NASCAR News

Big Stories of 2009

2009-05-27T22:37:00.004-04:00

Since it's the summer, and I'm already bored, I decided to write a blogpost... It's been forever!
Anyways, I'll go through the big stories of 2009 so far.

1) Tony Stewart get his first win as an owner. I think this is really big and it really says something about the team and what Tony has brought to the table. Haas CNC racing was a nobody in racing. Tony goes over there and right off the bat he's running well as well as Ryan Newman. Stewart Haas Racing finally got their first win at the All Star race with Tony. That was pretty cool. This past weekend was pretty funny with the whole "Billy Bad Butt" deal. Haha!

2) Jeremy Mayfield tests positive for drug test. This was a big shocker, and as most people do, when i first heard that I thought "Wow! Jeremy Mayfield doing cocaine, etc. Unbelievable!" It is still unclear what the WHOLE story is. As you know, there are two sides to every story. It is really turning into an ugly "he said, she said" type deal. Jeremy says the positive test was a result of mixing prescription medicine with an over the counter medicine (Claritin). Nascar says there is no way that that would result in a positive. Jeremy says NASCAR still has not told him what he tested positive for, while Nascar declares they have told him face to face. Who do you believe?
Some people are saying Nascar needs to go ahead and release the substance that Jeremy tested positive for to the public. They say it is just making Nascar look bad by with holding this information. As a result of this whole ordeal, Mayfield has hired a lawyer and they are considering taking legal action if necessary.
This also raises to question of whether or not Nascar should have a list of banned substances. Some drivers say yes (Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman) and some say no (Kasey Kahne). As Kasey put it in an interview the other day "I'm healthy. I eat normal food and drink water and a little bit of Budweiser and that's about it so I'm fine the way it is." haha!

3) Joey Logano. I don't wanna jump the gun or jinx Joey, but he is really starting to improve...BIGTIME! At the start of the season he was struggling, but now as we are going to some of these tracks for the second time, he is really starting to show what he has learned...and it's obviously a lot! He's starting to live up to all the hype!

4) Dale Earnhardt Jr. Where do I start? It has just been bad race after bad race for Jr. From pit road mistakes to just not running well, he has truly experienced everything. Some say it is Tony Eury Jr, his crew chief. I don't know who the blame lies on becasue i don't follow Dale Jr that closely, but something is up and if I were Rick Hendrick, there would be MAJOR changes to that team.
During the 600 I heard the announcers, who were discussing this topic, say that Jr's team is running something different or doing something different than the other three Hendrick teams. Well, whatever they're doing, I'd stop it! It's obviously not working. There comes a point when you have to face facts. The other three teams (the #5 of Mark Martin, the #24 of Jeff Gordon, and the #48 of Jimmie Johnson) have all won at least one race a piece. Mark's already won two and his first season isn't even over. Dale's only won one so far in the 2 seasons he has been with Hendrick. It's hard to deny Hendrick's success with the three teams, not to mention the satellite teams (Stewart-Haas). The only answer is Dale Earnhardt Jr. has GOT to step up.

Photos:

Tony Stewart- Rusty Jarrett/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Jeremy Mayfield- Jerry Markland/ Getty Images for NASCAR

Joey Logano- John Harrelson/ Getty Images

Joe Gibbs' Drivers

2008-08-06T19:12:00.007-04:00

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is a very talented 23 year old driver who started racing at the age of 13. You've probably heard of Kyle Busch by now and winning is not new to him. From the time Kyle was introduced to cars his parents instilled in him 2 very valuable lessons: School work always came first and Kyle was responsible for working on, repairing, and paying for his own cars. He quickly learned that he had to be careful on the track or otherwise he might wreck and not race the next weekend. From 1999 to 2001, Kyle Busch racked up more than 65 (!) wins in legends cars and won two championships. He moved on to Late Models and won 10 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2002 he graduated high school a year early with honors. At 16, he ran his first NASCAR race in the Craftsman truck series for Roush Racing. He ran well but had to stop racing after six starts, because NASCAR put a rule into place that said you have to be 18 years of age to race in any of the top three NASCAR series. As soon as he was 18, he immediately started racing in NASCAR again, but this time up one level, in the Nationwide Series. He won 5 races which is the most any rookie has won. In 2005 he moved up to the Sprint Cup Series driving for Rick Hendrick. He set two records for youngest pole winner and youngest race winner. In 2007, he won the first ever Car Of Tomorrow race at Bristol. For 2008, Kyle signed with Joe Gibbs Racing. He replaced J.J. Yeley in the #18 car. Kyle has won 7 times this year in NASCAR Sprint cup Series, 6 times in Nationwide Series, and twice in the Craftsman Truck Series. He currently leads the Sprint Cup Series in points with a 176 point lead. Because Kyle is so well known he has many nicknames such as, Rowdy Busch, Wild Thang, and Shrub. People often compare him to the late Dale Earnhardt.

Joey Logano

Joey Logano is another driver that Joe Gibbs has successfully chosen to possibly be the face of their organization. He is only 18 years old but people say he acts way older. Joey got his start in quarter midgets at only 6 years old! He won championships is almost every thing he raced. At 13 He and his family moved to Georgia where he raced in the GA Late Models. He raced many places in Georgia including Albany and won several races. In 2005, Joey signed a development deal with Joe Gibbs Racing. He then started racing the Hooters Pro Cup Series at just 15. In just his second start in that series, he won! In 2007, he raced in the Nascar Busch East Series, where he won seven races and rookie of the year. In 2008 he moved to the Nationwide series racing the #20. He had to wait until after his birthday, May 24, so he would be 18. He moved into a highly successful car that has now won with 4 different drivers. Joey got great hype coming in. In his first start, he finished sixth. In a post race interview he said, “Well, sixth ain’t nothing in my book.” That shows how competitive he is. He won his first Nationwide race at Kentucky Speedway in just his 3^rd start! He runs a limited schedule in Nationwide. He continues to be successful in the Nationwide Series, running a limited schedule. Team owner, Joe Gibbs has even said that he might race a few races in Sprint Cup later on this year. Since Tony Stewart announced he was leaving JGR, there has been much speculation that Joey could move up to Sprint Cup replacing Tony in the #20. Joey has been called “The Real Deal” by Mark Martin and his famous nickname is “Sliced Bread” because he is the next best thing since sliced bread. Joey has an incredible career ahead of him, and I hope he does get the #20 ride next year!

tag: Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Nascar, Toyota, Nascar Nationwide Series, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano

My Trip to the Coke Zero 400

2008-07-22T21:09:00.017-04:00

Getting There

This past 4th of July weekend my dad took me down to Daytona to see the Coke Zero 400, formerly known as the Pepsi 400. We had a great time. We woke up early Saturday and left about 5 AM. that whole week i was busy getting information and maps and the schedule of events that would be taking place so we would know when and where to be.

Sprint Fanzone

In addition to tickets for the race, my dad bought us Sprint Fanzone Tickets, which were amazing. Gates for grandstands opened at 2, while the Sprint Fanzone opened at 1. We were pushed for time. For some odd reason, they had us park on the Backstretch, so once we got to the stands we had to take a tram to the Frontstretch, then go through the line for the Sprint Fanzone, and go into the "Turn 4 Tunnel." It's cool going down in there, knowing the race track is above you.

The Interviews

We walked all through the infield and finally got to the Sprint Fanzone just as they they did the interview was, only a few fans got to ask questions. There was a guy up on the stage with Kasey that was mainly asking the questions. And of course it was mostly questions the media asks him 24/7. One of the questions that was asked by a fan was did Kasey have a Dodge Challenger (Those are my favorite cars. I want one when I turn 16!!) Kasey said there was one at the shop that they gave him to drive and he liked them. Another fan asked him what some of his hobbies were. He said that during the season he likes to stay at home and go to the lake that he lives very close t were announcing, "Welcome Budweiser Racing driver Kasey Kahne!!!" If we had stopped to buy a t- shirt or something like that, we would have missed my favorite driver! It was amazing though. And yes, he is just as cute in person as he is on tv! There were alot more people in the Fanzone than I thought there would be. The wayo, and in the off season, he likes to be in the cold and go skiing and ride the snow mobile. Another fan asked Kasey if he had any heroes or favorite drivers. Everybody started yelling out names for him to pick ( Bill Elliott and others) and one guy up front yells, "YOURSELF!" Everybody started laughing and Kasey said, "No, I'm long from my favorite driver, but I would say... I grew up you know, Sprint cars and Indy Cars and Nascar, I watched every one of em and you know I kinda had my favorite driver in each one and it's tough to say, I mean the guy...ugh I don't know I don't wanna say him but...let me think...maybe Mario Andretti. Mario Andretti is probably my favorite all-time driver. What he's done and what he did and how he raced everything in dirt, pavement, Indy cars, Nascars, Sprint cars. He raced everything he could and he won in every single car he could. To me that was a great driver and probably my favorite." I'm pretty sure the driver he was referring to first, that he didn't want to say, was Jeff Gordon. I've heard him say many times that that is his favorite driver. He probably just didn't want to lose any fans. The interview didn't last very long, only about 10 minutes. He was quickly whisked away to an engineers meeting. He rode off in a golf cart and was on the opposite side, so I didn't get to touch his hand. We also saw interviews with Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya, and David Ragan.

Garage and Inspection

After Kasey's interview, we toured the garage. Of course, since it was an impound race, nothing was going on. When we got to Kasey's, there were girls everywhere. I had to squeeze in to get a picture. Fortunately, Kasey's garage window slot was open, so I got to take a good picture without the glare from the window, even though the car cover was on the car. There was Sharpie writing all over the window. "Kasey, will you marry me?, We love you, Kasey!", was cleverly written backwards, so when he was in the garage and viewing the window from the opposite side, he could read it. Those were just two of the hundreds of messages. I didn't sign it, though now I'm wishing I did. We rested a while. (It was incredibly hot!)and then went to inspection. That was one of my favorite things. one of the Nascar Officials came over and was talking to the guy next to me. He talked about his schedule, how often he was gone, what it was like to be an official, and the rules about the height and weight of the car. It was cool to get an "insider's" view on their job. Before, I had viewed officials as just handing down penalties and not really caring about the teams, but after hearing what he said, my opinion changed 100%. He was really nice. He was easy to talk to and seemed easy to get along with.

The Track

After inspection, we went to Gatorade Victory lane. I got my picture taken at the entrance to that. Then, we went to the track. We got to walk in the grass and actually go out on the track. It was indescribable. Words can't explain it. All the history that track has...to think about all the drivers who have raced there...it's just incredible. the track is so steep. VERY STEEP! The tv shows nothing. It looks flat, but it was a climb. We went to the Start/Finish line. I brought my Sharpie, so I could sign it. There were alot of people signing. It was hard to find room, but finally we did. We signed two blocks from the wall. It was cool. Knowing your signature is on the Start/Finish line at Daytona?! That's awesome! I got to see the SAFER Barrier walls. That's pretty cool seeing today's technology up close.

After that we just sat and watched the pre-race activities. Lady Antebellum performed a concert. They sounded great. I love them. Speaking of concerts, Kevin Costner performed a concert. He was pretty good. It was cool seeing an actor there. With Nascar, you get a little bit of everything, and that's what I love!

The Race

It was finally time for the race to start, and we found our seats. The racing was great. Kasey started 41st, but came back to finish 7th. Dale Jr. led for a while, and of course, most people were cheering when he took the lead. There at the end though, Kasey had some choice words for Jr. as did Kenny, Kasey's crew chief. Overall, it was a great race. Even though I would have preferred Carl Edwards to win over Kyle Busch, it was still cool to see Kyle win his 6th race of the season. This was Kyle's first Daytona win, so it was good to be a part of that history.

Even though I didn't get to meet Kasey, I did get very close to him, and I got to see him live and in person. Visiting Victory Lane, walking the track, and seeing a great race were only a few of the fun things I got to experience. It was incredible! It was definitely the best highlight of my summer!!

tag: Kasey Kahne, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Coke Zero 400, Lady Antebellum, Kevin Costner, Carl Edwards, Victory Lane, Inspection, Nascar, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Ragan, Jeff Burton, Sprint Fanzone,

Kasey Kahne in Victory Lane!! (part 2)

2008-05-26T12:02:00.008-04:00

Winning the Coca-Cola 600 is such a hard task. But it proved to be quite easy for Kasey Kahne, who won the race with more than a 5 second lead over second place Greg Biffle. The Coke 600 is the longest race of the year, 400 laps or 600 miles. Kyle Busch won the pole with Kasey Kahne starting 2nd. Kasey is still riding a huge wave of momentum from last weekend's win in the All-Star Race. when the Green flag fell, Kasey Kahne started losing positions quickly, dropping back to about 8th or 9th place. I started to get worried that this might be a long night, but then remembered that this is 600 miles, and you have to go through the transition from day to night. The race starts at 5 and ends at 10, so the track cools down alot. When you first start out, you want your car to be a bit loose, so that when it does get night time it will tighten up.

The Endurance Race

The first hundred laps looked like it was shaping up to be somewhat like the All-Star Race, but then we started to see the cautions we predicted. We saw several guys who led that looked like they could end up competing for the win. Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all looked like they could win.

Bad Luck Strikes the Leaders

I was hoping that Brian Vickers would have a good run. He is a pretty good driver. They are just one of those teams that needs some luck on their side. He led for a while, and then was running 2nd when all of a sudden, the left rear tire just flew off. It was pretty funny the way the tire went. It rolled and bounced. I thought it was gonna hit an ambulance, but it narrowly missed it and bounced over the fence into an infield camping ground. I wonder what those people thought. Security came and took the tire to look at it to see exactly what happened.
Dale Jr. was another guy that looked very competitive. He likes to run right up against the wall every lap. He had a flat tire go down and smacked the wall. Then J.J. Yeley ran right into the back of him. Dale Jr. and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. were smart about it though. They did not want to go a lap down, so they came onto pit road and fixed part of it. They went back on the track (this is still under caution), so they would not lose a lap. Then when they came back around, they sped on pit road in order to make sure they would have enough time to fix the car. They figured if they sped, the only penalty they would get would be to start at the back of the pack, which they were already gonna have to do. It almost came back to bite them though. NASCAR almost penalized him for endangering public safety crews, but after further review NASCAR rescinded the penalty stating that Jr. gave plenty of room. Jr. ended up finishing 5th, so it wasn't that bad.
Kurt Busch led for a while, but he also hit the wall. Kyle Busch was another guy that was having problems. Something was wrong with his battery, but they fixed that, and he was a contender there at the end. Jimmie Johnson also ran very well, but he blew an engine, so that ended his night.
At one of the restarts, Tony Stewart was 1st with Kasey Kahne 2nd. Tony for some reason slowed down a little bit, and that caused a chain reaction. When they replayed it, you could clearly see the accordion effect. They stacked up and about mid pack, they started crashing. That brought out the caution and some of the guys in the back went on to pit road to top off with fuel. The leaders stayed out though, because they had just had a caution and didn't want to give up track position. That left us to wonder if maybe some of the guys in the back would try stretch it out and make it on fuel. These would be guys like Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards, who hadn't run well all night but might end up winning this thing. Alot of the guys who were good at some point in the race, had trouble.

The Finish

When they finally did get back going, it was somewhere around 60 laps to go. We knew the leaders would have make a green flag pit stop. They would only need about 3 seconds of fuel. This made me worried. On the last green flag stop, the pit crew cannot make any mistakes. This pit stop determines whether you win the race or not. Kasey was one of the first to hit pit road. He got 6 seconds of fuel. Tony Stewart, who was still leading, got about 3 seconds, so at that point, everyone figured Kasey's night was over. I was praying for a caution or for something to happen to Tony. Kasey was about 5 seconds behind Tony. Then with two laps to go, our miracle came. They started screaming, "Tony's got problems! Tony's got problems!!" That's when I knew Kasey was gonna win. Kasey did win with a huge lead. Tony had a flat tire. As for those guys who topped off with fuel on the last lap, Carl Edwards was the only one to risk it. He ran out of fuel, but ended up 9th. This is Kasey's first points race win in 52 races. He joins a list of greats, because he is only the 6th driver ever to win both the All-Star Race and the Coke 600. This list includes Darrell Waltrip, Davey Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson. Kasey's comment on this: "That's probably the coolest thing I've ever done if I'm on that same list as those guys." If this is any indication of Kasey's potential, he has a bright future ahead of him!

tag: Kasey Kahne, Gillett Evernham Motorsport, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nascar, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson, Coca-Cola 600, 2008 Sprint All-Star Race, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch

Kasey Kahne in Victory Lane!! (part 1)

2008-05-25T22:57:00.009-04:00

I'm super excited!! Let me go on and say it...Kasey Kahne won the All-Star Race last week and about 30 Minutes ago he won the Coca-Cola 600!! Woo-Hoo! They are so great right now!!

All-Star Ra ce Format

The Sprint All-Star Race last weekend was at Charlotte. The format is complicated and changes about every year. This race is NOT a points race. T his is just a fun race for a million dollars. They have a short race right before the All-Star race called the Sprint Showdown. This is for the drivers who did not qualify for the All-Star Race. In order to qualify for the All-Star race, you have to have either 1) won a race in 2007 or so far in 2008 or 2)you have to have won an All-Star race. But those aren't the only ways, there are two more. You have to finish first or second in the showdown or get voted in by the fans. They don't announce the fan-vote winner until after the showdown. Once the All-Star race starts, you race 4 25-lap segments. After the 2nd segment, they give you a 10 minute break to work on the car. Then, you go back and race the last two segments.

Kasey Wins Fan vote

Now for the Showdown. I had high hopes for Elliott Sadler. He started on the pole, but at lap 7, AJ Allmendinger put him into the wall. That ended Elliott's night,which was really sad. All was well for Allmendinger, however, because he went on to win the Showdown. After the Showdown, AJ Allmendinger said, "I feel like I won the Daytona 500!" Sam Hornish Jr. finished second, which was a great run by him.
The race was alright for Kasey. He ended up finishing 5th, so his only hope for getting into the real race was the fan-vote. Kasey fans, including myself, stepped up to the task and voted Kasey in!! I think I alone voted probably a hundred times or more! What was interesting though was that Dale Earnhardt Jr. told his fans to vote for Elliot Sadler, so everybody expected him to win, but obviously they didn't vote enough. I was watching a Carl Edwards interview. And what was funny was that he said, "So Kasey got voted in by the fans...well...just goes to show you what a bunch of women can do for ya." It was quite funny.

Kasey IS an All-Star

AJ Allmendinger, Sam Hornish Jr., and Kasey Kahne transferred into the All-Star Race starting 22nd, 23rd, and 24th respectively. Kasey was very good in the All-Star race. I thought the race was interesting, but that may be because Kasey was passing people or leading. There were no cautions except for the cautions ending the segments. Nobody crashed. The final call, that proved to be the winning one, was when Kenny Francis, Kasey's crew chief, elected to take no tires, only fuel in order to get Kasey track position. Kasey and Jimmie Johnson were the only ones to do that, the rest took two tires. This didn't work so well for Jimmie, but worked great for Kasey. Kasey took the lead with about 15 laps to go, and I was praying that he could keep the lead. Greg Bifle (who took two tires) came close one time, but he decided to wait, because he thought he would have time later. That wasn't so. Kasey took the checkered flag. I was screaming. Kasey was screaming on the radio. He was so excited. I thought I might cry. It was such a great race. Everybody was in shock that no tires prevailed over two. It was a great night. Kasey didn't even make the race, gets voted in by the fans, starts last, and still wins!! Kasey is the first driver to get voted in by the fans and win the All-Star Race. It was great. In all with the Showdown winnings, Kasey Kahne won $1,047,000!! I'll be back tomorrow with a rundown of the Coke 600.

tag: Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Nascar, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, 2008 Sprint All-Star Race, Coca-Cola 600, Kenny Francis

Funniest NASCAR Commercials

2008-03-04T20:11:00.005-05:00

I thought I'd make a post about my favorite Nascar commercials. The Daytona 500 was a couple of weeks ago, and alot of commercials premiered during that time. But many have aired since then. Nascar commercials are great. People often compare our commercials to the Super Bowl commercials. Super Bowl commercials are funny, but they are missing something.....THE PLAYERS!!! Most of the Nascar commercials star the drivers, which is good for the tv companies because it keeps the fans viewed in during the commercial breaks. They are very funny because these drivers aren't actors so seeing them act is cool. Because I'm sort of new to Nascar, I've tried to talk to some people who have been watching it for a longer time to get some of their favorites. Some of my favorite commercials are the ones starring Michael Waltrip and Kasey Kahne. The ones about Michael Waltrip spotlight his terrible season last year. On the other hand, all the Kasey Kahne/Allstate commercials spotlight his cuteness.

The best commercial I think I have EVER seen is this one. This is Kasey Kahne's brand new commercial that just aired Sunday. It is starring the Allstate girls of course.

Here are the some Michael Waltrip commercials.

This is also one of my favorites. This is a commercial of Jimmie bragging to Elliot Sadler about winning the championship.

Of course there are many more great commercials. but these are just a few of them.

tag: Kasey Kahne, commercial, Allstate, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler, Jimmie Johnson

1st Victory in Two Years for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2008-02-13T10:14:00.008-05:00

Bud Shootout

Well last Saturday was the 2008 Bud Shootout. It was filled with lots of good racing. Before I start talking about the race, I would like to talk about one of the practices that happened before the race got started. The final practice for the Bud Shootout was Friday night. It was jam packed with action. First it started off with Clint Bowyer spinning out Ryan Newman. That took out Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Ryan. So with the last practice, they had to pull out a new car which they had no driving time with. Then Tony Stewart tried to squeeze in next to the wall and Kurt Busch making it three-wide. There wasn't enough room, so they wrecked. It wasn't that bad though. Well when they were headed to pit road, Kurt started ramming into the side of Tony Stewart. They were immediately called to the "Oval Office", that's the NASCAR hauler. They were still bickering about it, and Tony allegedly threw a punch at Kurt. Anyway, they let them go and told them they would meet in the morning after everything had cooled down. The final punishment was both of them were put on a 6 week probation. And let's not forget this isn't the first ontrack confrontation they have had. Remember Bristol? lets just say that these two aren't the best of friends

Now for the actual race. It was great racing. I wasn't too pleased with Kasey Kahne. Absolutely no one would draft with him. They would shuffle him around until he was in the middle, and then no one would draft with him so he dropped to the back. It was very frustrating. I was rooting for Dale Jr. to win or Tony Stewart. Both of those would have been memorable. For Tony it would have meant that he won the Bud Shootout on his first try with Toyota. That ould have been huge for Toyota. On the other hand, for Dale Earnhardt Jr., it would have been even bigger. Dale Jr. did win. I was so excited for him. That was big. It was his first race with Hendrick Motorsports. Wow that right there says how great that team is. To be able to hire a new driver and then that driver to win "right outta the box"...that was great. He had been with the company his father founded, but left at the end of last season because of he and his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt. I know that was tough for him, but man did it pay off. It was emotional to see him whenever he came to victory lane. Rick Hendrick was there. Everyone was there. It was cool. He was grinnin' from ear to ear. That is the first time we have seen a true smile on his face in a LONG time. They all talk about "Oh, I'm excited to be driving with this team...we're gonna have a great season.", but they say it with the dullest faces. This was amazing. I know he was happy. This was his first win since the middle of 2006. Let's not forget how he got the win Saturday night though. His teammate Jimmie Johnson bumped him twice, which was just enough to slide past Tony Stewart for the win. Hendrick Motorsports will be even better than last year.

tag: Kasey Kahne, Hendrick Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nascar, Rick Hendricks, Daytona, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, 2008 Bud Shootout

NASCAR Changes in 2008

2008-01-29T17:42:00.000-05:00

Changes for 2008

There are a lot of changes coming up for the 2008 season. I thought I'd make a list of some of the changes, since Daytona is only a couple of weeks away.

1) Both of the top 2 Nascar series got name changes. The Nascar Nextel Cup Series is now the Nascar Sprint Cup series. The Busch series is now the Nationwide series.

2) There are A LOT of team changes! Definitely the biggest change is Dale Jr. leaving DEI, the company his father started, going to Hendrick Motorsports. With him going to HMS, that meant somebody had to go. Unfortunately that person was Kyle Busch, which I think was a major mistake on Rick Hendricks part.

3) Of course there are just as many or more sponsor changes. The biggest one would be Budweiser leaving Dale Earnhardt Jr. They chose to sponsor my boy, Kasey Kahne! Elliot Sadler, Kasey's teammate also has a new sponsor deal going on. Instead of just one primary sponsor, he will have what is called a tri-mary sponsor, with Best Buy, Stanley Tools, and McDonald's on the hood at different races. Amp Energy Drink will sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the most part. Now of course there are others, but I won't go into detail about that.

4) Joe Gibbs Racing is changing to Toyota! This was a big shocker when it was first announced. Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and now Kyle Busch are all apart of this team. At first the question was, how will they do? Toyotas didn't do too hot last year, but after the first couple of test sessions, it was clear that changing to Toyota wouldn't be a problem for their team. Kyle Busch is at the top of the speed charts. This guy is so talented. He is driving a Toyota for the first time, and this is his first year with JGR. I think he is out to tell the world that Rick Hendrick made a mistake by firing him!

5) One rule that Nascar announced this year is that all the cars outside the top 35 (aka Go or Go Home Cars) will qualify together at the end of qualifying. It used to be where you drew a number, and if you were lucky you got to go last, meaning that if you were outside the top 35, and you drew to go 1st, you were basically guaranteed a ticket headed home. I personally don't like this rule. The folks outside the top 35 now have a better chance at getting the pole, and I don't think that's right. But I did agree that something needed to be done for them. For the drivers inside the top 35, they will continue to do the draw thing. Now some of you may be asking why you would want to go last. Well when you go last (later in the day), the track has cooled down. Sometimes not very much, sometimes significantly, depending on the weather and when qualifying is. So to put it simply: the cooler the track is, the more grip you have, the faster you go.

Now those are basically the only changes in Nascar. If I think of any more I will put them on here.

tag: Kasey Kahne, Nascar, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendricks, Toyota, Elliott Sadler, Sponsor, Daytona, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Nascar Nationwide Series

Kasey Kahne being Sued

2007-12-19T09:24:00.000-05:00

Kasey Kahne Being Sued

We all know the Nascar season is over, but that doesn't mean the drama stops. I am fired up about this incident. Here is the story:

At Homestead, the last race, Kasey Kahne came back from practice. He was headed back to his Motor Home in the lot. Of course it was under security. Well, there was a security guard standing by the gate. Supposedly he was told to not let ANYONE in without their credentials. Kasey Kahne was on a golf cart and tried to go in the gate. The security guard wouldn't let him and told him he needed his credentials. Kasey Kahne didn't have the credentials and said that he didn't need them because he was a driver. After the security guard wouldn't let him through, Kasey got out of the golf cart and tried to walk through. The security guard was in the way and would not move. Kasey allegedly then pushed him to the ground. "One of the occupants of the vehicle wearing a bright-colored jumpsuit became belligerent and refused to produce ID,'' Hutchinson said in his police report. There were officers that were standing near by who witnessed the incident. They quickly stopped him. He was arrested later that day, but was released on the condition that he appear in court. The security guard filed a lawsuit against him Monday. The report said that he has not been to work since the incident because of the minor bruises and abrasions. He is suing Kasey Kahne for more than $15,000 for "severe physical damages." Kasey Kahne is due in court on January 8 on charges of misdemeanor battery. The maximum sentence for this act is 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Kasey had no comment, but Rick Russell, president of Gillett Evernham Motorsports, said the team supports its driver.

Okay here is my take on this whole ordeal. I think this is ridiculous. The security guard's name is Archibald Hutchinson. He is 62 years old. At first it was just bruises, now, he is saying he has back problems and has a tear in his lumbar spine. He apparently had been letting other drivers through without their credentials. His boss threatened to fire him if he didn't follow directions. That is when Kahne showed up and this whole incident got started. I believe Kasey and Kale's story. (Kale is Kasey's brother.) Kale says when Kasey tried to walk through the gate, the guard put his hands on Kasey. Kasey pushed Archibald's hands off of him and that is when Archibald Hutchinson fell down. I don't think Kasey would have done all the things this guy said he did. Everybody says this is not the Kasey that they all know. I know Kasey is ready for things to just be normal again. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a repeat of last year. (Remember back to the cheating scandal that ruined the 2007 season.) But I don't think this will be anything, although the media is making it out to be.
tag: Kasey Kahne, Kale Kahne, Lawsuit, Kasey Kahne Sued, Gillett Evernham Motorsport, Security guard, Archibald Hutchinson, Nascar

The best Christmas gifts for your NASCAR Fan

2007-11-28T13:43:00.000-05:00

I am making a list of all the gifts I as a NASCAR fan would like. If you have a NASCAR fanatic in your family this is the list to look at! You can click on the link to take you to the page where to buy it at.

5. Always a great gift for a nascar fan is their favorite driver gear. As long as you know what driver they like, you are set to go. they have EVERYTHING. From toothbushes to recliners, refrigeraters to gumball machines, socks to laptop skins, they truly have ANYTHING!

4. One game I really want is a steering wheel game. You plug it into the t.v. and choose you car, number, and everything. then you play as if you were in the real race. It is a little bit expensive at $50 at this web site, but I have seen it in Target for less.

3. NASCAR Trackpass.
This is a service only available on nascar.com. It is a really cool thing that lets you listen in on the drivers and the crew chief. It lets you track your driver, which is a must have because we all know the announcers never talk about anybody until they wreck. They have the scanner, PitCommand, and RaceView. All of them are really cool. They run from $30-$80 a year.

2. NASCAR Tickets!
What could be better than tickets to a NASCAR race? I personally would like to go the Daytona 500, but any race is fine to buy tickets at. This will sure make your fan very happy!

1. NASCAR ride along
The only thing better than tickets to a nascar race is tickets to a NASCAR race AND tickets for the Richard Petty Driving Experience. This is the best gift of all. You get to ride OR drive a real racecar! How cool is that?! You must reserve your seat. and i will warn tickets are expensive but at this time of year they are on sale. They have a sale going on now where tickets for a ride-along are only $59, so if this is what you want you better get it now! Regular prices are pretty expensive. For example at Atlanta Motor Speedway tickets range from $399-$2,599. But once they open this present up it will be something they will never forget. this will truly be the ride of a lifetime.

Johnson Secures Championship Title

2007-11-21T20:47:00.000-05:00

Johnson Secures Championship Title

Sunday's race in Homestead started off with Jimmie Johnson having to finish 19th or better, which is not that hard for that team. They laid back most of the race. They didn't push it. All they wanted to do was finish the race to tie down the championship. They ran 6th-10th most of the day. I'm very happy for them. They finished 7th. They had pretty good pit stops. Everything was in line for them to win it. They deserved it. They earned it. Jeff Gordon finished 2nd in the points. He was out 77 points...the largest in Chase history. Jeff Gordon ran very good during the chase. Jeff Gordon and his team earned more points during the chase than any of the other chase winners when they won. Despite all this hard effort, it was his teammate who was a tad bit better and ended up walking away with the trophy. Chandra Johnson, Jimmie's wife, was crying after he crossed the finish line. Chad Knaus, Jimmie's crew chief, walked over and hugged her. It really shows they are all family. They seemed like they were all in a dream. This is the second Championship they have won in a row. Right after he crossed the finish line, he screamed over the radio, "We are gonna tear it up tonight!!", so I'm sure they had a huge party Sunday night. they are already thinking of next year and winning another championship. Chad Knaus said over the radio, "I can't wait for Daytona."

tag: NASCAR, Teammates, Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, Homestead, Jeff Gordon, Chad Knaus

Season Finale in Homestead

2007-11-20T10:19:00.000-05:00

Season Finale in Homestead

Okay, let me first say I'm very sad to see the season come to an end. I'm kinda happy though. I root for Kasey Kahne, and that team needed to get the season over with. They have been running so bad the whole year. It seemed like they were on the right track there for a while, but Sunday's race was totally opposite. He finished 24th. His teammate, Elliott Sadler, finished 38th after hitting the wall. Their new teammate, open-wheeler Patrick Carpentier, finished 40th. There was some hope for Kasey early on because he did start 3rd, but then it went downhill from there.

Now for the rest of the field. Jimmie Johnson started on the pole. He made sure he lead the first lap to get the extra 5 bonus points. Then he floated back and just drove. As for Dale Earnhardt Jr., it was just another disappointing Sunday. He brought out the first caution. The drivers had to use the access road in order to go to pit road. All the sand, grit, and debris was blown onto the access road. The access road is not pit road, so they are not under mandatory speed, so they go really fast. As you can imagine, Debris + High Speeds = Trouble! As he was coming onto pit road he ran off the access road, but then got back in line. He was then tapped from behind by Kyle Busch, which made him spin. Patrick Carpentier was in this too. Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove back on the track instead of going on down pit road, so of course, NASCAR penalized him for a commitment cone violation. He had to go back down pit road because of this. But the fun wasn't over yet. Just as they got the green flag and were about to go, Jeff Burton got into the back of Dale Jr., which made him spin. It just wasn't Jr.'s day at all. He has had a ROUGH season, and I know he is ready to get to Hendrick Motorsports to start a new chapter of his career.
However, this was a huge break for most of the field, because they started in front of the leader Matt Kenseth. This gave them the chance to drive around and get at the end of the longest line. Again this week, Matt Kenseth lead a lot of the laps. He ended up winning the race.
Johnny Sauter spinned, and was out of the race. He needed to have a good race Sunday. He does not have a ride for 2008, so he needed a good race to prove to other owners what he is capable of doing.
At some point during the race, when Reed Sorenson was pitting, the jack man didn't let the jack down, so Reed drove off with the jack still under him. it stayed under him for a couple of seconds, but then went flying off. It was very fortunate that it didn't hit anybody. That could have done some major damage to somebody. It was unbelievable how fast it flew off. It is sad to see the season through with, but I know many of the drivers needed this break.

tag: NASCAR, driver, cars, Hendrick Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne

Hendrick Domination

2007-11-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

Hendrick the Invincible Team

Hendrick Motorsports has dominated Nascar all season. It is plain to see they know a lot more about the Car Of Tomorrow, or the COT, than the other teams. There are 36 races this season and we have completed 35. The last race is at Homestead. Of the 35 races, the Hendrick group has won 18 of the races...almost half of the races. Kyle Busch, who leaves Hendrick next year, won the first COT race, which tells us the Hendrick guys have done their homework on this new car. Of those 18 wins, Jimmie Johnson has won 10 of them. He has amazing talent. Jeff Gordon has only won 6 this year. Jeff Gordon, however, has won the most poles this season with 10 poles. He was very good early on, but lately, it has been Jimmie who has been impressing us. Jimmie has won the last four races. It seems like nothing they do could possibly go wrong. It is not surprising who is leading the championship points. Jimmie Johnson is leading with Jeff Gordon in second. It is pretty clear, though the Chase is still not over, who will win the Championship. Jimmie is ahead by 86 points. And guess who won the championship last year? Yep, you guessed it Jimmie Johnson. It is no surprise who the last driver to win back-to-back titles was...Jeff Gordon. There is a pattern here. Maybe we should go back and see how they got so good.

The Beginning

When Jimmie Johnson was first starting out in Nascar, he struggled like any rookie today does. He was driving in the Busch Series. One day he got up the nerve to walk over to Jeff Gordon and plain out asked him for advice. Gordon kept in touch with him and later offered him a driver development deal.

They are still close friends today. As we have seen many times this year, often teammates aren't close at all, so it is strange to see them both friends on and off the track. Because they are teammates and they do share information, I think that is what makes them unbeatable. They get the same cars from the same place. The difference is just that the drivers like different setups. A lot of the members on the teams work for both Jimmie and Jeff. For instance the other day on NascarNow, they said a guy works for Jeff all through the practices and everything, but when it comes Sunday, he changes tires for Jimmie. It shows they don't keep a lot of secrets from each other. They come into every race knowing what the other driver has.

The Key to Success

At a recent test in Atlanta, both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson decided to skip it because they were in the middle of the chase, and they wanted their team to rest up. At last weekends race in Phoenix, after Jimmie Johnson won, Jeff Gordon came over and praised him and basically said that it's over. He wasn't saying that he was giving up just that Jimmie's team is so good, and it is plain to see that they, Jeff and his team, aren't keeping up. That right there is what I think makes that team so successful. They have a lot of respect for one another. They are professionals. they are mature, and this shows that this is what makes them so successful.

Jimmie had never won at Phoenix, but he did get his first win there this past weekend. He also has never won at Homestead, but in an interview this week, he said he truly feels like he can win Sunday. If he does win Sunday, that will be his 5th win in a row. He has already joined a list of greats who have the most wins in a row. His career is not yet at its peak though. He will continue to be an amazing driver along with his teammates. I feel sorry for the guys competing against him.

tag: NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Teammates, Hendrick Motorsports

Phoenix

2007-11-12T08:33:00.000-05:00

This weekend's race in Phoenix was crazy. It was 312 laps long, which is shorter than normal.
Carl Edwards won the pole on Friday, so he lead them down to the green flag. Carl Edwards led a lot of laps in the beginning, but then, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead when he won the race off of pit road in a caution. David Ragan was racing somebody and he got in the grass and when he did, he went up in the air. It looked like a wild ride, but surprisingly he only lost 1 or 2 positions. he did run over the camera though that was in the grass. on lap 106 Carl Edwards started having engine problems. They took it to the garage and everything. It was sad to see him have problems that early on and for him to have been running that well. 37 laps later he did get back on the track, but he didn't stay very long, because he went back to the garage.

Dale Jr. and Kasey Kahne

Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not have a good day. He got loose and hit the wall. His car was tore up pretty bad. Jacques Villeneuve brought out caution number six when he got into Kasey Kahne. Kasey was on the top on the track, and Jacques didn't know he was there and pulled up which got them wrecked. Even after that, Kasey Kahne didn't go a lap down. Eleven laps later though, Kasey Kahne had a tire go down and hit the wall really hard. When they interviewed him after the wreck, he was way out of character. I can't blame him though. To go from winning 6 races last year to doing horrible this year, you can tell he is very frustrated. He said, "I drove like an idiot all day and finally wrecked. I finally finished it off for us. We've only got one week left, so I'm happy about that."

Roush Teammates

Matt Kenseth did a very good job Sunday. he was very strong. his teammate, Greg Biffle, also did really good. Greg ended up finishing 2nd. After the race, he said if he had had a couple of laps he probably could have caught Jimmie. Matt Kenseth finished 3rd. the problem with him though is that he is peaking at the wrong time. Had he done this in the beginning of the chase, he might have had a chance.

The Win

Of course Jimmie Johnson won the race making this his 4th win in a row. I'm proud for them though. They obviously know a lot more about this new car than the others do.

tag: Kasey Kahne, NASCAR, driver, cars, Phoenix, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards

Best Buy

2007-11-09T12:19:00.000-05:00

Best Buy Sponsorship

Best Buy has made an announcement today about who they will sponsor next year. They have sponsored Jeff Green in the #66, but they will not sponsor him anymore. They will now sponsor Elliott Sadler in the #19. Best Buy will be his primary sponsor for the 2008 season. The races will include the Daytona 500. I think that would be a pretty cool sponsorship to get. They played a videos instead of someone just talking. It featured some funny clips of Elliott and Ray Evernham. You can view this video by clicking here.

Phoenix Preview

This weekend's race is at Phoenix International Raceway. It is a 1 mile tri-oval. We only have one more race after this one. This weekend is the Checker Auto Parts 500. Kasey Kahne has never won at this track but he does have one top 5 and three top 10s

tag: Phoenix, Checker Auto Parts 500, Best Buy, sponsor, Elliott Sadler, Ray Evernham, Kasey Kahne

This week in NASCAR: Johnson didn't Mess Around in Texas

2007-11-05T14:53:00.000-05:00

Dickies 500, Fort Worth, Texas

This week's race was won with a behind the fender come around in the last lap by Jimmie Johnson. Matt Kenseth's fender was still burning and perhaps his embarrassment knowing he lost it at the last moment. But that is why I LOVE NASCAR!!!!!!

The race between Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth was very close. This was Jimmie's 9th win this season, 3 more than last years Kasey Kahne who won the most with 6. They are on a roll. It seems like nothing they do is wrong. I am happy for them though. I would rather Jimmie win than Jeff.

The Race

Okay so lets start out the race. Vince Vaughn got to drive the pace truck and lead them down to the green. That must have been the experience of a life time. Most of the time the celebrities just ride along, but he got to drive, so I know that was cool.
A.J. Allmendinger did not have a good day at all. He scraped the wall one time and then brought out a caution for cutting a right side tire. Jeff Burton brought out two cautions for debris that had fallen off of his car. Some of the pit stops yesterday were made under caution so that was pretty risky.

Kasey Kahne had been running really good up until lap 151, when Johnny Sauter made contact with him . Kasey had to go to pit road under green and get it checked out which put him two laps down, which is really hard to recover from. He never could get the "Lucky Dog" to get back on the lead lap, so his day was pretty much over. He did finish 18th though. (one note: they might bring this car to Homestead, the season finale, so hopefully he'll do much better then.)

Back to the race. All the chase drivers did pretty good except Carl Edwards. A chain in the sway bar got twisted up, so they had to come in to fix that. He didn't do very well. He was two laps down.

Juan Pablo Montoya did pretty good, up until he lost a cylinder. A.J. Allmendinger brought out another caution when he lost it coming off of turn 2. He had the brakes on, but then let off a little bit and that is when he hit the inside wall. It was pretty bad. Yesterday was just not good for him.

Caution #9 was a huge wreck! Casey Mears got loose and slid into Tony Stewart. Tony only had a little bit of damage though. Man, Kevin Harvick was right in the middle of that and somehow managed to get through. It was amazing seeing him drive through it without getting hit. The cars that were involved were Casey Mears, Tony Stewart, David Gilliland, Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, and David Ragan.

Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin were racing real hard for the lead. Denny brought out a caution. He took his self out when he started racing dirty.

Greg Biffle didn't do real good. He brought out two cautions. On the first one, he just spun. On the second one, he spun and had to completely stop, because fire and smoke was in the cockpit. That must have been really hard trying to get out fast and breathing all that smoke. He said that He couldn't get out fast enough because the hose was stuck. He was wanting the Emergency worker to cut the hose. However, this was a sigh of relief for the other cars, because they were going to be running close on fuel if a caution did not come out. Then that is when the racing with Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson happened. It was really good, clean racing. I like both of them. They are good drivers. I would have liked to have seen Matt win, because Jimmie already has enough wins. I'm happy with how the race turned out. It is so hard to believe there are only 2 more races left.
tag: NASCAR, Kasey Kahne, driver, cars, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle,

Atlanta Race

2007-11-01T17:48:00.001-04:00

Atlanta

This past weekend's race in Atlanta was very good. There was a lot of racing going on.

Pre-Race Activities

Greg Biffle won the pole on Friday, with Kasey Kahne starting 4th. John Schneider (Bo Duke) sang the national anthem. Jeff Gordon gave the command from his car. Richard Petty waved the green flag. It was pretty funny when his baseball cap fell off. I didn't think I would ever see that happen to him! It was a good thing that wasn't his cowboy hat.

The Race

Greg Biffle led the first lap, but on lap 2, Kurt Busch took the lead away. Kasey Kahne started dropping to the back at the beginning. Tony Stewart was very strong. He started 30th, but by lap 33, he was in the 12th position. Juan Pablo Montoya had a lot of problems. He caused 2 of the first 3 cautions by blowing out right front tires.
Caution came out for the 4th time on lap 65. This was a horrible wreck. It all started when David Gilliland spun and started moving to the bottom of the race track. Mark Martin followed another car by going on the bottom of the race track and unfortunately he didn't get by quick enough, and that sent the both of them spinning...hard. David Gilliland hit Mark Martin in the right front area of the car. Fortunately both of the drivers were okay. NASCAR brought out the red flag in order for them to clean up the track.
When they restarted, the DEI cars (Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr.) were real strong. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the top 5 and Martin Truex Jr. led alot of laps. Tony Stewart started having problems, putting him laps down. Dale Jr. had a flat tire going down, which put him a lap down, but he then made it all the way back up to eighth. On lap 202, Tony Stewart was in 35th place, 5 laps down. Joe Nemecheck cut a tire which brought out another caution. When all the leaders pitted Kasey Kahne won the race off pit road. He only led a lap, but, hey, a lap is a lap.
Ryan Newman set the record of cautions at Atlanta Motor Speedway by bringing out caution #11 when he blew an engine. All the teams started worrying about fuel and whether they should pit or not. Johnny Sauter brought out the next caution, which was a relief for many of the teams. Denny Hamlin stayed out. Kyle Busch took 4 tires, but the jack man didn't get the car up high enough for the front tire changer to get the tire off. That automatically put him out of contention for the win. Kasey Kahne took 4 tires and fuel, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took two tires. Since Jimmie Johnson had his pit near the end of pit road, they could see how many tires the other teams were taking so they decided to take two. That put him in 2nd behind Denny Hamlin. All of a sudden when the green flag waves, Denny Hamlin doesn't get going and that is when all the wrecking started. All of the cars started speeding up, but there was no where to go. A lot of the cars got by, but unfortunately Martin Truex Jr. got the worst of it. He had been running good all day, and for this to happen to him was so sad. He rear-ended Denny Hamlin, which put him out of the race. All the other cars started going on the top side of the track and the bottom of the track because Denny Hamlin stayed in the Middle. Kyle Busch spun in the same incident.
This caution put Jimmie Johnson in 1st. He led them down to the Green-White Checkered. On the last lap, when Dale Jr. was running 3rd, his wheel came off, and he hit the wall hard. He collected Jamie McMurray on the way, who was running 5th. The race ended there. The one time he is running in the top-5 without blowing an engine, and he crashes. Jimmie Johnson won...whoop di do. Big Surprise there!
As for Kasey Kahne, he took 4 tires on one of the pit stops, but because of all the cautions, he never got to use them, so he finished 9th. He was extremely happy after the race. After the race he said, " I'm happy. It was fun to drive a car like that again. You could drive it sideways if you wanted." It sounds like he had a good time. When you are happy, you produce great results, so maybe this is a sign of things to come!
They were only supposed to run 325 laps, they ran 329, and had a record 14 cautions.

Points

Come on lets get real, unless both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon get lost and don't show up for the last 3 races, Clint Bowyer is out of it. Jimmie and Jeff are running great. Clint Bowyer is 111 points behind Jeff Gordon. Don't get me wrong, Clint is an amazing driver and has done very well, but I believe it is between the top two Hendrick guys. They have been on top of the COT this whole year. But there is that saying that all good things must come to an end, so who knows.

Jeff is leading Jimmie by 9 points. With this close of a lead, Homestead will be so exciting. I read an interesting fact that supports this: The points for Jeff Gordon in the last 3 races are 511. The points for Jimmie Johnson in the last 3 races are 511. That is pretty scary.

See what a teenager has to say about Nascar

2007-10-25T13:33:00.000-04:00

This is Kahne Kutie and I am blogging about NASCAR. It is my favorite sport. It actually is the only sport I watch. There are so many reasons why I like it.

How I got into Nascar

I first started watching racing over a year ago. I went to the Gatorade Duels at Daytona in 2006. I really didn't know what I was going to, but ever since that race, I love it. That same year I also went to the Bass Pro Shops 500 in Atlanta. It was amazing. We got tickets to go to pit road and to Michael Waltrip's Hopitality tent. It was a lot of fun. He actually came to the tent, so it was pretty cool to see somebody famous. We got to walk up to the cars on pit road. I will never forget that race because that was my first real race. We try to go to one race a year. this year we recently went to the UAW/FORD 500 at Talladega on October 7 and that was fun. my favorite driver is Kasey Kahne. He seems so laidback. He is a very good driver, even though this year hasn't gone as planned. He is starting to make progress, so hopefully next year will be the year.

Why I Like Nascar

I like Nascar because I love the loudness of the engines. It is so exciting. They go really fast, and it is almost impossible to take a picture unless they are under caution. The smell of the rubber and fuel is pretty cool when you are at the races. It's also really fun to just talk to the rednecks around you. You never know what they will say. They are really funny.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my very first blog post and will continue to read them.

tag: NASCAR, Kasey Kahne, Talladega, driver, cars, Daytona