Garrett Duke

Well the dang TV put itself on Sleep for some reason...looks like I missed Jimmie Johnson getting lose and getting into Stenhouse Jr and other drivers. When I turned it on, Carl Edwards who was having tire issues and no where to go, got lose and into other drivers...and with one lap to go, a foot before the white flag dropped, Justin Allgaier caused a wreck...NASCAR finally threw the caution while under white where it finishes the race. Denny Hamlin just won his 24th career Sprint Cup win. Other drivers right now are unofficial and I need to run out to my parents' house...but thought I would at least recap the end of the race. We are going back to night racing at Kansas next Saturday night...

Well I don't know how well my review will be...my TV just went blank with thirty or so laps to go. Perhaps it is for the best. Not a good race for this 24 fan and am not too happy right now. Danica Patrick led some laps early on...and on the tenth lap or so, Brad Keselowski tried passing her, but didn't clear her and wrecked himself and put him six laps down. After that, it was pretty calm for Talladega. They even had a green flag pit stop! But with forty or so laps to go Keselowski (who was 43rd!) had issues or what not and got into David Ragen who took out Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and had at least 20 cars involved. As I said, this 24 fan is not too happy right now, but that is all I will say at the moment of what had happened... Sorry my review is so horrible right now. As I said, the TV went out and is preventing me from watching the rest of the race. With my man back in the garage really hope JJ or Jr will bring home the trophy. . .bring something good out of this mess they call a race. As much as I love racing and I do like restrictor plate racing to a point...just hate that they become more like demolition derby at points like this. One man's mistake makes everyone pay for it. Just frustrating...but that is Talladega and I am ready to move to the first night race at Kansas next Saturday night.

Well y'all the pre race show is on, on FOX right now. Love the pre race show on FOX...love the FOX announcers. They make it fun and exciting. Guess, once again, that is my petty opinion. . .I wish they'd show all races on FOX. Aw well....just before we get to racing, I think I will try to overcome my failure in reporting NASCAR's call upon the fight between Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears after the Richmond race last week. (Sorry...I didn't forget, just didn't get time to get on the computer long enough to write it...) NASCAR has fined Marcos Ambrose $25,000 while they fined Casey Mears $15,000...both on probation until May 28th. Which I guess that is better than what I was expecting, but at the same time, feel like it was unnecessary. Both Ambrose and Mears talked before the punishment was handed out and was OK with each other. It was a one time deal. None of the drivers are known for fighting or causing trouble. A warning would have done well...but if they want to punish them, why punish Marcos more than Casey? Sure Marcos threw the punch, but he threw it because Casey shoved him and was yelling at him...he wouldn't have thrown it if Casey hadn't shoved him like that. Besides...all that fighting (not that I agree with this because I don't go for the fighting...) is good for NASCAR. Brings attention to it...just look at the Cale Yarborough fight at Daytona...they still talk about it. Back to Talladega...Talladega is known as the big one...scary accidents. I pray that everyone will have a safe race today. Gordon has the most wins here for active drivers with six wins...and personally hope gets his seventh today. First he has to stay clear of all the accidents...love Talladega, but could live without the accidents. They get pretty scary... I will write a post race report when the race ends...

Way to go K-Duke on getting straight A's! That is super exciting and am proud of you. Congrats on the free tickets...that too is exciting...hope you have a dray game to go to with a great game to watch. May your Reds win for you.

Maybe so. I am not a Kenseth fan nor a Keselowski fan so I am not sticking up for anyone...but I don't think Kenseth did anything that any other driver wouldn't have do in his position. Even Keselowski. You get the lead it is your job to protect your lead. Keselowski did put out on Facebook that he needed time to cool off and once did was able to see it more clear or something like that. Which I respect that he was able to come forth and say that. It is easy to react in the heat of the moment...ask Ambrose and Mears. Tomorrow will be the first knock out qualifying for a restrictor plate...kinda scary to see what will happen. Sadly I don't have cable and my parents' TV broke so will not be able to watch it...so I will be reading up to see where everyone starts I guess. Am looking forward to Talladega.

Well the race has just ended...and well I don't know where to start or how to feel about it. I turned it on on lap six...Kyle Larson had started it and heard that Clint Bowyer wrecked him on the first lap...he came home sixteenth (Larson)...Bowyer ended up finishing dead last at 43rd. Tires seemed to be an issue. I believe it was Reed Sorenson who had issues where his tire caught fire, got parts of fiery tire on the track...he came back out and had to go to the garage. While did that, Clint Bowyer had the same issues and while his tire was still on fire left pit road only for it wreck him into the wall and take him to the garage. Josh Wise had the same issue as well. Sorry to say Hoss...Ricky Stenhouse Jr suffered the same fate as his tire caught fire. Though really don't understand him and other drivers why they don't pit when they have an issue. When Stenhouse Jr. had problems they just went into caution and the pits were closed...and if he went to pits he would have had to be held back a lap. So I understand that part of it, but better do that than to wreck your car all up and catch on fire as Stenhouse did. Sorry Hoss...nothing against Stenhouse Jr...Bowyer did the same sort of thing and it just don't make sense to me. Take the consequence of pitting instead of wrecking your whole car as well as risking everyone else and making more cautions. Just sayin'... Jeff Gordon started 25th and went on to lead the most laps of 173...I am extremely happy of that...but disappointed that he came home second when it should be him in victory lane right now. Second is great and love the extreme effort Gordon and his crew gave today...as always. But when all that matters is wins this year...well it makes it a bit more disappointing. Gordon had a great car on long runs...which is where it probably costed him. Jimmie Johnson had a couple rounds of tire issues and still remains winless to this season. The end of the race was beyond crazy to me. Matt Kenseth was leading, Gordon was second, and I think Logano third when Keselowski came up to make himself known by going after Kenseth and Gordon. Kenseth blocked Keselowski (which they all do). Keselowski got mad and bumped into the back of Kenseth. . .letting Keselowski's teammate Joey Logano to get his second win of the season. After the race Keselowski got MAD at Kenseth and confronted him. Which I don't understand. I am not a fan of either Keselowski or Kenseth, but Keselowski had no reason to get upset at Kenseth. It should have been Kenseth mad if anyone. If that wasn't exciting enough...back in the garage area, the camera showed Casey Mears grab Australian Marcos Ambrose to pull him aside and was in Ambrose's face...Ambrose didn't have none of it and PUNCHED Casey in the face (and as one of the announcers said, obviously made contact because Mears kinda fell back and came up rubbing his eye.) before their crews started to get into it. And sadly, at this point, don't really know what it was about. I watched the post race show and they talked about it and showed it, but never explained why. I am sure penalties will be handed out on Monday and maybe they will say then...I heard another NASCAR fan say on Facebook (rather read it...) that Ambrose ran into Mears on the race track. But as I said, no one said anything about why on TV...maybe the reporters/announcers didn't even know why. It is extremely surprising to see those two drivers get into it like that (Keselowski is known to get into conflicts and to get upset...so that wasn't surprising. Just surprising to see him get upset when it was him that had acted out on the track, not Matt. My opinion...). Both Ambrose and Mears are very quiet and respectful drivers and never cause any trouble and to see them both fighting each other and with such force is way surprising to me and will be sad to see either driver get punished. Even if Ambrose ran into Mears (and I know tempers are high at short track racing...it was a long night for them I am sure and the end of the race is stressful...) I can't see that as a reason to get as upset as Mears was or seemed to be before he got punched. As I said, Ambrose is an respectable driver...if he did ran into Mears, I am willing to bet it wasn't done on purpose. But obviously...they were both upset at the end of the race. LOL. Here is the official results to the Richmond race: 1. Joey Logano 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Kyle Busch 4. Brad Keselowski 5. Matt Kenseth 6. AJ Allmendinger 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8. Ryan Newman 9. Carl Edwards 10. Martin Truex Jr. 11. Kevin Harvick 12. Brian Vickers 13. Jamie McMurray 14. Kasey Kahne 15. Greg Biffle 16. Kyle Larson 17. Aric Almirola 18. Marcos Ambrose 19. Casey Mears 20. David Gilliland 21. Justin Allgaeir 22. Denny Hamlin 23. Kurt Busch 24. Paul Menard 25. Tony Stewart 26. Landon Cassill 27. Austin Dillon 28. Alex Bowman 29. David Reutimann 30. David Ragen 31. Ryan Truex 32. Jimmie Johnson 33. Michael Annett 34. Danica Patrick 35. David Stremme 36. Travis Kvapil 37. Joe Nemechek 38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 39. Josh Wise 40. JJ Yeley 41. Cole Whitt 42. Reed Sorenson 43. Clint Bowyer I am not a Tony Stewart fan, but do kinda keep an eye on him since he does run on Hendrick engines. Find it sad to see him have such a hard time at the beginning of this season. He missed a lot of time last season due to an leg injury he suffered in a sprint race in Iowa and he has yet to seem to be back to racing like the old Tony Stewart. Well the tempers may have ran high for a few drivers tonight...but tempers are bound to run hotter next weekend as they go back to restrictor plate racing at Talladega. . . And despite not getting his well fought for win tonight...Jeff Gordon remains the point leader by five points over Matt Kenseth.

Well Hoss...haven't you heard that it doesn't matter where they start, but where they finish? I turned it on, on lap six...but I heard that Clint Bowyer is back to being Bowyer and wrecked Larson on lap number one...Gordon may have started 26th...he was 22nd when I turned it on. Bet y'all can't guess where he is now...he is now sitting at third on lap 88. So far, so good for team 24...as well as team Hendrick!

Well y'all...I got some good news to share with you!!!! Only two more days and I will be cured of this horrible NASCAR withdrawal I've been suffering through the past two weeks. Better yet...we are going night racing at Richmond Saturday night. And more good news...Jeff Gordon is still your points leader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least I have been able to hold onto that info the past two weeks...love seeing Gordon's name out on top like that...just be better this year if he had a win alongside his name. But if he keeps racing the way he has...that win is bound to come. Personally, I am hoping it will come Saturday night. But I bet y'all didn't already know that...right? LOL. (Sorry slow news or anything NASCAR lately and had to post something...LOL)

You are so right Roger...I am going to go CRAZY with no NASCAR. I mean what were they thinking? .... Yeah you are right again. It is for a good cause. But still, what am I going to do without my Hendrick Boys. Or any of NASCAR? You are telling me I am going to have to wait another week to see how this Bowyer/Kurt Busch deal is going to work out? LOL. Sorry Hoss...I don't know if I'd get up at three to watch a NASCAR race not a lone another sort of racing I really don't watch or know all the rules. At three...I am in bed sleeping. If not, there is something wrong. LOL. Talking about other sort of racing, Jeff Gordon finally put his six year old daughter in a quarter midget car the other day and let her drive it. Perhaps one day it will be her behind the 24 wheel...LOL. Or his son Leo, who is three at the time (will be four in August).

Well...I missed the first two hundred laps last night of the race, but did get to watch the last half of the race. Darlington is known as earning it's stripes and it earned at least nineteen if not more throughout the night. Including Kasey Kahne who was leading the race when I turned it on and had to take it to the garage later on. Paul Menard had a rough night as his tire caught fire at one point and then later on caused another caution...can't recall why. I assume he hit the wall as well. Jeff Gordon sounded like he had a solid car last night but he was better on the long run and was HORRIBLE at restarts last night. He led some laps but fell back at the end of the race to finish seventh. Jimmie Johnson started 26th and came back to contend for the win only to come up short. For the first time this centurty, the winner won from the pole. Kevin Harvick won from the pole with a dominant car. I am not sure at the moment am sure he got the max points yesterday. And this being his second win of the season he is pretty much garaunteed into the Chase.. Eight races in and already in the Chase... Clint Boywer surely didn't make any new friends last night with Kurt Busch...as he spun him into the wall and ended his night. Kurt was obviously mad and according to the announcers so was Bowyer as he accused Busch of lifting. Though from what I saw it looked like Bowyer spinning Kurt Busch out. Hopefully for Clint's sake that the weekend off will calm Kurt off before Richmond. Though if memory serves me correctly,(I may have a faulty memory, but not when it comes to NASCAR. LOL. I remember Kurt taking Gordon out a few years ago saying it was for what happened several races earlier...) I am pretty sure Kurt has a good memory when it comes to things like this and he is a driver who is not afraid to give a little pay back. Personally I am not a fan of either driver (Clint or Kurt) but do have to take Kurt's side in this incident. There was no need for that to happen... Here is the official results: 1. Kevin Harvick 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3. Jimmie Johnson 4. Matt Kenseth 5. Greg Biffle 6. Kyle Busch 7. Jeff Gordon 8. Kyle Larson 9. Tony Stewart 10. Ryan Newman 11. Austin Dillon 12. Clint Bowyer 13. Carl Edwards 14. Marcos Ambrose 15. AJ Allmendinger 16. Jamie McMurray 17. Brad Keselowski 18. Casey Mears 19. Denny Hamlin 20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 21. Josh Wise 22. Danica Patrick 23. Justin Allgaier 24. Aric Almirola 25. Landon Cassill 26. Brian Vickers 27. Martin Truex Jr. 28. David Gilliland 29. Alex Bowman 30. Parker Kligerman 31. Kurt Busch 32. David Ragen 33. Travis Kvapil 34. Joe Nemechek 35. Joey Logano 36. David Stremme 37. Kasey Kahne 38. Cole Whitt 39. Reed Sorenson 40. Ryan Truex 41. Paul Menard 42. Michael Annett 43. Dave Blaney Well NASCAR has an off weekend next weekend for Easter. I hope you all will have a great Easter. Next race will be at Richmond in two weeks... And as a positive note...Gordon is still number one in points going into the off season. Though the announcers and I think Gordon said during the post race show last night that he needs to win to get in...and that first in points right now means little when it comes to the Chase. But for the time being, I will stay positive and be happy with the points at this moment of time. At least for a couple of weeks he'll be first in points.

Thanks Hoss for covering once again. Yeah I am happy that Gordon will start in the top ten...but disappointed to see Johnson start way back there. HOpefully he will have a fast and strong car to get up there tonight. Dillon is having a strong year so far...which I am happy with since he is on my money fantasy NASCAR league. Him and Larson. Plus I have my Hendrick boys...and Edwards. They all better have good years. Lizzy - you are right about the points, but unless Gordon can stay at top all regular season long without a win, he doesn't have much of a chance. No matter how good or consistant he is. He has had a solid year so far so I don't see him going winnless, but just feel that NASCAR has put too much weight on wins and not enough on consitancy. I understand wins are important and each driver should go out there for the win...NASCAR shouldn't have to put such weight on wins to motivate the drivers to win. If that makes sense. Talking about rookies...y'all see who won his second race in a row in the Nationwide Series? CHASE ELLIOT is the youngest driver to win at Darlington. He got his first win in Nationwide last week...and backed it up Friday night with another win. Am super excited for Chase and to see him doing so well. That kid's got talent!

Thanks Hoss for coming to my rescue...again. I am the ultimate failure this week. I listened to most of the race at work and got home to watch the last five laps or so. Am happy with second, but he really needs that win that he was so close to getting. LOL I am super excited to see Jeff Gordon's name on top of the point standings...even if it is by four points. But as of right now, the points don't mean NOTHING thanks to NASCAR's new Chase format. I came into this season not liking the new Chase set up and with each race that goes by, the more I don't like it. So for Gordon has had a pretty good and solid season and has been very consistant. But thanks to the new set up they have, that means absolutely NOTHING. Gordon can run second for the rest of the season and not make it into the Chase, because right now, all that matters is WINS. OK I get it, really I do. Wins are important. They always have been and they should be. But, there has to be something said for the drivers that are consistantly good or in the top five or ten race in and race out. Berfore, if a driver missed a race, it was a huge deal because they had a lot of work to do in order to make the Chase. Now, like Denny Hamlin who missed a race last week, he can make it into the Chase easy. All he has to do is get a win. Which is good for him, I guess because he shouldn't be punished for being hurt or sick by points. But there is also something said about every race meaning something. Every race earning something. Right now a driver can have 20 bad races and a couple of wins and make it into the Chase. The driver who runs consistantly in the top ten for twenty races or so misses it because he doesn't have a win. Just seems so wrong to me. And DW and the other announcers did make a point last week when Keselowski got mad at Kurt Busch and missed a whole bunch of laps and came out and went after Kurt...that since Keselowski had that one win, he doesn't have anything to lose by going after Kurt. So once they have a win or two under their belt, they are already considering themselves in the Chase and don't have nothing to lose. Even Jr made a statement after his win at the 500...that he feels better knowing he is now in the Chase. One race into the books and he already knows he will be in the Chase. (Which, being a Jr fan, am happy about.) But the fact that one win enters you into the Chase just seems so wrong and well, I don't like it. Yeah Gordon is in first place in points right now. Yes he is off to a great start to this season. But he is winless. So his great season means absolutely NOTHING without a win to back him up. As is Johnson at this point. So I guess for now I will celebrate and be happy with Gordon's points and how consistant he is...and with how he has ran this season so far, I am almost willing to admit that that win is around the corner. But won't be too excited, too happy, or too relaxed about this season until that win comes. Yeah I am starting to think that Brian France should resign and give me the reigns to NASCAR...I will be glad to point NASCAR back on track to the great sport it is. I will always love NASCAR and will try to find the positive side to it, but it doesn't mean I have to agree to this new point system. And yeah, I pointed out Gordon's season...but I would feel that way no matter who my favorite driver is. And of course...all that is my opinion. Would be glad to hear what y'all think of the new system??? BTW...18 year old Chase Elliot won his first Nationwide Series race at Texas this past weekend. He drivers for JR Motorsports and has done great so far in his rookie Nationwide Series season. He is the son of Bill Elliot who is a retired NASCAR driver. Hendrick has kinda taken Chase under his wing as he moved along in his young racing career. I have been keeping tabs of Chase through Facebook and so forth on how he is doing and am glad to see him in the Nationwide...he seems to have a lot of talent in him. He is also the driver that is said to be the one to take over the 24 car once Jeff Gordon hangs up his helmet and retires from NASCAR. What a sad day that will be...

Well I say they come up with a new sponsor for this race then if the weather suits the Ducks. Something dry and warm. Maybe Sunblock can sponsor the Texas races? Boy I am really failing this week. I didn't get to qualifying and didn't update on the dang weather. Just been bummed out about it...and had family over so a bit sidetracked. As Rosco would say...Bad news, bad news! Race has been postponed til tomorrow at new on your local Fox station. And to top it off...I have to work tomorrow so I won't be able to watch the race. Will try to write up a review whenever I get home tomorrow night upon what I read. (Do have to work at my part time job tomorrow night so will do my best...) Hope I will read about Jeff Gordon winning them six shooters. Perhaps this rain delay is so I can't jinx my Hendrick boys.

Nope...you were talking baseball. So you had to have been talking about Junior Lake. Let's go Junior!!!!!!

Roger- You are welcome... and no it is not. What would Uncle Jesse say or think of you taking such great joy in my agony? Think he'd be a bit disappointed in that, don't you? I mean, we all know, that despite living in Georgia...they were die hard Cubs fans as well. The Dukes were pretty loyal...and we all know that the Cubs have the most loyal fans ever. Just joking...congrats on your season opener win. And perhaps another one tonight if the Cubs don't step it up...so far they aren't having the stellar World Series season we all know they are going to have this year.

I saw that...I just forgot to mention it. Pit road must have been a mess today! Glad he was able to pit even if it was backwards. LOL. Think he was back a ways when that happened...could be wrong though. Thanks for reminding me of this...sorry I didn't include that in my write up.

Well the Martinsville race has ended...and nope Gordon didn't take home the grandfather clock. Neither did Johnson (though he led the most laps today!) or any of my Hendrick boys. Always next time...perhaps they'll take home the guns next week at Texas. It started off with a bang today as Parker Kligerman wrecked on the first lap and had everyone checking up...a lot of cars had stuff hanging off the back of their cars after that wreck. Think they had ten to twelve cautions today thanks to some banging and a couple of debris cautions to go in the mix. They had a competition yellow on lap forty due to the rain/snow they had yesterday/last night. Well...it caused a lot of drama when Brad Keselowski ran into Kasey Kahne...and in turn Kurt Busch ran into Brad Keselowski. It sent Brad Keselowski to the garage for thirty some laps and upset at Kurt Busch for just running into him (forget the fact that he himself just ran into Kasey Kahne that had started all this...). Which in turn got Kurt Busch upset saying that his day is done and so on and so on. When Keselowski got back on track he was quick to find Kurt and they banged back and forth for a bit before Kurt decided to be the bigger one and drive on...though saying on his radio that he will find Keselowski and punch him in the face. Though they did wreck Ricky Stenhouse Jr when he went to pass them...didn't really hit him but sent him up the track. Jeff Gordon started sixth today...but had an ill acting race car that sent him to the pits during a caution where most driver stayed out in. He spent most of the day in the mid twenties. He finished twelveth today and sadly that almost feels like a win...sad to see him have a poor race car at a track he is so good at. Jamie McMurray got spun out by (hate to blame him...you know I do like him...) Dale Earnhardt Jr who didn't give him any room.. Jr later went on to get the lead for a few laps and finished third. Jimmie Johnson led the most laps today but with thirteen or so laps to go, Kurt Busch stole the lead away from him and went on to win...ending his 83 race winless streak. Good for Kurt Busch...he did win it fairly, but as a JJ fan, was disappointed to see the win escape his reach once again. Though, I guess it is better that Kurt won than Clint Bowyer who did lead a few laps today after he banged into Jimmie Johnson to get it. (I apologize to any Bowyer fans...that is just how I feel after how he has raced Gordon in the past and now Johnson today. Perhaps it is just me that he hates so he is taking it out on my drivers? LOL. ) Here is the official results: 1. Kurt Busch 2. Jimmie Johnson 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr 4. Joey Logano 5. Marcos Ambrose 6. Matt Kenseth (wow am surprised to see him finish sixth! At the first half of the race, he was fighting for the lead, then next I knew he was struggling to stay on the lead lap and may have went down a lap (announcers never said why...) Kudos to Matt for overcoming that!) 7. Kevin Harvick 8. Aric Almirola (Great to see the King's car finish in the top five. Richard Petty's wife Lynda passed away this past Wednesday at the age of 85. Very sad...my thoughts and prayers are with Richard and his family.) 9. Clint Bowyer 10. Paul Menard 11. AJ Allmendinger 12. Jeff Gordon 13. Carl Edwards 14. Kyle Busch 15. Austin Dillon 16. Brian Vickers 17. Tony Stewart 18. Greg Biffle 19. Denny Hamlin 20. Ryan Newman 21. Martin Truex Jr. 22. Kasey Kahne 23. Justin Allgaier 24. Casey Mears 25. Landon Cassill 26. David Gilliland 27. Kyle Larson 28. David Ragen 29. Cole Whitt 30. Ryan Truex 31. Michael Annett 32. Danica Patrick 33. Travis Kvapil 34. Reed Sorenson 35. Josh Wise 36. Alex Bowman 37. Michael McDowell 38. Brad Keselowski 39. David Stremme 40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 41. Parker Kligerman 42. Jamie McMurray 43. Joe Nemechek I didn't watch the post race show due to having to take an online course for work, but seeing how Kurt Busch turned an "I'm done" day into a win...I doubt he followed through with his threat of punching Keselowski...which is for the better. LOL. Next week we will be going to the Lone Star state and do the Texas two step...LOL.

Guess what starts tonight y'all....BASEBALL. Dodgers VS Padres. Then tomorrow my Cubs plays Roger's Pirates...Jeff Samardja will be taking the mound for the Cubs for their opening day. Guess who is excited??!!! I AM!!! Too bad the game starts at noon...and I will be at work. But perhaps they will do better without me. LET'S GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cubs going to have some Pirates for lunch tomorrow... This has got to be the best song and video ever to be made!!!! Has my all time favorite player on there, Ryne Sandberg as well as the Cubs old announcer Harry Carrey.. Miss the old Cubs that I grew up with...but do love the new Cubs as well.

Thanks for posting that for me again Hoss...Friday's thus far has either been busy or a bit hard (last Friday) since the season started. Then had to meet my mom this morning, so I didn't get to it. . .thanks for covering for me. I am very happy with Gordon's and Johnson's starting postition. Sadly Jr and Kahne start way down the line up. But my top two drivers did great with qualifying and I am very happy with that. I am happy to see Danica Patrick starting tenth...hope she can finish that high too...she is on my fantasy NASCAR league this week. Personally I am not a Hamlin fan, but am glad to see him back on track. Hate seeing anyone hurt or sick...and being sidelined from the race last week had to have been hard on him. Luckily for him, the way they have the points and all that this year, it isn't that big of a deal that he missed a race as it was last year. All he has to do is win a race and he'll make the Chase. I am really hoping Jeff Gordon will be bringing home another Grandfather clock tomorrow afternoon...which is the trophy for the winner. He has been close this year...he just needs to avoid trouble and drama and have a fast race car and that trophy will be his.

One word seems to sum the Fontana race perfectly: TIRES! Tires has been an issue for every driver. Hit early for Kevin Harvick who had a back tire go flat in the strait away. Harvick had other tire issues towards the end of the race where his back tire went out again. It hit Carl Edwards who had a flat tire...as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr. Each driver/team was given eleven sets of tires for the race...and they were all worried on whether or not if they would run out of tires. And being a Jeff Gordon fan...I have to brag a little bit. He started sixth or seventh today. He didn't waste much time to get to second and was racing for the lead when Harvick had his first tire issues. They went into pits...Gordon got caught speeding on pit road. And since everyone was still on th lead lap...Gordon went to 43rd. Though it didn't take him long to pass everyone and was back in the top ten, if not the top five. And then on another caution, NASCAR kept the caution light at red (meaning drivers can not pit) well the top eight drivers saw that and stayed out...everyone else pitted. So when the top seven (Brad Keselowski stayed out) they came out in back (including Jeff Gordon)...Gordon and another driver tried talking to NASCAR about it, but NASCAR didn't do anything to fix it. So once again, Gordon fought his way back to the front and had led several laps. Hanging in the top five for the most of the last half of the race. Though, was better on the long runs than the short runs. JJ was better on the short runs. Well with fifteen laps or so to go, JJ leading and Gordon fighting him for the lead, Gordon complains of vibration...and JJ's tire goes flat and he hits the wall. Gordon gets the lead...only for Clint Bowyer to spin out (surprise surprise) with two laps to go. Gordon goes to pit with old tires and goes back out sixth. After a green-white-checkered restart, Iowa native Landon Cassill led, since he didn't go to pits...Going to the checkered Kyle Larson (who won his first Nationwide Series race Saturday) fought with Kyle Busch at the end...and Kyle Busch went on to win the race. Fontana official result: 1. Kyle Busch 2. Kyle Larson 3. Kurt Busch 4. Matt Kenseth 5. Tony Stewart 6. Jamie McMurray 7. Brian Vickers 8. AJ Allmendinger 9. Paul Menard 10. Carl Edwards 11. Austin Dillion 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 13. Jeff Gordon 14. Danica Patrick 15. Casey Mears 16. Clint Bowyer 17. Sam Hornish Jr. 18. Cole Whitt 19. Micheal Annett 20. Ryan Newman 21. Reed Sorenson 22. Alex Bowman 23. Martin Truex Jr. 24. Jimmie Johnson 25. Landon Cassill 26. Brad Keselowski 27. David Ragen 28. Justin Allgaier 29. David Reutimann 30. Marcos Ambrose 31. Ryan Truex 32. Joe Nemechek 33. Travis Kvapil 34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 35. Brian Scott 36. Kevin Harvick 37. Josh Wise 38. David Gilliland 39. Joey Logano 40. Greg Biffle 41. Kasey Kahne 42. Parker Kligerman 43. Aric Almirola Well, I will admit that I was NOT happy with the end of the race and where Gordon finished. He definitely had the car to beat today and it was super fun to watch him passing cars left and right. He passed over seventy cars today! He keeps this up...that win will be around the corner. My opinion of course...which I have been told is a bit biased when it comes to Gordon. So I guess we will see... We are back to short track racing next week at Martinsville....

Thanks for covering for me, Hoss...as much as I love NASCAR, it was the last thing on my mind Friday. My fourteen year old cat, Daisy made a turn for the worse Friday looking very thin and had a hard time walking and looked weak. She seems to be doing a little better today but still has me worried... But I am watching the race today. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs #11 driver, has pulled himself out of the race today with a sinus infection that he says makes it hard for him to say. The announcers just said that Hamlin went to the hospital for the infection. Sam Hornish Jr is now driving the 11 car for Hamlin. Hornish will drive for Gibbs in a limited number of races in the Nationwide Series...and was on standby for Matt Kenseth whose wife is due to have her baby any day now. So instead of subbing for Kenseth, he is subbing for Hamlin. Hamlin will not be getting any points for today's race since he did NOT start the race... Talking about Denny Hamlin at Fontana...it was at Fontana last year where Joey Logano wrecked him on the finishing laps and benched Hamlin for four weeks or so with a back injury. So far in the race, Keselowski is leading the race, but Jeff Gordon (who started sixth) is now lurking in second. Hope this means that the 24 will find his way to Victory Lane at the end of the race. Then again I am a Gordon fan... Never mind...he is no longer. Gordon got caught speeding on pit road. Shame on him! Now 43rd. Ah well...race is still young.

Well y'all the Bristol race may have started in the day but raced most of the race at night. . .and I know someone on this here board should be pretty happy right now. Right Hoss? Stenhous Jr finishes second today...pretty good finish if you ask me. Well I should have started this review during the two and a half hour rain delay seeing on how horrible my memory is...so please forgive me if I forget something. Jimmie Johnson had his tire shred that had put him two laps down. He finished nineteenth and a lap down... Kenseth led a lot of laps before Timmy Hill (rookie) ran into the back of him, did a lot of damage to Kenseth's car and took Hill out of the race. Kenseth was able to come back and lead more laps before he almost hit the wall. Started out with a brush up against Hamlin and Gordon which didn't go very far...then on the competition yellow, Gordon was going out of his stall and ran into David Ragen. Put Gordon back to 35th after going in in the top ten. Later on David Ragen got into with Michael McDowell...bumped him or something. McDowell went to show him his displeasure and ended up spinning him out. Kyle Busch had troubles with his tire going out and he went up and hit the wall, Kurt Busch ran into his own brother... the wall threw Kyle down the track where he was lucky not to get hit by any other cars. Kevin Harvick was in the top five when he had a tire go out or something (my dogs were barking like crazy when this happened so didn't get to see why it happened) but was smoking...on his way to the garage caught on fire. Luckily he was OK. McMurray tried breaking for him and Keselowski got into the back of him and tore his hood off. Was an interesting end to the race...Carl Edwards was leading after not pitting after the Harvick incident. And with two and a half laps to go, the caution light goes off for little to no explanation. Then it starts pouring! Luckily they finished the race...even if it was under caution! Carl Edwards went on to win his 22nd Sprint Cup win...and we got to see his famous backflip! Love his backflips...even in the rain! Gordon finished seventh after battling with his team mate, Kasey Kahne the last part of the race. The first time in his 22 year career where he started the season with the four top ten finishes in a row. As for Jr...he had some sort of issue and came home 24th. So half my drivers did pretty good...the other half, well not so good. We are onto Fontana California next Sunday. Official finish at Bristol: 1. Carl Edwards 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3. Aric Almirola 4. Tony Stewart 5. Marcos Ambrose 6. Denny Hamlin 7. Jeff Gordon 8. Kasey Kahne. 9. Brian Vickers 10. Kyle Larson 11. Austin Dillion 12. Greg Biffle 13. Matt Kenseth 14. Brad Keselowski 15. Clint Bowyer 16. Ryan Newman 17. Justin Allgaier 18. Danica Patrick 19. Jimmie Johnson 20. Joey Logano 21. Paul Menard 22. David Gilliland 23. Josh Wise 24. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 25. AJ Allmendiger 26. Michael Annett 27. Casey Mears 28. Reed Sorenson 29. Kyle Busch 30. Landon Cassill 31. David Ragen 32. Alex Bowman 33. Travis Kvapil 34. Parker Kligerman 35. Kurt Busch 36. Martin Truex Jr. 37. Michael McDowell 38. Jamie McMurray 39. Kevin Harvick 40. Cole Whitt 41. Joe Nemechek 42. Ryan Truex 43. Timmy Hill We are onto race number five of the season in Fontana California...and guess who is looking forward to it? LOL Congrats Hoss on your driver excelling for you today.

No need for umbrellas...they are racing again! It is on Fox Sports 1...

It is what it is. Perhaps there is a little to blame both ways. Glad it is early and Gordon is moving up. We are back to red flag due to rain...so far over two hours into this rain delay.

Sounds like a good idea Hoss...though don't think they would buy into it. They are racing...and they are on lap 69 and so far I am not HAPPY. They had a competition yellow for the rain. So far, Gordon has had a fast car and on the third or so lap Denny Hamlin ran down into Gordon. Got away with some damage thanks to Gordon's expertise to back out of it...otherwise Waltrip said that that would have caused the big accident. So Gordon saved it there... Then on the competition yellow, in pits...Jeff left his pit stall only for David Ragen to HIT Gordon. Gordon went in in the top ten or so and is now back 35th or so. Gordon must have a target sign on him or something... Now they are back under yellow after a lap of green due to the 23 battery pack on the track.... Hoping and praying that Gordon will get back up there...JJ is in the lead as of now.