"From zero to hero"


The picture says it all. Dale Jr won the Golden Corral 500 yesterday, and how sweet it was. He went from being black flagged off the track to winning in dominating fashion.

He didn't dominate during the race, but when he passed Jeremy Mayfield like he did, and put as much distance on him as he did, that was pretty impressive.

Yesterday's race wasn't all that spectacular, but hey, that's racing sometime. But what was cool was when you could hear the crowd over the engines and the like when JR was passing people.

Top Ten:
1 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2 Jeremy Mayfield
3 Kasey Kahne (rookie)
4 Jimmie Johnson
5 Ryan Newman
6 Matt Kenseth
7 Tony Stewart
8 Greg Biffle
9 Dale Jarrett
10 Jeff Gordon





~Kim

DAYTONA 500
(Writers note: Yes, I know I'm two weeks behind, but when have I been known to ever write anything in a timely manner? So here is my Daytona 500 article...hope you like it...)

So, the big day has come and gone, and y'all know who won. It's not like it's new you have been dying to hear. But here goes:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won, the Great American Race. I wouldn't say it has eluded him, but his time was just.

This race was very amazing. It has been very overstated that it was 5 years to the day that his father won it. But what I thought was kind of cool was that they are only the 3rd father son duo to win it.

He must be proud that he won it on his own terms. Not under caution, not on account of rain, and without tragity(not saying that Mikey's wins weren't legit, because they totally were!!!)

Enough about that, onto the rest of the race. It was a beautiful day for racing, not a rain-drop to find. The racing was clean, dirt wasn't to be found.

During pit stops, I was a little cross though. When Tony passed Jr., it was legal, but unjust. I thought it was a wimpy way to get the lead, and had Tony won, I would have been very angry. But Jr. came back to win, and that's all that matters.

Later in the day, Michael's wreck was scary. It would have been rather amusing to hear his choice words with the safety crew. but no, that was probably not PG rated. I also agree with what he said about "what bar was he going to cut?" Exactly. And where he was cutting it looked like he was going to cut off his legs too. But all went well.

Alas, this is the end of my article. Look for another one next week if Paul's prediction comes true for Las Vegas!

Congrats again JR!!!!





~Kim

Awakening.
It has been way to long. I know I use this excuse so much...but I get so damn busy over here. But, on this day, Valentines day...while I watch the Busch Race in HDTV...on my brand new Big Screen...I am able to take a break and write a long-winded article.

First off...The New Points System.

I think this is the first obscene thing I've run into in the Cup Series. Why is it that when Nextel signed on...and took over...that they have to change everything? I know that the point system may have needed tweaking in some people's eyes...but not to this extreme.

Resetting the top 10 points after the 26 races is rediculous. I know that I was pissed that JR couldn't catch Matt last year...but that shows how much he really deserved that championship. If you restet it...somebody who doesn't deserve the championship as much...might win it. I think that is really dumb.

I just think that Nextel needs to stick with the racing roots that they signed on with...and not get rid of them...much like they are doing now.

I know progress happens...but this kind of progress makes me a little angry. But don't doubt me...I am still the biggest fan ever.

Now to the Daytona 500.

The Grand-daddy of all races. This one makes me proud to be a race fan.

Things can give off signs...but I hate the Media saying the same one over and over again.

No offence to Tom, but I am getting tired of the "Dale Jarrett won the Bud Shootout, blah blah blah, therefore he is going to win the 500...blah blah blah." If he is going to win it, he's going to win it hopefully on account of his talent. But not because there was a crappy omen.

But I'm not sure if I am qualified to "pick" a winner for tomorrow. I would like to think JR will win it, just because he's my-man. Ha. But I think Mikey has a good shot at it too. I guess we will all have to buckle our seat belts, get a coke and a pizza, and root for our driver to win.

~Kim

Happy Birthday Nascar at its Finest


Nacar at its Finest is one year old today. Yay!

Hope everybody is having a great Holiday season so far. And Happy Christmas to y'all later this week!

~Kim

EA Sports 500
Well, that time of year has come yet again! It's time for the fall Talladega race!!

There are many story lines I have thought up to follow tomorrow:

1) Can Dale Jr make it 5 in a row?
2) Points race: how mixed up can it get after one race?
3) Michael Waltrip?
4) New rules

Things can go way out of shape in the blink of an eye. Lately there hasn't been TBO, but I think that this week, something might happen along those lines. Just a haunch, you could say.

But all in all, my money still goes to Dale Jr. and Mikey. I think Michael can possible pull it off because his team have been running great, except for the past couple of races. Maybe he can get it going again!

Top Ten in Qualifing:

1 Elliott Sadler 189.943 mph
2 Jamie McMurray* 189.395 mph
3 Jimmie Johnson 189.189 mph
4 Sterling Marlin 189.137 mph
5 Jeff Gordon 189.085 mph
6 Dale Jarrett 189.070 mph
7 Ken Schrader 189.029 mph
8 Casey Mears* 188.660 mph
9 Bill Elliott 188.641 50.763 mph
10 Bobby Labonte 188.626 mph

That's a nice and moderately experienced top ten. But goodness knows that it won't stay that way for more than 5 laps!

Dale Jr. will have to start from 38th because his quarter panels were a 1/16th of an inch too short. But, "we'll be good Sunday." Yes, yes they will.

That is all from me at the moment, I am off! I've got to do a new rear brake install on my mom's car in the morning with my dad, so I'll be up bright and early!

~Kim

Mid-week Update
Wow. Man oh man, are things getting behind over here! Is there an end in site? Of course not! There never is!

Last weeks race was interesting to say the least. Dover always has the last word, and it gave out quite a few words last Sunday.

The best car in my mind did not win on Suday. The man wheeling the best car was Tony Stewart. He definately had some thoughts and unfriendly words for Goodyear afterword!

And Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked to be having a wonderful day, and Goodyear bit him in the butt as well. He was having a really good run at gaining some points on Matt, but no. And to top it off, he gets in a late race accident giving him a slight concussion and a bruised/sprained right ankle. Thankfully, Jr has been cleared to drive at Talladega! Hopefully he can drive the drive and make it five in a row!

But all in all, another congrats goes out to Ryan Newman and the entire 12 team!!

Here is my little mini football update:

Ironwood HS defeated Brophy Prep in Ironwood's Homecomming. In all of the events this past week, I forgot what the score was. Thank you internet, the score was 13-6.

Piece of advice, if you go to a rock show, don't mosh, because you get wounded. Really, you do.

Oh, also, a must read! On the "lap57" website, there is a feature article. And it is about Tom! Go read it!!

Feature update on Tom!

And that is all from me right now. Drop me a line if you get a chance, my inbox has been empty for a while now!

~Kim

P.S.~Future update-Pre-EA Sports 500!

RIR
Was that a race yesterday or what? Tempers were definately flaring last night, and the racing was great.

Ryan Newman won his 6th race of the season, and in true Ryan style. Kind of a make-up for last Sunday don't you think?


The race early on was dominated by Jeff Gordon, and then Dale Earnhardt Jr.

But throughout the race, there were 11 cautions, and plenty of hot racers, and a couple of crew-men. I felt kind of bad for Sterling's crew guy when he pulled out before the work was done.

It truly has been said, "Accidents will happen." I think sometimes that people can't get that through their heads. Robbie Gordon is the guy I'm talking about here. Jeff Burton would never wreck somebody on purpose. But Gordon has to pull his "Woe is me" bull crap and say Jeff did it on purpose. But in actuality, just just got loose going in, and "8 tires are better than 4" and Robby got the crap end of the deal. End of story. Jeff even admitted he caused it, "I got into him. It was 100 percent my fault."

The post-race altercation with Ricky Rudd and Kevin Harvick was rather comical. But certainly deserved. Kevin was having a hell of a run, and it gets punted away with eight laps to go. I understand how hot he was, and part of me really wanted them to duke it out like the good ol' days, but nowadays, we can't have that, even though I truly think it would make the ratings go up. I guess we will just have to wait and see what penalties will be handed out tomorrow!


But at the end of the day, there was only one really nice lookin car out there!


Now a new little mini-feature here on my site, my football update!

I went to the ASU-NAU game last night, and boy was it a good one! I was there of course to root on my Sun Devils! NAU may have my high school's old QB, Murietta, but he was not the driving force of their team, by any stretch of the imagination. You can read more about this game here

And then our rivals got their butt's handed to them. UofA just got raped. 59-13, LSU. Read more here

Don't get me started on my school's game on Friday. There are too many Sophmores on Varsity for my liking, sadly, they are just bench warmers.

Needless to say, we lost. Ironwood High, last year's 5a division runner-ups last year, lost 34-13. Very aggrivating, horrible game. It just was horrible. We have no offence, we have no defence, but perhaps it was the loss of our coach from last year. Many things contributed to it. But we still lost.

That's all from me right now folks! Stay tuned, and drop me a line, I have nothing to write about and I am getting real tired of school-work!

~Kim

Bristol
Wow. The Bristol race this year was totally crazy! But that has to be expected. Short track racing always brings out the best, and worst of both worlds.

I never seem to enjoy the Bristol races. Perhaps it is because they are running more caution laps than green flag laps, that really irks me. But with that said, it was "a good show, but shitty racin'"

Frustration came when I saw the Mikey accident happen. I jumped from my computer chair and started shouting. I was really kind of angry, because I thought he had a fair shot of winning it. I guess luck was not on his side. Nor Rusty Wallace's.



Good news on Rusty though, he was treated and released from the hospitol after a negative CT scan.

Did anybody else think the National Anthem was the cutest thing you ever saw/heard? I must say, I hope those children follow their father's footsteps and become racers, not singers. But they found Macie!

But congrats to Kurt Busch on his win. I hope he truly enjoys it!



But on the other side of the news...My friend Drew is going to Ryan Newman's wedding. His mother's "sister" is Chrissy's cousin. Helps to have connections eh? Here follows our conversation:

Drewskiguy04 (8:01:13 PM): I'm going to tell you something...but you can't kill me.
Drewskiguy04 (8:01:53 PM): I'm going to Newman's wedding w/Erin in North Carolina...where Matt Kenseth, Rusty Wallace, etc. will be.
racingdreamer52 (8:02:32 PM): lucky dog
racingdreamer52 (8:03:21 PM): give newman my wishes
Drewskiguy04 (8:03:53 PM): lol
Drewskiguy04 (8:04:13 PM): If I get to talk to him at all, I'll have to tell him I have this really good friend who is inspiring to be the first female crew chief (that is correct, right?).
racingdreamer52 (8:04:25 PM): yeah
racingdreamer52 (8:04:27 PM): :-D
racingdreamer52 (8:05:08 PM): that's so cool!
Drewskiguy04 (8:05:47 PM): lol...I'll make sure I say something, alright? You're a bigger fan than me so if I can say anything/get any info, I will.

Haha, classic, if only.

My plans were divided this Saturday. Halk of me wanted to stay home and watch the race, the other half wanted to go to the Blake Shelton/Toby Keith concert. I stayed home, and my mom called me so I could listen in. Ah, good times.

I hope everyone had a great week and weekend, and a good Sunday!

~Kim

Weekly Update
Ah, qualifing was a nice thing to see today. I missed it from last week when it got rained out.

Flyin' Ryan Newman did it again! But, what were we to expect? That man is amazing on qual., but his luck is turning around during the actual race. It's been said, "You don't get paid for Friday."

1 #12 Ryan Newman 170.358 mph
2 #48 Jimmie Johnson 169.821 mph
3 #38 Elliott Sadler 169.246 mph
4 #18 Bobby Labonte 168.932 mph
5 #0 John Andretti 168.925 mph
6 #5 Terry Labonte 168.757 mph
7 #2 Rusty Wallace 168.710 mph
8 #88 Dale Jarrett 168.631 mph
9 #17 Matt Kenseth 168.530 mph
10 #41 Casey Mears* 168.397 mph

Quite a few new guys, or guys we don't often see in the top ten, in the top ten.

John Andretti is apparently doing great in the NetZero car. Which is good for the race team, and himself.

Casey Mears seems to be doing well qualifyingwise (is that even a word?! Is it even spelled right?!)

It's also good to see both of the Labonte Brothers in the top ten!

That's about all I have to say for now.

Again, thanks Paul for letting me write one of the "Friday Night Thoughts", it meant a lot!

Happy Racin'!

~Kim

"The Last Patrol"
No real reason for the title, just liked it from "Band of Brothers."

So, Chicagoland qualifing today. When I last saw, it was rained out, but apparently, I left the house all too soon.

I don't have much on hand eyewitness tv time on this one, so here are just the top ten qualifiers, like usual. :D No need to stray from what already works, right?

1 #20 Tony Stewart 184.786 mph
2 #24 Jeff Gordon 184.445 mph
3 #9 Bill Elliott 184.401 mph
4 #41 Casey Mears* 184.263 mph
5 #19 Jeremy Mayfield 183.892 mph
6 #48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's 183.723 mph
7 #16 Greg Biffle* 183.499 mph
8 #38 Elliott Sadler 183.449 mph
9 #77 Dave Blaney 183.430 mph
10 #42 Jamie McMurray* 183.200 mph

*=rookie

The rookies had a good run at this track, is this something to watch? Perhaps.

No DEI cars in the top ten. Shame. But they'll be back.

So Dale Jr. starts 16th, and point leader Matt Kenseth starts 24th, and nowadays, track position means a lot, so what do you think can happen?

And last but not least, top ten in the point standings before Chicagoland. : (Including the dock of 25 points from the number 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy)

1 Matt Kenseth Leader
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. -180
3 Jeff Gordon -203
4 Bobby Labonte -255
5 Michael Waltrip -417
6 Jimmie Johnson -472
7 Kurt Busch -484
8 Kevin Harvick -502
9 Rusty Wallace -532
10 Sterling Marlin -553

Happy Race Weekend!

~Kim