Here are a few thoughts running around in my head in no particular order:

Um, Tony, you are in desperate need of a haircut. You're looking a bit ragged. I hope you're not pulling a Kyle Petty and deciding to grow your hair out until your next victory.

There are a lot of folks in the newsroom that are sick. I am scared I'm next...uugh.

I had chinese food for lunch yesterday and while I was eating it I was wishing so bad that it wasn't so fattening. I think I could eat it at least once a week.

I haven't decided on a new picture yet. I'm thinking I may be leaning towards just keeping the one I have as a 'remember when...' type of picture. Plus that's the best cop out I have to NOT get a new one. Although, I think the funniest suggestion was from Jacko. It made me laugh.

Did you see that they made a change to where they'll distribute the money from driver penalties throughout the year? If you didn't, they are now going to donate the funds from the penalties to the Nascar Foundation. It's about time they put that money to good use. I never liked the idea of them doling out the penalty money back to the drivers at the end of the season. Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't some of that money, potentially, go back to those very drivers that got penalized?

If you find any typos in this blog entry, it's because I swear they have the air conditioning on over my head. My fingers are frozen and I think I can see my breath.

All for now...

Yesterday I had planned on first listening to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s teleconference and then listening to Tony Stewart's teleconference. The latter part did not happen. Junior's teleconference started about 10 minutes late because they were on the track practicing at Daytona International Speedway.

However, I know there's a whole bunch of you "Stewies" out there so I wanted to share the complete audio of the teleconference that took place yesterday.

Today's lineup of drivers to be interviewed was supposed to be Denny Hamlin and Kasey Kahne. Due to weather, they have scrapped those interview sessions and are running practice straight through 4 p.m. or until the weather gets bad.

All for now.

We decided to watch the Chili Bowl on Saturday night instead of the Patriots. We did, however, go back and forth between the two channels the entire time the Patiots game was going on. I know, I know, we may have been the only household in New England not tuning into the football game in it's entirety...

The Chili Bowl was pretty cool. I'll be honest, when I first saw how long the race was going to be, I looked at my husband and said there was no way I was going to be able to stay up that late. Yes, I'm a complete wuss.

In the beginning there were tons of interviews with the drivers. And actually, that didn't help me out with trying to stay up. I was surprised at how young some of them were. I was particularly struck by a 16-year old, Cole Whitt. He had this Opie look about him. He was this kind of small red head with a baseball cap that didn't have a curve in the brim so it was completely flat across. It made me chuckle. So with his first interview, that was the boy I decided that I wanted to root for.

He didn't fare too well. He wrecked. I was bummed.

Tony Stewart opted to not take the provisional into the race and he raced in. He won his B-Main event and finished in eighth place in the main event. (No temper tantrums that I saw.)

It didn't seem that they could go more than 3 laps without a caution.

If you're looking to purchase tickets to next year's Chili Bowl, stand in line. Like, a LONG line of approximately 500, that is. There's a waiting list. They start selling tickets next month for next year's event.

There were 44 states represented at the Chili Bowl by ticket buyers.

It didn't seem that anyone sat down during the races. Everytime the camera scanned the crowd, they were always standing up. I would get tired. It pretty much sealed the deal with me that I didn't want to attend. It would get damn old standing there for 5 hours.

I also thought it was interesting that most of the folks standing in the first few rows had either goggles or face masks on. The dirt from the track, I guess, flies up that far and spatters folks. Now the dirt and mud doesn't bother me at all, it's the standing that I couldn't handle.

All for now.

The I's were dotted and the T's crossed today for the change of ownership of the newly named New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Everything is now final and Bruton Smith is officially owner of the track for $340 million in cash.

The press release goes on to say:
"New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a wonderful addition to our strong portfolio of tracks and provides the opportunity for our company to expand into a new market," said Smith. "Bob (Bahre) and his staff have made this a smooth transition since we announced our agreement in Texas on November 2. We look forward to many successes in our operation of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway."

"Thanks to the support of our loyal fans, dedicated sponsors, and wonderful employees, the Speedway has grown more than Gary and I ever could have imagined," said Bob Bahre, former Chairman of the Board. "We are looking forward to working with Bruton, Jerry (Gappens), and their team and fully supporting them in their efforts to take this to a higher level for our fans."

If I read correctly, there will be some 280 Midget cars trying to qualify for the 24-car race at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla. That is simply amazing. We will be purchasing this $24.95 pay-per-view event at the Lizotte residence to watch on Saturday night. Anyone else going to be watching?

Joe Gibbs resigned as head coach for the NFL's Washington team. Hhhmmm ... do you think he will be needed a bit more in the garage area to deal with Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart scuffles? (Just kidding.) But seriously, I don't see the two of them working well together. We'll see, I guess.

According to a press release from Roush Fenway Racing, Matt Kenseth's new crew chief will be 34-year-old Chip Bolin. The press release also states: "Throughout the years Bolin has served at Roush Fenway Racing as engineer of the No. 17 team, the research and development team, and different testing teams. But, in 2007, Bolin's role changed. First in February, when Bolin got his initial crack at being a crew chief in the Daytona 500, when incumbent Robbie Reiser began a four-race suspension."

Here are the testing speeds from this morning at Daytona International Speedway.

All for now ...