The off season has had no shortage of NASCAR news. In addition to the new baby announcements and changes to the schedule, NASCAR announced on Thursday that they will be making some significant rule changes.

NASCAR officials have announced that they plan to relax and let the drivers do what they do best without too much interference. However, it was stated on Next Time By internet radio today that in the past, NASCAR has made the same claim and it hasn’t happened. So will it really change this time?

Now, of course, with this announcement, all the fans are excited and hope for some good racing but we all wonder in the back of our minds: Will NASCAR really relax their grip on the races or will this be another empty promise?

Of course, we did see near the end of last season where this had already started to take place. The fiery feud between Cup series superstar, Denny Hamlin, and Talladega champion, Brad Keselowski sparked a great amount of excitement. NASCAR took it upon themselves to back off and let the drivers have their feud, which has been ongoing throughout the off season.

Some fans seem to have a bit of an issue with this due to safety reasons, but NASCAR CEO and chairman, Brian France states “NASCAR is a contact sport – our history is based on banging fenders.”

And it is so true. NASCAR is a true contact sport in the sense that the drivers thrive on on (and off track) rivalries to keep things interesting. Even with the inevitable safety issues that come up, fans and drivers always love a good rivalry.

“Over the past 10 years we’ve dramatically increased safety and that mission continues. However, it’s time for us to allow the drivers to drive. We don’t want the rules and regulations to get in the way of great racing and fantastic finishes,” said France.

One thing NASCAR fans can always count on is rule changes. And there have been plenty of them for 2010 already. Bump-drafting rules are null and void now at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway. They will also implement a bigger restrictor plate at Daytona.

If you remember, right before the Talladega fall race, NASCAR announced the “no bump drafting into the corners” rule. That rule did not go over well with drivers or fans. The draft, especially the bump draft, is what makes Talladega more exciting to watch. During that particular race, the field was so widely spread out that it be came pretty dull for a good part of the race. Whether or not that is the fault of the lack of bump drafting in the corners is anyone’s guess.

The bigger restrictor plate for Daytona seems to be causing a great deal of excitement and debate in the NASCAR community. Some argue that the racing will be better due to the higher speeds and additional horsepower in the cars and others say that it will be far more dangerous. Whatever the case may be, its sure to make the races fare more interesting to see.

Perhaps the most significant change to NASCAR is the removal of the wing from the COT. Officials have decided to replace it with the spoiler from the old car. I’m not too well versed on aerodynamics, but if I understand correctly, the spoiler will give the car more downforce and hold it closer to the track.

Whatever happens in the next few months, be assured that NASCAR has only what they believe is best for the sport, drivers, and the fans in mind. The new rule changes are sure to make for a really interesting season.

The thing I love the most about NASCAR is that from year to year, things change drastically. Take the 2008 seasons of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch for instance. Carl won nine races while Kyle won eight for a combined total of 17 races and both drivers made the Chase. In 2009, Carl did not win a single race and Kyle won a grand total of four races. Carl finished 11th in the standings while Kyle finished 13th. As far as anyone can tell, there were no real drastic changes to either the 99 or 18 teams until late 2009 when Kyle Busch’s crew chief, Steve Addington, was replaced with Nationwide series crew chief Dave Rogers.

As you can see, two drivers with a lot of talent didn’t make a lot of noise in 2009. One didn’t even make the Chase. When you look at the big picture, there were probably a lot of little things that led to such poor performance in 2009 compared to 2008.

Looking ahead to 2010, it is not difficult to make guesses and conjectures about who will win and who won’t do very well in the coming season. But we have to look at it objectively. Going into this season, who is more determined and who seems to be getting a little too comfortable?

We’ll begin with defending 2009 Daytona 500 champ Matt Kenseth. He won the first two races of the season right off the bat and was less than consistent for the remainder of the season. He had only seven top fives and twelve top tens the entire season. Average finish? 15.4. These numbers do not speak well for a Daytona 500 champion. However, as I’ve always said, Kenseth is one of NASCAR’s most underrated drivers. He is the 2003 cup champion as well as one of the top drivers at RFR. Look for this team to pull together and pull out some wins in 2010.

Kyle Busch had a stellar season in 2008 with 8 wins, 17 top fives, and 21 top tens, but finished a rather dismal 10th in the Cup standings. In 2009, he had 4 wins, 9 top fives, and 13 top tens and didn’t even make the Chase. My take on Kyle is that he tends to get really comfortable really late in the season and tends to slack off a little. However, he has shown a certain amount of maturity when it comes to his racing. He’s definitely one of the most passionate drivers on any of the circuits and all he wants is to win but it looks like he’s beginning to realize that consistency is just as important as winning. He’s got the talent, now if he can keep his head cool, he could easily be another consecutive 4 time champion.

Tony Stewart and the entire organization of Stewart-Haas Racing was the underdog story of 2009. Very few people expected the 14 and 39 teams to even come close to winning. With Stewart being crowned as the regular season champ, it was definitely an unexpected but pleasant surprise. Stewart ended up winning 4 points races, and one non points race. He had an astounding 15 top fives and 23 top tens which is virtually unheard of for an owner/driver. Stewart’s teammate and driver, Ryan Newman saw 5 top fives and fifteen top tens. The 2009 season also was Newman’s ninth consecutive year to win a pole award. He, in fact won two. Solely based upon 2009, both the 14 and 39 teams will be strong race contenders in 2010.

Hendrick Motorsports has been a powerhouse in NASCAR for so long that one can hardly tell you a time when HMS did not dominate the Cup series. They’ve won four consecutive championships and their cars dominated a good part of the Chase. Martin and Johnson won a combined total of five races in the Chase. The top three drivers in the Cup standings were all HMS drivers. Only a fool would believe that HMS can be easily over thrown in 2010.

Richard Childress Racing had a dismal year. Not one of the drivers for RCR had a single race win and for the most part, none of the teams were very consistent. Until the very end of the season, they didn’t run very well at all. Harvick had 5 top fives and 9 top tens, Bowyer had four top fives and 16 top tens, Burton had 5 top fives and 10 top tens, and Mears had just 4 top tens and no top fives. Stats like these don’t make one very confident in this organization but they definitely have the talent and resources to win races and championships and be very consistent.

Joe Gibbs Racing saw several wins, four of them from Kyle Busch, four from Denny Hamlin, and just one from Raybestos ROTY Joey Logano. This team definitely has the potential to be the next great team in NASCAR if the drivers had just a little more discipline on the track and if so many technical issues didn’t plague them. This team will be strong again in 2010. Look out for young Logano, he is finally finding himself behind the wheel and will probably break out and win more races this year.

You can probably expect to see a few breakout drivers this season as well. Here’s some of the drivers that had unexpectedly good stats in 2009.

Marcos Ambrose had 4 top fives and 7 top tens in his JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota. He started third and led several laps of the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway before technical issues got the best of him, giving him a 35th place finish.

AJ Allmendinger had just one top five that came at Daytona International Speedway in the 500 and 6 top tens this season. He’s already come a long way since his first season in Cup in 2007.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the sport’s most popular driver and many people blame the drop in viewer ratings on his lack of consistency and wins in 2009. This is a driver with 18 career wins. Yet he hasn’t had a win since 2008 at Michigan. However, he still managed to find the consistency he needed to finish 12th in the standings. He finished 25th in 2009. This is a driver that’s hungry for a win and his fans are ready to see him win.

I fully expect 2010 to be a much better, more exciting season for both the fans and the drivers. With the new rules NASCAR has implemented, it should make for some very exciting racing! Here’s to 2010!

Nothing can possibly be more fun or exciting than watching NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers beating and banging on each other. Especially when they run a dirt track.

Now picture this. A full field of Cup drivers, plus one, racing on a dirt track similar to Eldora. For points.

While viewing the Prelude to the Dream that Cup driver Tony Stewart holds at his racetrack, Eldora Speedway, in Ohio, I had a thought. How fun would it be if NASCAR added a dirt track race to the schedule? I mean, just chew on that thought for a moment. They already run on all sorts of tracks. Short tracks, super speedways, intermediate, and even two road courses have been worked into the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule.

I know a lot of people seem to think that it would be highly difficult for NASCAR to run a Cup race with those cars on a dirt track. There’s too many cars or there are drivers out there not experienced enough to run on such a track. Excuses, excuses! Think about this for a moment, NASCAR Cup teams have brought in what they call “road course specialists” to run the courses. Why not do something like that for a dirt track?

Most of the drivers out there are versatile and experienced enough that they could easily run a dirt track race and not run the risk of wrecking on lap one. Many of the Cup drivers have come from dirt track roots and would probably enjoy seeing something like this on the schedule.

But how can it be done? Well, let me tell you…

My first thought is to allow an extra car to qualify for the race. 44 cars would even out the field and allow NASCAR to run two main events with the same amount of cars.

Secondly, how would qualifying work? Well that’s simple, I personally say do the qualifying like they do the Duels at the beginning of the season. Only break up the field into four heat races, eleven cars in each race. Ten or fifteen lap races wouldn’t do, so I would say, depending on track size, the races should be anywhere from 25 to 30 laps.

The first two heat races would qualify for the first main event. The second two heat races would qualify for the second main event. This would put 22 cars into each of the two main events. The two main events should be around 60 to 80 laps each.

When the two main events are finished, just to add in some extra fun, the top 20 cars from each race should run a 25 lap shoot out.

You may be saying at this point that it seems like a lot of racing for one day and well that is probably true. I say put the four qualifying heat races on a Friday, the day before the Cup race. It would be just like any other Cup weekend with qualifying held the day before. Then of course, the main races should always be held at night with the A Main, B Main, and the 25 lap Shoot out being run on a Saturday night.

Crazy?? Quite possibly. But I think the majority of you would love to see NASCAR return to its roots by running some good old fashioned dirt track races.

 

Now I realize this is superficial, fangirlish, and a little on the obsessive side but I like to have fun when I write. These are also based solely on my own opinion. If you don’t like it, well honestly, I don’t care.

12. Kurt Busch – Now I don’t know how anyone can find this face attractive. I mean his ears stick out, his cheeks look make him look like a little packrat. Ever seen him when its raining? Then he’s a drowned packrat.

 

11. Denny Hamlin – Only two words can describe this picture: deranged psychopath. Sexy. Or not. Sometimes, he has this element of ugly cuteness but then others he looks like…well this:

 

10. Mark Martin – Ok, so he’s one of the greatest drivers of all time. Definitely one of my faves. I adore him but let’s face it, pointy nose, wrinkly skin, and that icky 50 year old 6 pack he’s got. It’s just kinda gross.

 

9. Brian Vickers – The dude looks like a leprechaun. Pointy ears, goofy grin and all. He’s sweet and soft spoken but the guy’s attractiveness level has just plummeted since his Garnier days in 2006. Can we please have Gillette Brian back? Kthnx.

 

8. Carl Edwards – I’m so going to get shanked for this but I don’t care. My blog, my opinions. I just don’t find this man all that good looking! He honestly looks like he could use some braces. And I say that with the greatest respect. I’ll give him this. He has very pretty eyes.

 

7. Jeff Gordon – Pretty eyes, nice facial features and looks downright sexy when he poses for Halston ads but he has NO LIPS. Just look!

 

6. Juan Pablo Montoya – Cute, short, angry little Hispanic man. Need I say more?

 

5. Kasey Kahne – He’s so precious and sweet, like a little China doll! Sometimes I wonder what a guy that’s so pretty is doing driving race cars! He could be a Backstreet Boy or a model.

 

4. Ryan Newman – Sure he’s a little chubby and one of his nicknames is No-Neck Newman, but he’s got the sweetest little smile! And his eyes dance when he laughs. He has a great personality and sense of humor. What’s not to love?

 

3. Greg Biffle – He may not be the most photogenic guy on the circuit, but he sure is good looking. With pretty, sparkling blue-grey eyes and a killer smile, the few photos of him that come out looking good are so worth it.

And could we lay aside the braces jokes for a few moments?

 

2. Jimmie Johnson – Except for a brief period of time where he grew out his beard and then proceeded to let several children all under the age of 10 shave his head, this man is one of the sexiest men I’ve ever seen. He really could use a brow wax though. Just sayin’.

Of course he cracks me up with his antics. I think if he hadn’t pissed me off in 2006 when he won the Daytona 500, I’d probably be a big fan.

 

1. Tony Stewart – Sexiest man in the Chase. And as you can see, it isn’t just looks I am going by here. A great personality also helps. I don’t care if he’s chubby, I kinda like them on the chubby side. Tony has chocolate brown eyes that could melt the polar ice caps and is basically one of the funniest men ever. Even if he is inclined to grab men’s behinds.

Well since I have many blogs to write, I thought instead of writing six, I’d reduce it down to just four and put a recap of all the races into one post.

Before I get started, I want to send out my condolences to the Benson family. NASCAR Camping World Truck series driver Johnny Benson was involved in a fiery crash while driving a supermodified on Saturday night. He was pulled from the wreckage “awake and alert” and taken to a local area hospital where he was listed in ”serious but stable” condition. He was upgraded to “fair” on Monday and is reported to have a few broken ribs but expected to make a full recovery.

 

Camping World Trucks- Michigan

Race winner Colin Braun only led 24 laps in the 100 lap truck race at Michigan. He was able to snatch the lead away from Kyle Busch who made a mistake heading in to turn 2. Busch lost his momentum and was never able to quite catch Braun again.

"It was cool to beat Kyle, and it was also cool to beat Toyota here," Braun said.

Highlights: Rookie and polesitter Brian Ickler finished third in only his fifth start in the series.

Top five: Braun, Busch, Ickler, Crafton, Skinner

 

Nationwide Series- Kentucky

One year ago a barely legal 18 year old won his first Nationwide race at Kentucky in only his third start. As Joey Logano headed into this weekend, his hopes were to celebrate the anniversary in style by becoming the first repeat winner in the series. He got his wish.

While Kyle Busch led the most laps at 162 out of 200, his car became too tight at the end and he was unable to hold off his teammate, Logano. Logano came back in spite of a pit road speeding penalty on lap 71 to win the the race and become the first repeat winner at the speedway.

"It's really cool," Logano said. "This place is one of my favorite race tracks. It's one of those places that just suits you. To win two-for-two here, that's really cool for me and the whole team. I guess that's the first time anyone's ever done that here, so it's pretty neat. We've got two poles, two wins -- perfect record here, so that's pretty cool."

Highlights included 27 pit road speeding penalties, most of them on exit. Rookies Gaughan and Allgaier finished 4th and 5th respectively.

Top five: Logano, Busch, Keselowski, Gaughan, Allgaier

 

Sprint Cup Series- Michigan

Michigan is infamously boring and well known for always turning into a fuel mileage race. Jimmie Johnson dominated much of the 200 lap feature, leading 146 laps. On the last lap, race leader Jimmie Johnson ran out of gas, handing the lead over to Greg Biffle. Biffle ran out of gas also on the backstretch and Mark martin inherited the lead. He ran out of fuel coming off of turn 4 but it was enough for him to coast to the win.

When Jimmie ran out [approaching the stripe to start the final lap], I said, 'I want to run hard! It's three-quarters of a lap. What can happen? I can surely make it.' And we ran out coming off of [Turn 4]. I can't believe we won this thing."

Highlights: um…

Top five: Martin, J. Gordon, Hamlin, Edwards, Biffle

Defending Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Benson has lost his ride. Red Horse Racing has had to shut down the #1 truck team. Sad news for Benson and RHR who had thought that their sponsor was secured before the start of the season. However, the sponsor had to pull out due to a slumping economy.

"This leaves me without a ride, I'd say, and not a lot of time to put something together," Benson said.

Red Horse had been working to secure a sponsor since December and had been unsuccessful. Benson left his former team, Bill Davis Racing with which he won his 2008 championship, due to similar reasons. Davis sold the team but the new owners have yet to enter a race.

Benson believed that Red Horse gave him the opportunity to defend his championship but has been unable to perform. Still, he sits 7th in the standings and has come off of a 4th place finish at Texas. He’s had 5 top 10 finishes this season and  top 5s in just 8 races. Seven of these races have been run without a primary sponsor on the truck.

The #1 truck team will be shut down immediately, however Red Horse Racing will continue to field the #11 truck of T.J. Bell as it has some, although not full time, support.

It took all of 14 races for Stewart-Haas Racing’s owner/driver to win his first NASCAR Sprint cup points race. It is a well known fact that Tony Stewart is never very good or consistent in the first half of the season. He’s proven everyone wrong by pulling the 14 car into Victory Lane twice this season already, the first time being at the NASCAR All Star Race in May.

Call it a fuel mileage win if you will but all that matters is that Tony has got that first win out of the way. Now he can focus on running top five every week, winning more races, and getting that championship trophy in November.

"I didn't think he was going to be a factor," Edwards said of Stewart. "I was sure he was going to run out."

He was probably counting on Stewart to run out of fuel there at the end. Edwards placed second to Stewart with David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, and Ryan Newman rounding out the top 5.

Edwards and Gordon were also low on fuel with only Reutimann and Newman projected to make the final laps.

When asked what his fuel strategy was, Stewart retorted, laughing “I’m not telling!”

Other drivers, however, lost the fuel mileage game. Mark Martin had to pit late in the final green flag run for fuel and Jimmie Johnson ran out but managed to coast to the checkers in 7th place.

What is even more amazing about Stewart’s win is that he did it in a backup car from a 43rd starting position. His splitter was ripped off in a practice session on Saturday. Still he remained optimistic that his team and car were good enough to not only get to the front but to contend for the win. Within the first 30 laps of Sunday’s race, the 14 car had broken into the top 10. Still, Stewart took little credit for his performance on Sunday.

"Breathe easy, boys, we're gonna make it," Stewart radioed to his crew as he rolled through the final corner. "God, I'm proud of you guys. You make me look like a genius in here."

In attendance was Tony’s father, Nelson Stewart, who was seen to be shedding a few tears on his way to Victory Lane to celebrate with his son.

Tony Stewart now leads the points standings by 71 points. He gained the lead after last Sunday’s race at Dover. This is also the first win by an owner/driver since Ricky Rudd won at Martinsville in September of 1998.

A lot of us Tony fans knew it would happen, eventually. We waited for it, betted on it, and held our breath each week but I don’t think any of us were really expecting when and where it did happen.

Of course, that’s just Tony! When he wins, he does it in a BIG way. Saturday night’s race at LMS was no different.

I am not really interested in recapping the race, which I watched twice, but I do want to point out a few highlights before I discuss my feelings and thoughts on Tony’s huge victory.

Sam Hornish Jr. and Jamie McMurray – They put on quite a show in the Sprint Showdown, for sure! I wasn’t even sure Jamie could race his way in but boy did he prove me wrong! And how about that Sam Hornish? He pretty much dominated the second half of the showdown.

Joey Logano – And you thought he didn’t have fans!! I was so happy to see my favorite rookie, Joey, get voted by the fans into the All Star Race. Even better was when he finished 8th place- better than half the field! He really showed everyone what he is made of and proved that he deserves to be where he is. Way to go Joey!

Matt Kenseth – As you probably know, I love Matt! It was awesome to see him up there really contending for the win and putting on a great show. I think most of us wondered what happened to him after his explosive beginning to 2009. Looks like he’s back!

Tony Stewart – Of course. The winner of the race who I don’t think even led a lap until 2 to go! As a matter of fact, according to NASCAR.com, he took final lead on lap 99 of 100. Amazing!!

As a huge Tony Stewart fan since my rookie year, 2004, I have to say that this was probably one of my top three favorite moments. First being Tony’s second championship in 2005 and probably a tie between his first Indy win and his first Talladega win last year.

At first, there were really no tears, just a lot of screaming. The tears came later. It finally sank in- Tony really won! He finally pulled that number 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy into victory lane! When he stood up on that car and held his arms up in the classic victory pose, I lost it.

I admit it, I’ve developed a reputation for getting really emotional over race wins, I just can’t help it. It all started last season. After an overwhelmingly bad start to the 2008 season for my top three (Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, and Greg Biffle), I was pretty frustrated. Then Greg Biffle won Loudon and I pretty much lost it. Then he won Dover.

All the emotions and frustrations of the season, watching your drivers have bad luck, accidents, and get basically cheated out of wins and then to finally have one of my top three (who are all basically tied in my mind) win not just once but twice in a row, it was pretty emotional for me.

Fast forward to Phoenix 2009 and Mark Martin leads the field. I mean he KILLED it that night. When he led the field to the green in the final segment of the race (and I’m getting a little teary eyed right now), I was shaking! The tears flowed and flowed all night.

Of course Tony’s win on Saturday was just the icing on the cake of this season! If he doesn’t win another race this season, it will be enough for me!

Congratulations to Tony, Gene Haas, Darian Grubb, and the entire #14 team on their amazing win at Lowes Motor Speedway!!!

 

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that our recent race winners aren’t the ones you’d normally expect to see running up front and winning? Sure, we expect to see Jimmie Johnson challenging for the lead at Darlington but did we really expect to see him challenging Mark Martin for the lead? I know I really didn’t expect that!

I think its pretty refreshing, actually, to see guys like Newman and Martin up there. Here are two guys that no one expected to be running so well in their first year at a new team. Then you have your surprising Daytona 500 champion, Matt Kenseth.

It’s also been fun to watch the rookies this year. Brad Keselowski won his first race in only five starts in Sprint Cup. That maybe be our biggest surprise yet but then again, maybe his talent was grossly underestimated. He had a fantastic 7th place finish at Darlington, a track not well known for being kind to rookies. Joey Logano finished 9th at both Talladega and Darlington.

How about Kurt Busch? I don’t think he’s run this well in years and now he’s sitting behind Tony Stewart and points leader Jeff Gordon in third place.

I honestly expected this to be another season where I’d sit back and expect one of three winners to be in Victory Lane but so far, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch have only won a combined total of 4 races out of the 11 we’ve run this season.

This is how NASCAR should be! This is fun and exciting and its become less of the Kyle/Jimmie/Carl show this year. There are cars and drivers out there that a year ago weren’t competitive at all and you see them now running top ten, top five, and really contending for wins.

So here’s to an exciting 2009 season and hopefully victories for some other “little guys”.

Talk about déjà vu. I sure hope that this will be a recurring theme in the months to come. It seems surreal to me, I am not sure why. I woke up this morning wondering if Mark Martin really won that race or if it was only a dream.

It wasn’t in dominating fashion that he won. It was definitely different from Phoenix where he led several times. Martin took the lead, by default, on lap 322 when he, along with six others, stayed out after a caution. Martin led the next 42 laps and won the race but what shocked me the most was how he almost effortlessly held off a charging Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson seemed to have a very strong car on the restart and caught Martin several times going into the corners but he could never quite make the pass. It was pretty amazing to watch the action. Most definitely one of the best races I have seen in a long time.

I just love to watch Martin race. He is a clean, good racer. He knows when he has a good car and drives it hard, just like he did on Saturday night. Watching him hold off a much younger man who was running him down hard was just amazing. Its wonderful to see him back on top and driving the way I knew he could all along. This is the first time since 1999 that Mark Martin has had a season with more than one race win. However, people tend to forget just how close he’s come several times to that very elusive win that he finally claimed this year at Phoenix. I could bring up the one that should have been his but I won’t…

At any rate, I don’t think you can argue with the fact that Mark Martin is one of the best there is. He has a total of 92 wins across all three of NASCAR’s top series, 37 of those wins have come in Cup, 7 in the Camping World Series, and 48 in Nationwide. He jumped from 15th to 11th in the standings and he has got a real shot to make the Chase this year, even contend for the Cup Championship. He had a rough start to the season but the win at Phoenix shot him up from 18th to 13th in the points standings. He dropped back a bit after that but he is back in the hunt now and I believe that he’s going to stay there and I really do believe he will make it to the Chase this season.

It was so cool to watch some old school style racing on Saturday night at the Southern 500. I have loved every minute of watching Mark race and I hope we’ll see many more wins from him this season!

I’m personally a huge fan of night racing. Especially short track night racing. I have got to say, they are some of the best, most exciting, and fun races of the season. Tonight’s race was stupid on a lot of accounts and yet fun to watch. There were a lot of nail biting moments and white knuckle near misses. First of all, the yellow came out inside of ten laps. Could this be blamed on the track not being totally dry? Possibly. The race did begin under caution, not something I was particularly happy with. Dave Blaney smacked the wall on lap 9 bringing out the second caution.

There were a lot of lead changes, I am not sure how many but it was enough to get annoying. Jeff Gordon led a few laps though, pulling away from the field early on. I have to admit that even though I am not a Jeff Gordon fan at all, it was nice that he led some laps in spite of his back pain. Sadly on lap 114, the caution flag came out again as Jeremy Mayfield slams into the wall. Lap 150, Kahne gets around but is otherwise unharmed.

Speaking of Kahne though, what happened to him?? In 2006 he was practically unbeatable and suddenly he has become nothing more than a field filler. When was the last time he really contended for a race win and wasn’t just another lapped car to pass?

A couple of surprising things happened tonight. Jimmie Johnson had a really really bad night. Seriously after 3 consecutive championships, you’d think the 48 time would have things figured out by now. He sits 6th in the standings but his performance has been less than consistent. At any rate, he spins out on lap 191 bringing out caution number 6. On the restart, he is two laps down and ends up being black flagged for restarting in the wrong position.

The second most surprising thing was Mark Martin’s performance tonight. On lap 312, Newman gets into Mark and spins him out, bringing out the 12th caution of the night, and yet Martin still manages to get a top 5 finish. That ought to show you there is still a lot of giddy up in the old man.

David Stremme, who’d been having a top 10 night, gets into the wall after being bumped by Bobby Labonte. That might have been the first time all evening anyone even mentioned Bobby’s name.

Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray both got spun out on lap 167 but somehow, both men manage to find their way back into the top 5. Jamie ends up with a solid 7th place finish but Edwards somehow gets shuffled back to 26th.

And how about those SHR boys? All evening, Tony Stewart had been little better than a mid-pack car, but he drove the wheels off that number 14 and landed himself his 7th top 10 and his 4th top 5 in only 10 races this season. Stewart’s teammate, Ryan Newman landed his second top 5 in a row and his 4th top 10 finish. Newman, who had a really rough beginning to the season with no finishes inside of the top 20 in the first four races, seems to have come into his own and is posting some solid finishes. The last two have been enough to take him from the outside looking in, to the top 12 in points. Although they are listed as unofficial, Newman currently stands at 10th and Tony Stewart picked up yet another place in points and sits in 3rd, just 39 points outside of 1st. Is 39 Tony’s lucky number?

Kyle Busch wins the race. Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Sam Hornish Jr., Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears, and Juan Pablo Montoya round out the top 10 for the Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond.

After the weekend’s horrendous crashes at Talladega Superspeedway, the fans are outraged. I don’t count myself among those outraged. I rather take the time to thank the Lord that nothing worse happened. Maybe it is just me but I hate to dwell on things.

A few years ago I was at a track here in Tucson called United Sports Arizona and there was a really crazy wreck that happened that was eerily similar to the one between Brad and Carl and which involved Ryan Newman. The one big difference, which I believe made the wreck all that much worse, was the fact that the car which had become airborne ended up facing the opposite direction on top of the other car. The car did hit the fence but no fans were injured. It was scary because had there not been a fence there, I would have had a car on top of me.

And yet after having experienced that I am not upset or screaming for more protective features and better safety at races. When you buy a ticket, there is a disclaimer! You take the risk when you buy it that something can and might happen but probably won’t. If something does happen, it is not like you were not warned beforehand.

Moving on to the subject of the drivers. There have been a number of pretty spectacular crashes in recent NASCAR history. There have been a series of minor injuries as a result of those wrecks such as bruised ribs and other such things.

I am sure that with the recent death of Scott Kalitta, last June, safety has been a huge pressing issue on a number of motorsports fan’s minds. It was a tragic and horrible day that Scott was killed and I don’t intend for my following statements to take away from that. Please keep in mind that I was another member of the racing community that was heartbroken over Scott’s death. Now I may not have been a NHRA fan but it touched close to home when that happened because I believe motorsports fans, no matter what league of racing, are a huge family and when one racer dies, we all mourn.

However the NASCAR series is what I believe to be one of if not the safest series in racing. You have really hand it to the NASCAR safety engineers- they are doing something right because there have been no fatalities and very few injuries as a result of these wrecks.

I don’t claim to be an expert on any of this, all I know is that as a fan, I believe NASCAR is doing and has done all they can. I believe the HANS device, roll bars, roof flaps, SAFER barriers are all doing their job to protect the guys that are in those cars. I also believe that if you ask any driver about the risks they will tell you that they understand the risks that racing carries but they are willing to take those risks to do what they love.

Race fans- let the drivers to the racin’, the engineers do the worrying and let us just sit back and enjoy the races.

It has taken several hours but I have finally managed to pull myself and my brain together enough to put together a coherent blog post about today’s race.

After only five starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and running for a part time single car team, Brad Keselowski won his first Cup race. It was in true underdog fashion with Brad pushing Carl to the lead, blowing by the drafting team of Ryan Newman in the 39 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 88, that he found his way from mid-pack to second place. Keselowski had been running mid pack most of the day with a couple of stints in the top five. However, the last lap is the only lap that matters.

In what is sure to become an infamous move, Brad decided to go low to make the pass on Edwards. However, Edwards threw a block and Keselowski was just smart enough not to go below the double yellow line. This caused Edwards demise and, ultimately, a very frightening wreck. Debris from the crash, which you can view on NASCAR.com’s video page, flew into the stands and injured 8 people. Thankfully no one was seriously injured.

I am pretty certain that this race will be one for the ages. As many of my friends, especially those on Twitter, know, I have become a big Brad Keselowski fan in the recent months. I have thoroughly enjoyed the day and receiving the happy messages from friends all day.

I just want to be clear- just because I am thrilled about Brad’s win, that does not take away from the utter fear I felt watching Carl’s accident. There was actually a point where I had to shut my eyes so not to be reminded of my own which was not quite as spectacular. It seems a lot of Brad’s fans are getting attacked and while I generally don’t care what people really think of me, I have to stick up for him

Brad did what he was supposed to do according to the NASCAR rules- he held his line and did not drop below the double yellow line. Carl doesn’t blame him. Brad doesn’t blame himself. NASCAR doesn’t blame him. So why should we? The next time you are in a position like Brad’s, then you can say whatever the heck you want but until then, leave the driving to the drivers.

Here is a quote from NASCAR.com and Brad:

"I've got to apologize to Carl for wrecking him, but, man, the rule is you can't go below the yellow line," Keselowski said. "He blocked, and I wasn't going to go below. I don't want to wreck the guy, but you're forced in that situation. There was nothing else that I could do.

"We had a lot of fun [Sunday night]. Man, was that fun. This is NASCAR racing, and that was cool."

Congrats to Brad Keselowski, James Finch, and the entire 09 team on their well earned win!!!!

Tony Stewart may have been one of those guys the media feared but tonight, he handled his runner up finish to veteran Mark Martin with class and style.

“The last three weeks have been amazing- its been so much fun. We’ve been in contention,” Stewart said after the race during a media interview. “There’s no shame in losing to a guy like Mark Martin tonight. I mean, I don’t think there is anybody that’s not a Mark Martin fan.”

Kind of makes you wonder though if there is shame in losing to anyone else? Tony goes on to say:

“It was an awesome night for our organization and an awesome night for Mark and I’m really happy for him.”

Stewart seems to have matured a lot, especially when it comes to dealing with the media. He gracefully handled things tonight which probably earned him a lot more respect from fans. Either way it is easy to see that not only has Tony grown and matured but he holds only the highest respect for Mark Martin.

After a 97 race winless streak, Mark “The Kid” Martin proves he still has plenty of race left in his treads.

At the tender age of 50. Mark Martin became the second oldest active driver to win at NASCAR’s top series. In nearly two years racing at DEI in the 8 car for a partial season in 2008  and he couldn’t quite get it done though he ran very well and I won’t even bring up the 2007 Daytona 500. It has only taken Mark 8 races under the banner of Hendrick Motorsports to win in that number 5 car. And he did it in style.

Mark led 157 of 312 laps, including the first one in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 on Saturday night. He also became only the third driver in NASCAR history to win from the pole at Phoenix International Raceway. Jeff Gordon did it first in the Spring race in 2007 followed by HMS teammate, Jimmie Johnson in the Fall race of 2008. Add yet another Hendrick driver to the winning from the pole list with Mark Martin.

Mark Martin’s last points win came in 2005 at Kansas. He’s been in the hunt for that elusive win ever since and has come very close several times but always came up short.

Mark- You are a total class act and earned a well deserved win tonight. Congrats from MM Nation!

Contrary to the title of this post, this has little to do with NASCAR haters. No this is all about hating within the sport. You know who they are. They boo your favorite driver during intros, talk smack about them all over the place, and throw beer cans and other unidentified objects at them when they win. Yet when you stop and ask them “why do you hate so and so” what is their response? Its generally something along the lines of “he wins too much”. Right.

Now I’m the type of person who, being a Tony fan, just doesn’t care. You can hate Tony or you can like him but he’s good and none of your hating will make me not like him. I really don’t care.

But honestly. Booing a driver is not cool. Neither is throwing things at them. It is immature, stupid, not funny, and you look like a whining three year old who didn’t get his candy. GET OVER IT.

As many of you know I cannot stand Kyle Busch and in the past, I have made posts about him and why I can’t stand him. To be honest, he acts like a big whiny baby who needs a pacifier and a pat on the head to feel good about himself. But I have never and nor will I ever boo him or throw things at him when he wins. Heck, I even gave the dude a second chance after I met him (a meeting in which he was quite rude to me) and said hello to him when he passed by me at Phoenix in 2006. It got me nowhere but I felt like I was at least the bigger person for giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I won’t lie- I am not above hating a driver. I really honestly do dislike a couple of drivers and I have been known to say in the past that I wish Kyle would just go to F1. But really people that go around whining and crying about this driver or that driver and talking crap (especially about their appearance) irritates the hell out of me. It is mean and it is not funny and quite frankly people who do things like that lose my respect.

Driver bashers- GROW UP.

Get a life! Take up a hobby other than going around bashing these guys. Go find something worthwhile to do with your time. Seriously.

 

Well I’m sure you all know the regulars, right? Without a doubt you know NASCAR.com, Yahoo Sports, Jayski.com, and several other well known websites that cover NASCAR regularly, but what about the ones that aren’t so well known? I’ve found a number of fantastic NASCAR blogs and websites that don’t have a huge readership but are still really great. These people deserve to get more readership.

Now this isn’t only to promote readership to these sites and blogs, but also to help you, my readers, to find some places to catch up on your NASCAR. Sometimes these places may cover news and updates that you won’t hear or see anywhere else.

I sat down and compiled a list of my personal favorites and had some of my own readers send in their own favorites. This will be a continually updated list so please if you have any that you’d like to see added, let me know in the comments or on Twitter, @NASCARGirl14.

Websites:
ThatsRacin.com – Great NASCAR news site
AwesomeWreckage.com – News, photos
RacingNewsDigest.com – News, forums
FinalLapRadio.com- News, podcasts, pictures,
MosMinion.com- Street team for NASCAR CWSW driver Moses Smith 
AutoRacingDaily.com- News, Twitter updates, fantasy racing for different series, this is a direct link to their NASCAR page. 
NASCAR Twitter Guide- Via Final Lap Radio, an extensive and great guide to NASCAR on Twitter. 
BeccaGladden.com- She’s a NASCAR/freelance writer and generally awesome.
OurRacingDream.com-  A unique racing experience website.

Blogs:
The Biff Files – Believe it or not, this blog has little to do with Biffle but it is entertaining and helpful.
NASCAR Race Mom – Run by Z. Smith, mother of CWSW driver of the 16 HASA Toyota, Moses Smith. Great for NASCAR updates of all kinds.
Reality Racing USA – Help build a real NASCAR Sprint Cup racing team!
Dustin Long – NASCAR Writer, Dustin Long
Racing Fashionistas – These are the Racing Fashionistas. Great articles and oftentimes, very great interviews.
Restrictor Plated – Great NASCAR News blog. Creator is also the owner of TwitterMotorsports.com a wonderful Twitter wiki.
Nuts and Bolts – NASCAR News blog with several different contributors.
LOL Drivers – NASCAR Macros, just for fun
LOL NASCAR – More NASCAR macros, not to be confused with LOL Drivers.
The NASCAR Files – NASCAR News
The NASCAR Insiders – A blog by insiders for outsiders.

I recently discovered this great resource. Its a directory of motorsports blogs, websites, and news sources. Please visit them: RaceDrive.com

Drivers-
MosesSmith.com- Camping World West series driver Moses Smith
VictorPfluger.com- ASA Truck Champion Victor Pfluger

UPDATE 5/31- I am proud to add in our new affiliate, LeftTurnGirl.com. She is a “say it like it is” NASCAR blogger and I am proud to be affiliated with her. Please check out her website.

Again, if you have any to add, please do so by posting a comment, sending me an @ reply on twitter, or shooting me an e-mail.

MA couple of months ago, I met a very neat lady through a friend of mine on Twitter. She goes simply by the name of Z. Her son is Moses Smith, driver of the number 16 HASA Toyota in the NASCAR Camping World West Series. Took me a while to think of it, but I finally asked Z if she and Moses would grant me an interview.

Let me first say, Z and Moses, I really appreciate that you both took the time to answer mine and a couple of fan’s questions. You guys are awesome.

Moses:
What is the best and worst part of being on a racing circuit?

Well, if we are comparing it to driving on the highway, the best part is that everyone on the track is there doing the same thing, and concentrating 100%. This makes things much more predictable. The worst part...I don't know I have never thought about it...Probably have to be that there is no Air Conditioning in the racecar, and it can sometimes reach temperatures in excess of 140 degrees F.

What got you started in racing?

My dad used to work on Off Road Trucks, so I got to go to races all the time. But my dad did it as a hobby, and I thought it would be cool if I could it for a living. My dad taught me how to drive the "PreRunner" when I was 10 years old...I couldn't push the clutch in and shift at the same time, so dad had to help.

What kind of sacrifices have you had to make to continue living this dream?

Sacrifices...what sacrifices...I am living the dream. Actually the only real difference is that there is not a lot of security in my line of work, therefore I have had to be very conservative in the way I live...nothing to extravagant, not to many vacations either.

*Submitted by Naomi* Has any part of your body ever gone numb while driving?

Just my Butt...you realize real quick if your seat is not mounted correctly, or there isn't enough padding...haha...

*Submitted by Aaron* What are your prospects for moving into the Big 3 in NASCAR?

Well, it really comes down to sponsorship. HASA and I have talked about doing some Truck or Nationwide races when they come to the west, to basically get my face out there. But that is a big step financially, I would definitely need to find some additional funding. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Z

So I know you go to all of Moses' races. How does that affect your life?

Well it makes me very very busy; but I must say that the affect has always been a positive one. Traveling to the races can be grueling. Sometimes we have three races in a month. nevertheless, I love NASCAR, I love racing, and I really adore my two sons.

It can be tough getting to the track at six in the morning and not leaving until after midnight, but the rewards are well worth it. I cherish the feeling of accomplishment I harvest from being part of the team, part of the racing community. Every achievement Moses reaches on the track is considered a team triumph. The team was delighted when Moses finished second at the NASCAR Camping World Series West season opener on March 14th. The activity does not stop on race weekend. I do a lot of my son's PR stuff also. I am in charge of his website, help process his hero card request, help with press releases and author my own blog NASCAR Race Mom. Like I said upfront, racing keeps me very busy!

 

You seem like a very supportive and dedicated mother. When you go to a race, how do you look at things as a driver's mother and as a race fan?

That is a very interesting question. In the beginning I approached my role more as a protective mother. Moses was on a 'pit crew' by the time he was three. He and his father would work long hours for Off-Road racer Malcolm Vinje. Moses started competing in organized go kart races at the age of twelve. Right off, I was struck by the level of competitiveness out there at the go kart track. I felt it was my role to level Moses' playing field, so to speak, by making sure everything was on the up and up. However, Moses has been on his own since he was eighteen. He has not only progressed as a driver, but as an astute businessman as well. He no longer needs his mother to protect him. So while I will always be a driver's mother when I am at the track, I do not mother him at the track.

It is hard for me to be a race fan when Moses is racing, because honestly, I never watch the race, I keep my eyes on Moses. I become the race fan when I watch a race that Moses is not participating in.

 

Is it hard knowing that when he climbs into the car he might not climb out?

Your choice of the word car (instead of race car) is very insightful. My thought on the matter is that Moses is probably safer in his #16 Hasa Pool Products/White Flyer Toyota Camry on the track than most of us are on the freeway in our family vehicles.

That is not to say that I do not worry. As a mom, I worry about my sons all the time. They still have to call me and let me know they made it home safe after a trip. However, I feel much better having Moses in NASCAR. It is nothing like Moses' Star Mazda Formula Mazda series races. Open Wheel racing can create some wicked crashes.

What kinds of sacrifices have you had to make to support Moses' career?

We are a working class family with modest means. So we have never been able to support Moses' racing financially. Even in the very beginning, Moses had to race with used equipment and on a tight budget. I personally feel it made him a both a better person and better driver. He knows how to race what he has - good or bad.

I really cannot think of any sacrifices I have had to make. My husband and I have always enjoyed watching Moses work towards his goals. While we have not made 'sacrifices' Moses has. He puts his all into his craft and has forgone a lot of the luxuries in life to pursue his profession
in auto racing.

 

Thanks so much once again to Moses and Z for their gracious interview and the time they took to answer these questions! Good luck in the future Moses!

You can find Moses online at http://www.mosessmith.com and you can find Z online at http://www.nascarracemom.blogspot.com.

A lot of you probably remember the FedEx Fan Letter commercials with Denny Hamlin. Well this is probably the funniest one!

Toyota began running a campaign last year with the Track Tests. The Fan Controller commercial has got to be the best from 2008!

The Nextel campaigns were also pretty hilarious. I’m not a big Jeff Gordon fan at all so this one was especially funny to me! “Which Exit?”

Crazy old man.

Biffle, you’re the man!!!

Now this isn’t a funny one but its pretty awesome! Capture the flag!

This one is one of my faves! I love Jeremy Mayfield in commercials! Miss him a lot too.

 

Almost forgot this one! Hi, I’m Brian Roast Beef.

In the history of NASCAR there’s been lots of priceless commercials. I think a lot of fans actually look forward to seeing commercials now. They’re funny and witty and the drivers have really become better actors.

Whether its Mikey in the NAPA commercials, or Newman in the Gillette commercials, we love to see our favorite drivers doing or saying stupid, silly things.

I’ve actually heard people say that they’re tired of the commercialism in NASCAR *what is this, Christmas??* but I say ROCK ON COMMERCIALISM! And give us more hilarious commercials!!

So in no particular order and by only my opinion, I present to you the greatest NASCAR commercials……ever!

So Matt Kenseth’s face in this one is PRICELESS when he gets busted by Dale Jr. Well, what do you know, he does have a personality!

 

All I need to say is “I’m at the wrong track!” *Embedding disabled, please follow link*

Mikey's at the wrong track!

Tony Stewart has more to lose than just a coke in this race:

 

This next one is probably my all time favorite. Burger King Chicken Fries and the chicken on a pole! I could easily sit for a few hours and laugh hysterically at this one.

 

Come on, you knew I’d feature more than one Tony commercial, right? Hehe!

 

Well those are the first five. I didn’t want to overwhelm you. Stay tuned for the next part!