Archive for September, 2007
Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on September-30-2007
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
The end of the NASCAR season is fast approaching, as are the days of Dale Jr driving the car owned by DEI and sponsored by Budweiser. Both Dale Jr and Budweiser are separating from each other as well as leaving DEI at the end of the season (as if you didn’t know) and for Jr fans it almost seems like the end of an era with all three going their separate ways.
I think that DEI can come out of this looking pretty good by stepping it up a bit. What I mean is, DEI should make a special farewell, or last call, or last ride, or whatever you want to call it, to both Dale Jr and long time sponsor Budweiser. They don’t have to drag it out, but they could do a last call one-of paint job for the last race of the season at Homestead.
I think it would show a good side of DEI, which at the moment is lacking in the eyes of the Dale Jr fan, and let the season end on a good note as opposed to the bitter one that has been hanging around since May when Jr announced his leaving of DEI at the end of the season.
Besides that, think of the marketing prospects - the diecast sales alone would be huge sellers.
Photo Credit: fansportstore.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
If you’ve ever wandered far enough into the Adirondack Mt.’s you would’ve found total isolation and serenity. The wilderness is vast and wide with countless small lakes and ponds for fishing or swimming and you can almost guarantee to be alone, other than the hawks flying above or the many inhabitants on the ground. The fed’s deemed 6 million acres of this land a State Park in 1892. It is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous U.S., however, more than half the land within is privately owned, including several villages and hamlets.
I first came here from South Fla. in 1978 and I’m still here. At first glimpse it owned me and I’ve managed to carve out a decent life up here, which is not easy, especially if you’re not a local. It’s been nearly 30 years since I rode a motorcycle into the southern basin of Lake George Village. I was a young blond haired blue eyed Dutch boy from western Mich. with the 1970’s running through my blood and the local folk of this tiny town did not welcome the likes of me or anyone for that matter. But I stayed because I was a determined little bastard with attitude.
Just north is the small village of Warrensburg. 30 years ago this town was nothing but an old loggers place to buy supplies or drink up some hops in one of several pubs. You could practically homestead a piece of land back then… today a building lot will empty your wallet and the homes being built are mostly vacation homes. Within an hour from there you can reach Lake Placid, Whiteface Mt., Gore Mt,. Tupper Lake, Killington and other highly popular ski resorts.
A year after I landed here, 1979, some local “Burger’s” set up a town wide garage sale. Within a couple of years this idea turned into what is now The Warrensburg Garage Sale - The World’s Largest Garage Sale . And they are not kidding when they claim it to be the world’s largest and an annual event every Sept.
We live south of there and yesterday I drove the 3 exits up interstate 87 only to find an otherwise empty exit ramp backed up with traffic out onto the expressway. Fortunately for me I know the area well and I simply continued north to the next tiny town of Chestertown, where I exited and came into Warrensburg from the north down a 2 lane road. I still found myself parking a mile north. I walked from there and was amazed at the vast number of people and vendors. I spent 3 hours and barely skimmed the surface. I found so many interesting things from pure junk to pure art. I did not walk out of there empty handed either. I purchased 2 diecast cars, a set of Tony Stewart bookends for Pattyjo and a Boston Redsox 2004 championship plaque for our 9 year old son. We are going back up there today to see what else we can find.
Below is one of the diecast… the 1999 GM Goodwrench Service Plus… very rare!! I paid only $40.00 for this piece and this pic is the only one I could find on the web. I also got a Dale Jarrett Action Elite #88 autographed 2005 Herbie Fully Loaded. One of 600… so rare that I cannot find a pic of it. And again paid only $40.00. These cars are both new in their boxes and the Dale car is enclosed in an acrylic case.
Nice crash fast at Kansas yesterday!! Hamlin at it again with this time Paul Menard. His “Tude” his going to land him him trouble yet. Carl blaming teammate Kenseth for his woes… but that final slam scared me a bit… it looked so much like Dale Sr.’s hit.
Happy Race Day!!
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
In case you didn’t know NHRA Funny Car driver, and 14-time Champion, John Force had a severe crash on Sunday. If you go to youtube I’m sure you can find video of it.
You know, the crash didn’t seem all that bad, granted it was a hard lick, but there have certainly been more spectacular Funny Car crashes with lesser injuries in the past. John’s crash was sort of like the fatal Dale Earnhardt crash at Daytona 6 years ago. It didn’t look that bad, yet Dale lost his life.
John’s injuries are quite substantial, yet not life threatening, and he is most certainly done for the rest of this NHRA season. No chance for that 15th Championship this year - maybe next year, but then again maybe not. Given what has just happened to him and fellow driver/employee/friend Eric Medlen, who lost his life earlier this season in a Funny Car while doing a practice run in Florida, I don’t know if John will get back in the car. Certainly if the desire is there he stands a very good chance of getting in the car again, but you never know.
John’s desire to win that 15th NHRA Championship might be as strong as Dale’s was to win that coveted 8th NASCAR Championship, I just hope the results aren’t the same as Dale’s. John has been given a warning, let’s what he’ll do with it. Either way I wish him the best of luck.
By the way, Darryl Waltrip gave John a call today to wish him a speedy recovery, as did Raymond Beadle, who was the car owner of Rusty Wallace’s #27 Kodiak Pontiac in 1989 when he won the Winston Cup in the final race of the season (Dale won that race BTW, but still finished 2nd in the standings that year). Go here for the latest info on John Force.
Photo Credit: johnforceracing.com
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
Glen & Bercece Wood.
Glen Wood founded the legendary Wood Brothers Racing team in 1953, he’s been awarded one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2002.
What’s so interesting about this organization is they are the oldest continuously team owners in NASCAR. Glen’s brother Leonard came on and guided this team through the 70’s and 80’s with driver’s like Donnie Allison, Neil Bonnet, Cale Yarborough and even open wheel sensation A.J. Foyt. Today the likes of “Awesome” Bill Elliot drives for them as well as funny guy Ken Schrader.
Not much is heard about this team today with so much focus on the big 5, HMS, RCR, DEI, JGR and ROSOX, but it’s quite possible that this oldest team in the garage may have some big muscle left towards the future. Glen Wood’s grandson, Jon Wood is an up and coming driver as well as Marcos Ambrose and Kelly Bires. These 3, if they stay at Wood Brothers/ JTG Racing, could be a powerful force in the near future. The organization manages to maintain good sponsorship with Little Debbie, Ford Motorcraft and the Air Force and I like some of those Motorcraft and Airforce paint schemes alot!!
I just wanted to give this group a salute and hope the best for their whole organization into the future, afterall they are up against some big guns that are only getting bigger.
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on September-27-2007
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Alright, let’s get this over with. The best paint schemes ever, in no particular order, are:
1) Dale Earnhardt’s 1993 Silver paint job.
2) Dale Earnhardt’s 1994 Olympic Car.
3) Jeff Gordon’s flame paint scheme. Didn’t think I would include that, did you? Little do you know.
4) Dale Earnhardt’s Wrangler car circa 1985 - the one before that was mostly blue with the different number 3 on the side was awful.
5) Dale Earnhardt’s black GM car with the white and red 4 on the side, not with the silver 3 - I didn’t like that one too much.
6) Kevin Harvick’s Kiss car as well as Ron Hornaday’s.
7) OK, Sterling Marlin’s Kiss car too.
 Dale Jr’s black Bud car and beige Bud car.
9) Almost any Miller Beer car from the 80’s until now - even though I didn’t like any of the drivers of those cars, except for Bobby Allison, and Doyle Alexander. I also didn’t like the #27 MGD car that Rusty drove for one year.
10) The Texaco Havoline cars with the number 28 on the side.
11) Jeff Bodine’s QVC car.
12) DW’s Western Auto car, especially the chrome car.
13) DW’s Gatorade car, Mtn Dew car, and Pepsi car.
14) Steve Park’s Penzoil car (without the black roof)
15) Harry Gant’s Skoal Bandit ride.
16) Kyle Petty’s Hot Wheels car.
17) David Pearson’s #21 Wood Brothers car from the 70’s.
18) Any Richard Petty STP car from the 70’s and early 80’s.
19) Tim Richmond’s Folger’s 25 car.
20) Terry Labonte’s retirement car - that was sweet.
OK, I could go on and on with more (like the Jeff Gordon Chromoclear car, or the number 36 all American flag car after 911, or … ) but the all-time best paint scheme ever is Clyde Torkle’s #7 ‘Plucked Chicken’ Chicken Pit (The Fastest Chicken in The South) paint scheme. It is absolutely the best paint scheme ever on a car. Hands down!
Picture Credits: I have no idea. Help a guy out will ya, and let me know if you know?
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
We might as well start getting used to it. It’s official… the 2008 schedule is out. The new logo is cool, but it’ll take me awhile to get accustomed to the name change, but I normally refer to it as NASCAR anyhow.
I came across a nice story about G.C. Spencer. He is a NASCAR legend and unfortunately has died at the age of 82.
NASCAR Legacy: Remembering G.C. Spencer
Why does Jack Roush feel he and/or his teams are above penalties? Kyle Busch and Johnny Sauter received similar penalties when their cars failed inspection following the July race at New Hampshire and Smoke got by without a penalty because they determined it due to damage. It’s cool to appeal, but Roush’s Geoff Smith said the team objects to the 25-point deduction, because it deems it too steep a penalty for a driver competing in the Chase. That’s just plain stupid!! The Chase contenders should not receive special treatment, but then again Denny Hamlin thinks they should.
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Fines:
In the no surprise category, Carl Edwards was fined 25 driver and owner points for his height infractions. Monetary fines were also issued. Roush/Fenway is expected to appeal, after all the car only became low after the race when fellow Roush/Fenway driver Greg Biffle hit Edwards on the cool-down lap to congratulate him on his victory.
Tony Raines was also fined 35 driver/owner points for his helmet toss at Robby Gordon in the Busch race on Saturday. He also has to cough up 15 grand. For that kind of money he should have hit the car better.
Coors:
Coors Light has become the “Official Beer” of NASCAR, and you know for the amount of money they are paying, which is about the same to sponsor a Cup team, they will get better exposure than sponsoring a car in the Cup Series.
NASCAR is still looking to get a sponsor for the Grand National Division though.
More Hated Paint Schemes:
I just thought I would continue this from yesterday. The new Dale Jr paint schemes for next year that I don’t like are not the only ones that have made me scratch my head in wonder.
The Jeff Gordon Rainbow paint scheme from the 90’s was awful. Period. Even my friend, who is a die-hard Gordon fan, admits that that paint scheme was bad.
I also hated Kevin Harvick’s ‘Jagged’ black and silver paint scheme. It looked like a rabid Oakland/LA Raiders fan’s Starter Jacket circa 1995.
How about Bill Elliott’s Coors Lite blue and white paint scheme from 1991? It looked like a Strohes Lite wannabe paint scheme.
I never liked the Derrike Cope’s Mane’n Tail rainbow paint from 1995 either. It look like it was Tye-Died by someone on a bad acid trip.
Speaking of bad acid trips, the Dale Earnhardt Peter Max painted car was awful - even Dale hated the paint job and couldn’t wait to paint it black after the race.
Staying with Dale for a second, I didn’t like the Wheaties car too much, but it was better than the Peter Max car.
I also never liked Kyle Petty’s silver, red, and blue Coors Light car from 1995. Yuck!
Bill Elliott makes it on the list again with the McDonald’s car from 1999. I don’t know, there is just something about it that I don’t like. I think it is the way they tried to ‘force’ the black into the paint scheme.
OK, I’ll stop here. If I think about it more I’m sure I’ll come up with a bevy of new ones. Maybe tomorrow I’ll write about the paint schemes that I have liked over the years, like the black Bud #8 paint scheme, or even Jr’s throw back beige paint scheme to honour his Grand Daddy. Those were nice paint jobs.
What are your most hated paint jobs over the years?
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Filed Under ( NASCAR) by admin on September-25-2007
Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
I know I’m late about this, but I was away for most of the week. It is no surprise who Dale Jr’s new sponsors are for next year. Mountain Dew Amp and National Guard will do well with Dale Jr as their official NASCAR pitchman.
Even Dale Jr’s new number really is no surprise. Number 88 seems fitting enough for him, although I still see it as Dale Jarrett’s number - but whatever, I can live with it.
What I have a problem with in all of this is the paint schemes for the two cars. They suck! Really, they do. All these months to prepare and they come out with these?! Ugly! I understand the whole retro look about them, but they are still ugly. If they wanted retro then they should have gone with DW’s Mtn Dew paint scheme from the 80’s - that would have been a lot nicer, that’s for sure!
What really gets me is that by the time you have read this they probably have sold out of the two diecast versions of next year’s car at any and all diecast stores, shops, souvenir trailers, etc.
Even Kevin Harvick’s 2001 Goodwrench paint scheme was better, and they had less than a week to put it together after Dale died.
I suppose I’ll get used to it, but it is going to be hard to cheer for a butt-ugly car!
Photo Credit: Mtn Dew - motosport.com (Hendrick Motorsports/Autostock), National Guard - motosport.com (Hendrick Motorsports/Autostock)
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
Bob Hillan Kyle Petty Exchange Words
I found this on You Tube. It’s a tad long but clearly shows that Kyle Petty has been involved with track shananigans since early on.
There’s also a bit from young Al Unser and his take on “Open Wheel” vs. “Closed Wheel”
It’s cool to watch some old footage.
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This is a special one time submission by one of our contributing authors at Food and Wine Blog. The article was submitted by Kathy Browning at The Cheap Gourmet
World Rally Champion Colin McRae Dies in Helicopter Crash
by Kathy Browning - The Cheap Gourmet
Colin McRae, Britain’s first World Rally champion, was killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday, September 15th. The tragic accident occurred in woodland near McRae’s residence and took the lives of all four passengers onboard, including Colin’s 5-year old son Johnny Gavin McRae.
The sudden loss of Colin McRae sent a torrent of grief through the rally racing community. But, as it is within this tight-knit group, efforts are already underway to offer condolences and support to the survivors of those whose lives were taken.
Subaru World Rally Team has opened a book of condolence for fans to share their thoughts and offer support. Once complete, the book will be presented to the McRae family. Located at SWRT headquarters in Banbury, the book is open to the public weekdays from 9-5.
In addition to the book, messages of condolence can be sent to the McRae family via Colin McRae’s website and Codemasters, the developer of McRae’s Rally video games.
Colin McRae was a flamboyant driver with impeccable skills and a passion for racing. At age 27, he became Britain’s first World Rally champion and later went on to win 25 World Rally events and 42 podium places.
Together, the McRae family brought fame and recognition to the British Rally Championships. McRae’s father, Jimmy, is a five-time champion and his brother, Alister, won the championship in 1995. Colin’s down-to-earth personality and eagerness to give the fans a great show earned him tremendous respect. Many claim he “single-handedly” made rally racing a household name.
Two other passengers killed in the crash were lifelong friend, Greame Duncan and 6-year old, Ben Porcelli. A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police stated “the aircraft was so badly damaged by fire that police could not initially identify what type it was.” The Air Accident Investigation Team is presently at the scene to determine what caused the aircraft to burst into flames.
McRae is survived by his wife Allison and 9-year old daughter, Hollie. The family has announced there will be a private funeral and a Celebration of Life service will be arranged at a later time.
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
The one mile track in Dover Delaware proved to be one Monster of a Mile for most of the Chase contenders today.
With only 6 cars on the lead lap at the end of the race the Monster Mile took a bite out of almost everyone today, including the race winner Carl Edwards. You see, Carl’s car failed post-race inspection. It was too low in the right rear. Fines will be handed out. Carl gets to keep his win. I’ve got a problem with that, but that is another post in the making. Carl is expecting a 25 point fine in addition to the monetary fine as well. This 25 point deduction will drop him to 6th in the points from 3rd.
Carl suspects that the reason the car is low is because of ‘The Biff’. Greg ‘The Biff’ Biffle, Carl’s teammate at Roush-Fenway Racing and second place finisher, gave Carl a few congratulatory love taps in the right rear corner of Carl’s car with his own during the cool down lap after the race and it from that action that Carl thinks made the car lower than the minimum height as set out by NASCAR. NASCAR will be testing that theory as they have taken the car for further review.
I guess once all this is all said and done there will be a new policy about congratulation taps, and donuts, being applied to the victor’s car after races so as the configuration of the winning car is not affected. I wonder if this will be a NASCAR sanctioned rule, or a gentleman’s agreement between drivers. But Carl is no stranger to running into cars on their cool down laps now is he? Oh how I digress on that one, I’ve got to put myself in check here before I go off on an uncalled for rant.
OK, let’s look at the rest of the Chase contenders. Where are they?
- Kyle Busch gets the “Come Back Kid” award for his performance today - that team did not give up at all and finished on the lead lap in 5th which should have been impossible after they were laps down and involved in a few incidents on the track.
- Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, and Martin Truex Jr all finished one lap down and 6 positions within each other. Truex gets the “Atta’ Boy” award for just finishing the race after the last crash which should have taken him out of the race and probably would have if it were not for the fact that there only a handful of laps left which allowed him to just roll around to the finish.
-Jimmie Johnson was 2 laps down and still finished 14th? You don’t see that too often. Usually if you are two laps down you will be finishing 35th or worse.
- Kevin Harvick was 4 laps down and still finished 20th! Unheard of these days, simply unheard of. Usually if a guy is 4 laps down he is near 40th. Kevin even moved up a position in the standings! Simply unheard of.
- Kurt Busch crashed out of the race and still finished 28th, not bad considering he was already showered before the checkered flag flew. His little crash affected a lot of people too, like Truex. I’ve got more to say about Kurt’s crash, but again that is another post in the making.
- Matt Kenseth has an engine failure? Did Jack get his latest batch of motors from Dale Jr? Whoa, that’s gotta hurt! You lead all day and the race is yours to lose, and you lose. Bummer.
- Finally Denny Hamlin runs over Kyle Petty and then blames Kyle. Listen, I’m not the biggest Petty supporter out there, but Denny is wrong and I think Kyle was right in his interview when he said that the reason why Denny hit him was because he was sick and racing yesterday did not help his situation today at all. I think what happened today was a mental error on Denny’s part due to his illness (possible flu) and by racing yesterday he made matter worse. He should have been resting Saturday for the race on Sunday. I wrote about this yesterday and it looks like I’m right - he should not have been in that Busch car Saturday, period.
The Monster Mile proved to be tough for everyone today, and you know what? That is just what the NASCAR doctor ordered - drama.
On a parting note, did anyone notice that Michael Waltrip finished a respectable 15th today? I did. It will be interesting to see how much he talks about it on ‘Inside NASCAR’ on Monday.
Photo Credit: (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
Opinions on the Hamlin/Petty altercation will vary and everyone is entitled. It is in my humble opinion that from what I saw Hamlin clearly ran up Kyle’s rear end. What followed in the garage was comical and I’m sure they are both guilty of running their traps. Kyle’s “visor slap” on Denny’s helmut looked to me like a statement of “Come on kid… don’t be stupid”. Rather like a little head slap. But then we know Kyle has a short fuse as he has proven, busting his own hand by punching walls. It was just some garage drama with emotions out of hand due to circumstances, but Denny is clearly the Jackass that started the whole thing. I like both of these guys and I’m sure they will make things right. I wondered if Kyle knew the live camera was filming? AAhhhh…. “The world is all a stage and we are all actors” Mr. William Shakespeare
The standings got shaken up like a crap shoot. Concrete Carl… somehow I don’t like that nickname… winning only to fail post-inspection. TV is a funny thing at times. Watching The Speed Report hearing “Breaking News!” how Edward’s car failed then at 8:00 NASCAR Victory Lane comes on which is a pre-recorded hour after the race. So much talk about Edwards winning, etc. and they don’t even know yet that the car failed, but it’s an hour later. The Speed Channel should flip those time slots and the Herminator looked like he might melt in the sun. He appeared to be a Snickers bar. I got enough humor out of all of it that I did not have to stay awake to watch Dispain humilate himself. Some of The Speed lineup should be on The Comedy Channel.
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Today’s Busch Race:
Is it me, or are there others that find having Denny Hamlin in that #20 Busch car today a bit stupid? I mean he is running in the Chase after all, and he is sick as a dog with the flu. The 2.5 hours he spent in the car today will do nothing to get him better for tomorrow. They should have put Kurt Busch in the car, he was there anyway.
If Denny is more sick tomorrow, or has a bad day, we’ll all know why.
The only reason why I can see him in that car today is because JGR is trying to get Rockwell to be a bigger sponsor for next year, maybe even a Cup sponsor. That is the only thing that makes sense to me.
My Last 4 Days in The Bush:
I had the great chance to take approximately 20 Eighth Grade students into the wilderness for 4 days on a Leadership Development course at Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve (approx. 70,000 acres and approx. 60 lakes). No cell phone signal, no internet (thus no blogging), etc.
On the first day, after we got there, we did a bunch of team building games and challenges and then went to visit the captive wolf pack on site. What an experience for these kids to hear and see the wolves.
The next day we did rock climbing and worked in teams of 2 and 3 on a high wire course in the tree tops about 30 - 40 feet above the ground. The kids really pushed themselves beyond their ‘comfort zones’ and developed a better trust of each other, as they were depended on themselves to stop each other from falling in each activity.
On the third day we canoed for half the day and then mountain biked back to base camp - tiring to say the least. I did have a mountain bike injury - good thing for helmets - and after a short trip to the ‘infield care centre’ they were good to go, with an ice pack anyway.
I firmly believe wearing helmets while cycling saves lives and prevents injuries. If any one wants to debate me on this bring it on, I’ve got first hand experience in this area that I can use to refute the most harsh skeptic - my son is alive and well today because of his bike helmet! Let’s dance you Nay-Sayers.
The last day consisted of survival skills where the students were divided into 3 groups and had to make a shelter and fire from what they found in the woods and from what remained of the wreckage of their ‘crashed’ airplane.
A short 4 hour drive later we were home.
Photo Credits: Denny Hamlin - Photo/Carolyn Kaster, all others - Me!
Camp photos:
1. Me on the High Rope Course in the tree tops.
2. Canoeing on Clear Lake. Ignore the date stamp, my battery fell out and I didn’t fix the date.
3. Some of my students working together to keep another student safe while rock climbing.
4. A student rock climbing.
5. Me repelling down the rock face while being held up by 3 of my students (Note my free ‘track swag’ Dollar General Shirt from Bristol).
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
OK, I promised “in a couple of hours”, but I’ve been busy. I just got back from being away up North with a group of 20 students on a Leadership Course and I’m beat, so I’m going to bed. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, and I’ll post some pictures of what I did these last 4 days so you’ll see just what we were up to.
Take Care.
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
This shot was taken last night just a few miles from our home, courtesy of ERIN REID COKER -one of our local newspaper photographers. The history of this annual event dates back to 1973 making it the 35th year.
http://www.adirondackballoonfest.org/ It’s grown over the years from a Sat. and Sun. event to a 4 days of balloons rising in different parts of the area and now include fireworks and a night flight called “Moon Glow”. Anyone can get a short tethered ride for a fee and there are plenty of goings on for the kids all weekend.
The pic above is of our local airport with what is a mere fraction of the balloons that will lift off today. To witness 100 balloons launch almost at once is spectacular.
I admire Red Bull for their efforts to get Scott Speed involved in NASCAR. He is the latest former Formula One driver to move toward NASCAR, announcing Thursday he’ll run the ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway. The influx of F1 drivers coming into the stock car world is growing with what seems daily and it’s ok by me, yet it’s nice to see an American kid get a chance, and it’s Red Bull that also has A.J. Allmendinger who is another former open-wheel driver.
SceneDaily has reported that Robby Gordon is without a crew chief this weekend after he and Gene Nead parted ways earlier this week. I like Robby and he is in my top 5 favorite drivers list. I know he can be a stubborn S.O.B., but crew chief/driver relationships are vital to success and Gene is a great chief, he and Robby just don’t mesh. Reportedly Robby has former Ginn/Nemechek crew chief Peter Sospenzo in his sights.
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
Kudos to Denny Hamlin for the Busch win at The Monster Mile. I caught the beginning of the race and felt bad for the kid as he started the race one sick puppy. Within a few laps he had the lead and I guess the “Bug” helped his performance. Future teammate, Shrub had sat in the #20 Rockwell Automation Chevy to see if the seat would fit in case Denny was too ill to race, and I thought…”NO!! That car will be cursed for life!!” Denny looked horrible, but he took the wheel.
The village of Lake George NY is very quaint. It’s full of a variety of shops and emporiums. It’s waterfront has a beautiful boardwalk and is pretty much a tourist town. Last night Pattyjo and I took the younger kids, Casey 11 and Adam 9, to the Village for the fun of it and to watch fireworks.
Several weeks ago we were there walking around and the Franklin Mint 1969 Camaro Indy Pace Car 1/24th diecast seen above was on display in a shop window along with some other beautiful Franklin Mint diecast. It had caught my eye then but we didn’t have the time to stop. Last night I went into the shop and checked out these beaut’s and then saw the beaut of the price tag on them too. Pattyjo knew I wanted this piece but also knows I hate to pay that much as I am a bargain hunter, so she bought it for me as a wedding anniversary gift. She is such a sweetheart!! The car is displayed among many of my NASCAR diecast in a glass shelved cabinet under lights. It accents things nicely.
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
I’m back and I’ll be at it soon enough. Come back in few hours and I’ll have something for you!
Take Care!
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
The North Pole
Queen Jimmy rose to the top in qualifying. I almost thought Montoya had it.
Kudos to Denny, Martin Jr., Happy and Bobby for making the top ten. Our winner from Loudon, Clint, is at the tail end and I really thought Ryan would’ve been near the front.
The CoT seems to be awful loose at Dover. The Biff took a slide and several cars were loosing traction. Probably the Goodyear hard rubber on the concrete.
Dover is one of the best races… I just hope we get another 1st time winner for 07′… not another Johnson victory please!!
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
It’s a decent choice and the color schemes look great. I still attribute the #88 to Dale Jarrett and in fact I have some stuff around here with the UPS 88, but cliche’ or not… “if the shoe fits, where it”. I’m just glad it’s over and I’m sure Dale Jr. is too.
I’ve been extremely busy since returning from Loudon late Sunday and have not had a chance to read or write. At present it is 2:30 am and I am up due to lower back annoyances, albeit, I did sleep for 5 hours. I’m not sure if the back pain is from hard work or from an annoying customer who has a huge sense of entitlement. People with control issues really need to think about other’s. This guy only cares about his project getting started NOW!! and the hell with the project I have 2 or 3 days to go on. He had an almost threatening demeanor yesterday, so instead of a huge confrontation I have given in to his demands, but now I have compromised my other customer. Solution… well after much thought… and often my best ideas come to me in the dark of night… the s.o.b.’s job will be getting done, but at a snails pace because I will be there alone with my help finishing up the other job. What’s this have to do with NASCAR??? Not a damn thing, but it felt good to write.
Loudon was an awesome experience. It is a very user friendly place and unlike Pocono, I would recommend Loudon to anyone. The layout is great and it makes you feel like you are the heart of NASCAR Nation with drivers being all over the place, whether they be in their trailers or walking around or driving their tricked out golf carts. I said hello to Rusty Wallace and he responded like a gentleman with a nice greeting. It made me feel good to be able to get up close and personal with several drivers and Pattyjo was beside herself, especially when Smoke went by in a State Trooper car. I thought I was going to have to call the infield care center. The race itself is on the boring side but that’s typical for the flat miler’s, on the other hand, I don’t care where you’re sitting… the track views are incredible. Overall, I give Loudon an A+.
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Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic
Pattyjo tailgating behind our T-Bird
Pattyjo getting Reed’s Autograph
Robby Gordon
Pattyjo and some guy she met smashing Jeffy Boy
Me near the end of the race wondering why some people leave with 10 laps left… I know!!! Just so I can put up my feet!!
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
I don’t know what it is, but I’m “as tired as all get out” - as my Grandma used to say (what does that mean anyway?). I hope I’m not coming down with anything, because this isn’t like me at all to be as tired as I have been these last few days.
Anyway, I’m going to bed so you’ll have to tune back tomorrow. I’ll get something up around lunch time, so if you are reading this on one of my news feeds, and it is after lunch, then you should link on through as it seems that they only post my stuff every 12 hours or so (9:00 am and 9:00 pm).
Take Care.
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting & Raving
Let me introduce you to him. His name is really Clinton Bowyer and he is the driver of the RCR Jack Daniels sponsored #07 Chevy Monte Carlo, and the newest winner on the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit. In fact, up until this race, he was the only driver to be in the Chase for The Cup and not have won a race.
Car owner Richard Childress was not at this race either. It would seem that when ever Richard leaves the country to go somewhere exotic one of his cars hits a ‘milestone’ of sorts. When Richard was on safari in Africa, Dale Earnhardt won his first - and only - road course race at Sonoma. Now Clint wins his first ever Cup race and Richard is in Mongolia.
I think that Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clinton should all pitch in and give Richard a world tour so they can all fight for the Championship and win races over the next 9 weeks of the Chase.
I must be honest with you, I missed most of the race yesterday as I was busy, busy, busy! I did catch the last 100 laps though and from what I saw, and read about later, it was virtually a snooze-fest of a race. I’m going to go on record and say that I have never liked New Hampshire and it should not be included in the final 10 races of the season.
I know that having a race in that part of the country is important to NASCAR, as they are a much needed market area, but the facility needs to improve if NASCAR wants to continue to have ‘good’ races there. Granted, the owners of the track have made changes to make it more competitive, but they are still failing in that category.
I don’t know, maybe I’m still tainted about the useless loss of lives at that facility over the past decade. To this day I still don’t know how Kyle Petty can go back and race there after Adam lost his life. He is a better man than I, and I’m not be sarcastic either - I just couldn’t do it. I believe it would be easier to do if it were the other way around and I was the son instead of the father.
Photo Credit: REUTERS/Robert LeSieur (UNITED STATES)
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Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Check it out, Hershey’s is coming out with 4 different wrapper designs of the Intimidator himself, Dale Earnhardt. You can only purchase them from January through to the end of May 2008, so make sure you get yours when they come out.
The designs will chronicle Dale’s career, and will feature the 1998 Daytona 500 car as well. There will be two Hershey’s Milk Chocolate designs, one Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds design and one Kit Kat design.
I do believe a portion of the sale of these chocolate bars will go to the Dale Earnhardt Foundation.
The only article I could find right now about it was at scenedaily.com.
That about ‘wraps’ it up for now.
Also, I will be very busy over the next 3 days so I probably won’t be able to post until Friday. Sorry! What really sucks is that I will miss Dale Jr’s big announcement on Wed. Oh well, such is life. I’ll fill you in on the details of my absence from blogging later. Take Care all, and see you on Friday.
Photo Credit: Hershey’s Company
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