mr. blackandwhite

Ryan Newman wins at Daytona..

Congratulations to Ryan Newman for his victory in the Daytona 500 yesterday.

As the laps were winding down, Jeff Burton, a long time fave of mine, held the lead and I was hoping that he would be able to hang on and get the win, but, as is usual at the end of Daytona, the caution flag flew and took away Jeff's momentum and eventually, the lead.

After the cautions and the inevitable change up front, I was hoping to see Tony Stewart get his first Daytona 500 win, but the yellow flag came out again and after more changes in the lead, in the end I was glad to see Ryan Newman take the checkered flag and the coveted Daytona 500 trophy.

Newman has always been one of my favorite drivers so it was nice to see him in Victory Lane at Daytona. No complaints here on the Daytona 500 finish.

Dale Jr. ran well and finished in the top ten (9th place) with his spiffy new Hendrick Motorsports ride. After all of last year's DNFs it was nice to see him finish a strong race and not blow up. Hopefully this will become a trend for Jr.

The Chase is on..

The NASCAR Chase for the Championship begins with this week's race at NHIS in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Here's my quick thoughts on the Chase Contenders and their shot at the Championship:

Jimmie Johnson - eh. Don't hate the guy but don't really want to see him win.

Jeff Gordon - eh. Don't hate the guy but done really want to see him win. If he did win I would not really be upset though. Part of me actually thinks it would be kinda cool to see Gordon win another championship.

Yes. My stance on Gordon has softened considerably.

Tony Stewart - Don't really care either way.

Carl Edwards - Don't really care eithe way.

Kurt Busch - I can't stand Kurt Busch and wish he were not in the Chase at all.

Denny Hamlin - eh.

Martin Truex, Jr - eh.

Matt Kenseth - Kenseth is a favorite of mine. I would not mind seeing him win another championship.

Kyle Busch - I dislike him almost as much as his brother, Kurt. No further explanation is necessary.

Jeff Burton - I have always been a big Jeff Burton fan and I think it would be awesome if he were to win a championship.

Kevin Harvick - I became a Harvick fan instantaneously. After he stepped into the 29 car following Dale's death and won that race by inches over Jeff Gordon, he became one of my top drivers and he's been there ever since. I still remember Harvick's first win where he beat Gordon by the nose of the car. I happened to be watching it in a bar and people were literally standing on bar-stools cheering at the end, jumping up and down, screaming and generally going nuts. It was pandemonium and it was awesome. Needless to say, I would love to see Harvick win a championship

Clint Boyer - eh.

So going back through my list, I'm basically rooting for Burton or Harvick to win The Chase, mostly leaning towards Harvick.

Numbers games...

The Sox:
The Red Sox @ The Other Sox game got rained out last night. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure. On one hand I guess it's nice the team got a day of rest, sort of. On the other hand, now they have to play two today, so I'm not sure if that day of semi-rest is worth the price they now have to pay.

The Other Sox have been playing very badly over the last few weeks, losing 9 out of the last 11 games. Hopefully that trend continues over the next few days...

The Pats:
Rumors are flying that cornerback Asante Samuel is set to finally give in and sign that rotten 7 mil and change contract offer from The Patriots. Yawn.. It's not official 'till I read it on Patriots.com. Until then, it's all just rumor and conjecture. That's all I have to say about it.

The Pats are in Carolina for meaningless pre-season game 3 tonight. Will Tom Brady be there, just a few days after the birth of his first child? Selfishly, I hope he will, but if he's not, that is totally ok by me. You get to be a Daddy for the first time only once. Tom will still be a good quarterback if he misses a meaningless pre-season game. I hope all is well with his new baby.

NASCAR:
Mark Martin, a.k.a. my favorite driver, in the #8?? Now my head is really spinning. Although it would have been nice if Dale Jr. could have kept the #8, I was not really all that up in arms about it, and I really feel that it's probably better for Jr. to start fresh and create his own legacy with his own number. Drivers change numbers all the time and a bunch of my favorite drivers are now running different numbers, drivers like Mark Martin and Bobby LaBonte just to name a couple. Drivers move around to different teams and drivers change numbers. No biggie. But when I read that Mark Martin would be splitting time in the #8 next year, I could not help but go, 'Wha??' It might take a bit for me to get my head around that one. Mark Martin in the DEI #8 car. I don't think it's bad mind you, just... weird.

Odds of The Red Sox making the playoffs are now at 95.318%...

The Red Sox have a 95.318% chance of making the playoffs. I'd say that's pretty good. So despite their up again, down again lead in the A.L. East, I am confident that the Sox will be playing baseball in October.

How do I know that the Sox have a 95.318% chance of making the playoffs you may ask?

It's because of this super-cools website, SPORTS CLUB STATS.com.

Sports Club Stats' creator, Ken Roberts, e-mailed me a while back to let me know about his site and I have been extremely delinquent in getting the word out about it. (Sorry Ken!! I think you e-mailed me back when I was sick of blwgging... which also coincided with the start of summer. Doh!)

So where do these percentages come from and how are they calculated? From the site:

"I wrote a computer program that randomly generates results for each remaining game. Then it tallies each team's position and repeats, millions of times. When the simulation "plays" a game it assumes each team has an equal chance of winning, with no regard for record, injuries, matchups, or streaks. To help flush out each teams highest and lowest possible seeds, I force them to win or lose all their remaining games for 1000 of the simulation runs."

Sounds like math to me, and that's impressive. All I know is that it's really cool. Thank God Ken is good at math and stuff so I don't have to be, because it gives me fits watching the Red Sox lead in the A.L. East go from fifteen games to six games to four games to six games (let's hope for seven!), back down to four, on a daily basis.. It's much more assuring to see that the Red Sox have a 95% chance of making the playoffs and that the MFY only have a 35.329% chance.

Me likey.

So, there you have it. Ken does other sports besides baseball. He also calculates the playoff chances for The NFL, NBA, NHL, etc, as well as various racing leagues. For example, I see that Dale Jr. now only has a 8.839% chance of making the NASCAR Chase for the Championship, while Kurt Busch has a 91.35% chance. That sucks! I hate Kurt Busch. Maybe if DEI's engines could actually run for an entire race and not blow up or if the power steering in Dale's cars would stay on, or if Jr. would not over-shoot his pit during critical stops, he would have a better chance of getting into the Chase. Oh well.

So stop fretting about The Red Sox magic number (now down to 31). Check out SPORTS CLUB STATS.com.

Win tickets to the NASCAR Sharp AQUOS 500 in California at NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog

Wanna win tickets to see the NASCAR Sharp AQUOS 500 race on September 2, 2007 at California Speedway? Well here's your chance!

Head over to the NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog and get your entry in. 4ever3 has FIVE tickets to give away and all you have to do is answer a simple question: who drives the #12 Kodak Penske Car?

Of course, there are rules and regulations involved so head over to the NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog to get the details and enter the contest for your chance to win. Dudes and Ladies if I had the ability to get to Cali to see this race I would be all over this.

And how incredibly cool is it that a major company like Kodak is running it's contest through a blawgger and not some big, corporate multi-media site? Very cool. Go check it out!

(image via ryan12newman.com)

The Jr. to Hendrick frenzy...

Wow Infield Parking is getting totally bombarded right now. I am trying to get on there to read the forums and get the reaction from Jr.'s fans.

So far it seems that some people are extremely upset while others are pretty happy with the move. I guess that's basically what's to be expected.

Personally I am happy with the move. Let me say that I am not a Jeff Gordon fan and I'm not really a Jimmie Johnson fan either. I am not a hater of either of those two drivers either. I don't root for them to win but I don't throw a beer at the TV when they do. I do, however, respect both of them because they are both great drivers and that is an undeniable fact. Their accomplishments speak for themselves and that speaks for HMS as well.

Nor do I think that Hendrick is a cheater or that he gets special favors from NASCAR. I think that some of these 'NASCAR conspiracies' are ridiculous. Hendrick's teams win because he puts the resources he has at his disposal, $$$$, into his teams to enable them to do what is necessary to win. Winning breeds winning and winning makes money, which, guess what, helps you win.

It is also undeniable that Jr. at Hendrick's puts him in a place where he will win races, and that is his goal, to win races and his ultimate goal is to win championships..

I have read some comments stating that Dale Sr would be upset about this move if he were still alive. Well if The Inimidator were still alive this would not be happening because he would be making sure that Jr. was in equipment that is built to WIN at the track and that is not happening at DEI today. That is sad, but that is the reality of the situation.

Finally, just because Jr. is at Hendrick's that does not mean that I am now obligated to root for Jeff Gordon / Jimmie Johnson every week as well. That is ridiculous. Am I going to start rooting for Kyle Busch because I am a fan of Ryan Newman and they are both on the same team? Absolutely not. No way. I can't stand Kurt Busch and I think Ryan Newman is great. How I feel about Busch has no impact on my feeling about rooting for Newman. To me this is the same thing.

So as I wrote on Infield Parking before the server got overloaded, if you are a Jr. fan and you want to see him win races and compete for championships, you should be happy right now. I am.

Dale Jr to Hendrick = Good Move...

Dale Jr. is going to be holding a press conference today at 11 AM and the rumors on all the NASCAR sites are that he will be announcing his move to Hendrick Motorsports, home of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and possibly, the former home of Kyle Busch (heh.)

I'm curious to know what the reaction will be from Jr. fans if this rumor becomes a reality. Most of the talk that I have read from Jr.'s fans is that they will follow him where ever he winds up. This move, if it becomes reality, will certainly test that stance as I think it is safe to say that most Earnhardt fans are NOT Hendrick fans. So that will be interesting.

Personally, if Jr. goes to Hendrick, I think it is a great move for him and I am 100% behind it.

Dale Jr. wants to win a championship and Hendrick will give him the cars and the team infrastructure that will enable him to do it. Of that I have no doubt. On top of that, with guys like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson as team-mates, you've got a lot of talent and experience to draw from and work with, both in the garage and on the track.

Say what you want about Gordon and Johnson, but there can be no avoiding the fact that they are great drivers. The results speak for themselves. Add Jr. to the mix and that is one heck of a team.

Other questions that are swirling around this Hendrick rumor (assuming it happens) are whether or not Jr. would keep Bud as a sponsor or move to Kellog's and if he would keep the #5 or maybe grab a different number. For me the #5 is Terry LaBonte's number, but I would not mind seeing Jr. with it.

Of course all this is just conjecture at this time. We'll all have to wait till 11 AM to find out what's really going on!

Update:
It's official. Jr. is going to Hendrick's. Details on the sponsor and the number he will drive are unknown right now but I'm sure that will get worked out within the next few days or weeks.

Nice move Jr. I like it.

I honestly don't know how Jr.'s fans are going to react to this move but I am a Jr. fan and I think of it this way: driving for Hendrick Motorsports is going to put him in a position to compete for championships, and that's the bottom line.

By the time I get to Ari-ZONA! ZONA! ZONA!

Sorry. With the Sox heading to Arizona to play the Diamondbacks tonight, I've got that P.E. song completely wedged into my brain and it simply will. not. come. out. I need to put some Misfits or something in there instead.

So, some quick hits for Friday...

The Sox are heading to Ari-ZONA! ZONA! ZONA! Baw-ka-waw a wow-wow... Sorry. [Cues up '20 Eyes' on iPod]

Pats mini-camp is over. Now what? It's a long way between now and training camp on July 27. Not that I want to hurry Summer (I know, I say that a lot) but this is officially the dry season for football fans.

Kurt (a.k.a. dickhead) Busch used his car as a weapon on Monday during the Dover race when he intentionally slid his car into Tony Stewart's car on pit road, endangering the life of a member of Tony's pit crew. The penalty for this action? A $100,000 fine (chump change to these guys), loss of 100 points (oooh that's harsh), and being placed on probation (whatever that is) for the remainder of the season.

By the way, just for comparison's sake, I will point out that Dale Jr. was recently docked 100 points for an illegal spoiler bracket earlier this season and Jr's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races.

How many races was Busch suspended for? ZERO.

So wait a minute. Jr. has an illegal part on his car and the penalty is WORSE than what Kurt Busch got for intentionally hitting another car on pit road and endangering a person's life? Non sequitur. Does not compute. Bullshit.

I'm an admitted NON-FAN of Kurt (and Kyle) Busch, so take that for what it is, but this punishment by NASCAR for Busch's actions at Dover is WEAK. So much for all those safety precautions on pit-road I guess... Josh Pate had a good article on NASCAR.com that summed this issue up perfectly.

This week's race is at Pocono, one of my favorite tracks on the circuit. It's kind of like a road course, kind of like an oval, except it's bent... well it's something. It's shaped like a big triangle! It's got 3 sets of turns, 3 sets of straight-aways and it all adds up to some good racing, that much I know.

Other than that, I got nuthin' else. It's FRIDAY. WOOP!! Have a great weekend everybody! Stay out of trouble.

Jr. should be allowed to keep the 8

Well by now everybody knows that Dale Jr. is leaving DEI in 2008. As I had written earlier, as a fan of his, I will follow him and cheer for him no matter where he winds up, what he is driving, what the color of the car is or what the number on the side is. I root for the Man, not the car.

I find this whole situation to be sad, that Jr. felt that for the good of his driving career he had to leave the company that his father built. If Dale goes to another team, one thing that won't go with him is the number 8. Teresa Earnhardt has said that the #8 will stay with DEI.

I feel that this is really a shame and it does not elevate my opinion of Teresa Earnhardt. I am not going to say anything bad about her, but I feel that she is doing the wrong thing by keeping the #8 at DEI and not letting Jr. drive with that number.

"I know what my father went through and did to get the number (8) so I could drive it in the Winston Cup Series, so I am going to hang onto it"
~Dale Jr.

Dale Jr. to leave DEI. Will be a free agent in 2008...

Dale Jr has just announced that he is leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) and will be a free agent driver in 2008. This is a very interesting situation. Jr. is one of my favorite drivers and I was (and still am) a big fan of The Intimidator, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr.

It is too bad that Jr. could not work things out with DEI as I would have preferred to see him continue to drive for the company that was founded by his Dad. However, Jr.'s results on the track have been inconsistent at best over the last few seasons and he obviously has his own ideas on how to improve that situation. Unfortunately those ideas apparently do not match up with what the people at DEI want to do. Obviously both parties want to win races, but there is a disagreement about how to go about getting back on the winning track.

On thing to note is that DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt has said that she wants to keep the '8' at DEI. Hmmm...

So what's going to happen next? Only time will tell.

My best case scenario for 2008? Dale Jr. in a Budweiser sponsored Richard Childress Racing car, sporting the '3'.

Now THAT would be cool.

Some thoughts on the Bristol race this weekend...

I know that I'm in the minority here but I don't like The Bristol race. The reason I don't like the racing at Bristol is because it's basically one big long set of caution laps with a few green flag racing laps sporadically thrown in. Yes, the history and the concept of racing at Bristol is cool, but the always caution filled race itself just frustrates me as a viewer.

One thing that does have me interested in this year's Bristol race is the fact that NASCAR will be running the 'Car of Tomorrow' at Bristol. I am curious to see how NASCAR's new car will perform and what, if any difference it makes in the race. It should be interesting, provided we can get some racing in, between caution laps.

NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog has a good post up talking about the Car of Tomorrow and The Bristol race this weekend. By the way, if you're wondering where all the good NASCAR blogs are, definitely check out NASCAR Ranting and Raving and go from there. You can't go wrong.

Vegas, baby...

So far this Las Vegas race has been mostly a caution-fest. Not much to say about it other than that. It's hard to get into a race when they run three green-flag laps then go around for 6 or more caution laps... I'd say this new harder tire they are using in L.V. is a bad idea so far. I'm not sure how much the new track surface is coming into play but I am sure that is another factor as well...

Update:
A good ending to the race today. I was glad to see it end with green flag racing and not the usual caution green/white/checkered shenanigans.. I don't mind seeing Jimmy Johnson get the win.

I was disappointed to see Dale Jr. get mixed up and follow Jeff Burton down pit road when it was closed. I did not expect Jr. would get the win, but he could have had a much better finish. It was disappointing as well to see Jeff Burton lose a shot at a top 5 due to a battery problem. Oh well.

A top five finish for Mark Martin was good to see...

Oh yeah, one last thing. Kevin Harvick, tell your wife to remove her hat during the National Anthem. Thank you.

Thoughts on Mark Martin's race schedule and NFL Free Agency...

A random connection of disconnected thoughts... It's Tue. We all know this. There's very little going on around here right now but, I figured I'd chime in and add more clutter to an already messy innernest.

I watched the California race off and on last Sunday. We were having a birthday party for our kids so I did not get to see very much of it. I did see the last 30 laps or so however and I was happy to see Kenseth get the win. He is one of my favorite drivers and I always like to see him do well.

A top 5 finish for Mark Martin has him at the top of the points standings for the moment and I've read several stories speculating on whether or not Martin will run a full schedule if he remains within striking distance of a championship...

First off, it's only two races, so I think it's safe to say, there will probably be some changes at the top of the standings over the next few weeks. I would wait a little while and see if Martin remains consistent and stays in the top five before wondering if he is going to run the full set of races. If we get to say, May, and Martin is still hanging around in the top 3 or 4 spots, it might be time to start wondering what he's going to do.

Personally I would love to see him race in every event and contend for that elusive championship, but right now I think it's too early to be asking these kinds of questions.

Second, and I know this comes off as a little mean, but it's Mark Martin. He is always hanging around the top of the points standings and Martin finishes in the top ten consistently almost every season, so I am not so sure that where he is in the points is necessarily going to be a factor to him when deciding whether to race or not.

Martin is non-committal about what he is going to do and seems to be taking things week to week and that is pretty cool actually. Mark has always been a very intense driver. It is good to see him take a step back and simply race for the enjoyment of it. As for his race schedule plans, we'll just have to wait and see what happens...

--

The NFL Free Agency Free For All starts this weekend. There will be lots of talk about this player and that player going here there and everywhere around the league. I generally ignore the free agency rumor mill because it's all just a bunch of speculation anyway. As an example, I have read articles that have The Patriots' tight end Daniel Graham going to Jacksonville, Arizona, Cincy and Denver. Nobody really knows what's going on with players and teams until something actually happens, so as far as the NFL goes, for now I'll step back, wait for the free agency dust to settle and see who's a Patriot when it's over.

NASCAR: My Cup drivers for 2007...

Now that Daytona's out of the way and over with, here are the Cup drivers that I'll be backing for the remainder of the season:

Dale Jr.
Matt Kenseth
Kevin Harvick
Anybody but Kurt Busch

Sentimental Faves:
*Mark Martin (when he races)
Jeff Burton
Bobby Labonte

*Martin is not going to run a full schedule this year but we'll see what that means... I'm sure he will skip out on a few races here and there. The annual caution flag fest at Bristol is one that immediately comes to mind... I'm sure the number of races that Martin runs will depend on how well he does week to week and how happy or frustrated he becomes as the schedule rolls on...

Final thoughts on Daytona:
The commercials for The Daytona 500 are 10 times funnier than the commercials for The Superbowl. My favorite ad was the one with Dale Jr being chased across the desert by 'Crazy Mutant Desert Guys,' a-la The Road Warrior. The crazy mutant desert guys were after Dale because they thought he had beer in his car... Very funny.

Speaking of commercials, perhaps it would be a good idea for FOX to show the races in delayed mode. That way when something happens on the track during a commercial, as it inevitably does several times during each race, we viewers don't have to miss the action.

Dumb idea or sheer genius? (Don't answer that... Unless you are going with genius that is.)

Daytona 500: SOOO Upset that Mark Martin lost that race!!

I watched most of the Daytona 500 today and overall I thought it was a good race. Not too many cautions and good racing in general with several lead changes.

I was glad to see Kurt Busch get knocked out early in the race, since I can't stand him, though it was too bad that Tony Stewart also went out with him.

There are not too many drivers that I honestly dislike these days, I don't even mind Jeff Gordon anymore, but Kurt Busch is a dick. I can't really put it any plainer than that... Other than that I have no strong opinions about him. (heh.)

As the laps at Daytona wound down, I was on the edge of my seat. Thanks to a combination of luck and skill, here was my main driver, Mark Martin, leading at the end of the race! I was counting down the laps to the finish, 30 laps.. 20... 10!

I have not felt that kind of tension and excitement since the last time The Patriots played in a Superbowl. At some points I had to leave the room because I was so wound up. I was afraid if I watched too much I might put some kind of jinx on Martin's chances to win, so I would get up, walk away for a few minutes and then come back to check and see if he was still in front.

Mark Martin has been my favorite driver for as long as I have been watching racing, and here he was leading the race in the final laps of The Daytona 500, a race that he has never won in over 20 years of racing..

As the race got down to under 10 laps to go, it looked to be all but certain that Mark was finally going to win his FIRST Daytona 500, but then, of course, there was the inevitable spinout, wreck and caution flag in the last few laps of the race, bringing out the yellow flag and setting up the green, white, checkered finish.

Martin got a good jump at the start when the green flag dropped, and as the white flag flew, he was still in the lead. One lap to go and he was holding onto the bottom of the track heading for the finish line. I thought for sure he had that win, I felt my heart starting to rise in anticipation of seeing him finally get it, BUT THEN, (FUCK!!), out of nowhere Kevin Harvick made a run on the outside, and was able to catch up with Martin.

As the two cars came down the final stretch heading for the checkered, Harvick was able to nose his car out to the front and took the win. He won the race by the nose of his car, literally about a foot in front of Mark Martin.

God DAMN IT!!

I was (and remain) so frikkin' disappointed, I can't even tell you. It felt just as bad as watching any Patriots or Red Sox playoff loss.

I really feel bad for Mark Martin. Damn I thought he had that Daytona 500 win in his grasp. Over 20 years of trying and there it was right in front of him, and then to lose it by a foot. A FOOT! Damn damn damn. Crushing. That is the only word I can think of to describe it.

I actually like Kevin Harvick, and if it were anybody else that he had beaten, I would be happy for him, but in this case, I can't feel glad to see him to get this win.

Dammit. So close, but... 'That's Racin'

Who I'm rooting for at Daytona...

I don't follow NASCAR racing as closely as I used to, but I am still a fan of the sport (yes, it's a sport) and The Daytona 500 is one of the biggest races of the year. Some say it is THE biggest race of the year. It is certainly the most hyped, that is for sure...

Here's who I'm rooting for at The Daytona 500 tomorrow:
Dale Jr.
Matt Kenseth
Kevin Harvick
Carl Edwards
Ryan Newman

Sentimental Favs:
Mark Martin
Bobby Labonte
Jeff Burton
Ricky Rudd
Sterling Marlin

I hope it will be a good race without a lot of wrecks and caution flags. With restrictor plate racing there is always a chance for 'The Big One' happening, but hopefully it will be a clean, safe and exciting race. Should be fun to watch..

I want a job involving race cars...

This past weekend I watched a TV show about Michael Waltrip's brand-new NASCAR racing team. It was a really good show that gave a bit of an inside look at what kind of work goes into building a new NASCAR racing team. One of the main segments of the program showed how the team's engineers and drivers go about building and testing their race cars.

I commented to my Wife about how cool that must be to have a job like that. 'Where did I go wrong?' I asked, 'I could be testing RACE-CARS!'

'I don't know if I would really want you testing race cars,' she replied.

Imagine: your JOB is to build race cars and then hang out at the track and test them. You tweak spoilers and air dams and try out different configurations on the car to see if it shaves a point or two off of your lap-time, then you go back to the shop, and try to make an even better, faster race car.

Imagine: that's what you do every day. For 'work'.

Obviously I fucked up on my job track somewhere down the line.

I hate restrictor plate racing...

6 laps to go in the Firecracker 400 at Daytona and of course, there's a huge wreck. Of course!

This is why I hate restrictor plate races. Yes, they are exciting, but come on. This happens every fucking time. Less than 10 to go and there's always, always a wreck. It's ridiculous.

Greg Biffle got loose and took out a bunch of cars, including Mark Martin (of course!), Bobby LaBonte, Jeff Gordon, I don't even know who else. What the fuck dude. What the fuck!

Tony Stewart wins the race. Better him than either one of the Bush brothers (=dickheads).

Bobby LaBonte was funny in the interview after he got wrecked. They were asking him how he felt about getting wrecked and then cut away to something else. When they came back to LaBonte, they asked him the exact same question. His reaction: Well I'm still just as disappointed as when you initially asked me that question.. just a few moments ago.

Bobby LaBonte is awesome.

Johnson wins at Talla-Dangerous

Mark Martin was out of the race only 10 laps in after getting got caught in the always inevitable 'big one' wreck, Dale Jr.'s motor blew up and Jimmy Johnson wound up winning the race at Talladega today.

I'm not a very big JJ fan, so my response to his victory is simply, 'blah'.

Men in Black...

The Nextel Cup series travels to Talla-dangerous this weekend and along with it will come The Intimidator's induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

To honor the event, all of the DEI cars will feature a special paint scheme that replicates the late Big E's black #3 Chevy.

(daleearnhardtinc.com)

I have slightly mixed feelings about all of the cars bearing the same black paint scheme that Dale used to drive with. I certainly don't think it's a 'bad' thing in any way, and for the most part, I think it's a very cool way to remember Earnhardt, but there is a part of me that also thinks it's a little odd to have five cars all using the same paint scheme as the old #3.

I can definitely see doing it for Jr.'s car, that makes sense, but all 5 DEI cars? I don't know. There's a little part of me that finds that a little weird. I don't really know how to express this feeling properly in words. It strikes me as somewhat macabre.

Then again, it is Dale's company and all of the cars are 'his', so in that vein, it does make sense for all of his cars to bear his former paint scheme as a tribute to him.

I can imagine it will be very, very special to be driving one of those tribute cars this Sunday.

It also makes me laugh a little to think of five cars that all look like Dale's old car terrorizing the other drivers on the track. When Dale was alive, during most races, one black 'Intimidator' car was more than enough for the rest of the field to have to deal with.

When I imagine what's going to be going through the other competitor's heads, especially the older guys who raced with Dale for many years, when they see five black Chevys on the track, it puts a smile on my face. I can also imagine a few of them will be wondering if they are seeing a ghost when that familiar black car fills up their rear-view mirror once again.

(daleearnhardtinc.com)

I still remember well that race at Talladega when Earnhardt drove from 17th to 1st place in about 5 laps to win the race. Hopefully Little E can get that #8 car into Victory Lane this weekend. To me, that would be the best way to honor Dale Earnhardt's memory.

Hate binky wins Bristol...

When you follow NASCAR, it is a requirement that you always have at least one driver to root against. For me, that driver is Kurt Busch. So it was bad enough when he bumped Kenseth out of the way (legit move, even if it did piss me off) to take the lead and the victory at Bristol yesterday, but when he got out of his ride and started doing a Lonnie Paxton-esqe 'Snow-angel' display on the start / finish line, dude, that's just... lame.

(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

What a dick.

Despite Busch taking the win yesterday, I was still pretty pleased with the results at Bristol, where several of my favorite drivers got top 10 finishes, including Kenseth, Harvick, LaBonte, Martin and Newman. Little E finished just out of the top 10 in 11th place. That's not a bad day at the bumper-car / demolition derby known as Bristol Motor Speedway.

Made that a double...

2 straight wins for Mark Martin in the Craftsman Truck Series.

(John Cordes/Icon SMI)

Martin was unstoppable in the Busch Series and it's looking like it will be more of the same for the trucks.

Oh and did I mention that I love seeing him drive for Scotts?

It makes me want to go work on my lawn.

So Much for That...

Well I did not get to see a single lap of the Daytona 500. Nor did I get half the work I wanted to complete finished in my basement.

Late this morning I got a call from work. They needed help in one of the labs so I had to go in. Not the way I like to spend a Sunday afternoon, that's for sure.

When I came home, I went back into the basement and got some more sheet-rock up. I got one entire wall done and about half of a 2nd wall up. By the time I finished it was about 9:30 PM and I was exhausted. I was so tired I was starting to fuck things up, and I was cursing my head off over my mistakes. Plus I was doing things like putting my measuring tape and my knife down and then not remembering where I left them, which caused more swearing, etc, etc. Basically I was becoming non-functional, so it was time to quit for the day.

I was annoyed because I knew that if I had not had to go into work, I could have gotten the all of the outer walls up and I would have just had the closets left to sheet-rock. Oh well. Nothing can be done about it.

I checked the results of the 500 when I got home. I see Jimmy Johnson won the race. Eh. I am ambivalent about him. I was glad to see Ryan Newman in third and Jr. in 8th. Mark Martin actually had a good Daytona (for him,) finishing 12th. Seems like he usually wrecks in Daytona so I'm just happy to see him manage to cross the finish line.

When I came up from the basement, my wife was watching figure skating on the Olympics. I could not believe how many of the skaters fall during their competition. That has got to be hard. You spend all those hours practicing for a 2 min chance to win and then the whole thing goes down the drain. We watched a little of the Olympics till, for some unexplainable reason which is beyond me, NBC had a segment on Jerome Bettis. What does Jerome Bettis have to do with the Olympics? I quickly switched channels and was happy to see that NESN was showing Red Sox Now or Red Sox Today (or whatever the fuck it's called). Much better. The were doing a feature on Coco Crisp. So far I'd say it seems like he is going to fit in well here in RSN....

It's all happenin down in FLA

There's all kinds of action down in the Sunny Sunshine State this weekend. Pitchers and Catchers have been arriving down at the Fort, playing some long toss and showing off some goofy t-shirts. I was glad to see that the Red Sox were 'ok' with Shilling's choice of smart-ass t-shirts for long toss sessions. There was some cause for concern there, but thankfully it all worked out.

(boston.com photo)

(In case you're wondering, Curt's shirt reads: "I’m trying to see things from your point of view but I can’t stick my head that far up my ass.")

On a less sarcastic note, it's good to see the Sox getting back into action, even if it is only Spring Training. The temps may be somewhat frigid up here in New England right now (currently 11 degrees), but that warm weather is coming soon. Seeing baseball players take part in real live baseball type stuff helps to remind us that the end of winter is in sight.

Along with Spring Training, in case you have not heard, there's also a big race taking place down in sunny Florida today. I'm looking forward to hearing those magical words, 'Gentlemen, start your engines!'

Meanwhile, I'll be taking part in some scintillating activities myself this afternoon. I'll be down in my basement today putting up sheet-rock. Should be fun... WOOOOO!

Let's go racin'...

The starting lineup is set. Let's go racin' people. I am ready.

Some Daytona odds and ends for ya.

- Anyone who calls racing boring should try actually going to a race and experiencing it live. In person, it is far from boring. Try standing on the white line, 10 feet back from the track as the cars go by you at 150 MPH and the force from the wind off the cars almost knocks you over. Boring? Hah!

- Earlier today I realized that I no longer hate Jeff Gordon. I was watching an interview with him on Speed Channel the other day and he was joking with the hosts and generally acting pretty cool. I thought to myself, you know what, Gordon's not that bad. Hatred over.

- I still think Kurt Busch is a dickhead.

- I love the mix of drivers in the starting 10. You've got old-school drivers like Mark Martin, established, former champions in Gordon, and LaBonte (who I love in the 43 car by the way) and young up and comers like Carl Edwards. Very cool.

- I hate all the hype that is getting kicked up around this year being 5 years since we lost Dale Earnhardt. Hate. It. Fucking. Hate. IT. The fact that someone dies is not something you use to hype up an event. Hey while you're at it, why don't you remind me about all the other dead friends I have. Thanks NASCAR. Fuck you. This storyline is all over the place. It's not just NASCAR, it's ESPN and pretty much every media outlet covering the event. It really bugs the shit out of me and I'm just a fan. I can imagine how it must bother Earnhardt's family... Not that the press gives a crap about respecting people's feelings...

[Okaaay. That was a nice little mini-rant there... Now where was I?]

- I'm so glad Mark Martin is no longer driving for Phizer. Even before that whole Kelo vs. New London thing happened, I have to say I never really liked rooting for the Viagra car. I have always said that I root for the driver, not the paint scheme on the car, but still. Rooting for the Viagra car did kinda suck. I like AAA as a sponsor a lot better.

I've been rooting for Mark to win that championship for so long now... He's been such an incredibly good driver for so long now and that championship has always eluded him. I really hope he can win it all this year.

- I think it's great to see Dale Jr.'s enthusiasm for racing has returned. He had an off year last year but this season it seems like he is really embracing the challenge of winning a championship for DEI. I'd love to see him dominate this year.

- It's great to see Jeff Burton on the Pole for the 500. After racing at a championship contending level for many years, he's had kind of off years the past few seasons. He has always been a favorite driver of mine. I hope he'll be in victory lane a few times this year.

- I can't believe Bill Elliot is still racing. I thought he was going to retire like 3 years ago. I guess the track is just in his blood. Nothing wrong with that! Bill Elliot is old school. It's great to see him out there.

- I really did not follow NASCAR too closely last year but I'm really excited for the Daytona 500 this Sunday. My drivers have not changed much over the years: #1, Mark Martin, #1A Dale Jr., #2 Bobby LaBonte, #3 Kenseth, #4... Hmm. I guess I don't really have a #4. I pretty much like all the drivers. There are only a few that I adamantly, do not like (Kurt Busch, that's you).

- I used the phrase, 'it's great' an awful lot in this post.

Poor finish for Martin but still in the top 10...

I have not been watching a lot of races since the Daytona 500 but I still keep up with the results of the races and the point standings.

Little E has not been having a good season so far and after 7 races, he's in 15th place.

Mark Martin on the other hand, has been solid. He did not do to well today, finishing 20th at Texas, but he's still in the Top 10 in the standings, sitting at 7th place. Texas has always been kind of a poor track. It really sucked when it first opened. The surface of the track was terrible and would just kill tires. I know they've done work to try and improve it over the years so maybe it's gotten better but I have to admit I'm not paying enough attention to NASCAR lately to know if the track at Texas is any better or not.

In any case, hopefully Mark will continue to be consistent over the first few months of the season. It's easy to jump up quick in the beginning of the season but as it get closer and closer to the end, it becomes very hard to make up lost ground. If he can stay in the top ten and hopefully hang around the top 5 in the standings, he'll be in position to make a serious run at that elusive Championship.

Daytona...

Doin some shiet around the hoouuuuse and watchin The Daytona 500.

Right now there's about 80 laps to go. So far, the race has been fairly un-eventful. There has been a wreck but we have not had 'The Big One' (yet). Hopefully, we can go through this race without 'The Big One' happening.

[For you non-race fans who are still here, 'The Big One' refers to the huge crash that always seems to happen at Daytona and takes out half the field.]

It's cool be be back racin again. The race was scheduled to start @ 2:00 EST but of course did not start till after 2:30. Seems like NASCAR is really trying to make this more of an 'event' like the Superbowl or something. They've got singers, celebreties, bands, etc etc dragging things out. Just stard the damn race for cryin out loud.

It seems like 75% of the ads in NASCAR feature Dale Jr. Glad I'm a Jr. fan or I'd sure be sick of him. The NAPA ads with Jr. and Mikey Waltrip are very funny. My favorite ad so far has been the NAPA ad featuring Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip in the "Home Shopping Network" spoof. I also liked Toyota ad with Darryl Waltrip, "What would you do if you were not a race car driver", with him driving taxis and busses sideways around corners and stuff. Pretty funny.

I have not really been paying a whole lot of attention to the race so far to be honest. I'm just kinda watching while doing other things... Most of my guys are still in it and contending, though Bobby Labonte and Kenseth went out early. When we get down to 50 laps to go, then it will really get interesting.

I'm rooting for my all time favorite, Mark Martin.

If Mark can't win it, I'm rooting for DEI. I'd like to see Dale Jr. get 2 in a row. If a DEI driver can't win it, anybody but Jeff Gordon or Kurt Busch would be ok with me. I'm not a big Rusty Wallace fan but I guess I could stand seeing him win his last Daytona. I did not realize this was his last one. Guess I'm not paying enough attention lately.

The new Dodge Challenger looks cool.

The broadcast has not been to "Foxed Up" yet, though we did miss a wreck because they were showing commercials. Personally I hate wrecks. I don't want to see anyone get hurt, cars torn up, and boring caution laps. That being said, when there is accident I do like to see what caused it, and who is affected. Par for the course with Fox. Jeanie Zalasko is as annoying in NASCAR as she is in Baseball. Other than her, I generally like the Fox announcers. Waltrip can be a little over the top sometimes, but I can put up with him. Larry is good for Crew Cheif insight. Seems like Fox has toned down the graphics and animation crap this year. That is good. Thank you FOX.

50 Laps left.

GO MARK MARTIN

NASCAR Chase for the Championship is set

The 10 drivers have been set for the NASCAR Chase for the Championship. Those of you bored by cars going around in circles can stop reading this post now.

I'll be rooting for two drivers in particular:

The sentimental favorite, Mark Martin. If anybody deserves to win a championship, it's Mark. He's come close way to many times. I'll be rooting for him.

The young gun, Dale Jr. His Dad was "The Man" and if Mark can't win, I'll be hoping Jr. can get his first Championship.