New Hampshire Motor Speedway - Camping World RV Sales 200

Jess

RESULTS
1. Tony Stewart
7. David
12. Scott

David continues to impress with yet another top 10! He clearly had a very fast car and proved it when he raced Kyle Busch for the lead (and is that ever a simple task?!) after the halfway point. In the end he would end up leading twenty laps and getting those oh-so-important five bonus points. Unfortunately he was bumped back in the field after other cars used pit strategy to get in front of him - and then his right-front fender was pushed in when Greg Biffle got loose coming off the corner. That sucked and it did hurt the Dream Machine enough to where David could never get it back to winning form. The silver lining of the day was all the coverage he got for Aaron's and he did finish ahead of Clint Bowyer, chipping away his hefty point lead.

It was going to be a solid race for Scott until a lugnut issue during a pit stop put him back in traffic. From then on it was a battle to make the best of a cruddy situation, which Scott - a very methodical driver - was successful in doing. Despite the bad luck, he always finds a way to smile during his post-race interview. I love that!

POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
2. David -182

New Hampshire Qualifying

Danni

CUP RESULTS
1. Patrick Carpentier
5. Dale Jr.
8. Martin
24. Casey
29. David
38. Michael
40. Brian

Qualifying was split into two sections - before the rain and afterwards. Pretty much right after David took his lap it started pouring. Really, his time wasn't bad, but when they got the cars rolling again it was apparent that the track cooled down a bunch and was a lot faster. It was a big shock to see Patrick nail the pole! He has a large group of fans coming down from Canada so that must be really exciting for them to see.

Mikey's lap wasn't very good but it doesn't matter much because he has to go to the back of the field anyway. For the second week in a row the engine blew (though last weekend Michael admitted that he downshifted when he was supposed to upshift!). It looks like he's been decent in the two practices so far, so hopefully he'll drive his way forward on Sunday.

NNS RESULTS
1. Landon Cassil
12. David
18. Scott

Another rookie getting the pole! But unfortunately for Landon, he has to go to the back for an engine change. That kind of sucks for your first pole but at least he still gets all the attention and credit for it.

There's a big mass of rain heading for the track as I type. Maybe it will pass to the north! I was upset with the starting time of the race (3:00) but I guess there's a Modified race beforehand. Hey, as long as something is going on!

Chris Cook on David

Jess

If I didn't already like Chris Cook from listening to him on David's radio last weekend, I really like him now after reading this article!

He wasn't shy when speaking about David's talent. "David has been an incredible driver to coach and one that I have great respect for ... one of the very best talents in the country. It is an honor to work with him and his MWR crew." He acknowledged David's trouble at Infineon but is confident that he will improve his road course racing in time. "Infineon Raceway is an extremely demanding technical track and David is an incredibly gifted driver, but has little road racing experience. With a bit more time he will have a chance to win at every road course." He also used the words "professional" and "brilliant" to describe Ryan Pemberton and the team.

When the Cup race is at Pocono in August and the Nationwide race is up at Montreal, Chris will be practicing and qualifying the Aaron's Dream Machine for David, as well.

It really goes to show what kind of person David is. Chris has trained and coached many drivers but it says something when he'll go the extra mile for David. He was a good calm voice over the radio and I look forward to his additional help.

Casey Looking for a New Home

Jess

Well the writing was on the wall, I guess, but it's still upsetting to me as a fan when one of my drivers gets fired (not to mention before his contract is up). Today it was announced that Casey will not be back at Hendrick Motorsports in 2009.

Rick Hendrick stated, "We've put a ton of emphasis on the No. 5 program," something that I don't quite believe. I'm sorry, but as much as I love Dale Jr., I'm not stupid. The emphasis has been on the #88, not the #5...at least not for Casey. If Hendrick truly cared about bringing Casey's performance up he would have made changes like any other team would have. He didn't. No surprise. There is a fine line between making changes and not...but did he really expect a driver who hasn't had any consistency in his crew chief in five years to immediately gel with someone new? Again? Alan Gustafson was good with Kyle Busch, but from what I've read on Casey's message board he doesn't listen to Casey's comments about the car. Meanwhile, look at Kyle Busch, who is off winning more races with JGR than he did at HMS last year. Is Gustafson the exalted crew chief he looked like he was with Kyle last year, or was it Kyle?

Then there's Darian Grubb. At the end of 2007 they were working very well together and Casey's performance was the best it had been. Then he's taken away from Casey to be a team engineer for both the #5 and the #88. Yeah...that means the #88. In an article written as recently as June 8th, it's interesting to read his title and then it's all Eury Eury Earnhardt Earnhardt...okay, what about Casey? Why couldn't Darian have gone back to Casey before firing him? "Whatever Mr. Hendrick asks me to do, I'll do it," he says. So I guess Hendrick didn't ask him to be Casey's crew chief.

The NASCAR.com article also states: "It didn't help that, other than the driver, the No. 5 team remained exactly the same unit that finished fourth in points last season with Kyle Busch. It didn't help that Earnhardt found such quick success with what had been Mears' old team last year."

That's not quite true, either. Why was Rick Pigeon so angry at Kyle Busch at Richmond this year? Because he crashed Dale Jr. and Dale Jr. is his driver now, that's why! The following is from Jayski's pit crew charts:

2007
Casey's #25 team: Chris Fasulka, Jason Hunt, Tony Hamm, Ben Fischbeck, Chuck Efaw, Matt Myers, Chris Hamilton
Kyle Busch's #5 team: Brad Pickens, Rick Pigeon, D.J. Richardson, J.D. Holcomb, Josh Kirk, Jason Jones, Jason Dalrymple

2008
Casey's #5 team: Brad Pickens, Jason Hunt, Kip Wolfmeier, J.D. Holcomb, Josh Kirk, Jason Jones, Scott Radel
Dale Jr.'s #88 team: Chris Fasulka, Rick Pigeon, Adam Emmert, Ben Fischbeck, D.J. Richardson, Matt Myers, Jason Dalrymple

So obviously the units are different than they were last year. Junior got three of who were "supposed" to be on Casey's team, and who knows how many of the behind-the-scenes mechanics that helped make Kyle's cars so good last season are on the #88 now. Last year, when Junior signed with HMS, Hendrick admitted he was under a lot of pressure to give Junior competitive equipment. "He (Dale Jr.) made the decision to come with us based on our ability to give him what he needs to reach those goals," he said. "So that's the competitive side of me that adds pressure, because I want to deliver what he's expecting. And because of the magnitude of his space and position in the sport, with his fan base and so forth, the feeling is that everyone is going to anticipate it.

"The pressure is because I want to deliver, and I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen - because there are going to be a whole lot of people watching."

Mmm-hmm...what a coincidence that Casey's team hasn't performed well. Even if you look at Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, they sure aren't even close to what they both were last year (a combined 16 wins, 41 top 5s and 54 top 10s, plus the championship and runner-up!!). Sure, you could say it's the acclimation to the new car, but I'm not so sure. It just seems such a coincidence.

I'm not knocking Dale Jr. - I adore him with all my heart. It's just so frustrating when people treat him like he's more special than anyone else, and when other drivers get gypped because of what the owners want to placate his rabid, selfish fans. It's also frustrating to see Casey's fans loathe Junior's name and body and soul because they think he has something to do with the decision to fire Casey.

I fully expect that Brad Keselowski will eventually be the driver of the #5 (which also fuels the Dale Jr.-gets-what-he-wants conspiracy theory, unfortunately), no matter who drives the car next season (rumor has Mark Martin, full-time, part-time, who cares).

Uhg. But what's done is done. Now I can only hope that Casey will land at an organization that wants him; that won't move him around so someone else can be more successful. He's dealt with that at Ganassi and Hendrick. Maybe Team Red Bull? But I don't want AJ Allmendinger to get fired, nor do I want him in a third team that won't have owner points. RCR's fourth team? Great organization, but there's the owner points situation again. Penske if Ryan Newman leaves? It would be cool to have another pair of my boys as teammates but will they get a replacement sponsor for Alltel? DEI if Martin leaves? DEI...ergh. I shouldn't be so picky, though, because having a ride with even a decent team is better than nothing at all.

Thankfully the recent ex-Hendrick drivers aren't doing too bad. Brian Vickers has hit his stride with TRB and Kyle Busch...well, no explanation needed. I can only hope Casey will be as successful as I know he can be.

And I sure am glad I didn't buy any of his gear in the past two years.

Infineon Raceway - Toyota/Save Mart 350

Jess

RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
5. Casey
12. Dale Jr.
14. Brian
16. Martin
25. Michael
32. Kurt (1 LD)
40. David (ACCIDENT - BLOWN TIRE)

This was a tough race for both the drivers to run and the fans to watch! While road course racing is interesting to view on TV because of all the cars going in different directions, it seems like the commentators have a hard time keeping track of everything besides the first few cars. It's also easy for fans to see dust flying in the background and immediately panic, thinking someone is wrecking! But more often than not it's just a driver getting a tire or two off the course for a moment, and the race goes on.

I'm not also too crazy about races where strategy comes into play more than racing, but that's another story.

How awesome is it that Casey got a top 5? I'm so proud of him, especially considering he said on This Week in NASCAR's preview that he actually doesn't like Infineon much since he's struggled there. What wasn't so pleasant was Larry McReynolds's comment about how he was hearing Casey was told he wasn't going to be back in the #5 next year! Okay, it's not like there hasn't been a hint of that rumor already, but come on, don't rain on his parade! He was doing well, why couldn't he just say that and keep his gossip to himself? Lindsay Czarniak asked Casey about the rumor during the post-race show on NASCAR.com (in a tactful way - I like Lindsay) and while he didn't give a definitive answer, you could tell something was up. But more on that in another blog...

Junior, Brian and Martin had decent, rather uneventful races. It looked like Brian struggled at first but then became better as the race progressed.

Michael didn't have as good of a day as I had hoped, but it was good enough for him to not only stay in the top 35 but gain points on 36th! That's always a good thing! I listened to his radio after David was out of the race and he said at the end that the car was "racy". Yay! It's better than "the worst car I've ever driven" and "this is embarrassing"!

Poor David, this was probably the worst race of the season for him and the UPS boys. The first thing I noticed was that there was a new voice on the radio - Chris Cook. He did a great job coaching David and telling him how to improve his turns, and I really loved how he would praise David every time his lap times got better. Despite his encouraging words, David still struggled to get ahold of this difficult track (and please don't get me started on how he should have already had a race-worth of experience here from last year...hmph ). With nine laps to go the left-front tire blew out, sending David hard into the tire barrier in turn 8. The most important thing is that he was okay, but it was still very frustrating. Thankfully there are only two road races a year and the other one is Watkins Glen, a place where David has some experience.

Kyle Busch, much to everyone's surprise, won. He did a wonderful burnout and bowed to the fans...who cheered like crazy! The guys in the booth remarked about that and sounded pleased, much to my happiness.

#44 Quotes of the Race

(Under the pace laps)

David: "Why's the 55 back here?"

Ryan: "They had to change motors."

Michael: "I didn't want you to be lonely back here!"

(Pause...okay, how often is Michael listening in on their conversations?! )

David (laughing): "That's awful nice of you, Mike! I appreciate it."

Michael: "I came to see you!"

David: "I'd have rather come to see you!"

Ryan: "10-4 guys, you're going the wrong way."

Michael: "We've got all day."

Ryan: "10-4, just keep the splitters and all major parts on 'em, guys, and we'll have a good day."

POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Jr. -152
15. Brian -620
17. Martin -623
22. Kurt -804
24. Casey -902
28. David -1018 (29th in owner points, +88 from 36th)
30. Michael -1157 (32nd in owner points, +43 from 36th)

Milwaukee Mile - Camping World RV Rental 250

Danni

RESULTS
1. Carl Edwards
5. David
6. Scott

I have to admit that it was nice to watch the #60, #2 and #6 head to the back of the field while David's #99 stayed up front. Unfortunately, a poorly located pit stall put David in a bind. Out of coincidence, the #20 of Joey Logano had the box in front of the Aaron's crew and it appears that he needs more practice pitting his car in a half-decent manner! I'll give him some benefit of the doubt because his stall was oddly bent, but man - he stuck the entire rear end of his car over the line every time, successfully blocking David in! As irritated as I was, it clearly pissed David off even more because he ended up speeding on exit and relegating himself to the tail-end of the line. That was about 25th place on a track that's difficult ot pass on. Thankfully, David is talented enough and the car was good enough to shoot him back into the top-5 by the end of race. I think he could have finished better, but I'll take it!

It's a sure thing that Scott wanted to win one for the home crowd (a big group of his fans were sitting in a reserved section to support him), but the car was tight early on. The crew did a great job all night gaining him positions on pit road. The team as a whole seems to be getting their groove on again so hopefully another trip to Victory Lane is just around the corner!

I was pretty happy to see Carl win since it's the first time this year and appreciated his Polish Victory Lap in honor of the late Wisconsin native Alan Kulwicki. When he didn't stop to do his famous backflip, I was surprised, but then remembered the somber earlier event of the day. When a racer is killed on track, it affects all series deeply. While the crowd booed, Carl explained the two reasons he decided not to celebrate - to respect Scott Kalitta and also because he was upset that he ran into the side of Clint Bowyer to take the lead. Now, a lot of people watching were probably furious with the crowd's reaction, calling them insensitive jerks. But in all reality, a good portion of them were likely unaware of what happened in the NHRA and simply felt gypped. In some ways, the heated boos should have made Carl and Carl's fans proud because people get really excited over his flips! I hope when Carl came over the loudspeaker, the fans understood why he chose a subdued celebration.

POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
3. David -190

Infineon/Milwaukee Qualifying

Jess

CUP RESULTS
1. Kasey Kahne
3. Kurt
15. Dale Jr.
23. Casey
25. Martin
26. Brian
35. Michael
42. David

Well, not all that stellar among our heroes besides Kurt! It's really, really hot in Infineon this weekend, adding more difficulties to an already tough road course. It's been amazing to watch these cars run around the track - they hit the tiniest bit of rumble strip or yank the wheel a little hard and two tires come right off the ground.

None of the MWR cars qualified well despite Michael McDowell being quick in first practice. It makes me angry seeing David struggle because he should have had experience at this track last season...but he was taken out of the car. Now he's at a huge disadvantage compared to most of the field. Every point is vital and he's fighting to keep a sponsor, so it's very frutrating seeing him have a hard time. To make it worse, he crashed his primary car in second practice today. He only made one lap in the backup car before having to go to Milwaukee, but Chris Cook jumped in and put the #44 up to 25th on the speed chart. Hopefully he found something good that will help David tomorrow.

NATIONWIDE RESULTS
1. Brad Keselowski
5. David
12. Scott

Our Nationwide boys are good, huh?

David made it to the Dream Machine just in time! It was pretty fun watching him jump out of the helicopter and run to the car - and to top it off he made an absolutely awesome lap! Mike Skinner rocked both practices and he must have put a great setup in that baby.

But everything is put back into perspective...I turned on Nationwide qualifying as NHRA quals were going off the air. I learned about an accident that occured and by the tone of the commentator's voice it was clear it was very bad. When Nationwide time trials were almost over Jerry Punch told us that Scott Kalitta, a two-time champion, had died in the crash. Now I'm watching his competitors talk about him and fight back tears and it makes me appreciate NASCAR and how they strive for the safety of the drivers we love, the drivers we don't like so much, and for some fans the drivers they claim to hate. Racing is dangerous and we as fans should never forget that. Some fans can't say a good thing about NASCAR's governing body - they call it NA$CAR, they say all NASCAR cares about is the sport as entertainment, they say all the drivers are robots because of NASCAR. I say: shut your mouth and take another look. NASCAR is the HANS device, NASCAR is the SAFER barrier and the new car, the speed limit and the helmets on pit road, the catch fence that keeps the cars from flying into the grandstands. NASCAR cares for these drivers, crews and the fans. Yes, they care about us, too. I believe all racing series want everyone to be safe, but NASCAR has gone beyond the minimum. For that I'm truly grateful.

Scott Kalitta will be in my heart and thoughts, along with his family, friends and fans.

Michigan Int'l Speedway - Lifelock 400

Danni

RESULTS
1. Dale Jr.
4. Brian
17. Martin
21. Kurt
23. Michael
30. Casey (2LD)
35. David (3LD)

First off, I can't explain how good it felt to see Junior in Victory Lane again!! I know a lot of his fans expected many wins by now and were already attacking Tony Eury Jr., so it was sweet to see them finally finish a deal through smart strategy by the crew chief. Unfortunately, there was some controversy, but more on that later.

As to be expected at a wide track like Michigan, green flag runs dominated the race. That can be good if your car handles well, but can be devistating when a lot of work needs to be done. Obviously, looking at David and Casey's finishes, the latter fact was evident. It was upsetting to listen to David's radio because they just could not catch a break. They had to make a shock adjustment to get it from tight to loose, but then it was too loose. To make things worse, during a cycle of green flag pit stops, the caution came out a lap or two after the #44 pitted, trapping them 2 laps down and nixing any chance of them to get a decent finish. Despite everything, David remained calm even though the stress of running uncharacteristically bad was clear in everyones' voices.

Meanwhile, Michael was having an atypical day too - but in a good way! He drove into the top-20 easily and led a lap while the leaders pitted under green (five points toward the top-35!). Junior and Brian ran up front and led laps. A bit of a downer occurred when Kurt spun by himself off of Turn 2. It's so strange watching someone who should be winning races struggle so much. Most of the cautions that came out because of a wreck were single-car incidents - drivers just would lose it.

By the end of the race it was plain to see that fuel mileage would play out, something that is becoming a very common thing every race weekend (and I'm not a fan of it). Several drivers had no chance of making it and were forced to pit, but Dale Jr. was told to stay out and save as much as he could. When Jamie McMurray passed him for the lead, however, there was no more cruising! Watching them race each other kind of left a pit in my stomach because I could just see the gas burning away! Then, with only a couple laps to go, Sam Hornish spun and brought out the yellow.

What to do!

Cue controversy!

McMurray pitted, while Kasey Kahne stayed out and took 2nd place. Then the weird stuff started to happen. During pace laps, Junior passed the pace car on the backstretch, shut his engine off and coasted to conserve fuel. Now, it's fair to say that everyone knows that when you pass the pace car without NASCAR's permission, you get black-flagged. But Junior pulled the move more than once before NASCAR simply told him to stop it. This puts me in a rough position as both an objective race-watcher and a Dale Jr. fan. I wanted so badly to see him win, but a rule is a rule and it made me uncomfortable to see NASCAR ignore it. I'm definitely not crying conspiracy - the #88 didn't have enough gas to make the green-white-checkers - but I know why fans and media are questioning the move and as far as I know NASCAR hasn't given an explanation, which makes them look biased. So as happy as I was for Junior, I wasn't excited about how it came about. It also was disappointing to not see a well-deserved celebration because the car sputtered out of juice across the line.

Another damper on the situation was the fact that the white flag crash that brought the Junior-saving caution out was between Martin and Michael. Martin got loose coming off of Turn 4 and bounced off the wall a bit. For some reason, Michael was right up against Martin when it happened. Like Newton's Law of Momentum states, the energy was tranferred to the #55 and sent the car flying into the frontstretch grass. I also felt bad for Pat Carpentier, a victim caught up in a wreck not of his doing while having one of the best runs of his short Cup career. It sucked, but it was racing. Thankfully, Michael still finished well enough to get back into the top-35!

While the team pushed Junior to Victory Lane, the look on his face was priceless. He looked like a kid again! His demeanor was giddy and it was so good to see that smile on his face. I was also very happy to see Mr. Hendrick there to celebrate with him. It was Father's Day, which is tough on both of them, but having each other I think heals the pain a little.

Some more confusion happened when Brian gave a post-race interview. Apparently, he had passed Mark Martin before the Hornish caution, but NASCAR told the #83 team that the #8 was to be in front of them on the restart. And on the restart, the #8 ran out of gas, marring everyone behind him. Obviously, Brian felt that it was both a bad call and a reason he couldn't vie for the win. Later, NASCAR admitted they made a mistake. Lucky for them, Brian is an understanding guy and didn't give NASCAR a tongue-lashing.

So it was kind of an up and down day. Hopefully Junior will win again without any arguments so everyone can forget about this one.

#44 Quotes of the Race

When David began to approach the #15

Ryan: "Get a good run here and set him up."

David (some time later): "It's so tight... I'll get him - I'll get him here. Hang on!"

POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Jr. -84
15. Martin -543
16. Brian -546
19. Kurt -676
27. Casey -862
28. David -866
34. Michael -1050 (35th in OP +13 from 36th)

Kentucky Motor Speedway - Meijer 300

RESULTS
1. Joey Logano
2. Scott
13. David

What a great night for Scott and his Holiday Inn team! Second is second but it's good to see him finish up front when the #29 has been struggling a little lately.

David had some handling trouble and was one lap down after green-flag pit stops. Thankfully he ended up getting the Aaron's Lucky Dog and was able to gain a few spots to finish a wee bit outside of the top 10. To brighten my spirits there was a cute feature ESPN did about David's racing idol, who, of course, is his dad, Buzzie. Plus Rusty Wallace called David a threat for the championship. Yeah, buddy!

Joey Logano won, to the glee of crazed media members. Mike Wallace gave an interview after the race and baasically said what I felt: it would be more surprising if the kid didn't win. Look at the car he's driving - just about anyone could get in that seat and win. I'm not knocking Logano or saying he's not talented, and I defnitely don't dislike him. It's just a little frustrating to see him in victory lane in his second start while David is driving his heart out and his team is working so hard, but they haven't won yet. I hate throwing the word "deserve" around, especially if it has a "doesn't" in front of it, but David and the #99 boys deserve to win. Lots of times! And then you have an 18-year-old getting in a powerhouse Cup-backed supercar and he's a hero and the next Jeff Gordon.

Okay, I'm whining a little. That's what blogs are for!

Poor Kyle Busch! He had a pretty rotten day, from being attacked by the pot-calling-kettle-black I-can-wreck-you-but-you-can't-wreck-me Ron Hornaday to crashing out of the Nationwide race while running just behind Logano. Kyle's post-race interviews often make me cringe but this time I was very impressed with the way he handled himself (the first good sign was that he was stationary...not being chased). He was amazingly calm for someone who just spun out by himself. I was relieved! He also stated that he wasn't going for the Nationwide championship...which was also sort of a relief!

POINT STANDINGS
1. Clint Bowyer
3. David -175

Brandon is Coming Back!

Jess

Some might remember a driver called Brandon Whitt back in the Craftsman Truck Seires in 2004 and 2005 - he won his first race at Memphis in the #38 Red Horse Racing truck. After 2005 he was fired (one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen, and the main reason I don't like Jeff Hammond) and had a short Cup tenure in an underfunded car. He's a great driver but - like many other great drivers - was without a ride.

Yesterday I randomly checked his website and saw that it has been redesigned and there is going to be an announcement soon about Brandon returning full-time to NASCAR! That's awesome! I'm really excited about it and can't wait to see what's in store for him.

Michigan/Kentucky Qualifying

Jess

CUP RESULTS
1. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Jr.
17. Martin
18. Brian
22. Kurt
25. Casey
28. David
38. Michael

Quals were cancelled after it began to rain - only twelve drivers made laps (some in a drizzle!).

During NASCAR Live Michael was interviewed by Hermie Sadler and I don't know if it was just too early in the morning but I got emotional soon after Michael started to speak. He said that he was really down and out after Pocono since he fell out of the top 35 but then he randomly turned on the TV and saw himself talking about being a two-time Daytona 500 Champion. It made him realize that he couldn't give up and that he had to keep on fighting because NAPA and Toyota deserve better. David has been running well so he knows that he can too, so he's not going to go down without a fight! Hermie looked impressed and proceeded to conclude the interview by saying nice things while Michael smiled at him (for a moment I thought there was going to be a hug!).

Well, tears were sliding down my face! I was so proud of him and that's the type of spirit I've been missing from him this season. As much as he frustrates me sometimes he's my number one driver and I love him. He can do this! He has the talent and he certainly has the drive to race well - he just has to keep that in his mind.

NATIONWIDE RESULTS
1. Joey Lagano
9. Scott
14. David

What great results for our boys! I was so impressed with David's lap since he hasn't even gotten any practice in that car. Josh Wise is a cool guy because he got the car to where he liked it and then told Jerry Baxter to make it looser - the way David likes.

ESPN also played a funny conversation between David and Jerry last week during the Nashville race. They were talking about their fuel situation and Jerry said that they were going to be close. David replied that he hates when he tells him that. Jerry said, "You still love me."

David's answer? "Absolutely."

Pocono 500 - In Person!

Jess

RESULTS
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Brian
4. Dale Jr.
8. Kurt
17. Martin
19. David
26. Casey
37. Michael (1 LD)

The drive to our hotel in Pittson was very interesting and a little scary. We were caught in a huge thunderstorm that sent rain down so hard we could barely see. Thankfully we survived!

Unlike all my Pocono races before, it was already really warm at 7AM, fortelling an extremely hot and humid day. Using our trusty Garmin, we made it to the track in record time, admiring the window art some of the cars sported while tailgating. I don't know if we were just early or if attendance was down, but we were parked much closer to the gates than we ever have been.

First thing first, we headed to the souvenir rigs to see who was signing when. I was especially looking for David's trailer and was really disappointed to see he wasn't going to be there - I even asked one of the rig guys just to make sure. He said that he got back from Nashville late and that he also had some hospitality stuff to do. If my life was a cartoon you would have seen my heart break in two, shatter into little pieces and crumble to the ground. Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but I was sad!

Thankfully we had plenty of other drivers to keep us busy. When Mom saw that Patrick Carpentier was signing she made sure we planted ourselves in a good spot to wait! He was very nice to everyone, even a woman who seemed to be frightening him a little bit (she was saying something about wanting to hog-tie him...yikes!! ). His accent is so cute and Mom couldn't help but admire his chest hair...



Danni and I went off by ourselves after that from driver to driver as they were scheduled to be at their rigs. AJ Allmendinger was first up - he got a big cheer when he came out and he played it up pretty well! Despite the common knowledge that AJ is confident, even a little cocky, he seemed very shy and although he talked to everyone he signed for he didn't look into the crowd much.



Casey Mears was next. His line is always really long and as strange as it sounds it felt better to keep moving around than to stay in one place for long (the rigs blocked a lot of the breeze). I heard someone comment on his hair (I love it longer too! ) and he said that he was trying to grow it out. Generally he was much perkier than he was last year, which was nice because the last couple times I've seen him he's appeared nervous.



We marched over to the Miller Lite rig after that and waited for Kurt Busch - who was late, as usual! He got a loud roar from the mob! A nice man let Danni and I stand in front of him so we could actually see, but I wanted to hurt him later when Kurt threw out a bunch of signed T-shirts because he caught one that was heading right toward me! I considered climbing up his leg to steal his prize but decided I didn't want to get thrown out by security. Kurt, like every other time I've seen him, was awesome to everyone, and like all the other times is so awesome at looking and smiling at everyone who called his name. What a great guy!!



The last driver of the day was our fellow redhead Brian Vickers. He was quiet but friendly to the fans in line. Both he and AJ looked to be anticipating their good runs during the race and had an air of calm sureness.



In the meantime Mom and Jim were off meeting Hugh Rowland and Jerry Dusdal from Ice Road Truckers, one of their favorite series! Mom loves Hugh (the Polar Bear!) and he gave her a hug and she heard him laugh (which, if you watch the show, you know how cool his laugh is). He was very sweet and I wish I could have met him too.



Before we journeyed back to the car for lunch we checked out our seats: N6, Row 6. What a perfect location!! Right in front of Michael's, David's, McD's, Martin's and Pat's pit boxes. Nothing much was going on at the moment so we went and had lunch (and got some comments about being twins...not all of them innocent, either ).

Mom, Danni and I settled into the grandstands with our FanView and seat backs about an hour and a half before the green was scheduled to fall. This was when the fun started. I had brought my #44 car flag with me in hopes of catching David's attention when they drove past in the trucks during intros, but when we spotted a couple of the UPS crewmen walking down pit road we waved it at them. I was taking pictures of one of them and suddenly realized he was turned right toward us! This made us cheer and wave the flag some more and he ended up pumping his fist. That was so freaking awesome! He continued to turn and look at us as the crew got ready for the race. I wanted to kick myself a little because during intros he walked all the way up to the pit lane wall, but I was too preoccupied with taking pictures of the drivers going by that I didn't even notice until he was walking away!









I believe this is Mitch Lash, since I saw him dragging around the jack. He was one cool dude and really made my day!

Driver intros were fun, but the photo-taking wasn't. The catchfence has these annoyingly thick wires running horizontally through it and it just so happened that I was in the perfect seat (and me the perfect height) to have that bar directly over just about every driver's face. This reflected in my pictures. I noticed that a lot of the drivers don't even look into the crowd...most just raise a hand and absently wave and some don't even turn toward the grandstands. McD was one of the latter. We saw his butt, which I guess isn't such a bad thing, but I would have liked to have seen that big grin of his. We didn't have any luck in catching David's eye, either, but he was crammed in a truck with two drivers and a camera crew, so there wasn't much room. Michael's driveby was really sad - he's always been very interactive with the crowd but this time he wouldn't even look. Out of everyone, the Busch brothers were some of the best and making an effort to pump the fans up. Kurt had a Make-a-Wish boy in with him and smiled at the crowd. Kyle was even cooler - he grinned wildly the entire time!

















The race was long. And hot. I had my MP3 player headphones plugged into the jack on the muffs that came with the FanView so whenever the cars went past I couldn't hear a darn thing. And did I mention it was hot?

David was struggling with the car but when Ryan made adjustments to fix one thing (mainly issues in the tunnel turn) it made the other two turns worse. Ryan was fun to watch because he often paces on the pit box. The crew was great all day despite the heat (I don't know how they can survive in those suits all day) and although the last caution hurt the team a little, 19th is nothing to be upset about. There won't be any #44 Quotes of the Race since I couldn't record the radio chatter, but at one point during the brief red flag for rain, David asked for some water from the two crewmen coming to his aid on pit road. As a second thought, he said that he wanted them to run the whole way! They continued to walk - that is until Carpentier's crewmen passed them at a run. Then they broke into a jog.

It was depressing when Michael crashed. I was glad he wasn't torn up badly but I knew he had to have a great run to remain in the top 35 since it didn't look like Scott Riggs was going to finish poorly. The FanView doesn't show live owner point standings but by the driver points I could tell he was in big trouble... He has said that he's struggled at tracks like Michigan and I can only hope he makes it this weekend.

Other Highlights (since this is getting lengthy):

-Seeing Kurt run well was such a relief and even after he spun out he was able to salvage a top 10.

-It was really awesome when Brian was leading! I wish he could have won but Kahne was unstoppable at the end.

-Junior had a good day...it would have been cool if he could have pulled off the win as well, though the grandstands would have probably crashed to the ground!

-McD missed his pit stall twice, once as a result of being hit by David Ragan.

-Clint Bowyer crashed right in front of us. It took a long time for the safety crew to get to him and he had already gotten out, hopped over the wall and was walking along pit road. The photo I took of him jumping is hysterical because it looks like he simply vaulted over it instead of jumping onto the wall and then hopping off. I couldn't help thinking his crashing was karma for what he did to David at Nashville the night before.



I didn't buy much since I don't have a whole lot of money to spend on treats, but I needed some #55 decals and a #99 Nationwide sticker. I saw a tank top of David's that I wanted but it didn't come in a small. The lack of women's gear in general was disturbing, and the shirts they have are way too big for me these days even if they are a "small". The prices of some of the clothing were ridiculous anyway and it's no wonder why fans aren't buying stuff anymore! I'm not paying $28 plus tax for a freaking long-sleeved T-shirt!

We didn't get our typical fan-manned fireworks because it began to rain very hard. Before the clouds opened up Jim was chumming it up with a group of people from New Jersey (I think three guys and a girl), who were really funny. One of the guys kept screaming, "Those aren't rainclouds!!" even as it started to pour! Like on the way to Pennsylvania, the way back was in more thunderstorms, but I ended up sleeping like a baby until about a mile from our house. I woke up feeling rather sick because I got a really bad sunburn on my face (not to mention inhaling people's disgusting cigarette smoke...yuck). I guess my only consolation is that at least it was an even burn, not the burn on the left side of my face only like in years past.

I don't know if we're going to be able to go to the Pennsylvania 500 in August, since Danni and I will be busy moving into an apartment up in Syracuse where we're transfering to college in the fall. I hope we can go because we haven't missed a race in a couple years, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

You can see more (and a bit bigger) photos on my MySpace, or if you don't have a MySpace you can see them on my Photobucket account.

POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Jr. -145
16. Martin -526
17. Brian -582
21. Kurt -647
25. David -795
26. Casey -806
35. Michael -1020 (36th in owner points, -12 from 35th )