I'm not going out on much of a limb here by saying that my pick for this weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is going to be Jimmie Johnson. He has had great success here including winning the last three races here.
Another driver that I think will do well here is Denny Hamlin. He finished third here last year. That's it...those are the two I'll be rooting for. And since I have never picked a winner, it very well might be that I have now jinxed Johnson. We'll see.
As reported on The Backstretch, Ricky Carmichael will be racing in the Camping World East Series for Ken Shrader Racing, with backing from Hendrick Motorsports.
I'll be watching how Carmichael does this racing season. I watched him a little bit in Motocross so it will be interesting to see if he can do as well. I will also be keeping an eye on Steve Park. Park signed a fulltime contract earlier this year with NDS Motorsports. I've never really watched this division of racing but will keep an eye on both of these drivers as the year goes on.
Here's the racing schedule for the Camping World East Series. The division has two races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, June 27 and Sept. 12.
I am heading down to the Speedway Expo tomorrow. I'll be there for the festivities tomorrow night and most of the day Saturday. I've never been and want to go check things out. I will have my camera in hand so I'll upload a few pictures for all to see. Is anyone else going?
Would you want the sweat towel off Tony Stewart's shoulder?
I got this press release last night in my inbox. It states:
"Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart is working with Old Spice to give a lucky fan the sweat towel right off his shoulder – unwashed and autographed! Directly after winning the Feb. 25 Stater Bros. 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, Stewart signed his Old Spice towel in black ink and handed it over to a charity auction to benefit the Tony Stewart Foundation."
EEEWWWWWW! This is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of right here. Now I'm not squeemish in the least, but the thought of a sweaty towel that was used by Tony Stewart makes me cringe. I'd probably settle for making bids on his hat ... maybe. Wait! It get's even better:
"During an average race, temperatures inside Stewart’s race car can reach up to 150 degrees, and he can lose 10-15 pounds by sweating. Stewart relies on Old Spice antiperspirants, deodorants and body washes to stay cool and smell great before and after a race."
Now that I think of it, I'd probably settle for just donating the money and have him keep anything that comes off his body. Seriously.
Here's the rest of the release:
"The charity auction begins at 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 26 and will run until 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday, March 4. Fans can place a bid for the autographed towel by logging on to www.OldSpice.com/products_new.html or www.TonyStewart.com.
Throughout the 2008 racing season, every time Stewart wins a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series or NASCAR Nationwide Series race, his Old Spice victory lane towel will be auctioned off for charity."
I know this is going to a good cause but let's be real here. Other than racefan, would anyone want a grungy old towel that's been spewed on by Stewart? YUCK!
Aside from that, congrats to Tony for the Nationwide victory yesterday at Auto Club Speedway. He is the points leader in that division.
It's finally over. We can now put this rain-delayed NASCAR fiasco behind us and move on... Carl Edwards got his first victory at the Auto Club Speedway, formerly known as California Speedway. (They announced the name change last Friday.)
I'll admit it, I didn't watch the entire race today. I just saw bits and pieces of it. AND I was too grumpy this morning to set the DVR or even figure out what was going on with racing so that I could watch it tonight.
My pick for the race, Kurt Busch, finished 13th. Here are the unofficial results.
One more hour ... one more hour ... that's all they kept saying. It is so bogus that NASCAR kept us hanging ALL night long. Enough is enough. I felt completely toyed with.
I went to bed around midnight. I gave up. Seriously, did anyone stay up until 2 a.m. when they finally called the race?
I will tune in today at 1 p.m. from the newsroom but there's a big part of me that doesn't even want to watch it now because I have such a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing. Ridiculous.
Aaaahhhh.... to be picking my picks for the race again. I feel so rusty. So rusty in fact, that I forgot all about picking them last week. I've got to get in a groove here and figure out all the stuff I used to look at in determining my picks last year. Actually, now that I think of it, it didn't really help me last year because I'm pretty sure I never picked a winner. Oh well.
My pick this week at Fontana: Kurt Busch. He's has had three poles here and one win. I think he had a slight sniff of victory when he followed his teammate Ryan Newman to the checkered flag at the Daytona 500 last week. I think it made his mouth water in anticipation like mine does from the smell of the kitchen when I'm cooking brownies.
I think historically this track has been good to Hendrick drivers. So another driver that I will be keeping any eye on, as with most of the world, is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Last year he finished 40th -- two guesses why -- yup, you got it, ENGINE. I bet he'll have a solid finish this weekend under the Hendrick umbrella. Here are the race results from last year.
Yesterday it was announced that Robby Gordon was being penalized for an unapproved front bumper cover. He was dinged 100 driver and owner points. In addition, his crew chief, Frank Kerr, was fined $100,000 and suspended for the next six races. It seems like a pretty stiff penalty for him and his crew.
What do you think?
I'll be back tomorrow with my picks for California.
I watched the race at my brother and sister-in-law's house. The first part of the race was a true sleeper. In fact, I took up an offer for a game of Scrabble with the girls.
At one point during my Scrabble game, everyone started yelling "Hey! Blogger, you've got to see this..." I dodged from the kitchen table into the living room to see Jeff Gordon heading to the pits because of a suspension problem. Honestly, it put a smile on my face and I went back to my game.
I finished up my Scrabble game and headed back to the living room to watch the last 30 laps or so. I'm glad I did. There was some fantastic racing going on.
As I always do during a race, I was trash talking Kyle Busch saying he was going to do something stupid and he wasn't going to win the race, even though he had the car to beat. My brother-in-law said "Jenny, Kyle Busch is the "GOAT" of the Sprint Cup Series." Yeah, right.
Anyone that has been reading this blog knows that I really like Juan Pablo Montoya. So when he [Montoya] was the one to pull a brain-dead move by taking out another driver that I like to watch, Clint Bowyer, who happened to be going for the lead, you can imagine the verbal abuse I was taking. So here it is.... Kyle Busch might not be as much of an idiot as Juan Pablo Montoya, at least in this race.
I thought when I started watching the race that it was going to be a season of Joe Gibbs Racing vs. Hendrick Motor Sports. What a pleasant surprise to have Roger Penske and Ryan Newman receive their first victory at the Daytona 500. Newman is a class act.
Boris Said didn't make the cut today. Kenny Wallace and Brian Vickers made it in. Said does have one more chance to get in on speed.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the first Duel 150. He's pretty pumped. That's two victories within a week. Nice.
Kurt Busch blew up. Elliott Sadler got into the wall with 5 laps to go which brought out the caution. There was a two-lap shootout because of it. Here are the unofficial results of the first Duel.
I'm going to watch the second Duel tonight at home. I set the dvr last night before the power went out. Yes, we were one of the unlucky ones...
In less than 2 hours is the start of the Gatorade Duel 150's. I already have the newsroom television set on SPEED so that I can watch it. My eyes will be on Boris Said. I really want to see him make it into the Daytona 500.
Another bunch of guys to watch with be the Hendrick drivers. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr. All changed engines yesterday during practice.
Here are the speeds from yesterday's practice session. Ryan Newman posted the fastest time.
Today's race sets the field for the Daytona 500. I always get confused by this every year. This much I know: the pole sitter and outside pole sitter are locked in. (Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip)
Then the drivers in the top 35 in owner's points are factored in based on their finish of today's races. But somewhere along the lines, provisionals and the top two drivers not in the top 35 in owner's points from each duel are factored in. Uugh.
If someone out there has a simpler explanation around this, I would love to hear it. Otherwise, I'll just post the qualifying order at some point later today.
Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch have been placed on probation for the first 6 races of 2008 due to an altercation on the track during practice last Friday at Daytona International Speedway. During the practice Stewart got into Busch sending him into the outside wall. Busch retaliated by driving into the side of Stewart's car a few times.
It doesn't look like any fines were issued. Probation starts tomorrow at practice.
Love him or hate him, you had to be rooting for Dale Earnhardt Jr. those last few laps of the Bud Shootout Saturday night. I had goosebumps as he crossed the start/finish line, winning the race. He has said by leaving the security of Dale Earnhardt Inc., he was hoping to gain crediibility and respect. I think this win points him in that direction.
Friday practice
Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch are at it again. During Friday practice Stewart got into Busch sending him into the outside wall. Busch retaliated by driving into the side of Stewart's car a few times. They were both called to the NASCAR hauler. It is rumored that Stewart threw a punch at Busch while in the hauler.
NASCAR, supposedly, wants to let drivers show their emotions/personalities more this season without harsh penalties. I might be wrong, but I think Stewart may have stepped outside their comfort level on this one...(if it's true that he punched Busch) Penalties should be announced later this week. Here's the article that was posted January 23, on NASCAR.com.
For those of you who missed the altercation that happened on the track, here's a video from Youtube:
Qualifying
I can’t help it. I’m going to say it. It's completely wrong that Boris Said qualified ahead of Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, AND Dale Earnhardt Jr., and he still has to race his way in to the Daytona 500. It’s just wrong.
Another thing, I cannot stand to listen to Darrell Waltrip talking up his brother, Michael Waltrip, all the time. It’s already old and the season has just begun.
I read about the new qualifying procedure and I've been meaning to throw my two cents in.
They've made a rule change for drivers trying to qualify for a race that are outside of the top 35 in owner's points. Starting with the time trials at California on Feb. 22, (for the Sprint Cup Series) all drivers trying to qualify that are outside the top 35 in owner points will do so in one group at the end of the qualifying session.
The first thing that came to mind when I read that was what about a weather provision? If it looks like weather is going to play a role in ending the qualifying session early, then I would think they should let the drivers outside the top 35, qualify first.
If it starts raining, after the entire group outside the top 35 has completed their attempts, let their qualifying run stand. At least that way, they had the opportunity to try to get in. Line up the rest of the field on points and bump out the last of the drivers that qualified in the first run. Then it wouldn't be a complete waste of time and money.
Remember last year when Boris Said was sent home after an incredible qualifying run at Daytona due to weather? He was sitting on pole when he was sent packing. At Watkins Glen, he never got the chance to qualify because of weather -- a track where he clearly would have had a good qualifying run.
Jennifer is the newsroom
administrative assistant and
executive
assistant to the editor for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. She is married, lives in Pownal with her husband and son, and has been following NASCAR for many years.
About this blog:
I am hopeful that this will be a place where people can air their two cents' worth about a race, catch up on the gossip and share their opinions on the rules and regulations of NASCAR. I have always felt that there has been a need for such a place in Maine and that this blog helps to fill the void.
I watched the race at my brother and sister-in-law's house. The first part of the race was a true sleeper. In fact, I took up an offer for a game of Scrabble with the girls. 
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