Memphis Motorsports Park - Sam’s Town 250

RACE WINNER: DAVID REUTIMANN!!!!!!!

Our Boys Running Order:
1. David (started 2nd)
6. Scott (started 12th)

Holy crap!!! I’ve known this was going to happen one day but you can never prepare yourself for the excitement and agony of those last few laps. David had such a great car and led 194 out of 253 circuits around Memphis, so it was great to see a win out of such total domination. The cautions were just getting so frustrating, though, because he would get a good jump on the restart and then a few laps later the yellow would come out and the guy in 2nd had another chance to anticipate a move and get around him. Mike Bliss tried really hard there at the end on the outside but (thankfully) that seemed to be as much as he could muster before David left him in the dust! Nevertheless my poor pillow was crushed in my clutches and will likely never regain its original shape (pillows have gone through a lot of pain from me due to nail-biting endings…Michael and Kurt at Phoenix in 2005, Casey at Charlotte this year and several Busch races last year).

Tears of complete joy came to my eyes and I jumped up and slam-dunked my pillow to the floor. I know he’s been incredibly hungry all season long and wanted to give the crew a win for all that they’ve given him (confidence comes to mind, thinking back to Trackside). I wanted to see that little Dream Machine doing big burnouts and was thrilled when David sent up big plumes of smoke to the sky. Then he stopped, and started getting out—

Hey, let’s watch some football!

WHAT?!

So that’s how my tears of joy turned into bitter tears of anger. It’s selfish, I know, but I could not believe (okay, yeah I did, it’s ESPN we’re talking about) that they wouldn’t even lengthen the broadcast a bloody ten minutes to give David an interview! For his crew, his family and friends, his sponsors and fans! I know the race went way over schedule, but come on. A first-time winner, a guaranteed emotional winner and they think a stupid football (apologies to the football fans) game is more important?

Thank everything good in this world that NASCAR.com has the sense to put up a video and an interview or else I might have gone completely insane. But then I feel for the people that can’t view it for various reasons. I even watched all the NASCAR programming I could watch today and there wasn’t any added coverage.

ESPN is a joke. Their coverage is a joke. No, we don’t need an update on Carl Edwards every 30 seconds. We know he’s going to win the damn championship, okay? It’s not such a disaster that he didn’t clinch it, okay? No, we don’t need to see your draft tracker. No Rusty, we don’t need to hear you on NASCAR.com’s video saying something nasty about NASCAR regarding your son while the cameras are rolling for David, hello! I’ve been sick of ESPN’s so-called NASCAR “knowledge” since day 1 and now I’m even sicker that they did this. I’ll never be so happy to see the FOX and TNT crews in my life!

I don’t normally do this, but I fired off a complaint to ESPN. Not like they give a crap what some short 19-year-old that lives in the woods thinks, but I hope they have an inbox full of angry fans. I was polite, probably more than I should have been (it was tempting to end it with some scathing remark like “you lame-ass mo-fo’s” but I decided against it!), but I felt like they need some…constructive criticism. They’ll probably just find a picture of me and throw darts at it, but whatever.

I’m mad about the lack of coverage, yes. But thankfully there are lots of awesome photographers (I love you guys!) that were able to bring me as a fan sitting at my computer closer to the emotion of victory lane. I see some wonderful pictures of David, Buzzie and the crew celebrating. The fireworks and the beer shower! That’s some great stuff right there and exactly the reason why I love NASCAR. Congratulations to David and the entire team!

For a while Scott Wimmer also threatened for the win, which is awesome in one way but stressful in another when the guy he’s trying to beat happens to be another of your favorites, but he raced cleanly just like I knew he would in my heart. He faded to 6th at the end but it was still a great finish and padded the 29’s owner point lead.

Other than that it was a long, long race full of cautions. Dario Franchitti was the causer for several when his brakes started failing (and yet he still dove into corners like a maniac…oh well, he’s a rookie I guess!). Brian Keselowski wiped out Steven Wallace, which resulted in Steve looking for some revenge. That was bad, and dangerous to do even under caution, but I couldn’t help but laugh watching this unfold. Steve came barreling down the straight and Brian actually tried to get away from him, swerving back and forth and throwing Steven off! Being a wildlife biology student it reminded me of a rabbit zigzagging to escape a bobcat! Steven never touched the 49 as far as I could tell but ended up sitting in the grass before being parked by NASCAR (which was the right thing to do). Steven isn’t very popular among fans but for some reason I like him. He’s got some anger issues but there’s something about him that keeps me from disliking him. However I tend to like the ones that get really pounded by fans. A popular technique of downing Steven is calling him “blinky”, a low-down, heartless dig to his disability that I’m appalled by. I have a big problem with crap like that that so I naturally defend him against such insensitivity.

I also have to mention Todd Kluever, who was supposed to be racing this weekend until a last-minute decision was made to put Colin Braun in the 16. That was devastating. Todd has put nothing but heart and soul into a mediocre ride and he keeps getting crapped on by Roush. I can’t stand it and it makes me so sad. Time is running out…I don’t want to see another talented driver get discarded and forgotten…

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -531 behind leader
3. Jason Leffler -227 behind David

Martinsville Speedway - Subway 500

RACE WINNER: JIMMIE JOHNSON

Our Boys Running Order:
17. David (started 19th)
18. Michael (started 29th)
19. Martin (started 2nd)
20. Casey (started 22nd)
23. Dale Jr. (started 7th)
30. DJ (started 33rd)
31. Kurt (started 11th)
DNQ Brian

Martinsville has never been a track I particularly liked and last weekend’s race didn’t help much. Despite the New Car’s matching front and rear ends, there were a record-breaking 21 cautions and an extra six laps. To further extend my displeasure for the place, the average finish of our drivers was about 23rd.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon pretty much dominated the race, leading a combined total of 315 of 500 laps. Now, I have nothing against those two, but it sure would be nice to see someone new win once in a while. However, Martinsville has a special meaning to them and they race extremely hard to get a #1 there for Rick Hendrick.

Dale Jr. led 24 laps and even ran well on seven cylinders. But running down on power eventually ripped things apart in the engine. When taking the green for the green-white-checkered, black smoke was puffing out of the sidepipes and relegated Junior to a last on the lead lap finish.

The start of the race was a struggle for Martin despite qualifying second. Near the end of the race he and Casey got into a tizzy and wrecked each other. Then Martin was involved in two more incidents and Casey in one more. I’m sure neither were very happy going home.

Kurt was looking at another solid day until a tire cut and he smacked the wall. Afterwards, the car just wouldn’t handle. He finished five laps down.

Similar days were to be had for Michael and David. Both claimed that their cars were horrible, but neither driver gave up. Each of them fell a lap down and, thanks to all the cautions, got free passes. It was funny because Michael wrecked going into a turn in practice on Friday and wondered if he would even make the race. Then he pulled nearly the exact same move Sunday! But both he and David did great jobs staying out of a lot of trouble and putting sub-25th place cars in the top-20.

DJ struggled early and got into a wreck not of his own doing. He dropped down a couple of laps and could run competitive times but just could not regain positions.

Then came a really interesting and disturbing altercation following the checkered flag. Matt Kenseth was about to be interviewed by SPEED’s Bob Dilner when teammate Carl Edwards pushed him to one side and began arguing with him. Matt looked irritated and the two exchanged angry words. After several seconds, Carl stepped over the wall separating the track and pit road and turned to give off some more comments. Matt sent him some closing remarks and Carl aimed a punch at him! It was rather scary watching Matt’s reaction of flinging up his hands to block, but then Carl suddenly pulled his fist away and gave this really eerie and venomous grin before he walked off. Apparently, when Reed Sorenson blew a tranny on one of the restarts, Carl dove it in very deep into Turn 1, running into the side of the #17. To indicate his unhappiness with the move, Matt bumped Carl out of the groove. The two talked about it on the radio and Matt thought everything was fine. I guess not! I like Carl but man, that was not cool. To make it worse, Jack Roush will probably do nothing since Carl is his current favorite.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
10. Kurt -420 behind 1st
11. Martin -447 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
16. Casey -118 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. David -387 behind 35th
39. Brian -519 behind 35th
41. Michael -876 behind 35th
42. DJ -913 behind 35th

Charlotte Motor Speedway - Bank of America 500

RACE WINNER: JEFF GORDON

Our Boys Running Order:
10. Michael (started 19th)
17. Martin (started 32nd)
19. Dale Jr. (started 22nd)
21. Casey (started 9th)
26. Kurt (started 8th)
29. David (started 20th)
DNQ DJ
DNQ Brian

It didn’t take long for Dale Jr. to again mingle with Charlotte’s craziness and nearly put me into congestive heart failure again! Lap freaking 1 and he was 3-wide on the top, causing a big panic among the drivers he was passing. To add to my dismay David hit the wall moments later, so I fumed for a while and was annoyed at June, but I don’t really know how much he had to do with David’s brush with the fence. Dale Jr. continued to have an interesting night messing with future teammate Jeff Gordon, but his threats on the radio didn’t amount to any on-track retaliation (thankfully).

David’s night spiraled downhill for a while and a few choice words were used to describe the car’s handling, but Frank did a wonderful job rallying the team and making the car good enough to pass others that weren’t damaged. David apologized and took all the blame at one point but Frank had none of that and quickly told him they were all in this together. That definitely made me smile. They held on despite a flat tire and survived the rest of the night.

Michael’s race is one to gloat about, for he took a car that he thought was horrible and finished 10th with it! I’m so proud of him and honestly didn’t think he’d have two top 10s under his belt by now. He even spun through the grass (and almost crapped himself from what he said on INC because it surprised him so much!) but came back and cut through the field like a surgeon (another INC saying).

I felt incredibly bad for Kurt when he smashed into another car on pit road during a gas-only stop, but was a bit miffed with whoever told him he was clear. In my opinion, if you’re the guy doing something different like two tires or gas only you should be the one keeping a sharp eye out for the guys in the back that will be coming into pit as you’re leaving. Things got worse when Kurt dropped a cylinder later on, which killed his dreams of a good finish. His second engine problem in the Chase…

Casey was having a decent night before a tire failure sent him screeching into Bill Elliott. That really sucked…but by hitting Elliott the damage wasn’t so bad to Casey’s car and the crew was able to make enough repairs to salvage a top 25.

A mistake on Martin’s part almost cost him a top 20 when he ran out of gas after failing to come down pit road when Bono called him in. Fortunately it worked out fairly well in the end.

And I still miss the old Charlotte. Although with Bruton Smith’s recent hissy fit about his precious drag strip, maybe he’ll tear the track down and build it somewhere else!! Ha ha, I wouldn’t be so lucky.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
7. Kurt -315 behind 1st
11. Martin -378 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
14. Casey -122 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. David -405 behind 35th
39. Brian -450 behind 35th
41. Michael -891 behind 35th
42. DJ -892 behind 35th

Feeling Much Better....

After a few days to brood and ponder and think about what David will be doing next season I’m feeling much more confident. I guess it helped to read actual parts of the transcript as well as a lovely article on NASCAR.com. I had no idea that David has worked for UPS before…I wonder if he wore the shorts or was turned down like DJ in the commercial!!

I also found this quote by Michael when asked about David’s transition from Aaron’s to UPS relieving and interesting:

“We haven't really talked about the details of that, but the way I envision it happening is that he will start out the season in the No. 00 Aaron's Camry in the Cup series and run that car for five races. Then that car will simply change colors. His team and David will stay in the same car with the same equipment, they will just take off the Aaron's decals and apply the UPS decals. That is the way I envision it happening and we will have three Cup teams next season.”

First of all it sounds very promising that David will keep Frank and the team. Secondly, he mentions the car changing colors but not numbers…hmm. I hope that means that keeping the 00 in David’s name is still a possibility. I’d love to see that happen!

Michael on INC also explained more about the partnership and I feel more secure about that as well. He looked very happy as a whole tonight which made me smile because I have a feeling he’s been going through some difficult times as of late…

Charlotte Motor Speedway - Dollar General 300

RACE WINNER: JEFF BURTON

Our Boys Running Order:
3. Dale Jr. (started 26th)
12. David (started 8th)
13. Scott (started 19th)

This track just about gives me a heart attack during every race now and it didn’t help that Junebug was driving like an insane person all night and adding to my potential cardiac arrest! He nearly wrecked Jeff Burton at the end of the race but I suppose I can’t complain too much because it all worked out in the end and no cars spun off Junior’s front bumper. Generally I’ve noticed a change in his driving style in the past few weeks…he’s much more aggressive and a bit more reckless. I know he wants to win another race at DEI (not to mention a race this season), so I can’t be hard on him, but he’s scaring me with all his wild moves.

David didn’t have the excellent night everyone expected due to an early-race brush with the wall, but the Dream Machine crew did a wonderful job fixing the car up again and David raced his way back to the top 15. According to his post-race interview he was an “idiot”, but I think most of the blame should have been directed toward a horrible track, since he was in the company of other “idiots” such as Jimmie Johnson (who, by the way, is a Cup champion) and Clint Bowyer, neither of which were talented enough to save their cars – like David did – and also took out many of their fellow competitors with them – which David did not do. Don’t be so hard on yourself, David!

Scott also didn’t have the night he had hoped for in his last run in the 21 car.

But looking at the results and noting how many have the word “accident” as their status, I’m glad my boys survived and all finished in the top 20. I don’t think “beast” is a cruel enough word for Charlotte…maybe something like “demon” would suffice…

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -638 behind leader
3. Kevin Harvick -115 behind David

Frustrated!!!

WARNING: Feeling very irritated and unsure. Definitely will be some ranting. As more information comes out of I calm down after a while I might change my tune, but for the moment I’m writing what I’m feeling.

MWR’s long-awaited announcement was made today at Charlotte regarding both Dale Jarrett’s plans for next year and a partner. Basically what is happening is this:

1. 50% of MWR is now owned (personally) by Robert Kauffman, who founded and co-manages Fortress Investment Group. MWR is now MWRH (Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings, LLC).

2. Ty Norris (thankfully) is still going to be VP and GM, but now Cal Wells III (listed as the owner of the 00, former owner of PPI Motorsports, former expectant minority owner at Robby Gordon Motorsports) is the Executive Vice President of Operations and Larry Johns (no clue who he is) is the Chief Financial Officer.

3. DJ is running in the 44 UPS Toyota for the first five races of 2008 as well as the All-Star race, and then he will retire.

4. David will drive the 00 (supposedly sponsored by Aaron’s) for the first five races and then will drive the 44 with UPS as a sponsor. David will also be in a full-time Nationwide Series car as he is this season.

Okay. There was nothing an any official MWR (coughMWRHcough) press release about Frankie and the 00 team, but in this article David doesn’t know whether he’ll keep them or not. That’s alarming to me. David has such wonderful chemistry with the entire team and it would be absolutely ridiculous to rip them apart! What is Michael doing here? Does he want Frank? Does he want Frank to go to whoever will be driving the 00 (rumored to be Josh Wise and/or Michael McDowell, two development ARCA drivers with little experience in NASCAR), and David can “pick up the 44 team”? I know David is definitely talented and good-natured enough for any team to fall in love with him, but he’s got a great thing going with the 00 crew.

I’m also upset about the number switch. Apparently UPS wants to keep the 44…why? They’ve only been with the 44 for one year. It was so cool that David could make his Cup name in a number he’s run with all his life and I think he really enjoyed it. I don’t see why UPS would get their panties in a bunch about the 44. It would be easy to just switch sponsorship to the 00 as well as owner points.

Owner points. I guess the plan is for DJ to get into the Top 35 and then David will get those points. But what happens if David goes on a streak of great finishes and is solidly in the Top 35 after Bristol? And if DJ is teetering on the edge? Will David get dumped to crappy points even though he earned his way into the Top 35, and then whoever gets into the 00 reaps the benefits of his hard work? David should get the higher owner points, hands down, from the 44 or the 00. He is the 1-year veteran of MWR versus a new driver. He is MWR’s shining star.

Oh yeah, as far as I know UPS is still signed only through 2008. I remember David saying some time ago that the contract was for multiple years hinging on sponsorship. That’s scary.

So who is the Kauffman guy? This whole “partner/investor” thing isn’t really my cup of tea. I don’t understand it (except for the big money part) and I don’t like it. I don’t want NASCAR to turn into stupid money-making machines where drivers are treated like greyhounds.

I’m nervous to see some parallels forming between David and Casey Mears. Both are kind of being pushed around to fit into gaps in the team and the sponsors. Both have lost their sponsors for this year to take over someone else’s sponsor next year. Both are losing their numbers, and those numbers had emotional meaning to the drivers. And both are way too good to be treated like that.

On the positive side (always have to have that or I go insane), I’m very happy that David will be a fulltime NS driver next season! And I’m looking forward to some great UPS commercials!

Talladega Superspeedway - UAW-Ford 500

RACE WINNER: JEFF GORDON

Our Boys Running Order:
6. Casey (started 29th)
7. Kurt (started 41st)
22. David (started 5th)
25. Michael (started 1st)
39. Brian (started 3rd)
40. Dale Jr. (started 26th)
41. Dale Jarrett (started 43rd)
42. Martin (started 13th)

It was a much anticipated race at Dega, more so than ever because it was the first time the New Car battled for position on a superspeedway. The weekend started out in an exciting fashion when the impound format landed all eight go-or-go-homers in the top-8 – and our Mikey nabbed the pole! To make it even better, not a single one of our boys had to make the trip back north.

Talladega is Talladega, but a lot of drivers complained about the boring single-file racing that often strung out the field into a follow-the-leader type line. I can tell by listening to drivers’ radios and reading their quotes that this probably frustrates a driver more than being caught up in the Big One. Although it’s fun watching the cars rim-ride, it tends to drag on, broken only by a caution or a brave man who decides to bring the race back to racing. Luckily for us, one of those men was Michael Waltrip! It was great seeing him and Junior working together like old times and showing their competitors whose boss. Mikey swung down low and after many failed attempts finally got enough backing to create a power train straight to the front. With some help from Jeff Green, David led 2 exciting laps (which, true to their nature, ESPN totally missed) before Mikey got a shot from Junior and retook the helm. Brian also did his best to work with his fellow Toyota drivers.

But as you could probably tell from the running order, not all good things last. Martin blew an engine. When a DEI car blows an engine, I tend to get a bad pit in my stomach. That wasn’t helped any when other DEI/RCR engines started expiring, and finally Junior’s car spewed thick smoke along the trioval (right in front of Michael, who jumped aside just in time). The smoke was nearly opaque and unfortunately for DJ, who was just coming up through the field, it blocked his car from Kyle Petty’s vision and he got smacked into hard, ending his day.

Of course, when the Big One finally did happen, it chose to occur right in front of a group of our guys. Bobby Labonte’s car suddenly took a left turn while running on the high side and nailed Kyle Busch, who then hit Robby Gordon. Gordon’s car turned up and just barely missed Michael… but hit David squarely broadside. David nosedived down the banking and spun. He would have been fine, I think, if David Ragan hadn’t been down there on the apron to hit him. Brian, after battling a lost 1st gear, was also collected. David’s beaten up #00 was one of the only cars to limp away from the carnage. I’d say finishing 22nd with a wrecked machine isn’t too shabby!

Even with a car that had a pancaked right side from hitting the wall, Michael was still in contention. He raced on, but his day didn’t end well. With only a couple handfuls of laps to go, he blew a right front tire and took out Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle and Tony Raines. It really sucked, but apparently Sadler decided that Michael did it by lack of talent and proceeded to blast him on MRN radio, calling him an “idiot” and remarking that Michael can only win at restrictor plate races. Um, wow, Elliott, when was your last win? Fontana in 2004? Maybe you should look at your own career before insulting someone else.

The finish was exciting, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Kurt and teammate Ryan Newman couldn’t get 1-2. Those two have worked so well together! It was also kind of miserable to watch Casey be the pusher to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and then get hung out in the end. But… that’s the way it goes, I guess.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
7. Kurt -215 behind 1st
10. Martin -300 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
15. Casey -116 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -359 behind 35th
39. David -365 behind 35th
41. DJ -807 behind 35th
44. Michael -909 behind 35th

Pumped!!

If I had said on Thursday that Michael Waltrip was going to get the pole at Talladega I would have been laughed at. Yesterday when he made the quickest lap at the time, I thought he’d most likely lose it…but he didn’t! For the first time since 2005 at Pocono, Michael was on the pole. Better yet, all three MWR cars made the show! Michael said that that made him happier than anything.

Generally all the star cars qualified very well. I expected them to but not at the magnitude it turned out to be: the first top 35 car qualified 12th. Not to mention that AJ Allmendinger qualified 9th and missed the race. Again, a lot of fans are freaking out about a 9th-place car going home, but the only reason the star cars did so well is because they had full-blown qualifying setups while the top 35 cars did not. I believe if it had not been an impound race things would have looked a lot different on the speed charts, but not necessarily affecting the star cars that made the race and went home.

Another notable development occurring yesterday was not a very good one because it involved Kurt’s car failing post-qualifying inspection – it was too low. He didn’t qualify really well anyway and moving to the back at a plate race isn’t always a bad thing, but I’m a little nervous about further penalties, which that team can’t afford.

I love Talladega, despite the fact that most of my drivers could get caught up in wrecks not of their own doing. It’s fun and it’s good racing. There’s an ongoing argument that drafting isn’t real racing because anyone with a good car can draft, but I completely disagree. The cars are very equal. Drafting takes brains and good reflexes. And it’s very intense! From the green to the checkers, your heart is pounding because anything can happen at any time, anywhere.

Good luck to all my drivers today and I hope they all have fun and stay safe.

Random News Items

Probably the biggest thing that’s going on with our drivers at the moment is regarding David and where he’s going to be next season. Honestly for a while I thought he was going to leave MWR but at this point I’m assuming he’s staying, if anything because there aren’t any other rides to choose from. But I’m still wondering about one key element: sponsorship. No one knows what Domino’s and Burger King are doing and they seem to be taking their time on that decision. The newest development that’s of interest to me is some negotiating between Dale Jarrett, UPS and MWR on what those three are willing to do. Maybe it has nothing to do with David but I think it comes at a coincidental time of doubtful sponsorship for the 00.

I don’t believe Michael would give David a contract with absolutely no guaranteed sponsor for at least a few races. But I also think he’s willing to take a risk with limited sponsorship in order to keep David, in hopes that something else will come along. The latest on DJ and UPS make me wonder if UPS is a backup plan if the 00 can’t get its own sponsor(s). Will Dale run the races with UPS when the 00 has a sponsor, and then when the 00 doesn’t UPS will move to the 00 and DJ will sit out?

It’s rather depressing and I think it will hurt the organization as a whole to have only two full-time cars when its accustomed to having three, but Dale appears to be okay with a part-time schedule and from the way he’s praised David I think he’s happy to sacrifice some of his races to allow David to become a star. It’s definitely frustrating to no end for me as a fan to see David, the best MWR driver by far, having sponsor troubles while Michael and Dale are not…

In other news, it looks like Brandon Whitt will be making an appearance in the Truck Series again at Atlanta! Ironically enough he will be driving for Red Horse Racing, the team that fired him a few years ago (and has subsequently fired David Starr, Aaron Fike – a druggie – and is now searching for a full-timer). It’s only for one race and only because Jason Leffler can’t make it to Atlanta, but I hope Brandon kicks some ass and shows owners (especially Jeff Hammond and Thomas DeLoach) that he deserves a good ride.

Kansas Speedway - LifeLock 400

RACE WINNER: GREG BIFFLE

Our Boys Running Order:
4. Casey (started 16th)
10. Dale Jr. (started 6th)
11. Kurt (started 12th)
26. DJ (started 13th)
30. Michael (started 11th)
31. David (started 25th)
38. DJ (started 9th)
DNQ Brian

Rain, rain, go away. Mother Nature sure is enjoying messing around with these races this season!

I was thrilled to see Biffle get that win this year but the whole “reasonable speed” deal is bothering me. I don’t exactly think NASCAR made the wrong call, but I do understand why Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon were upset. It wasn’t like Biffle slowed a little bit – the pace car was driving away into the sunset and leaving the field behind. I know NASCAR just wanted to end the race, declare a winner and go home because it was dark and everyone is tired, but then they probably should have just called the race a lap earlier for darkness and ended it there.

I’m also irritated because of something that happened to David directly that contradicts that situation. David got involved in the restart-after-the-rain wreck, but didn’t quite get stopped and got going again at what I’d say was a reasonable speed, so in theory he should have maintained his position on the lead lap, right? Nope. He got put a lap down because Kevin Harvick sped by at a high rate of speed and took the lead. So yeah, I went a little buggy over that.

Martin got caught up in that mess too, which sucked and put a good dent in his championship hopes.

There was also a little controversy over that wreck, which in my opinion Michael had a part in creating. He didn’t have a good car and was also having radio problems, but he drove like crazy during that restart and nearly got into Jimmie Johnson, and then drove down very close to Schrader and either made contact or took the air off him. It wasn’t on purpose – just a racing incident – but it just kind of annoys me that some Michael fans are acting like he had nothing to do with it. However, with the way the entire field was racing at that time I’m willing to bet they would have wrecked sooner or later.

David had a good car once again and got totally screwed by the rain, since he pitted while running about 15th and then the race was red-flagged because of rain. Then he got wrecked which killed his chances of finishing well. But…I’m still very satisfied that the cars are getting consistently good every weekend now!

Kurt got a bit screwed as well in something that shouldn’t of happened. Tony Stewart had a bunch of damage from that restart wreck but didn’t pit even though he had wheel well issues. I knew the tire was going to blow. And it did! Jeff Green was lucky enough to see Tony signal frantically out the window but unfortunately Kurt was not and plowed right into him. Tony threw a bit of a tantrum inside the car and I felt kind of bad for him; he also denied interview requests which after his little F-bomb (don’t get me started on that unprofessionalism – is that a word?) was a good idea, especially since he would have likely gone off on Kurt, and then I’d be very angry.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
8. Martin -158 behind 1st
9. Kurt -177 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
15. Casey -218 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -289 behind 35th
39. David -346 behind 35th
41. DJ -726 behind 35th
44. Michael -881 behind 35th

Kansas Speedway - Yellow Transportation 300

RACE WINNER: KYLE BUSCH

Our Boys Running Order:
3. Casey (started 9th)
9. Brian (started 10th)
15. Scott (started 26th)
17. David (started 31st)

I’ll be honest, I didn’t get to see this race in its entirety because I have a life and went out shopping with my mom. With my busy college schedule this semester and the fact that I like to spend my day off fishing, I never did watch this race except for what I saw live. From what I saw on INC it seemed like your typical Kansas race with a few big crashes and some long green runs. I’m glad Kyle won especially because it was a battle right to the end!

It was pretty disappointing that Brian finished 9th after having a car that could have won the race; another one lost on pit road. I don’t like to get on the pit crews because they have a tough job and get so easily blamed by fans for screwing up a driver’s race (meanwhile the drivers get all kinds of excuses), but Brian’s lost one or two already with this team and it gets kind of frustrating after a while.

Other than that it was nice to see Casey have another good run, and Scott and David finished decently but a little lower than the norm.

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -696 behind leader
3. Kevin Harvick -122 behind David