (Tony Stewart included!) may be privy to some special bending, you can’t just whine about a rule that MAKES SENSE and that is CLEAR to see when violated. He just seemed spoiled and whiny like a Hollywood Heiress. “UH! Do you KNOW who I am!?! These peon rules don’t apply to me!” Needless to say, it was extremely off putting and for the first time in my racing fan career, I was annoyed and genuinely upset with Jr..

Another point of the weekend that irked me was the non-penalizing of Keselowski during the Nationwide race for intentionally bringing out the caution with his cut tire. When the same thing happened to Kyle back in New Hampshire II, he was held 2 laps while the other two drivers who had lost tires at the same time were allowed to leave. The same thing happened months earlier at Richmond I to Denny Hamlin. Not ALL NASCAR fans are part of The Nation, we don't all cheer when you penalize Mr. Busch. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's just too bad that NASCAR picks and chooses their penalties to appease fans. But then again, it must be hard to read those rule books under the sacks of money Mr. H drops off when one his boys messes up.

This has been pretty hard on the Hendrick teams and NASCAR, but after reading several other peoples opinions of the race, most generally agree that at least NASCAR deserves the scolding. I feel like Ralphie from A Christmas Story. I got a big box and as I eagerly unwrapped it, I found a giant pink bunny suit. Giant pink bunny suits are not cool. Daytona is the crown jewel and the jewels turned out to be moissanite this time around.

In a more fun turn, my favorite part of the race, ANY race, is the scanner chatter. Most especially Jeff Dickerson. If they sold Jeff Dickerson shirts, I would be the first in line. The combination of him, Kyle and Steve Addington (my mom’s favorite part of the race) is absolutely dynamic and often make me smile during the tensest of times. Jeffie, as we affectionately refer to him, makes every race more enjoyable. And as Kyle said in Victory Lane at the Duels, “Jeff drives the car, I just make the moves.” So not to fangirl out on him or anything, but I’m writing down my favorite scanner quote of the week from him every week. He'll get his own special section after this week, but this has been such a downer week that I need some Jeffie goodness to make this entry better.

This week, it sadly comes after the big wreck. Steve asked Jeffie if he had seen where Kyle went after he got out of the car. Seeing as how watching KB at all times is Jeffie’s JOB, you’d think he’d have an idea. But Jeffie came back and said “Honestly, I don’t know, I’ve been too busy yellin at everyone up here to follow him.” HA! I adore you Jeffie. Stay warm next week when you hit the windy windy rooftops of Fontana.

Since I don’t know the laws about copyrights of pictures, I’m not posting any this week. Next week there will be plenty as NASCAR packs up and heads my way. I’ll be at all three events so stay tuned for some pictures and an in person recap from the pits to the stands. Just as long as this rain cuts it out.

Keep it Rowdy y'all!

-NasKal

A Green Track...

2009-02-16T00:13:00.000-08:00

Is what we have here ladies and gentlemen. Welcome, one and all, though probably just one, to my humble beginnings in the wonderful world of blogging.
This little blog will be mainly dedicated to a pretty deep passion of mine; NASCAR. For now, you can call me NasKal. My ambitions are to bring you one fan's reaction and recap of the race every week.
I'm calling this deal Rumpus Time is Over because, well, the rumpus is over, the boys have put up their toys and gone to bed and now it's time to reflect on all that transpired.
I'm just a fan, no one special, I don't have the insider knowledge of the garage (or at least none that I would share...) and yes, I'm sure this will get biased at times, so if you hate who I like, that's your loss. I will rant and I will rave, but hey, that's what the Internet is for.

So pull those straps tight and lets go racin' boys!

Keep it Rowdy y'all!

-NasKal