Garrett Duke

Danica Patrick wrecked in practice I think on Friday...and then was involved in the Ryan Newman and Michael McDowell accident. Her car was pretty smashed in. It is good that she was able to finish the race. Danica seems like she finds her way into some accident or some sort of trouble it seems in NASCAR...though I feel like she is having a pretty good year this year. Compared to the past year or so that she was in NASCAR Sprint Cup. Maybe it is just taking her a while to get use to the Cup car and the competition. Personally I feel like she would have been better off if she got a few more full seasons in the Nationwide Series before getting pulled up to the Sprint Cup. Talking about the Nationwide Series. JR Motorsports driver Chase Elliot, Bill Elliot's son, is said to be driving in a few Cup races next season...

Well the race at Watkins Glen got over a short moment ago and it can be summed up in one word: CRAZY. Three caution flags in ninety laps? And at a track where they don't go extremely fast at... Gordon started out on pole and led 29 laps (which I was happy for. With this pole, it keeps his consecutive streak alive with at least one pole a season for the last twenty-two years or something like that. The longest consecutive streak with a pole in history now belongs to Gordon.) But Ambrose gave him a fit and after pit strategy Ambrose took the lead position...laps before Gordon's power in his car went out and he had to have a push back to his pit stall where they worked on it for four laps before he was able to go back out. (Of which I wasn't too happy about. LOL.) First half of the race was uneventful except for Cole Whitt hitting the wall and going hard into the wall and under the tire barrier that they had against the wall. He was OK. And Kyle Busch who is a favorite at Watkins Glen. He had left the pit road with his gas container stuck to his car so he had to do a drive through penalty which had put him a lap down. Then he got out and Martin Truex Jr got into him which had put him behind the wall and in the garage for a lot of laps. Brad Keselowski got into Matt Kenseth on accident (apologized over the radio) and later had to go into the garage as he lost brake fluid or something like that. Didn't start to get real eventful until Ryan Newman tried to get out of Greg Biffle's way and it threw his car hard into the fence and across the track and into Michael McDowell's car that went on it's side for a moment before hitting the other wall hard. Nothing much was left of their cars after that...and led to the first two red flags which lasted an hour and a half. Was a super scary wreck and am so glad they were both OK. Reminded me of the wreck of Jeff Burton when he was in the CAT 31 car (that Newman is now driving...) that involved Sam Hornish Jr and Jeff Gordon...and where Gordon hurt his back at a few years ago. Newman wasn't very happy with the safety of the track which I don't blame him. They did fix the track and make the fence farther apart from one another since Gordon and Burton's wreck...but still. They went yellow to rearrange the cars and put the other red flag up to finish the work on the cars, Afterwards it was clear that the race belonged to either Marcos Ambrose or AJ Allmendinger. Jimmie Johnson was wrecked when Kyle Larson got into Matt Kenseth who in turn got into Jimmie Johnson... (Once again, I was not too happy...lol). It also had taken out Reagan Smith who was driving for Tony Stewart. Smith was doing really good considering he didn't get flown into the track and landed until five minutes before the race started. Sad to see him get wrecked out like that too. Then with four laps to go and AJ Allmendinger just pulled a power move to get past Ambrose...Denny Hamlin wrecked into a barrel of gravel that was protecting the end of pit road and sent gravel all over the track and Alex Kennedy got into another wreck farther down the track...sent the race back into a red flag to pick up the gravel. Though it didn't take long and they were off again and AJ Allmendinger went off to earn his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win. Ambrose's crew chief had contacted NASCAR and upset with Allmendinger's start...I think he thought Allmendinger started too early. As of now NASCAR hasn't said anything about it either way so I am taking that Allmendinger's start was OK with them. Ambrose said in his post race interview that he got caught with that in the Nationwide Series before (I know Edwards got caught in the Sprint Cup series a year or two ago with that and was punished...) but Ambrose wasn't too concerned or upset with it. Said it didn't effect the outcome of the race. Personally I was torn. I like both Ambrose and Allmendinger. Both are fair and clean drivers. Great guys. I love how positive Ambrose is. About everything. Even after giving it all he had and Allmendinger winning, he was so positive and congratulated AJ over and over again...and smiling. To me that is a great picture of sportsmanship right there. I am super happy for AJ. I believe he deserves this win and he gave it a great fight ... both of them did. Sad for my top two drivers but am super happy with the top two finishes. Here is the official results: 1. AJ Allmendinger 2. Marcos Ambrose 3. Kurt Busch 4. Kyle Larson 5. Carl Edwards 6. Joey Logano 7. Kevin Harvick 8. Greg Biffle 9. Matt Kenseth 10. Brian Vickers 11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (who is now the current points leader...taking the lead from Jeff Gordon) 12. Kasey Kahne 13. Martin Truex Jr. 14. Jamie McMurray 15. Casey Mears 16. Austin Dillion 17. Justin Allgaier 18. Aric Almirola 19. David Ragen 20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 21. Danica Patrick 22. David Gilliland 23. Reed Sorenson 24. Denny Hamlin 25. Boris Said 26. Nelson Piquet Jr 27. Clint Bowyer 28. Jimmie Johnson 29. Landon Cassill 30. Joe Nemechek 31. Michael Annett 32. Paul Menard 33. Alex Kennedy 34. Jeff Gordon 35. Brad Keselowski 36. Alex Bowman 37. Regan Smith 38. Josh Wise 39. Ryan Truex 40. Kyle Busch 41. Ryan Newman 42. Michael McDowell 43. Cole Whitt We are all done turning right this year...and left with only left turns to make. Onto Michigan next week with a new point leader...but I hope not for long. Not that it matters much since in a month they will mix it all up with the Chase. Once again, my thoughts and prayers are with Kevin Ward Jr who died last night in the accident involving Tony Stewart. For more info see the NASCAR news thread where there is a few posts there. My heart aches for Ward and his family...and for Tony Stewart. Something that was done for fun turned into a horrible tragic accident. Heaven has earned a new angel...a speedy one. RIP Kevin.

ok

http://www.motorsport.com/sprint/news/tony-stewart-runs-over-fellow-sprint-car-racer-authorities-investigating/ Above is a link to a better article and it does say Ward Jr is 20...everything I read yesterday said he was 17. Reagan Smith will be driving the 14 car of Stewart's today. I do believe the video has been taken down on Youtube or at least htat is what peple on Facebook is saying...but something about it being on ESPN. I don't know. My thoughts and prayers are with Kevin Ward Jr, his family, and his friends...and with Tony Stewart. Just so tragic and sad.

Well y'all I got some sad and tragic news to pass on to you all...I am just in shock of it all right now. It is almost three in the morning and yet can't go to sleep because my mind will not let go of it all. Tony Stewart was racing in the Sprint Series near where Watkins Glen is at when he got into an altercation on the track with 17 year old Kevin Ward Jr. that had brought out the yellow flag. Ward Jr. got upset at Stewart and got out of his sprint car and was yelling at Stewart when Stewart went by and Stewart ran Ward Jr. over. Ward was announced dead on arrival at the hospital. Stewart is now being investigated by the police for the incident. As far as I know, Stewart is cleared to race Sunday at the Glen, but have also read rumors where Max Papis will be racing Stewart's 14 car. Here is one of the many articles I have read on it: Tony Stewart hits Kevin Ward Jr. On a personal note, I have read a lot of fan speculation on it and how they feel about it. A lot seeming to think it was on purpose. Tony Stewart is known to be a hot head...for his temper. Has thrown a few punches. Got mad and purposefully wreck other drivers in their cars...but to purposefully hit someone on foot like that? I personally can't see him doing that. The video is on youtube right now and I have seen it...can post it if you all want, but didn't know if I should or not. In the video it does look like it could be intentional...but the thing is, is how is Stewart to know the kid is out of his car and on the track? The kid is dressed in a black fire suit while at night. Personally I feel like Stewart just didn't see the kid and hit him on accident. But I could be wrong, but I hope that I am not. My thoughts and prayers go to Kevin Ward Jr, his family, and friends. Gone too soon. Also, my thoughts and prayers go out to Tony Stewart. Can't imagine how he must feel right now. This whole thing is just so tragic in so many ways. I will make sure to keep you all updated with anything that comes forth from this. Right now it looks like Stewart is just being investigated...

The second Pocono race of the season is now in the books and it looks like it was a back and forth day all depending on what pit strategy they are on. I missed the first half of the race (listened to some of it on the radio in the car...) Johnson had a flat tire early in the race and Danica Patrick hit the wall. Kyle Busch's engine had problems and parked his car early in the race. Jeff Gordon led a lot of laps, going back and forth with pit stop strategy and had a fast race car today to back up his win last week. Jimmie Johnson's race ended early today as he had more tire issues, tire issues that sent him into the wall hard and into the garage. Denny Hamlin got loose and caused a thirteen car pile up that took out Stewart, Vickers, and other drivers. It was an ugly wreck...looking more like Talledega than Pocono. Dale Earnhardt Jr passed Greg Biffle with seventeen laps or so remaining and with six laps to go Kurt Busch hit the wall to bring out the yellow and bunch the cars back up again. Dale Jr went on to win the third race of the season...Pocono sweep of 2014. Official results: 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2. Kevin Harvick 3. Joey Logano 4. Clint Bowyer 5. Greg Biffle 6. Jeff Gordon 7. Jamie McMurray 8. Ryan Newman 9. Denny Hamlin 10. Kasey Kahne 11. Kyle Larson 12. Caey Mears 13. Kurt Busch 14. Marcos Ambrose 15. Austin Dillion 16. Justin Allgaier 17. David Gilliland 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 19. David Ragen 20. Ryan Truex 21. Cole Whitt 22. Michael Annett 23. Brad Keselowski 24. Josh Wise 25. Travis Kvapil 26. Dave Blaney 27. Reed Sorenson 28. Alex Kennedy 29. Carl Edwards 30. Danica Patrick 31. Alex Bowman 32. Martin Truex Jr. 33. Paul Menard 34. AJ Allmendinger 35. Aric Almirola 36. Tony Stewart 37. Brian Vickers 38. Matt Kenseth 39. Jimmie Johnson 40. Joe Nemechek 41. Landon Cassill 42. Kyle Busch 43. Johnny Sauter Well my congratulations goes out to Dale Jr who makes it the sixth win at Pocono from a Hendrick driver...his win comes after the big news in the 88 camp came out Friday or Thursday where Rick Hendrick has named Greg Ives to be Jr's crew chief next year as Steve Letart will be leaving after this season. Onto Watkins Glen next week...the final road race of the season.

Well I guess I was less than perfect in my last week's review. I apology. Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Greg Biffle will be at Rousch next season. And I have to admit I agree with Larry McReynolds that Jack Rousch was less than professional with the timing of his "surprise" announcement last week. I guess his press conference that he made it known wasn't scheduled and instead of doing it on a Tuesday as they normally do, Jack did it the morning before one of the bigger races of the season. As I heard someone say, trying to bring attention to himself as all the coverage or talk was on Gordon and how many races he won at Indy and how he won the inaugural race there twenty years ago. Well as a Gordon fan...I great satisfaction that Gordon took the last publicity away from his so called big news and bring it back to him with the win. But that is my two cents worth. And talking of Gordon...he is currently leading the race at Pocono...well now he is in the pits. He has led 38 laps or so today. Now is on top with the most laps led at Pocono with a thousand. And with his 43rd birthday tomorrow...I think a win would make a great birthday present to the driver of the 24 car. Well I missed the first half of the race due to grocery shopping, but will watch the last half...will write a review once the race is over.

Well y'all...the Brickyard 500 has just ended... Kevin Harvick started out up front with the pole with Jeff Gordon starting second. Gordon was quick to pass Harvick on the first lap and was dominant in the first part of the race but those restarts killed him in the first part of the race. Also a couple of pit stops as the first pit stop his gas man had a hard time holding the can and almost falling which slowed him down and pulled him back in the pack. Then his second stop when he was climbing up, Gordon got too close the wall and that slowed his stop down. Danica Patrick broke something in her car during one of her pit stop and it ended her race. Ryan Truex ran out of gas. After a season of bad luck, Kasey Kahne had a strong car and led the most laps...until the last restart when Kasey chose the top lane and Gordon the bottom...or vice versa. With thirty laps to go, Gordon had what he called the restart of his life and passed Kasey and Kasey went backwards. Gordon went on and had no competition and went on to win his FIFTH win at the Brickyard 500. In fact they have announced that today was Jeff Gordon Day as twenty years ago Gordon won the NASCAR inaugural race at Indy...it is also Gordon's second win of the season...and win number 90 of his career. Bet y'all know who is happy today...LOL. Brickyard 500 Final Results: 1. Jeff Gordon 2. Kyle Busch 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Matt Kenseth 5. Joey Logano 6. Kasey Kahne 7. Kyle Larson 8. Kevin Harvick 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10. Austin Dillion 11. Ryan Newman 12. Brad Keselowski 13. Greg Biffle 14. Jimmie Johnson 15. Carl Edwards 16. Clint Bowyer 17. Tony Stewart 18. AJ Allmendinger 19. Brian Vickers 20. Jamie McMurray 21. Aric Almirola 22. Marcos Ambrose 23. Juan Pablo Montoya 24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 25. Martin Truex Jr. 26. Michael McDowell 27. Justin Allgaier 28. Kurt Busch 29. Josh Wise 30. Landon Cassill 31. Michael Annett 32. Cole Whitt 33. Casey Mears 34. Paul Mendard 35. David Regan 36. David Gilliland 37. Bobby Labonte 38. Reed Sorenson 39. Travis Kvapil 40. Alex Bowman 41. Ryan Truex 42. Danica Patrick 43. Trevor Bayne This morning Jack Rousch put out that after eleven seasons, Carl Edwards will no longer be at Jack Rousch. Greg Biffle will be back next year. We will be racing at Pocono where it marks a year since Kasey Kahne has won his last race...

I hope you had fun Roger at the race. Is there a local driver that you like the best and go for? I bet they are fun to go watch and see...and loud. Well the only good thing about having no race today is that my fantasy team won't take another hit. This is the last off weekend of the season and am so lost without Gordon or Johnson or Earnhardt or Kahne to follow. But they are deserving of the break...just wish they did it last weekend when I couldn't watch the race. HA.

Thanks Boss for filling in for me. I didn't get to see much of the race at all. Am super bummed that Johnson had such rotten luck and Gordon running out of gas is just as bad. But it is a gamble they had to make. Roger...I saw that I was no longer in last place in my NASCAR league. Lol. Thanks for taking pity on me. 😊 You maybe beating me in baseball...but no one will beat me in football. 😇

Thank you Lizzy. I was hoping that I didn't do something to get in trouble for. I heard about the King's birthday after I posted my post as well... I am sorry about Stenhouse. Both those accidents either took out good cars or affected good cars. After the second accidents they said they only had five cars as being recorded out of the race. I don't see how that could be possible, but I guess they know better than me. I am also sorry to inform you Hoss that ESPN isn't much different than TNT...you will just have to find a different spelling for it. I am so glad that they are done with TNT after the next race...heck TNT won't even be back next year. This is the last year for TNT and I think for ESPN too. Next year it will be on FOX then ABC and then an ABC affiliated station. I am hoping that ABC will better than TNT and ESPN. I know I have said this before...I just wish the race would stay on FOX all year long. I really miss DW and the crew. Plus they show more race than commercials. TNT is horrible about their commercials and personally I feel like they have their select favorite drivers and that is who they follow. But as I said, ESPN isn't much different. But I guess we will see in a couple of weeks.

BTW...was just wondering, why do I have a red explanation mark under my profile picture/name? Never noticed that before.

Well this is going to be a messed up review due to my failure to write last week's review at Kentucky. I will start off with a small review from Kentucky and go onto today's race. I apologize for not writing it sooner. For Kentucky...there isn't much to really report. Other than Brad Keselwoski started from the pole, led the most laps, and won the race. I think the most exciting part of the race is the fact that Keselowski cut his hand on the champagne bottle in victory lane as he tried opening it up. Had to rush to the infield care center to get four stitches that he got taken out this past Thursday. And for the Daytona race that was suppose to be raced last night (y'all know how much I love night races, right?) but was postponed due to rain (I was not happy. LOL) but luckily since it was a night race, was able to watch it today. Or most of it at least. And today's rain shortened race can be summarized by two words...RAIN and WRECKS. We had three red flags thrown today. First one was due to rain, second one was due to the huge accident (as it was called by the announcer), and the third one due to rain, again. David Gilliland started the race with his third career pole that was eventually taken over by Matt Kenseth before the rain came on the eleventh lap or so and the red flag flew. (I will admit I left to eat breakfast at this point so I missed when they resumed...) They had competition yellow on lap twenty I think, but a lap or two before that they had a caution for the big one. And as to who started it, seems to be a sensitive area or one with a lot of opinions by what I've read on Facebook, what the announcers insinuated whose fault it was and to what I think what happened. (As I said in a Facebook group, that it looks to be who one's favorite driver is as to which driver started it...LOL) but in reality, it is Daytona. It is restrictor plate racing. They are going two hundred miles per hour and one little mistake can take out half the field. Or as one driver said, the driver may not do anything but the air around them pushes the car a foot or so without the driver even moving the steering wheel. Sadly that is just what happens in these type of races which is why I am not a fan of restrictor plate racing. But if you want my take on things, I think Marcos Ambrose came into line ahead of Stenhouse Jr. where there wasn't any room, Stenhouse Jr. tried to stop from getting into him and got loose, and Gordon tried to get out of the way and ended up in the accident anyway. (Though if you want the announcers' opinion, it was Gordon's fault...I guess Gordon should just stay around and get wrecked and not even try to get out of the way. And then if you want Tony Stewart's opinion, it was Stenhouse Jr trying to play hero early in the race.) It really don't matter who started it...it is what it is. Hoss you will be happy with what Gordon just put down on Facebook (perhaps you should apologize to him? ) Gordon just put down on at Facebook "Wow what a crazy race at Daytona International Speedway! I'll take the blame and apologize to all involved for 1st wreck. Congrats Aric Almirola & 43 team!" I am highly biased and I still don't see it being his fault, but at least he will apologize for his part of the deal and is willing to keep the peace. He is a picture of class act in my book. All in all, it wasn't done on purpose by any driver. It is what it is and am glad everyone is ok. Then the second wreck was even more scarier than the other one. . .and once again the blame isn't exactly clear, but it seems more clear than the first. It seems like Greg Biffle tired to line up with Kasey Kahne and spun him out and took twenty cars with him. Jamie McMurray's car went air born for awhile...and Kyle Busch went on his roof when a car ran into his parked car. That went into red flag...it is so good no one got hurt in any accident. So sad to see so many good race cars all torn up as they were. Kyle's was the worst. They went back to racing for awhile before it started raining with 48 laps to go...and where they finally called it a race. Aric Almirola got his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win driving for Richard "The King" Petty in the iconic 43 car. Ironically his win comes on Richard Petty's thirtieth anniversary of his 200th career win. Here is the official results at Daytona: 1. Aric Almirola 2. Brian Vickers 3. Kurt Busch 4. Casey Mears 5. Austin Dillon 6. Denny Hamlin 7. Michael McDowell 8. Danica Patrick 9. Clint Bowyer 10. Marcos Ambrose 11. Terry Labonte 12. Jeff Gordon 13. Alex Bowman 14. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 15. Martin Truex Jr. 16. Paul Menard 17. Joey Logano 18. Brad Keselowski 19. Michael Waltrip 20. Matt Kenseth 21. Michael Annett 22. David Regan 23. Josh Wise 24. Ryan Newman 25. Justin Allgaier 26. Bobby Labonte 27. Kasey Kahne 28. Kyle Busch 29. Greg Biffle 30. Jamie McMurray 31. Landon Cassill 32. Ryan Truex 33. Reed Sorenson 34. Cole Whitt 35. David Gilliland 36. Kyle Larson 37. Carl Edwards 38. Trevor Bayne 39. Kevin Harvick 40. Tony Stewart 41. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 42. Jimmie Johnson 43. AJ Allmendinger Well...what a short and sad race for a lot of good drivers. But a quick and good race for a few drivers. It is good to see unfamiliar faces up front. People that don't win or have top fives all that often. Great for Aric to get his first win. He is a great guy and am happy for him. Sad for me that most if not all of my fantasy drivers were caught up in one of the big ones if not the first one...I think I might as well as give up as I have no hope left of coming off with a good finish this year due to jinxing all my drivers. Ah well...it is too fun to give up. Just not fun to watch the wreck. LOL. (Which is why I REFUSE to pick Gordon anymore!) (Sorry Hoss...but yeah, I did have Stenhouse Jr on my team this week. So yeah, I was just as sad as you were to see him spin out. I almost went with Vickers but a the last minute I switched Stenhouse and Vickers. Look what happened???? Stenhouse wrecked, Vickers finished second. Dang it! LOL) And if my fantasy team getting a huge hit this weekend wasn't bad enough, so did my actual favorite drivers. My entire list of my top five favorite drivers were involved in a wreck. Johnson and Edwards was taken out in the first wreck...Gordon and JR was involved in the first wreck as well. Kahne was taken out in the second wreck. Definitely not a good race for me and am glad that it is now behind us...and we will be going onto New Hampshire next week. . .and sadly don't know if I will be able to watch it. I will be going to my Grandpa's house next week for a little family get together and won't be back til Sunday night. So maybe team Hendrick will rebound for the win without me next week. HA. And do believe the announcers said that next weekend will be the last race on TNT...will have to look up on that one. If so, I won't be too sad nor will I miss all of their commercials. I think they have race breaks instead of commercial breaks... If I had my way, the races would stay on FOX with Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hamond and Mike Meyers, and Larry MacReynolds. But hey, what ya know, no one asked me. Hope you all have had a good Fourth of July weekend and will have a good week ahead.

This is why I am not a fan of restrictor plate racing. The big ones always happen.

I can't remember what Gordon said exactly... didn't say it was his fault tho. As it wasn't his fault. You probably won't agree with me.. but I'm with Smoke.

Well they are back to racing only for a wreck to involve half the field...including most of my drivers. Perhaps it should've kept raining...

Well they raced five good laps...before getting red flagged for more RAIN! Am so NOT happy right now. they just showed the Nationwide qualifying wreck due to rain....very scary and sad. Hope not to see that today. anyway... rain rain go away!!!!

Well it looks Hoss beat me to my post. Hate that it is postponed til tomorrow but it is what it is. I am on my phone so will do my write up tomorrow with my laptop. Just wanted to put die that it got rained out...but I am too late with that. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Thanks Hoss for covering for me.

"Achy Breaky Heart" Billy Ray Cyrus Posting this song and watching this video almost makes me want to cry. Well maybe not litterally but still makes me a bit sad. I was the biggest Billy Ray Cyrus fan. For the longest time, I had all of his albums. Had posters/pictures of him on my wall. Saw him seven times in concert...the last time I got pushed on stages with him to get his autograph. I was a huge fan...and a part of me still am. But find it really sad the path or road that he has taken the past couple of years. It is not for me to judge or criticize his life style or choices he or his daughter has made/making because I am far from perfect, I just miss the old Billy Ray. If that makes any sense... Anyway here is the big hit that introduced the name Billy Ray Cyrus to Country Music...and probably the world. To me, this song never gets old... "ACHY BREAKY HEART" BILLY RAY CYRUS

Thanks forgot who it was. Brian Vickers had problems in the first lap...of which I didn't see. I turned it on on the second lap or so. So I don't know if Stenhouse Jr. was in that or not. Either way no need to retaliate...especially since Vickers was able to overcome whatever it was that had happened. Well we will be back to left turns only next week so no more right turns til August.

Well the race at Sonoma has just gotten over...the first half of the race, not a whole lot had happened. I think they said they had one caution in the first sixty - laps...and five cautions in the last sixty one laps. Drivers are more cautious and generous in the first half of the race than the last I guess. The major wreck that comes to mind happened when Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit a bump and it forced his car into Matt Kenseth who hit the wall hard...hard enough to cause the front bumper to fly off of his car on impact and the radiator hose to go under his car. Luckily Matt was OK. Was a scary wreck. AJ Allmendinger who had a strong car up until the end when he got in a late race accident and came home 37th. Jamie McMurray started on the pole and stayed in the top five for most of the race, if not all...he came home fourth today. Sorry Hoss, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was doing pretty good but someone got into him to cause a caution...the announcers made a statement that it looked like a payback hit but they weren't sure because of why. Tony Stewart fought his way up to the top ten...and just like last week, got caught speeding in pit road. One would think that someone who has won three championships, has been in NASCAR as long as he has been, that he would learn not to speed on pit road. Well at least not twice in two weeks...and especially when I have him on my fantasy team. Thanks a lot Smoke! Tony got upset at Kyle Larson for blocking him last week...also got mad at Jimmie Johnson for blocking him today. Made it known and got into the back of JJ and who in turn got into Gordon. Gordon got mad at JJ and let his team mate know he was upset by tapping him a couple of times. I apologize to any Smoke fans out there...but I don't see how Stewart has any room to get upset at other drivers for blocking him when he does the same thing. Just like Keselowski got mad at Hamlin for blocking him at the start of the race the other race and got into him. It is the name of racing. They all do it. Perhaps if they don't want it done to them, perhaps they shouldn't do it to everyone else on the track. Guess it is OK for one to do it, just not everyone else. ? Though it does seem like the old temperamental Stewart is back...lol. Marcos Ambrose who is known to be good on road races had a good car and was hard to pass, but kinda went the wrong way at the end to get a top ten instead of the win he was going for. Another driver I had on my team today had problems as well (they always have problems. I am sure I jinx them. Which is why I don't use Gordon any more...lol.) Clint Bowyer was in the top five when he was getting into the back of Jimmie Johnson (or it looked like to me...) when Jamie McMurray got into the back of him to spin him around and he got into an already mad Kevin Harvick. (Harvick had been strong the first half of the race but he had a bad pit stop that put him down a couple of spots that had him upset at his crew...again.) Denny Hamlin had issues as well that sent him to the back. Though at the end, Carl Edwards was too ahead of anyone to be slowed down or passed by anyone. Jr proved that fresh tires were a must on the road course as he got his first top ten, top five finish at a road course. Jeff Gordon, who has won five times at Sonoma, and has been labeled as the road course king proved he is worthy of his title today. He started fifteenth and at first fell back, but both him and Johnson fought their way up the field (Passing at road courses are harder than regular races) and if there was a couple more laps on the race, I know Gordon would have came away with the win. Though as it is, Jeff Gordon gave it all he had and came home second...while Carl Edwards went on to win the race. His first road race win of his Sprint Cup career. Congrats Carl on a great win today! Official results: 1. Carl Edwards 2. Jeff Gordon 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4. Jamie McMurray 5. Paul Menard 6. Kasey Kahne 7. Jimmie Johnson 8. Marcos Ambrose 9. Greg Biffle 10. Clint Bowyer 11. Ryan Newman 12. Kurt Busch 13. Casey Mears 14. Brian Vickers 15. Martin Truex Jr. 16. Joey Logano 17. Austin Dillion 18. Danica Patrick 19. Tony Stewart 20. Kevin Harvick 21. David Gilliland 22. Brad Keselwoski 23. Aric Almirola 24. Michael McDowell 25. Kyle Busch 26. Denny Hamlin 27. Cole Whitt 28. Kyle Larson 29. Alex Bowman 30. Michael Annett 31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 32. Reed Sorenson 33. Justin Allgaier 34. JJ Yeley 35. Boris Said (Road race ringer...specializes in road races and only runs road races in NASCAR Series...) 36. David Regan 37. AJ Allmendinger 38. Tomy Drissi 39. Alex Kennedy 40. Josh Wise 41. Ryan Truex 42. Matt Kenseth 43. Landon Cassill We are onto Kentucky next week...

Thanks for the smile Hoss...I really needed that today. I am sorry that Ricky is having such a hard time this season. He has had such rotten luck...him and Kahne both. It is odd, but it always seems that the second year is the hardest for the new guys/gal. Hard to beat a good first season when he had the attention on him. Now the attention has fallen on Dillion and Larson. (Larson by the way just bought a new big house last week and he just came out that his girlfriend is expecting. Will have their baby near Christmas.) As for the win...I think Gordon needs a second win. I mean JJ has three, Jr has two, and Gordon has one. Yep, Gordon needs another one to show who is boss at HMS. Perhaps Stenhouse Jr can finish second at Sonoma?

Sorry y'all that I failed to meet job qualification last week. I watched the race and then had to leave right afterwards. Hoss probably did a better job than I did. I was super happy that Jr won last week...but the TNT announcers irritated me when JJ spun out in pits (luckily he was able to over come that) and the announcers seemed to laugh about it. I really didn't think it was a laughing matter...especially at the time. Thanks Hoss for covering for me...again. Well I did watch today's race and lookie here...I am writing my review. Though it had started off with a bang with Brian Vickers wrecking out on the fifth lap and then Kasey Kahne wrecking out on the next restart, not a whole lot really happened. Kevin Harvick had a strong car and led a lot of laps...as did Jeff Gordon. But Gordon fell behind due to pit strategy and had to fight his way back at the end to finish sixth. Kyle Busch had something break on his car to send his car to the garage twice in today's race. Jimmie Johnson, who has won two races already, thanks to pit strategy and a good car, ended up getting his very first win at Michigan today. First driver to reach three wins...and is now seated high and proud in the CHASE standings. Have to admit...today was a good day for my team Hendrick boys. JJ won, Gordon came in sixth with Jr coming in seventh. Kasey Kahne was able to overcome the wreck he was involved in and all four guys came home in the top ten. Official standings: 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Kevin Harvick 3. Brad Keselowski 4. Paul Menard 5. Kasey Kahne 6. Jeff Gordon 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 8. Kyle Larson 9. Joey Logano 10. Clint Bowyer 11. Tony Stewart 12. Jamie McMurray 13. Kurt Busch 14. Matt Kenseth 15. Ryan Newman 16. Justin Allgaier 17. Danica Patrick 18. Juan Pablo Montoya 19. Trevor Bayne 20. Greg Biffle 21. Michael Annett 22. AJ Allmendinger 23. Carl Edwards 24. Casey Mears 25. Marcos Ambrose 26. David Gilliland 27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 28. Cole Whitt 29. Denny Hamlin 30. Austin Dillion 31. Aric Almirola 32. Reed Sorenson 33. Josh Wise 34. Brett Moffitt 35. Landon Cassill 36. JJ Yeley 37. Martin Truex Jr. 38. David Regan 39. David Stremme 40. Alex Bowman 41. Kyle Busch 42. Brian Vickers 43. Travis Kvapil We are going back to California to do a little road racing at Sonoma next Sunday...not an extreme fan of road races due to the fact that it is so hard to pass people and it isn't really known as a fast race. . . but Jeff Gordon was once known as the road race king. So if Gordon's good at it, I like it. Hoping for win number 2 of the season for team 24 next week.

Welcome back Daisy! I have missed you and seeing your post. This post brought a smile to my face. So glad to see you back and hope to see you around. Congrats on Kasey Lee...what a beautiful name. Of course, me being a NASCAR fan...thought of Kasey Kahne who is a driver for my favorite team. Sorry...that is just how my mind works. HA. I bet she is just a bundle of joy. I work with two year olds at the local day care and that is a fun stage. It can be challenging at times, but it is worth it. Enjoy every minute of it...they are only little for such a small time. Congrats again! Glad to see you back!

The FedEx Autism Speaks race at Dover has just finished...which means that that the regular season is now half over. Als means that the races will no longer be on FOX as this was the last race on Fox for the season. Next week's race at Pocono will be on TNT for the summer series. For the last time as TNT's contract ends and next year will move to NBC. Personally...I really wish they would keep the race on FOX. I know a lot of people feel differently...but that is OK. I like DW and the announcers on FOX and am sad to see them go also like it not being on cable. I watch the races at my parents' house who do have cable...where as I don't. With it on FOX I know I can watch it at my apartment if for some reason I don't make it out. But then again, that all is my opinion. I will watch the races no matter what channel it is on as long as it is on a channel my parents' cable has...but just like FOX better. Kyle Busch was on a pretty good streak going as he won the Truck race and the Nationwide Series race at Dover and was going for the three race sweep. He was doing pretty good until he got into Clint Bowyer who sent him into the wall and to the garage. Bowyer's spotter had told him he was clear when he wasn't...so it was the spotter's deal...but also feel that Bowyer should've saw it happen. But Bowyer did apologize after the race and did seem to feel bad for it. Kyle Busch had gotten mad at him after the accident and had went past his pit stop to go after Bowyer but ended up listening to his crew who told him to stop it and get back. Then AJ Allmendinger got into Greg Biffle or Ricky Stenhous Jr. and caused a pretty bad accident...especially for Stenhouse Jr. Luckily everyone was OK, but had red flagged the race. Then later Ryan Newman hit something and kicked it back for it to hit Jamie McMurray into his front bumper. It turned out to be part of the track that was falling apart...which red flagged the race. AGAIN. Red flagged the race for the crew members to fix the track. I was kinda disappointed in NASCAR that they wouldn't let Jamie Mac fix his car under red. I understand they have the rule that they can't fix their cars under red, but really? It was the track that damaged his car...their track. They did the same thing to Gordon in 2010 at Martinsville that costed him the win. I guess t hey did that to Gordon they should do it to everyone, but it would be nice that they would learn from their mistake back then and to fix it now. But I guess a rule is a rule. Gordon started the race really good and stuck to Jimmie Johnson through out the whole race...but when it mattered most, his crew fixed his car for the worse or something broke and he finished a disappointing 15th. Jimmie Johnson led the most laps and went on to win the race...his second in a row and it pretty much guarantees him a spot in the Chase. Which will make him the only driver to make it into all ten Chases. This also makes his nineth Dover race...think he has that monster tamed. LOL. Here is the official results: 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Brad Keselowski 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Clint Bowyer 5. Denny Hamlin 6. Martin Truex Jr. 7. Tony Stewart 8. Joey Logano 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10. Paul Menard 11. Kyle Larson 12. Aric Almirola 13. Jamie McMurray 14. Carl Edwards 15. Jeff Gordon 16. Marcos Ambrose 17. Kevin Harvick 18. Kurt Busch 19. Kasey Kahne 20. Austin Dillon 21. AJ Allmendinger 22. Brett Moffitt 23. Danica Patrick 24. Reed Sorenson 25. Casey Mears 26. Justin Allgaier 27. Cole Whitt 28. Josh Wise 29. David Gilliland 30. Blake Koch 31. Ryan Newman 32. Ryan Truex 33. Dave Blaney 34. Landon Cassill 35. Michael Annett 36. David Regen 37. David Stremme 38. Greg Biffle 39. JJ Yeley 40. Alex Bowman 41. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 42. Kyle Busch 43. Brian Vickers Well with Gordon's poor finish he is no longer the points leader as well...I believe he is two points behind Matt Kenseth. Onto Pocono next week...the triangle track. On TNT.