Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog

Well hello. I’m finally feeling better. Man, let me tell you being that sick is terrible - I just hope my kids don’t get it.

Anyway, enough about that. I just want to forget about the last 2 days.

Let’s talk about a few racing tidbits.

How about Indy first? O.K.

It sucked, didn’t it?

Come on.

Don’t hold back.

Let’s hear you!

Good.

Feel better?

My ears hurt now.

Now, I’ll tell you what didn’t suck about Indy. No driver was seriously hurt by a bad tire and to me that is the most important thing - preserving the lives of our favourite drivers is a far better thing to do than to let the show go on without any concern for the men (and women) who get behind the wheel of those cars.

I have been on NASCAR’s case in the past as being reactive in its nature as opposed to being proactive, and I see this as being a proactive move on NASCAR’s part even though from a viewer perspective it sucked, but at least you get to see Dale Earnhardt live to race another day - that would be Dale Jr, if you get my meaning here.

Trust me, NASCAR will not let something like the Indy tire fiasco happen again.

Now let’s move on to the Nationwide race in Montreal.

My favourite NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver, Andrew Ranger, has just been asked to drive the #22 Fitz Motorsports Dodge, the same one that Patrick Carpentier drove in this race last year.

I had a chance to do a phone interview with Andrew a few months back and this is what he said to me about possibly racing in Montreal this year:

Q: Would you like to race in the Nationwide race in Montreal?

A: Definitely. I would like to race in that race. It is my hometown. I’ve raced there in other series like Champ Car and this year in NCTS, but I would like to race there in a Nationwide car.
Q: Have you been in contact with any Nationwide or even a Sprint Cup team about racing for them?

A: Yes, there has been some contact. I would like to race in Nationwide this year (but we have to wait and see).

We will see if he can capitalize on this opportunity - I hope he does.

Hey George Gillette are you reading this?

Watch him. You won’t be sorry, and he’ll probably bring Tide and WalMart with him as sponsors too.

O.K. let’s talk about Ryan Newman.

According to an ESPN radio affiliate station an ‘inside source’ close to Newman claims that it is a done deal with Newman driving the Stewart/Haas #4 car next year and an announcement will be made within the next month.

I’m tired of ‘inside sources’ aren’t you? I’m sure Rusty Wallace is too (heh).

Moving on.

A lot of people have been making a big deal about the number of Canadians entered in this weekend’s Nationwide race and much has been written, including here, about the likes of Patrick Carpentier, Jacques Villeneuve, Andrew Ranger, Ron Fellows, and the like, but have you ever heard of Ashley Taws?

Her story is inspirational and if she qualifies for this weekend’s race she will be the other driver besides Andrew Ranger that I will be cheering for. And since she drives the pink coloured Barbie car I’m sure my daughter will be cheering for her too.

CYA 2moro

Ashley Taws photos by Mark Jackson

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