Garrett Duke

Can you believe it, I had a whole novel written and then my computer decided to shut down for updates. I didn't catch it in time. Grrr. That makes me so mad. Anyway, here I go again.

I did get to see the race Saturday night after all. I decided not to go to the tractor pull, I just couldn't miss the race. It was too exciting and I just had to know who would be in the Chase. I'm glad Hamlin finally won on his home track. He has wanted to win there for so long and his dream finally came true. He was having fun with it too. I heard him say how much fun he was having racing your Jeff. Hopefully Jeff was having as much fun with them passing each other. I really think their cars were pretty evenly matched and if Jeff had not gotten knocked back several spots, it really would have been an exciting finish for them. Not that it wasn't an exciting finish by any means. I kept yelling for Vickers to GO GO GO!!! lol And he did. I know its bad of me to say, but I was happy Vickers beat Kyle out of that last spot in the Chase. And I have to say, I was slightly impressed with Kyle's after race interview. He didn't whine or complain at all. Maybe he is showing a little bit of maturity after all. I agree with you, he is a talented driver. He just needs to adjust his attitude. I've heard that Kurt Busch used to act the same way, but he has apparently matured. Maybe his brother is following in his footsteps? We can only hope. lol

I had a rough time though, besides yelling for Vickers I was very concerned with Carl's progress. He started losing a lot of points there for a while that I was getting worried he wouldn't make the Chase. He pulled back in the end though. I just hope the last few weeks aren't how the next ten races are going to go for him. No wins yet this year, but maybe he's trying Jimmie's stratagy. Lie low till the Chase, then come out with the gas pedal floored. lol I guess we will see.

I was happy with everyone who made the Chase this time. I think it should be a pretty good next ten races. Jeff had a good night too and I just knew you were loving it. I am really happy with Martin making it. I know Carl is my driver and I will always cheer for him to win, but I would like to see Martin win a Championship before he retires... again. lol He's been so close so many times that it is just sad he's never won. He's got a good head of steam built up too, with four wins under his belt and a lot of good finishes besides. Otherwise it should be good and exciting with Jeff and Jimmie, Carl and Mark, and Tony. I can't wait til the next race. It's kind of sad though. Now that the Chase is here I know that the season is winding down. What am I going to do on Sunday afternoons now? lol

I think I read the same article that you did about Kyle Busch. I don't agree with the author. I think the Chase will be just as exciting without him. And we all know that Kyle is still going to race to win each race. He won't let not being in the Championship stop him from trying to win each and every one. That's what Tony did a few years ago. He missed the Chase, but went on to win the most in the the last ten races. I guess we will see what he has to say about it all from week to week. Maybe he will gain some experience from the whole situation too. I also saw the article about Kurt Busch's crew chief. I didn't read the article, but that really has to be distracting for Kurt. Hopefully it doesn't interfere with the rest of his season.

I also read another article that was interesting to me. It said that Richard Petty Motorsports are merging with Yates I think it was. Apparently they are going with Ford since Dodge hasn't been able to offer them the support they have in the past with the economy the way it is. They made a point about how the whole thing is going to work with Yates already partnered with Roush Fenway's engine shop I think it is. They aren't sure how involved Roush is going to be with this merger. I don't think Roush will have much of a say though. But I dont' know. If I have something wrong here please correct me. But I guess they are going to have a four car team also. It didn't say who there drivers will be, so I don't know if the teams will bring in their current drivers or what. I'm going to assume so though. I thought maybe since Roush has to get rid of one of his team's to get down to four for next year, that the fifth driver might go to Yates. Probably Jamie Mac. I'm not sure now. I like Jamie Mac too. He's another Missouri boy. They don't have everything worked out yet, so I guess we will hear about it as they figure things out.

I read something funny today from my new Nascar Illustrated magazine. How bad I'm I addicted to actually get a magazine. lol Anyway it was a really small blurb that made me laugh out loud. It said that Joey Logano asked Mark Martin what his secret to qualifying was since he had gotten so many poles. Here's what it said, "I went up to him and said 'Man, what the heck did you do? after he made his run. Martin said, "I just tried to scare myself every corner." Martin also made a comment about Jimmie Johnson that I thought was pretty cool. "Mark Martin on his 'super' teammate Jimmie Johnson. 'His cape doesn't get tangled around his neck much." That comment was made after Jimmie won the Brickyard again. Pretty neat I thought.

I haven't heard of any of the authors you like, but I will have to try to find some of their books when I get some extra cash... whenever that may be. lol I've read some John Grisham lawyer/mysteries, are they anything like his? The ones I read were pretty good.

Cousin Carl, I love that. I didn't know why he was called that either for a while until I looked it up. I guess Carl is Kenny Schrader's cousin and Kenny made a comment on a broadcast about Cousin Carl. I guess the commentors liked it because it stuck. There was also something about Carl being Larry McReynolds' cousin too, but I'm not sure about that. I knew he was Kenny's cousin, but I had never heard about McReynolds. So it may or may not be true, I don't know for sure.

Anyway, it's past my bedtime now so I'd better be going to bed or I won't want to get up for work tomorrow. I'm still upset I lost my first post. It was a lot longer than this one I think. lol Oh well. Have a great day tomorrow!