Submitted from NASCAR Eclectic

Marcos Ambrose is one of those guys you cannot help but like. I really felt bad for him by losing a possible spot at The Glen due to the rain soaked day we had here in NY yesterday. By 3:00 it was beautiful, so why didn’t NASCAR delay the qualifying? Oh right!!! The Grand-Am Rolex Series was scheduled to race last night. Well at least there will be some fresh rubber on the track and Marcos got to enjoy a Foster’s or 2. Perhaps Robby will extend his amends and give Ambrose another {fat} chance.

Back at the Cottage… My amends go out to my fellow blogator’s and those who read my blog daily. This time of year is OFF THE HOOK for me. I have 3 jobs going at once and I’ve never mastered the Juggler’s act. My carpenter Mike had a good suggestion… his brother is unemployed and will work cheap… so perhaps I will go against my own policy for a week or two and put on a part-timer. If he falls off a ladder I don’t know him!!! It’s a good thing I don’t drink or I’d be sitting with Marcos… hmmm… never have tried Foster’s Lager… I used to be a strict Bud Man… Foster’s would probably knock me on my arse Mate.

Submitted from NASCAR Eclectic

Yeah, he looks harmless enough, but lately Old Father Time has been my nemesis. At least it’s Friday already and I can thank him for that. Things will slow down at some point, but meanwhile my life his running at 7800 RPM,s.

Speaking of time… it’s nearly down to the wire as to who will make the Chase. With the DEI Teams and Penske Teams running so close things can change week to week. This weeks race is an odd ball so it’s a hard call. Time will tell!!

Submitted from NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog

The 17 ‘billion’ time winner of NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver Award just gave up his seat today in the Wood Brother’s prepared #21 Ford to Boris Said. It was, “in the best interest of the team” Bill Elliott explained.

Said, who was not in the Cup Race this weekend because of qualifying being rained-out, thought Bill was joking at first, but was later happy with the offer.

Bill feels that at this particular moment in time Boris is the better road racer and wanting to secure that valuable 35th spot on the Owner’s Point List for the Wood Bros he gave up his seat in favour of Boris.

I don’t care who you are, that takes a lot of testicular fortitude to give up your seat like that, on your own, and hand it over to some else. That shows that you truly care about the team you’re with when you give up your seat and potential pay-check to some one else.

What makes this even better is that Boris is a nice guy and deserves the shot to race on Sunday. Too bad his regular sponsors won’t be there with him, but if this race helps him to secure better rides in the future then his sponsors won’t mind at all, because he’ll more than likely bring them along with him.

It’s official, that #21 car is one of the cars that I’m going to be cheering for on Sunday.

Here is the last and Final HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT teaser. I will make the ‘official’ HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT tomorrow sometime after the race.

Now I’m not going to say you are going to meet them, but you might see them if you win!

Have you put it all together yet? Stay tuned, bookmark this site, and visit often for your chance to win. If you still haven’t figured it out, then just come by on Sunday for all of the ‘official’ details of this HUGE Contest/Giveaway.

Photo Credit: www.borissaid.net

Submitted from NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog

“Rain, rain go away come back anoth… oh lets just forget it and cancel Qualifying altogether!” a NASCAR Official was quoted as saying today. Actually, no one said that, but it does seem appropriate.

The mix of rain and NASCAR’s qualifying rules has left some, especially Boris Said, with dampened spirits. This is the second race in a row for Said that qualifying has been rain out and he has missed “The Show” as a result.

One can’t help but to feel sorry for Said, and others like him.

“For a part-time team, you don’t get to race that much and two races in a row get taken away,” Said said. “I don’t understand why the schedule can’t be adjusted and just qualify [Saturday] when it’s going to be sunny. It’s just hard for a small team — it pretty much puts us out of business, it puts me out of business. It’s just a lot of income lost.” - source: Dave Rodman at nascar.com

It costs a lot of money to prepare these cars and bring them to the track along with all of the equipment and manpower too. Not to mention the crew’s hotel is also paid for in full for the whole weekend whether they qualify or not, so if a team fails to make the show on Friday they can pack up and leave yet still have to pay for at least 2 more days worth of hotel accommodations - unless they are also working in some other capacity for another team, and/or racing series that is running the same weekend at the same track.

What has happened to Said so far this year is a good reason to bring back second round qualifying, especially after the Dayton 400 where he was sitting on the pole with only a handful of cars left to qualify when the rain started and washed out qualifying thus sending Said home.

I’m all for it, I think it makes it a little more fair for those “go or go home” drivers who must qualify on speed because they are not in the top 35 of Owner’s Points. Klaus Graf, who ran fast enough in practice to qualify today at The Glen, is another example of why we need second round qualifying again.

Another notable driver that will not be racing this weekend in the Cup Series is Marcos Ambrose. All that Robby Gordon goodwill has gone to waste this weekend. What had all the markings of being a true Cinderella story this weekend for both Ambrose and Gordon (not to mention their sponsors) has ended up looking like a poorly scripted satire.

What was shaping up to be a strong Cup race on Sunday with all of these road racers being involved has now become the watered down version. Pun intended.

Here is a teaser for my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT that is coming up sometime this weekend:

Photo Credits: Boris Said - (John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR), Ticket- (www.nascar-memorabilia.com/)