Garrett Duke

Well y'all, I got the best NASCAR news ever...well Ok perhaps not the best...well ok perhaps not news at all, but I thought I would let you know all the same... I have finally gone and done it! I have created my own NASCAR blog!!! Feel free to follow it or not, just thought I would share it with you. Just posted my first blog ever! NASCAR: A Fan's View

Well, I don't know how newsworthy this is since it has been rumored for a couple of months now, but Richard Childress has made the "news" official this past week. Childress is a car owner and had owned Dale Earnhardt Sr's car...Sr use to drive for Childress. Austin Dillion, Childress' grandson, will be racing for Richard Childress in the Sprint Cup this season...using the number three. The number three hasn't been used in Sprint Cup since Dale Earnhardt Sr had died in the closing laps of the 2001 Daytona 500... except I do believe Dale Jr drove it once for a promotional deal or some sort of thing...could be wrong. This seems to be an controversal topic in NASCAR since Dale Sr was so big and all. Personally, I don't really see what the big deal is that another driver is using the number three. It is an iconic number and probably always be associated with Dale Sr...I do get that. But NASCAR isn't like baseball or football where a team will retire a major player's number after he retires to respect all that he has done for their team, for the sport. Where as in baseball, football, hockey, or basketball there could be a lot of players with the same number, just a different team, NASCAR don't use the same number in different team, but ALL the drivers have a different number. You retire the number three for Dale Sr, where do you stop? He is not the only driver who has died too early...so would they retire their number too? Or how about the number 43 for Richard Petty...after all no one else will ever begin to compete with his two hundred wins... So I do agree with using the number three again, though don't know if I would give it to a kid as Dillion the first year in Cup. That is a big number to live up to and to be associated with. Am grateful that his car will be sponosered by Cheerios and will be yellow and not the black that Dale Sr drove. Smart move there. It will be interesting to see what Austin Dillion can do in a Cup car on a full schedule...as well as Kyle Larson who will be driving for Ganassi. . . So what y'all think of Dillion driving the number three? (Oh by the way...there is 70 more days til the Daytona 500. At this rate, don't think it will ever get here!!!)

"Come Back Song" Darius Rucker

Well not a whole lot of NASCAR news...but NASCAR has just bought Iowa's Speedway in Newton...Rusty Wallace had built it and had owned it and if I remember right, sold it. K&N series, Nationwide, and Truck Series have all ran there (along with others) and will continue to do so...but not Sprint Cup and it doesn't sound like NASCAR plans on bringing Sprint there. I really don't see them doing it in the near future...NASCAR would have to drop a track or something to make room with it...and the Iowa Speedway would need more roads, more stands, and the such in order to hold the top tier of NASCAR's racing. Being from Iowa, do have mixed emotions about it. Would be great to have a Sprint Cup race here in IOWA but at the same time, the track is under a mile long and really don't see any need for another short track on the Sprint Cup circuit. Bristol is the shortest track there is on the schedule and it is my favorite...but it has history and other factors to make it as big in popularity as it is. I'd be more for it if the Iowa track was at least a mile long or so. My opinion...of course. Though have heard from a few people who have gone there and heard everything positive about it so it must be a pretty good track. Hopefully one of these days will be able to go to a Nationwide Series race there... With that said...there is 86 MORE days til the Super Bowl of NASCAR...the Daytona 500!!!!!

I am so sorry to hear about your dad, MM. You all will be in my thoughts and prayers as you go through this. I hope he will get better soon. ((((HUGS))))

Welcome to Hazzardnet...from one Iowan to another. What ya know, I guess I am not the only Duke fan in Iowa after all.

Hope you have had a good birthday Hoss.

"Down the Road" Kenny Chesney with Mac McAnally Well the fact that this is Kenny Chesney...it shouldn't be a surprise to y'all, when I say that I love this song! Mac does a great job with his part as well. Can listen to Chesney's music all day and NEVER get tired of it. He has a way of making a bad day or a bad mood of mine a lil better. All I can say is, that this is one AWESOME song!

"Me Without You" Toby Mac

I am listening to Toby Mac's new album "Eye On It". Love this album, but then again I loved his other ones too. Very upbeat and positive. I can listen to this album over and over and never get tired of it.

To update my last post....Ricky Stenhouse Jr has won the Rookie of the year in the Sprint Cup series.

Well y'all...Homestead is now over as well as the 2013 NASCAR season. Talk about a wild race, a wild run through the entire season. As well as this race. Not a whole lot had happened other than a few cars hitting the wall and a couple of debris caution. Though there was a scary accident for Paul Menard when his rear caught on fire and blew the back tire off and luckily everyone was OK. Think the big incident happened on a restart w hen Jeff Gordon had a bad restart and Kyle Busch got into him. Which caused Matt Kenseth and JJ to get into each other. JJ went from sixth place to twenty-something. Though he was able to rebound and finish nine... Matt Kenseth started the race on the pole, best in practice, and led the most laps. He did everything he could to take that championship from Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth had finished second. Finished second to Denny Hamlin who was in need of a win after having a month off earlier this year due to an accident left him with a back injury. I am super excited and proud to announce that JIMMIE JOHNSON has won his SIXTH CHAMPIONSHIP of his NASCAR Sprint career. Mr. Five time has turned into Six Time or Six Pack! This is Jimmie Johnson's twelfth year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and his sixth championship. JJ is now batting .500!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also makes Rick Hendrick the winning car owner...giving Hendrick his eleventh championship. The most for all team owners! And he has Jeff Gordon to thank for all that. Gordon is the one who found him and brought him to Hendrick. Where Hendrick told Gordon to put his money where his mouth was...which was where Gordon came co-owner. FINAL RESULTS: 1. Denny Hamlin 2. Matt Kenseth 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4. Martin Truex Jr. 5. Clint Bowyer 6. Brad Keselowski 7. Kyle Busch 8. Joey Logano 9. Jimmie Johnson 10. Kevin Harvick 11. Jeff Gordon 12. Carl Edwards 13. Kasey Kahne 14. Elliot Sadler 15. Kyle Larson 16. Aric Almirola 17. Ryan Newman 18. Juan Pablo Montoya 19. Mark Martin 20. Danica Patrick 21. Kurt Busch 22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 23. Jeff Burton 24. Greg Biffle 25. Parker Kliergerman 26. Marcos Ambrose 27. David Gilliland 28. Casey Mears 29. David Ragen 30. Jamie McMurray 31. David Reutimann 32. JJ Yeley 33. Landon Cassill 34. Ken Shrader 35. Joe Nemechek 36. AJ Allmindinger 37. Travis Kvapil 38. Dave Blaney 39. Paul Menard 40. Trevor Bayne 41. Josh Wise 42. Tony Raines 43. Michael McDowell Truck Series Championship: MATT CRAFTON Truck rookie of the Year: RYAN BLANEY (Dave Blaney's son) Nationwide Series Championship: AUSTIN DILLON Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year: KYLE LARSON Sprint Cup Championship: JIMMIE JOHNSON Sprint Cup Rookie of the year: I don't know yet, but will keep you updated when I find out. I am willing to bet it will be Stenhouse Jr or Danica Patrick. TOP THIRTEEN POINTS: 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Matt Kenseth 3. Kevin Harvick 4. Kyle Busch 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 6. Jeff Gordon 7. Clint Bowyer 8. Joey Logano 9. Greg Biffle 10. Kurt Busch 11. Ryan Newman 12. Kasey Kahne 13. Carl Edwards 14. Brad Keselowski Top thirteen in points are the Chase drivers. Top ten in Chase will get to go to the Banquet they have in a few weeks. While Brad Keselowski finished fourteenth to earn the million dollars the first none chase driver earns. Points are unofficial until tomorrow when they will make it official after going over everything. And with that...the season is over and we have 98 more days until the Daytona five hundred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well as for my NASCAR race there has been four cautions so far, three for contact with wall, one for debri. Johnson is now sitting fourth and leading the points over Kenseth by 20 points who is now leading the race. Harvick has had a rough race thus far and is 56 (I think) points back of Johnson.

Sorry to say but Johnson, Kenseth, or Harvick is NOT in Austin, Hoss. Meaning you are definitely watching the WRONG race. Don't worry, I will make sure to let you know how the real race ends today. JK but will write a review after the race is over...

Well after thirty-five point races has led us to here. TODAY. Homestead Miami. The pre race show is on now on ESPN. The championship title is fight between three drivers. Jimmie Johnson who is first in points, Matt Kenseth who is 28 points behind JJ, and Kevin Harvick who is 34 points behind JJ. In order for JJ to win the race, he has to finish 23rd or better. 24th or better if he leads a lap. 25th or better if he leads the most lap. For Kenseth to win the race...he will need to lead the most laps, win the race, and have JJ finish 24th or worse. As for me, I am hoping JJ will go from Mr. five time to six pack...winning his sixth championship. How about you?

Well y'all...there is thirty-six point races in a NASCAR season. We are going into the thirty-sixth race at Homestead...all that hard work, drama, and excitement of this season has led us to HERE! Going into Homestead Jimmie Johnson has the lead in points by 27 points over Matt Kenseth. 34 points over Harvick. Pretty much all Johnson has to do is finish in the top twenty-three...and that is IF Matt Kenseth leads the most laps and wins the race. (By now, I bet y'all know who I want to win this...who I am rooting for!) Who all are you going for? Matt Kenseth is off to a good start as he has won the pole for the Ford Ecoburst race at Homestead...though Jimmie isn't far behind as he will be starting seventh. Official qualifying results: 1. Matt Kenseth 2. Kurt Busch 3. Joey Logano 4. Brad Keselowski 5. Denny Hamlin 6. Kevin Harvick 7. Jimmie Johnson 8. Martin Trues Jr. 9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 10. Elliot Sadler 11. Kyle Busch 12. Paul Menard 13. Kasey Kahne 14. Jeff Burton 15. Ryan Newman 16. Greg Biffle 17. Trevor Bayne 18. Carl Edwards 19. Aric Almirola 20. Kyle Larson 21. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 22. Mark Martin 23. Marcos Ambrose 24. Danica Patrick 25. Clint Bowyer 26. Jeff Gordon 27. Juan Pablo Montoya 28. Jamie McMurray 29. David Ragen 30. Parker Kligerman 31. David Gilliland 32. David Reutimann 33. Travis Kvapil 34. Michael McDowell 35. Josh Wise 36. AJ Allmendinger 37. JJ Yele 38. Dave Blaney 39. Landon Cassill 40. Casey Mears 41. Ken Shrader 42. Joe Nemechek 43. Tony Raines Well congrats Hoss on Ricky's great qualifying run. Don't know what went wrong with Jr or Gordon, but am not happy to see them starting all the way back there. Ah well...it is where they finish that counts. Hope they can at least get a top ten Sunday. Though Gordon got the win last year at Homestead...and am hoping for a repeat. As always I am looking forward to Sunday's race...and yet dreading it. Dreading it knowing that once the checkered flag drops I will have to wait 98 LONG days until Daytona! Anxious to see who gets crowned the champion (with hopes of it being you know who...) and yet don't want it to end. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate NASCAR's off season? This race means so much for different drivers. Some are going for the championship. Some are going for max points to get as far up in the Chase as they go. And there is quite the few drivers who are racing their last race with the team they have raced with for the past few years or more. Come Daytona a lot of teams will have different drivers racing for them. But I will go over that after the race or sometime next week. Right now, I am focused on Homestead...will keep you updated after the race as always. And do my best to keep you informed during the off season as well.

Well I am writing this post with a heavy heart today as I have spent this afternoon thinking of Trevor Bayne off and on all afternoon... Trevor Bayne has been diagnosed with MS. He has gone through extensive testing at the Mayo Clinic and has been given the OK to race this weekend at Homestead. I have read on Facebook where Bayne has said that he is currently not showing any symptoms of MS and feels good. Is at the best shape. And that he will continue to race this weekend and next year in the Nationwide Series. (He has raced a limited schedule in the Sprint Cup Series the past few years and I ASSUME he would continue, but don't know.) Trevor Bayne is only 22 years old...and had won the Daytona 500 (NASCAR's Superbowl!) at the age of twenty. I just can't imagine what he is going through. My thoughts and prayers are with Trevor and his family as they face this new difficult challenge. Did find it neat that in the article I read had quoted Trevor saying " hewill continue to trust God daily and know His plan for me is best." Takes a pretty big person to face what he is facing and still have such strong trust and faith like that.

Well at least someone was happy with it... Happy for you that Stenhouse Jr did well for you today. Gordon did well until the last restart and then went backwards. Ah well...still fifth or sixth in points. If he finishes in the top five, it will feel like a win for him. On the other hand... there is 104 more days until the Daytona 500!!!!!

Phoenix race is in the books and talk about a crazy race. It started from the beginning where Joey Logano got into Jimmie Johnson at the start of the race and sent Johnson back, though Johnson saved his car. Later on in the race, Carl Edwards got into the back of Jimmie Johnson and JJ almost spun out, but regained control of his car. Another story of the race was Matt Kenseth's continual struggle with his car which has separated him from Jimmie Johnson in points. Do believe there was eight cautions and one was with Danica Patrick who was the innocent victim of a wreck. Most cautions was out for people spinning. David Reutimann is lucky for all the safety devices NASCAR has as he had hit the wall HARD and flattened the rear of his car and he was able to walk away from it. Last caution was for debris that the camera did show...so at least there was a real reason for caution. Kevin Harvick led the most laps and at one point ran out of gas but was definitely able to recover from the pitfall. With one lap to go...Carl Edwards was leading the race and was expecting to do his victory backward flip that he does out from the window of his car, only on the LAST lap, he ran out of gas and the closer, Kevin Harvick came forward to win the race. His fourth win of the season.... FINAL RESULTS: 1. Kevin Harvick 2. Kasey Kahne 3. Jimmie Johnson 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr 5. Kurt Busch 6. Juan Pablo Montoya 7. Kyle Busch 8. Martin Truex Jr 9. Joey Logano 10. Ryan Newman 11. Brad Keselowski 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr 13. Greg Biffle 14. Jeff Gordon 15. Mark Martin 16. Paul Menard 17. Jeff Burton 18. Jamie McMurray 19. Aric Almirola 20. Clint Bowyer 21. Carl Edwards 22. Bobby Labonte 23. Matt Kenseth 24. David Gilliland 25. Elliot Sadler 26. Marcos Ambrose 27. Casey Mears 28. Denny Hamlin 29. JJ Yeley 30. Dave Blaney 31. Justin Allgaier 32. Michael McDowell 33. Danica Patrick 34. Timmy Hill 35. David Ragen 36. Josh Wise 37. Reed Sorenson 38. Joe Nemechek 39. David Reutimann 40. Cole Whitt 41. Travis Kvapil 42. Landon Cassill 43. Tony Raines Well heading into Homestead next weekend, the final race of the season, Matt Kenseth is now twenty-seven points behind Jimmie Johnson. Matt Kenseth will have to have ultimate point race. Pole, lead the most laps, win the race...and Jimmie Johnson finish 24th or worse. All Johnson has to do is finish in the top 23rd next weekend...otherwise if both JJ and Kenseth has horrible races, Harvick is still mathematically in the hunt in third place. So hard to believe that we are going into the last race of the season...personally, I am DREADING the off season! Already looking forward to the Daytona 500!

Thanks again Hoss...don't know what my deal is. Friday night comes and suddenly something comes up and I don't get to the computer...thanks for covering for me. Sorry to hear about Stenhouse...but it don't matter where you start, it matters where you end the race. Though I am super excited with how my guys have started...now if only they can end that way! In the truck series...Darrell Wallace Jr won his first race the other week. Seems like it has gone to his head or something...in final practice Thursday night he got in a wreck with another truck. To me it looks like Wallace Jr went down where there wasn't no room and got spun around. Apparently Wallace doesn't see it that way. He immediately walked to the other driver who was still in the truck and began yelling at him and then leaned in a couple of times into the guy's truck, looking to punch the other guy. They both got called into the NASCAR hauler, but have yet to hear if any punishments will be handed out. If it was in the race, I would say it was in the heat of the moment. Things are tense and what not. But in practice? NASCAR needs to step in and let 'em know that enough is enough already... Hopefully we won't see none of that tomorrow and all of our drivers will have a clean and safe race.

You are welcome, Roger...and thank you. Hoping the last two races will be good for both Gordon and Johnson...

Well the big story coming into today's race was the points...and leaving the race tonight, the big story will once again be the points. Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth continues to be strong. Carl Edwards started from the pole and led 38 laps...but ended the day short with a DNF with engine failure. Kyle Busch early on in the race hit the wall pretty hard, but was able to stay in the race and was able to race towards the front. Sadly Jeff Gordon had the same tire issues, but hit the wall harder and stayed behind the wall in his garage for a long time to work out all the damage...came back out with 73 laps or so to go. Anything to gain an extra point. Matt Kenseth, who came into the race tied with JJ for the lead, was strong today but did get caught speeding on pit road and had to do a drive through penalty. Though that didn't slow him down for too long as he was quick to race his way to the front. Jimmie Johnson had the most dominant car and has led the most laps today at Texas...and of course had to add drama to it with nineteen laps to go start complaining about something being wrong with the car. Jimmie Johnson led 255 of 334 laps today!!!!! 1. Jimmie Johnson 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr 3. Joey Logano 4. Matt Kenseth 5. Kasey Kahne 6. Brad Keselowski 7. Denny Hamlin 8. Kevin Harvick 9. Ryan Newman 10. Clint Bowyer 11. Mark Martin 12. Greg Biffle 13. Kyle Busch 14. Martin Truex Jr. 15. Paul Menard 16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17. Kurt Busch 18. Parker Kligerman 19. Elliot Sadler 20. Juan Pablo Montoya 21. Marcos Ambrose 22. Austin Dillon 23. Kyle Larson 24. Jeff Burton 25. Danica Patrick 26. David Gilliland 27. Aric Almirola 28. David Reutimann 29. Trevor Bayne 30. JJ Yeley 31. Jamie McMurray 32. Travis Kvapil 33. Casey Mears 34. Landon Cassill 35. Dave Blaney 36. Joe Nemechek 37. Carl Edwards 38. Jeff Gordon 39. Josh Wise 40. Bobby Labonte 41. Timmy Hill 42. David Ragen 43. Michael McDowell Well we now have two races to go...Phoenix and Homestead. Two races...Jimmie Johnson is now the leader in points with Matt Kenseth only seven points behind JJ. Bet y'all can guess who I want to WIN it...how about you?

Well Goodyear made some pretty bad tires for Texas...wouldn't be too proud of them if I were Goodyear. I will attempt to post a picture of Gordon's tires...hopefully it works. Gordon's shredded tire Sorry couldn't figure out how to post the picture on here...

You are welcome Roger. We are lap 89, I think, here at Texas and so far the ROTTEN tires are the big topic. So far tires have struck Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. Gordon is now in the garage working on his car. Bet y'all can guess who is NOT happy today...

Well Roger...you now got 51 more days. Are you ready?