NNS - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Nicorette 300

Jess

RESULTS
1. Matt Kenseth
10. David
15. Dale Jr.
22. Brian (1 LD)

Atlanta disappointed a bit, as it got pretty strung out at times and didn't quite provide the on-the-edge-of-your-seat excitement lap after lap like it has in the past. At the drop of the green, however, David charged forward, which was quite thrilling, but by then Rowdy Busch was a little speck in the windshield of the second-place car.

The first part of the race consisted of a lot of wrecks due to underfunded teams and inexperience.

David ran into some problems in the middle of the day when he became extremely loose, but Jerry did a great job getting the car handling well again and he was able to make his way back into the top 10.

Dale Jr. was running well but a rather interesting crash ruined his day late in the going. At the exit of Turn 2 he came upon the slow car of Eric McClure and instead of slowing down or going around him he saw a little hole and stuck his nose in it...and they wrecked, taking out Bryan Clauson as well. I thought it was a little odd that Junior just kind of ran into him, but I also feel pretty bad for a full-speed driver flying up on a car well under the pace sitting in your groove.

Meanwhile, Brian was having a depressing day on pit road. I really, really hate picking on a pit crew but this #32 has a very inconsistent group of guys - either they're really, really awesome or they are really, really bad. According to Brian's website (because ESPN2, of course, isn't very thorough), they had trouble with the rear tires on one stop but the real killer was a stop during green-flag conditions when a tire rolled away and they were penalized a lap. Later, Brian overshot his pit stall and put himself further back into the field. Despite all this the car was good and the Sheriff was able to salvage a decent finish.

I felt so awful for Kyle Busch when that tire blew - what a shame (although I am getting a little tired of the #20 winning all the time). To add insult to injury he was interviewed by Shannon Spake, who, true to her nature, asked the stupidest questions she could ask to a driver who was obviously very upset. Uhg, that girl needs a bitch slap!

Matt Kenseth is a good guy. I like him. But jeeze, that burnout felt more like a "Well, I suppose I should make a little smoke," rather than a "Whooohooo, YES!! CELEBRATION!!! " It bugs me enough sometimes when a Cup driver wins with a fully Cup-funded team, but when they just act like it's something they have to do instead of jumping up and down and grinning and whooping it just makes you feel gypped as a fan.

POINT STANDINGS
1. Kevin Harvick
6. David -102

Atlanta Motor Speedway - Qualifying

Jess

CUP RESULTS
1. Jeff Gordon
2. Dale Jr.
3. Martin
27. Michael
29. Kurt
30. David
35. Brian
39. Casey
43. DJ

Wow - I can't believe after four races we haven't had one of our boys go home! That is such a major improvement over last season and for that I'm so thankful. I was actually extremely nervous once the star cars took to the track because many of them seemed to be really struggling with the handling, but fortunately it all turned out well! Check out Junior and Martin up there!

Mike Skinner ended up qualifying AJ Allmendinger's car. I have such mixed feelings about this. From quotes I've read Skinner looks dedicated to helping the team become more confident as well as giving AJ a lot of feedback and AJ is at the track acting as Skinner's shadow. But I just wish that AJ was racing something in CTS or Nationwide rather than just watching. Nothing can boost confidence more than running in other series and TRB should realize that from last season. I'm also annoyed by AJ being taken out of the #84 because he's only "really" missed one race: Las Vegas. Daytona is unique because of the Duels and California was rained out. Meanwhile, look at Brian's qualifying results. He's scraping into these races by the skin of his teeth - he was the last car to make it in this weekend and Skinner was just ahead of him. So TRB maybe needs to work on their qualifying setups before they start blaming it all on their drivers...

NNS RESULTS
1. Jeff Burton
5. David
9. Dale Jr.
16. Brian

Let it snow, let it snow! How can it be snowing at Atlanta and raining in Upstate New York? So Nationwide qualifying was set on owner points from last season. Kind of boring, but it will give time to the crews for a couple snowball fights!

Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The UAW-Dodge 400

Jess

RESULTS
1. Carl Edwards
2. Dale Jr.
13. Casey
15. Martin
24. Brian (1 LD)
31. Michael (2 LD)
37. David (9 LD)
38. Kurt (OUT)
39. DJ (OUT)

This race didn’t exactly start out on a positive note when David hit the wall on Lap 2. He was surprisingly calm over the radio despite the fact that they went three laps down fixing the car on pit road under green flag conditions. Jamie McMurray's spin on Lap 10 brought out the caution, allowing David to get one of his laps back and for a while it seemed like everyone gained a little bit of hope, thinking that in only one more caution they would be one lap down and when you're just one lap down things don't look as horrible. But unfortunately they didn't get that caution in time and the #00 was handling so badly that David eventually went several circuits behind the leaders.

Generally I wasn't a big fan of the race. I can't remember what the racing was like last season after they added banking to Vegas, but it wasn't good at all Sunday. The new cars seemed to fill up a lot of the width and the racing surface is narrow enough without cutting it down to about one and three-quarters grooves of racing space. Passing looked extremely difficult even with good cars. I just couldn't get over how small the track looked - for being 1.5 miles long it reminded me more of a short track.

David held on and Ryan did a great job of listening to his feedback and making all kinds of changes. Encouraging! In my opinion one of the greatest strengths of a team isn't how they interact with each other when they are running well, but how they communicate when they are struggling. The #00 guys get an A+ in that aspect! Unfortunately a friend told me that Michael's radio chatter was less than productive. Michael can be very hard to work with. When he was paired with Tony Eury Jr. back in 2005 he was very enjoyable to listen to and his communication was excellent, but since then he's been almost a terror to crew chiefs everywhere! I couldn't take how he treated Derrick Finley and that was when I stopped listening to his radio feed. It didn't get much better with following crew chiefs, despite all the good things Michael would say about them when he was out of the car. I can understand that Michael is frustrated. He desperately needs to lock himself into the top 35 and at the moment it's not looking like it will be easy. He's not running all that great and he needs to be because I'm sure he knows more than fans do what NAPA and his other sponsors are thinking, as well as Toyota. But he can't abuse Paul Andrews and his team like he's doing and expect the situation to improve! When Michael left DEI I remember him saying that he needed to find himself another Tony Jr. At first I thought that he meant he just needed to find another talented crew chief - a simple enough task because there is a lot of skill out there in that department. But now...how many crew chiefs later? Over half a dozen? Now I wonder if Michael was saying whether he wanted someone "like" Tony Jr. or if he meant it in a way that ran a lot deeper. Will he ever get along with anyone who isn't Tony Jr.?

It's sad to say that the race didn't get interesting until they started crashing. Tony Stewart blew a tire and slammed into the Turn 3 wall incredibly hard on Lap 110 and came to rest pressed against the SAFER barrier. My mind immediately went to the crash he'd had the day before where he said he'd hurt his foot and because he wasn't getting out of the car very fast I felt that pit of fear that I get when someone wrecks as hard as he did. My anxiety was confirmed when he struggled to exit the #20 and with help from the safety workers limped into the waiting truck. In a post-race interview he remarked that both his legs went numb and his lower back hurt - I really hope he got his back checked out because that sounds like a compression fracture.

After that it seemed like the race would go green and then a car would have a tire go down or someone would wreck and bring the caution out. Junior stayed out on the track when others pitted during a yellow on Lap 179 and did a good job of holding that lead for a while. Meanwhile Kurt was a lap down after serving a pass-through penalty on pit during as a result of getting caught speeding on a green-flag pit stop earlier but received the lucky dog during a debris caution on Lap 214.

Ten laps later two of out boys got together, ironically two of our guys who are good friends: Casey and Brian. I hate when that happens! Casey pushed up into Brian and the #83 spun into the frontstretch. To my amazement he not only kept it off the wall, but actually kept going onto pit road, all the while alerting his crew that he saved it and was coming! Unfortunately for FOX, who was airing his radio feed live, Brian dropped an F-bomb (out of excitement, not viciousness ) and it was really funny because he said, "Where are you?!" because his crew wasn't even ready to pit him! Poor Mike Joy, he tried to tell the audio guys to cut the mike but it was already too late.

I wasn't laughing very much when the next caution came out on Lap 233 because it was DJ. He was still on the lead lap running well when he got loose under Dave Blaney in Turn 2 and instead of wrecking the #22 he spun himself out and backed it into the wall. DJ has actually run very decently this season but something always seems to happen to him. Darn it DJ, just wreck the guy! I was pretty upset because he was looking very good in the live point standings until then.

Things got worse when on Lap 257 when Kurt blew a tire and hit the wall hard. That was extremely, extremely disappointing.

With only a handful of laps to go the worst wreck of the day occurred. On a restart Junior spun his tires, causing the drivers behind him to bunch up and try to get around him. For a moment the #88 was in a Jeff Gordon-Matt Kenseth sandwich and then those two made contact and spun. Kenseth was the lucky one because he didn't hit anything after that, but Gordon flew across the racetrack and slammed into the inside wall right where it curves to make an entrance for the safety vehicles. Oh yeah, and there isn't a SAFER barrier there, either. He crashed wickedly hard and I caught my breath, but he was moving and talking quickly after the car stopped moving (thankfully the scattering cars behind him - Mike Skinner specifically - missed him, but just barely). I don't get it! These bloody racetrack owners make tons of money and they don't understand that drivers can wreck anywhere? And the setup they have with that entrance is ridiculous...remember Jeff Fuller's wreck at Kentucky in 2006. Kentucky fixed that wall. Vegas had better do the same and NASCAR would be wise to recommend likewise on other tracks with similar layouts.

I was really hoping Dale Jr. could give Carl Edwards a run for his life but unfortunately the #88 didn't have quite enough. Well, maybe he did, except that the #99 quickly came under NASCAR's scrutiny when they discovered the oil tank lid was off in post-race inspection. How wonderful. I love when a team that cheats wins a race. We'll see what comes with that - the Nationwide teams got busted for similar infractions back in Daytona.

Maybe I was hoping more for Junior to smile a little during his postrace interview. He's starting to depress me because it feels like I haven't seen him grin or laugh since he won the Bud Shootout. Now he looks as miserable as he did at DEI! I don't know if he's feeling the pressure of HMS or what, but I really wish he'd be the goofy, geeky Junior I love so much.

It was nice to see Casey get a good finish and for Brian to recover a bit from his spin. Casey needs all the points he can get and for Brian it was a great points day! Martin also had a great finish!

I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but David's radio feed was very pleasant and that's saying a lot since they ended up nine laps down. Ryan wasn't as chatty as he usually is and I could just about hear the gears turning in his brain trying to figure the car out - and it worked because by the end of the race it was decent. There was a bit of a funny conversation between David and Shawn:

David: "Shawn, if you see Mark Green [Michael's spotter] tell him I wasn't trying to piss Michael off there...I was quicker and I just figured I'd get by him and get away from him where I wouldn't bug him. I wasn't trying to race with him."

Shawn (sounding unconcerned): "Well he ain't said nothing."

David (impatient, pressing): "That's why you need to talk to Mark - just give him the message."

Shawn (annoyed): "I understand, we already talked about it, he's standing right here beside me."

David (quiet, satisfied, pacifying): "That's all I asked."

Ryan then broke up this conversation.

POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
8. Martin -99
10. Dale Jr. -109
12. Kurt -122
13. Brian -122
31. David -215
33. DJ -240
34. Michael -240
35. Casey -251

UPDATE (Wednesday March 5): Carl Edwards was penalized 100 points for his rule infraction. It gained our guys some points, but not positions.

Robby Gordon's 100 point penalty was overturned by the National Stock Car Racing Commission. Crap. For one thing, although I don't think RGM deserved as harsh of a penalty as they were given, I don't think they should have gotten all 100 points back, either. For another, it bumps David, Dale, Michael and Casey one spot closer to being in trouble after Bristol...

NNS: Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Sam’s Town 300

Danni

RESULTS
1. Mark Martin
25. David - 50LD
36. Brian - OUT

Not a good race for our drivers, as you can see! It started out so well, with Brian on the pole and David taking the green in 5th. But you don't get paid or recieve points from where you begin!

The track seemed iffy at best and the first part of the race was burdened with cautions. Cars were just wrecking left and right. It was hard to tell whether guys were being overaggressive or if the asphalt was hot and slick. Maybe it was a combination of both. Accident after accident ocurred in Turns 3 and 4. During the broadcast they mentioned the wind that appeared to be blowing directly into the center of the turn and theorized that it may be assisting in the loose conditions there. When Bobby Labonte crashes all by himself, it tends to raise some eyebrows.

Brian and David were both running within the top-10 and looked hopeful to have decents finishes. Pretty much, when Brian blew a tire and went ot the garage a little less than halfway through the race, things started going downhill.

On a Lap 104 pit stop, the #99 team let a tire get away and was penalized. David started far behind the leaders but gradually picked his way through the field. As he approached the top 10, a group of cars got mired behind the #7 of Mike Wallace.

Okay. I like Mike Wallace. He's a nice guy and a good driver. But man... when I see him around one of my guys, I get a pit in my stomach, especially when he's on old tires, like in this situation. Wallace has a bad habit of blocking the entire field and causing quite the mess in his wake.

So there was the #7 car, holding up drivers including Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart. It's not easy to pass at Vegas - the track is narrow and there are about one-and-a-half safe grooves. These guys were stacked up two-by-two behind Wallace when David joined the group. They ran haphazardly like this for a few laps. Eventually, Bowyer got by. David followed Harvick up high, with Stewart below him. Harvick got clear and went down low. From the in-car camera, it appeared like David went to trail the #33 down as they entered the turn and maybe didn't know Stewart was there, a little bit above the white line. He barely cut Stewart off, which caused Stewart to get loose and jump up into David. The wreck followed!

David backed the #99 Aaron's Toyota into the wall hard enough to mess up the rear end and they were forced to make repairs in the garage. I sat and waited for Tony's interview with some apprehension, since he seems to be rather threatened of David on the racetrack (read more about that on our Cali report!). To my surprise, he handled it well, but I could tell by the look on his face and the tone of his voice that he though it was David's fault. His quotes on Race2Win hint at that, but I guess it's possible he could have been in some pain since he said he hurt his foot. Who knows with Tony.

The #99 crew got the car in limping condition and by the end of the race, David picked up two positions to finish 25th. It was disappointing, but I guess it could have been worse.

Despite that, the end of the race was quite interesting! Brad Keselowski did not pit for the last stint. He got a good restart, but was soon caught up by Carl Edwards, Mark Martin (in the #5) and Greg Biffle. Edwards attempted to pass him - not easy, remember - and Martin got right up on Edwards' rear end as they got on the frontstretch. Side by side, Keselowski and Edwards touched, causing Edwards to lift slightly. With Martin right on his tail, it proved unfortunate. The #5 nailed the #60, swinging Edwards into Keselowski and ending with both the leaders crashed!

Several things made this interesting. Firstly, the #5 and #88 are teammates, so that automatically adds an awkward element to things. It was also Mark Martin who directly wrecked Edwards. A lot of people say Mark never whacks anyone on purpose, so he's off the hook. You know... I've watched him run into other drivers plenty of times. I kind of hate that just because you're Mark Martin, nothing you do is your fault - you must not have meant it. Of course, to Mark's credit, the first thing he said in Victory Lane (another interesting factor to the situation!) was that the accident was his fault. That's fine. You apologized and that's good.

I guess where I'm trying to get with this is that a lot of wrecks aren't done on purprose. So why are some drivers blamed 100% while others get away with everything just because of who they are? I try to see everything so objectively and this stuff makes me nuts. I could have thrown rocks at Tony for crashing David and come up with all kinds of reasons why it was his fault. But... looking at the replays, David didn't give him a lot of room.

I'm just saying... if that had been Kyle Busch in the #5, people would be calling for his head. Since it was Mark, people dismiss it without a second thought. Just frustrating. I don't know.

POINT STANDINGS

1. Tony Stewart

7. David -103

Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Qualifying

Danni

RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
8. Dale Jr.
9. Kurt
11. Casey
14. David
16. DJ
18. Martin
22. Michael
43. Brian

That's right! Everyone made it in!!

It was the first qualifying session that used the new format of putting all the Star Cars together at the end (since Cali was rained out) and I think it was one of the best things NASCAR's done for these drivers. It was exciting and nerve-wracking to watch.

Brian's lap looked terrible and as you can see, he was the last one in. It was confusing because he was good in practice, so maybe the shade on the track actually messed him up some.

David was 5th in practice so I had high hopes but I still got anxious when he pulled out onto the track. And for good reason! On his first lap he slid up the track in Turns 1 and 2 and I felt a pit of dread forming. But, thank you Darrell, I built up some confidence for the second lap. The 00 car stuck this time and David was locked in after a few more cars!!

There was one casualty, though. Johnny Sauter in the 21 car got up too high and spun in the "dirt" that collects on the extreme upper groove. He overcorrected and slammed nose-first pretty hard into the backstretch wall, then added salt to the wound as he bounced along it a couple more times. The car was done for.

Then it was time for Michael. I always get nervous when he qualifies because I've watched him wreck more than once. His first lap got him in though! But he continued to go on to his second! I got nervous all over again. However, he improved his time greatly so I guess it wasn't too bad after all.

Finally DJ. I was afraid of a poor lap since he was not fast in practice at all. But he first lap was phenomenal! Relief and celebration ensued!! Great job, MWR!

To make it even better, Kurt tossed the PCP out the window and blew the doors off the majority of the field.

But there was heartbreak. AJ missed another race. His self-esteem must be at an all-time low. It just sucks - he is so much better than this.

It was cool to see Kyle win the pole in his home town. And the cheers! I couldn't hear any boos anywhere. Good stuff. People miss out on a lot with their blind hate for the Busch brothers, so listening to fans with some sense is comforting.

NNS: California Speedway - Stater Bros. 300

Jess

RESULTS
1. Tony Stewart
4. David
7. Dale Jr.

Not long after the Cup race was over two of our guys were strapping into their Nationwide cars, ready to put another three-hundred miles behind them. It was a fairly ho-hum race, but what did happen was centered quite a bit around David and Kyle Busch.

I like Kyle - I like him a lot, actually - but that doesn't mean I don't get nervous when he's around one of my favorites. So when he suddenly appeared behind David going like a bat out of hell I held my breath a little. Thankfully I came to the conclusion that I might as well start breathing again because I would have suffocated if I'd continued to hold my breath the entire time those two were around each other! Kyle was trailing David and if he'd gotten any closer to the 99's rear bumper there would have been a huge crash. It was odd, though, because it took Kyle quite a while to attempt a pass, so I thought that either he was trying to draft with David, a fellow Toyota driver, or he was just being a buttmunch for some reason.

Whatever Kyle's intentions were, David didn't appreciate them! It didn't look like David wanted Kyle to get by and once Kyle did David got right up on his arse. Then he passed Kyle, Kyle tailgated him, Kyle passed, David tailgated...and so on and so forth until I was just about puking with anxiety, waiting for the spin.

That never happened but David didn't let Kyle go without letting him know how he felt - which he showed by driving down the track and giving the 32 a good slam on the door! The funniest part about that was Kyle seemed so offended and held his hand out the window like, "What?" Later ESPN played some of David's audio in which he was saying he was racing Kyle like he was racing him and that it wasn't fun when he (meaning Kyle) was wearing the other shoe, was it!

David got some breathing room after pit stops when the 32 crew lost Kyle several spots (that sounds familiar) and was then able to focus on more important things: like getting those five points for leading a lap. Stewart was basically spanking the rest of the field, so according to some audio from Stewart's team that ESPN played David had asked the 20's spotter to let Stewart make a decision on whether he'd allow David to lead a lap. A fair question - David's going for the championship and he's a Toyota driver. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up in the fleeting moment the spotter was talking during this clip, but I was furious when Stewart's answer was a short, nasty, "No." The spotter then laughed. Uhg!! What a freaking crap! True, as a racer you don't want to give anyone a freebee, but dang! And the way he said it, so holier-than-thou, really made my blood boil! It got even worse when during green-flag pit stops one of the pit reporters said that Stewart wanted to pit after the 99. Gee, so he couldn't lead a lap, right? Bloody hell, that's just rude!

So the race went on and by and by Kyle came creeping back up to the front. Eventually it looked just like the start of the race again with the red nose of the 32 stuffed up the Lucky Dog's nose. Ah-ha! That's it! Maybe Kyle was just trying to get a real good look at Lucky! The battle again appeared a bit heated but didn't last as long before Kyle got by and made a vain attempt to go after Stewart.

I was pretty nervous that Kyle would say something obnoxious about David but when asked about their racing together he didn't even flinch and answered calmly that the 99 was a really good car that seemed to have more horsepower than his Camry. He did admit that they were racing too hard with each other and also mentioned the retaliation...however he called it a "side-draft". Which I don't think it was. But either Kyle honestly didn't think he was getting on David's nerves or he didn't want to call him out for showing some emotion (though he did refer back to the infamous wreck with Kurt during the All-Star race). Anyway I appreciated that. David said nothing about Kyle during his interview.

For a while I was annoyed at both of them because it was really stressful for me as a fan to watch them lap after lap inches away from wrecking each other. They are two very emotional drivers and aggressive drivers - believe it or not, David can get pretty fired up out there! They are also two very talented drivers. After I got over that little pit of dread that I was feeling watching them race around together I realized that it just showed off what great drivers they are and I love 'em both very much!

Junior had a quiet day. I'm a little surprised he hasn't run better in his Nationwide races but maybe he's just shaking the rust off and getting used to the new package.

POINT STANDINGS
1. Tony Stewart
4. David -104

California Speedway - Auto Club 500

Danni

RESULTS
1. Carl Edwards
6. Martin
11. Brian
13. Kurt
23. David - 1 lap down
28. Michael - 2LD
33. DJ - 3LD
40. Dale Jr. - 47LD
42. Casey - OUT

It was a few hours late, but the Cup race did occur on Sunday - part of it, anyway. It was obvious that the drivers were anxious to get going. By the time the field hit the track for pace laps, the sun was shining but not everything turned out so great.

Things got off to a rough start when Michael's car began spurting oil all over the asphalt after a line came loose. His car sat on pit road with the crew crowding around it. It was pretty depressing and I thought of all those pace laps ticking away. However, several minutes later it was stated that those laps didn't count since the race hadn't even commenced. That made me feel better, but it sure didn't put Michael in the best of moods.

When the green fell, Jeff Gordon snatched the lead and checked out. Fourteen laps later, Denny Hamlin careened sharply into the wall. At first it was reported that he blew a tire, but then in the garage he claimed that he had hit a wet spot and lost control. Despite the track being dry at the start, water was weeping in from underneath through the seams in the pavement. And Denny wouldn't be its most unfortunate victim.

A handful of laps later, a horrific wreck that has so become Califronia happened involving two of our drivers. Casey hit a weeper and went along for a wild ride up the track, into the wall and unluckily slid back down the banking just in time to clip Dale Jr. The impact ripped the 88's right side off and he spun along the backstretch. Meanwhile, Casey grated against the wall, probably thinking it was all over. It would have been, except for the witless antics of a driver who caused us some irritation last weekend.

Sam Hornish Jr. clearly needs a lot more practice on the brakes. He was in Turn 1 when the crash started and still ended up making it worse. While everyone slowed down, he barreled into the melee and slammed into the back of Reed Sorenson, sending him flying. Then he shot along the wall and hurtled straight into the back of Casey's car.

Now, the first live view of this entire fiasco was looking back from the middle of the backstretch. At the time, I had my eyes on Casey's car, then all of a sudden I found myself staring at his roof. Hornish hit him so hard that the 5 car flipped over onto its top and had enough momentum that it tilted some more until it was sitting sideways on the right side. I couldn't freaking believe it.

It gets worse! Hornish's exposed engine burst into flames. I guess if there was anything good about the speed that he carried, it was that the 5 car on its side and not laying upside down on the 77's hood. Of course, fire is frightening no matter where you are in the car. Casey's window net was thrown out but I knew it would take him a while to get out since he'd have to climb vertically, plus he'd have no choice but to jump into the fire. Panicking, I suddenly saw a NASCAR official running toward the wreckage. This man, bless his brave heart, leaped onto Hornish's hood regardless of the fire and got to Casey's window to help him get out. I was just floored by this act of complete selflessness. The guy showed no concern for his own safety. I mean, he could have waited for the extinguishers... but he didn't. I want to know his name. I'm also upset he got no recognition for what he did on the broadcast.

The fire crew eventually came and put out the flames. Casey was gradually helped from his car during the red flag. Thankfully, he was okay - probably shaken up and disappointed, but okay. But it does hurt. This was his second DNF in a row and it dropped him well below the point of comfort in the standings.

Eventually the track was cleaned up and the race went back underway. However, it was marred by intermittent rain and a handful of flat tires. Not everything was going badly, though. David was charging through the field like nothing I've ever seen from that team before! On Lap 78, the 00 cracked the top-10 and continued moving forward. A few laps later, it started raining again. The red flag came out. Despite NASCAR trying their best to dry the track, the moisture in the air prevented the track surface from cooperating and the race was delayed until the next day.

Monday dawned sunny and dry - a good thing. But there was a downside, especially in David's case. Conditions bascially did a complete flip from the night before and altered the way many cars drove. By the time we got home from college, David was struggling. To make things worse, the race adopted a long green flag trend, which trapped cars a lap or more down. Kurt even ran out of fuel during a green pit stop and had to coast to his stall!

Unfortunately for Michael, the sunshine didn't shed any light onto the 55 team. On Lap 150, he lost control and backed it into Turn 2. Several laps later, DJ cut down the outer liner of his right rear tire and skimmed the wall. At this point, David was having no fun with the car's poor handling after an overadjustment. Ugh! It wasn't looking good for MWR!

Afterwards, the race was predominantly green, with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards appearing to be the guys contending for the win. Martin was running fine and some pit strategy had Brian cruising happily in the top-15. Kurt was gaining back spots he had lost when he ran out of gas.

A caution came out on Lap 219, giving David's team another chance to make a change to the car. And a change they made! When the green dropped, David shot himself out of a cannon and easily put himself in position to get the Lucky Dog for the Aaron's Lucky Dog Dream Machine! It would have been a dream come true for sure, but the yellow fell too late. DJ wrecked with one to go and since the white flag was already out, a green-white-checkers was dismissed. Of course, David had been ripping off awesome laps that averaged third of everyone on the track!! He was running faster than the leaders at some points! At the end of the race, I didn't know whether to feel exhalted or dejected. I was amazed at those lap times but just so disappointed he never got the free pass to show the field what he had! But... I guess 23rd with a car that had more in it is better than sitting in 10th and getting caught up in a crash that destroys a good car. On to Vegas with a skip in your steps, 00 team!

I was pretty upset with the way Michael and DJ's day went. Two wrecks and a flat tire. At least DJ stayed out to lead a lap, but I'm starting to get nervous about either of them making to top-35 in points by Bristol.

Martin's good finish relieved me. I was apprehensive that he wouldn't run well after Junior left - not because the 1 team is weak, but because DEI is. Daytona wasn't kind to him, so I feared his struggles would spill over to California. I was happy to be proven wrong!

In spite of everyone moaning about the New Car, the racing was much improved, with plenty of lead changes and side-by-side action. It still had a tendency to get strung out, but that often happens on big tracks. Seeing Carl win was fine with me - a rarer face than Jeff and Jimmie (no offense to either of them!).

00 Quotes of the Race:
Ryan Pemberton (during a caution): "And it looks like it's going to rain. The wind is picking up and I'm getting cold. Somebody gives me a wrap or something to wrap up in."

Crew member: "How 'bout just a hug?"

Ryan: "Ten-four, yeah. Maybe a hug - a group hug would be good!"



POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
4. Kurt -36
11. Brian -78
12. Martin -82
18. David -132
23. Dale Jr. -149
25. DJ -151
29. Michael -175
42. Casey -240

I'd like to send our love and thoughts to Michael's sister, Connie. She lost her son, Jason. Condolences to the family and friends.

NASCAR Fashion?

Jess

What do you think when you hear the word "NASCAR"? Speed, danger, excitement? The sounds, the smells, the sight of forty-three colorful machines flashing by in the sunlight? Or do you think of...fashion?

What?

I came across this article on NASCAR.com: Who are you wearing? Pits the 'it' place for fashion. I probably shouldn't have looked, but I couldn't resist taking a peek. It's a no-brainer that a lot of drivers are sponsored by various labels so you often see them with their expensive sunglasses or shoes or watches, but what bothered me was the discussion of what the female half of NASCAR - namely the wives/girlfriends - is doing about fashion. I understand that as a female, you don't exactly want to go to a race looking like a complete slob. I can't imagine most girls would like to be seen wearing their puppy-print pajama-bottoms with their favorite baggy KISS concert T-shirt. I like to look nice and I like to look pretty with clothes that fit me well and compliment my body. But is it really necessary to look more in place walking down a runway on America's Next Top Model than standing on pit road next to a racecar?

This quote from Sherry Pollex, Martin's girlfriend, really made my jaw drop: "People take my picture and it's really a thing between the girls, you're at a track and how you look matters. Honestly for me, it's a respect thing as well. Like church on Sundays, when I walk out there, I have a sense of pride because I'm a reflection of Martin and what he does."

Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but shouldn't the reason you're at the track be to support your husband/boyfriend, not look pretty for the cameras? Can you not be a "reflection" of your significant other while wearing an outfit that costs less than $300 and isn't "high fashion"?

It makes me a little ill in general that many of these NASCAR women take money that they're not even making for granted, like it's a given for standing next to a driver and flicking their bleach-blonde hair around. I've never paid more than $30 for a pair of jeans. I'd never spend more than $50 on a top that cost $5 to make (by child laborers, no doubt!) just because it's a designer label and you might get some oohs and ahs for two minutes on pit road by the girlfriend of the driver that starts in front of your boyfriend. That's so materialistic...so narcissistic.

Then again, maybe it's what a lot of the drivers ask for, especially the younger ones. I joke that the racecars have a template so the girlfriends must have a template too. Sometimes I can't even tell the difference between who I see standing by Driver A one week and Driver B the next. Big chest, big butt, tiny waste. Bleach-blonde hair. High heels. Many have been models or little trophy girls at local tracks. More look interested in the cameraman or photographer than the man about ready to get into his racecar and live his dream.

I guess that's why I like Krissie Newman so much (how funny that I mentioned this in my Daytona 500 post). Go do a search for her. Does she look like a supermodel? No. She's gorgeous, though, because she looks like the girl next door and natural beauty is far more lovely than vain plastic surgery. Does she prance around pit road posing for photographers wearing extra-tight jeans and cleavage-baring blouses? No. She's at Ryan's side, holding his hand, standing close to him during prerace ceremonies. Often wearing T-shirts. Sure, she wears labels like everyone else, but is that her goal on raceday? No. Her focus is Ryan, not the cameras and not what the other girls think of her outfit.

She was wearing a big white hoodie when Ryan won the Daytona 500. Did she care? No.

"I know some people really like to dress up because of the cameras and that's fine," Newman said. "I used to dress up ... white cargo pants and nice shoes but I just ended up getting water spots and grease stains on them. You still have to remember you're at a racetrack. You can look professional and stylish and still be comfortable."

Now that's a girl after my own heart! Rock on, Krissie.