"Nascar Nation Gone Hollywood!"

 

Speed Channel's "Nascar Nation" that airs Monday - Thursday at 7pm has now morphed into "Entertainment Tonight" and "Access Hollywood" with a Nascar theme.

Ralph Sheehan is gone, replaced by LeeAnn Tweeden. Joining the former pin-up model is Vicky Johnson, and Craig Reynolds. The show has been cut back to 1/2 hour, with a new set, and a totally new format.

Every segment seems to use the same camera angles you would get from an in-car shot of a Nextel Cup car flipping down the front chute...it's all over the place. The opening segment features LeeAnn with some hard hitting Nascar News...like the premier of "Herbie -The Love Bug" or "The Hooters Pageant" (note to NN - if you're going to promote the fact you are live at the Hooters Swim Suit Compitition, how about showing us some Hooters!...instead of a bunch of bored waitresses hanging around an empty stage...looking like a chicken watching a card trick!)

The other segments, all of which last anywhere's from 15 seconds to a minute in length, are just re-hashed stories from the former "Nascar Nation". David Stremme (who throws like a girl) at a Country Western Celebrity Softball game, the kind of wheels Larry MacReynolds has on his "Pimp my ride" golf cart, what kind of music Casey Mears listens to, or how Jeremy Mayfield's clothes look in his motorcoach closet.

I realize that the show is trying to show us a different perspective of life outside of racing, and that 'peek behind the curtain mentality' into driver's life's, but, so far, it's been very weak...It's not even strong enough to be weak...it's lame. There, I said it...it's freaking lame!

The host's are still a little stiff and you can tell they are trying way to hard. They have a long way to go before they break out of that "PM Magazine" mold that comes off like a bad "Morning Zoo" radio show. I should know, I'm just as guilty of trying to pull off the same crap on my morning radio shows in DC and Houston.

But, then again, this new version of "Nascar Nation" isn't going after a 47 year old die-hard Nascar race fan, who put's up a chain link fence in front of his tv, put's on a pair of adult diapers, hangs a "show me your tits" banner above his couch, and uses 200 mile an hour tape to make damn sure his koozie nevers leaves his hand for flag to flag coverage anytime the Cup cars are running on the boob tube!

So, good luck to the new "Nascar Nation!" I gotta run, there's a "She's The Sheriff" marathon on TBS and I miss Suzanne Summers more and more everyday, ever since my old lady sold her Thigh Master on Ebay!

Mark

"Stewart Smokes Sonoma with One Hand!"

 

Tony (Smoke) Stewart hasn't been in victory lane since winning at Watkins Glen (my hometown, I might add) last August. No one thought he'd have to wait for the next road course, before he'd get there again.

Driving with just one hand on the wheel, while holding the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet in gear with the other, Tony took the checkers at the Save-Mart 350 in Sonoma, California.

"Toward the end of the race with 30 laps to go, I lost fourth gear," said Stewart, "And it wasn't but a couple laps after that where it popped down to third gear twice and I thought, 'I can survive without fourth gear but I can't survive without third gear.' So, I just kept holding in it gear and made sure that it wouldn't jump out of third anymore."

I'm pretty sure that Tony had to go to Jeff Gordon's hauler to get his trophy though! Prior to the race, everyone just assumed that Jeff or Jimmie Johnson had already won and they were just going to put on a race because a few fans paid for ticketsand expected a race! (now, I can't back that up, but, I'm pretty sure).

Transmissions and/or lack of road racing skills gave alot of the Cup regulars a dose of reality Sunday. Earnhardt, Johnson, and both Gordon's all looked to be strong at the start. Then, one by one, the gear box would go away, along with their chance at winning.

Tony bought a flag from a little shop a few days ago, after a press conference at Fisherman's wharf, which he promptly hung on his teams hauler. "The beatings will continue," it read, "until morale improves."

The flag came down Sunday night!

Mark
www.nascarstockcar.com

"At Last - A Redneck At A NASCAR Race!"

 

Lord, I apologize...but, this weekend at Infineon Raceway. Them Cup boys are a gonna be turnin' right to Get-R-Done!

Larry - The Cable Guy shows his 'right to bear arms' as the Grand Marshall for The Save-Mart 350 in California. It's funny jus' thinkin bout it!

Larry retorts: "Hey, I was reading the editorial page the other day and there were people that thunk they aughta ban beer commercials during sporting events! What a bunch of commies. Banning beer commercials? Ya that'll work! Hardly anyone smokes pot anymore since they took off all the marijuana commercials!"

You might as well change the water in the bong right now, 'cause this weekend is going to be confusing enough. Here's why: Some of these drivers have no idea how to turn right!

#38-Elliot Sadler and #88-Dale Jarrett spent all day Monday at the Bob Bondurant Road Racing School in Phoenix, AZ getting ready. #99 Carl Edwards is practicing on his X-Box Nascar video game...a lot of drivers are actually! Hendrick driver Terry Labonte is driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the #11 Fed Ex car.

Hey, ever heard of these guys? John Borneman III, Tom Hubert, Chris Cook... they're all going to be driving cup cars at Sonoma this weekend.

Jeff Gordon has won four of the last seven, Rusty Wallace and Ricky Rudd picked up a couple, and Mark Martin holds the record for the most top-10 finishes at Infineon Raceway at 13.

The 16th race on the schedule is 110 laps around a 10 turn course that's right at two miles long for a total of 218.9 miles. The green flag flies at 3:35 east coast time on Sunday. Only 11 races until the chase, and 11 drivers are eligible so far.

At last - a redneck at a Nascar race....so how did "Larry - The Cable Guy" feel when he found out he'd be spewing the four most famous words in motorsports?

"I about crapped my National Finals Rodeo sweat pants when I heard that."

Mark
www.NascarStockCar.com

P.S...fire off an email to imawreck2@nascarstockcar.com and I'll give you a heads up on the next issue of Nascar Wrecks...Thanks!

"Sterling, Your To Old For Beer!"

 

Chip Gannassi and Felix Sabates announced Sunday, that David Stremme the driver of the NAVY Busch car from FitzBradshaw racing would fill the seat of the Coors Light Dodge for 2006!

So does this mean that Sterling Marlin is gone from the team? Not really!

Felix laid a package in front of Sterling to have him stay in the organization: "Both Chip and I wanted to make sure he hung around with us," Sabates explained. "So I went to Coors and said, 'Hey, Sterling has been with us now for eight years and deserves for you guys to do something with him. So he has a very lucrative deal just to hang around, well into the six-figures," also includes a full-time schedule Armando Fitz's No. 40 Busch Series entry, Sabates said.

Hey Sterling!...you just got kicked to Triple A ball...and here's the reason why:

Sabatas said. "Coors came to us and said their marketing strategy had to be changed to young people. That's who buys beer today. You don't find many 50-year old men, old guys, drinking beer."

WHAT!..did you just say: "You don't find many 50-year old men, old guys, drinking beer?"

HELLO!..."Coors told you that?"... has anybody been to the track lately....look in the stands!...you've got 100,000+ focus group right there!

As far as, 'David Stremme' is concerned...what has he won? An ARCA race 3 years ago!...whoop-dee-do! I'm sure David is a great guy, and has potential, Bla, Bla, Bla.....Congrats, David you just hit the lottery!

The only reason people pay attention to the NAVY car, is because, Terry Bradshaw owns it! But, your right....he is a good-looking kid...that gets a lot of exposure...(TV announcer) "and now, here's the reason for this caution...it looks like the #14 car got loose...it's David Stremme again!"

Sidenote: NASCAR confiscated the spring-loaded front end of Kasey Kahne's car, after the Batman 400. Look for Ray Evernham to whip out his checkbook and Kasey to get some points taken away today or tomorrow.

Mark
www.nacarstockcar.com

P.S....drop us an email and we'll let you know about each new issue and future promotions.. imawreck2@nascarstockcar.com 'cause I'm pretty sure you don't have enough crap in your in-box already!

"Batman 400's Dynamic Duo!"

 

Greg Biffle and Doug Richert (crew chief) are Nascar's Dynamic Duo. Fifteen races inthe books and Biffle has won five of them. Four Roush racers finished in the top five today.

Why even, Dale Jr. beat Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson today in a race that slowed foronly four cautions.

I know this is a Nascar web site....but, WTF was that at the US Grand Prix in Indy today.Michelin tires came into question after their rubber couldn't handle Indy's turn 13, a highbanking right turn, so more than two-thirds of the field quit in protest over tire safety.

Only 6 cars ran in the F1 race. Over 100 thousand fans in the stands and a television audience of over 200 million worldwide....couldn't believe it. There was no winners today at Indy.

Can you imagine if that ever happened in a Nascar race? I can't even hallucinate a scene like that!

Not to mention, with only six F1 cars on the track, the Ferrari teamates damn near take each other out, when Michael Schumacher exits the pits and forces Barrichello into the grass going into turn one. What a weird day.

I doubt that F1 will ever return to Indy... so put 'em back where they belong...and that would be in my hometown of Watkins Glen, NY....

Mark
www.nascarstockcar.com

P.S...in my next post you'll learn the real reason Sterling Marlin won't be in the 40 car next year....it's got nothing to do with his talent either...it's all about the beer, baby..it's all about the beer!
P.S.S....Drop me your email, if you'd like to be notified when my next article hits the web. imawreck2@nascarstockcar.com

"Holy Crap Batman, It Went Bang, Pow, Zonk!"

 

Plot Summary for Batman Begins 400

Forty Three Cup cars enjoying a Sunday drive around the multi-grooved Michigan Speedway, when all of the sudden...Pow, Zap, Boom! A car disappears from the track. A few laps later, it happens again and again.

We now switch to Commissioner Gordon's office....

Where he and Chief O'Hara would work out exactly which villain they were to face in this week's episode. Gordon would press a button on the Batphone and it would cut to Wayne Manor where faithful butler Alfred would answer the phone and say a line like "I'll just get him for you, sir." Alfred would usually come across Master Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson talking with Aunt Harriet and would make up an excuse for them to answer the Batphone. Bruce Wayne then usually excused himself from Aunt Harriet and they rushed off to hear the diabolical scheme.

Bruce Wayne says:... Yes, Commissioner...what is it?

Batman, they've come back and cars are vanishing from the speedway!

You Don't mean?.....Bruce replies with concern

Yes Batman, I'm afraid it's true...it's the Rapper!

We'll be right there!.......as Bruce summons his young ward

After pushing back the head of Shakespeare that sat on the desk in Bruce Wayne's office and which concealed a button that opened a bookcase revealing two poles. Batman and Robin would slide down the poles to the Batcave where after colourful starting titles jump into the Batmobile, where Robin would say "Atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed" and Batman would respond "Roger, ready to move out" and would race off out of the cave at high speeds.

Who is the Rapper?.....No, it's not P Diddy or Hammer-time...and shouldn't there be the letter "C" in front of the word rap?

It's the dreaded hot dog wrapper...that attaches itself over the front grill on Cup cars and makes them overheat, which makes the engine go...Pow, Bang, Zoom... and then the car leaves the track with a blown motor!

It happens every year...and so, these drivers have to slip out of the draft just enough to blow the wrappers off the front grill. It's the same feeling you get, when you pull out to pass a tractor-trailer.

I'm sure that the Riddler, The Joker, and Egghead (Larry Mac, DW, and that other guy in the Fox Booth) will mention it several times.

Anybody, layin' any cash down betting Hammond's in costume Sunday?

Mark

P.S. I write a new issue of "Nascar Wrecks" approximately every couple of days...sometimes everyday... and... if you want to know immediately when a new issue is posted, just click below and send me your e-mail address. Then, I'll send you an e-mail message each time telling you the brand new issue is now on the website.

imawreck2@nascarstockcar.com

It is NOT necessary for you to send me your e-mail address... but... if you do,I will never let anyone else have it... nor... will I myself use it for any reason except to let you know my newest issue has been posted on this site. You see, I hate SPAM or any other form of unsolicited e-mail.

In any case, I hope you find some Nascar-know-how in these issues as thousands of other Nascar fans have.

"Michigan Is Groovy!"

 

You'd be hard-pressed to find a driver that DOESN'T love Michigan.

It's two miles long, where you can go three, sometimes four wide thru the corners. Drafting plays a huge roll, because straightaways are so long. Just make sure you have plenty of ponies under the hood. You’ve got to get through the corners fast to get down the straightaways.

There are so many groove's at Michigan...just pick one! The biggest challenges this weekend will be finding where you are fastest thru the corners, drafting partners, and gas mileage. Yep, there's gonna be a lot of deal makin' goin on along spotter's row!

We shouldn't see much yellow, this race could go caution free, but, I doubt it. Some drivers have a bag of tricks to use, if they need to bunch em up. For instance, if your car is junk and getting blown away, you need a caution to go into the pits and make adjustments, right?

It's amazing how roll bar padding can mysteriously fly out of your car and onto the track. (wink)...oops, debris is on the track, wave the caution flag! Trust me, it's happened before....

So it should be the same...Hendrick vs. Roush...What's wrong with Junior...Silly season rumors...Jason Leffler in the wall...kinda weekend!

I think Ryan Newman describes Michigan the best:

"It doesn’t take a super talented driver to drive it, but it takes a talented driver to race it.”

Mark
www.NascarStockCar.com

"Nextel Cup Gone In 2006!"

 

Question?...Do you still make the mistake of referring to it as "Winston Cup?" Even though, it's officially been the "Nextel Cup" since 2004...... Guilty, your honor!

Well, scoop up your souvenirs boys and girls 'cause it's changing names again.

Coming in 2007...."Ladies & Gentlemen, Welcome to The Sprint Cup Series!"

Look for the announcement in a few weeks, as soon as, the suits at Nextel and Sprint wrap up the merge. It'll stay "The Nextel Cup" thru next season, while they roll out a new marketing plan for 2007.

So how does this affect us? It doesn't, unless you dropped a few hundred in t-shirts, jackets, and hats.....or anything else that has Nextel on it.

BTW, I personally know the guy that owns the domain names: www.SprintCupSeries.com and www.TheSprintCupSeries.com and he'll be happy to sell em in the low five figures!...(wink)

In other words, speed costs money, how fast you wanna go?

Mark
www.NascarStockCar.com

"Rumble Strips Junior!"

 

Not only has it been a bumpy road for Dale Jr. this year, Pocono's rumble strips made sure Jr wasn't going correct his 'fall from grace'this weekend.

Rumble strips placed inside of turns two and three tore up a several teams left front tires, and also tore up Jr's hopes for a half-way decent finish, he blew the first of two left front tires within ten laps of each other. The first one went flat on lap 57. He then nursed the 8# car about 2 miles back to get some fresh rubber losing a lap in the process.

Ten laps later, it happened again, this time a piece of rubber locked up the wheel and by the time he got to the pits, it looked like the whole left front of his car was on fire. You could almost hear the moans and groans of Earnhardt nation.

What was weird and just maybe, an indication that the 8# and 15# crews are starting to help each other out, and since Dale Jr's day was all shot to hell, two member's of the brew crew went over and started changing tires for Michael's pit stops. In other words, swapping out crew members.

Michael starting from the pole for the first time in 14 years, led the field by almost 8 seconds until the first caution, then it seemed like he'd keep going backwards with each pit stop afterwards. So, they brought in some faster tire changers. Michael battled back with a 6th place finish.

Nemecheck gave the Army (his sponsor) a nice 3rd place finish to honor their 230th birthday. But no one noticed! Here's why:....his car was painted camouflage......get it camouflage!

Carl Edwards, threw Roush Racing their first Pocono win. Edwards had never been to Pocono in his 25 years of living. In the winner's circle, Edwards thanked the company that makes those Nascar racing video games!....hey, wait a minute...you mean to tell me, he learned how to get around the Superspeedway that drives like a roadcourse...by playing a freakin' video game?....Yep!

Somebody send Junior an X-Box!

Mark
www.NascarStcokCar.com

"Who's Zoomin' Who?"

 

You never know what's going to happen at Pocono: This year, you've got drivers that are... way out over their ski's... behind the wheel, There's no shifting allowed and that's going to slow the cars way down coming out of turn three.

Cars will be going up to 200 mph and three, four, maybe five wide down the main chute into turn one. Then it's get in-line time for the next two turns, if you miss your mark, you can forget it. Track position is very important, along with gas mileage, if you are going to be there at the end.

Most cars will figure out a chassis setup that gets them thru two of the three turns.The team that can nail a good setup for all three turns gets the prize. A friend going to the track asked: "Where's the best place to watch the race from?"...I replied..."well, have you got a tree stand?"

Rusty Wallace: "I've been racing there long enough to see stuff happen that I've never seen happen anywhere else before. Where else have we raced when the caution flies for deer on the track? I'll never forget when Neil Bonnett hit one while driving for Junior Johnson. They had to throw the red flag during the practice session that day and Neil drove his car back into the garage with the antlers hanging out of the grill."

So, the driver that has the best chance of turning Bambi into a hood ornament this weekend, has got to be Joe Nemechek...the paint scheme on his 01# Chevy is camouflage!

God, that cracks me up!

Mark
www.nascarstockcar.com

"Sorry, I Didn't See You!"

 

It's been a record setting year for cautions. Who's to blame?

Nascar?...Goodyear?...Spoilers?...Tracks?...Driver's?...Spotter's?

You could point the finger at any one of them and you'd be right! This weekend at Pocono, the driver's and spotters have a new dilemma, and you can't blame any of the above for what very well could be a spotters nightmare!

To help celebrate the 230th birthday of the US Army. Who happen to be the primary sponsor for the MB2 Motorsports 01# Chevrolet, with driver Joe Nemechek.

The team plans to have a special paint scheme designed to resemble the U.S. Army's new camouflage combat uniform. The car will carry the digital camouflage pattern, which mixes green, tan and gray.

So if anyone hits "Front Row Joe" this Sunday.

Just say..."Sorry, I didn't see you!"

It's camouflage...

Mark
www.NascarStockCar.com

"Pondering Pocono?"

 

"The SuperspeedwayThat Drives Like A Roadcourse!" is how Pocono describes themself.

Two and a half mile track, with three different degree of banking turns, three straightaways, and the main straight is more than 37 football fields long. With places where cars can get 3, 4, 5 wide...5 wide?

Hey, let's start 'em 5 wide!...what's that, 8 rows and Kirk Schelmerdine! (calm down, just screwing around) Actually, it's 8.6 rows...bla, bla, bla.

It seems like Jimmie Johnson holds the key to unlocking the secret to getting around this very unique track. He won both races last year.

This year should either be, real interesting or boring as hell, as a result of the gear rule change NASCAR made..."I disagree with the gear rule," Jeff Gordon says. "At Pocono, we'll be way down on RPM, and we won't be able to shift. It's like putting a restrictor plate on the cars at New Hampshire. We won't be able to pass, and that's not a good thing."

Can you say "single-file racing?" (huh...Attention, Mr. Boring...your table for two is ready!)

In the 54 Cup races held at Pocono the winner has started in the front row 30 times and the top ten 38 times. So, I guess it's safe to say, we should know who the winner is, right after qualifying on Saturday!

Mark
www.NascarStockCar.com

"Biffle Biffs After Win!"

 

Greg Biffle dominated the last 1/3 of the race at Dover, beating Kyle Busch by over 4 seconds. While doing donuts to celebrate the win, he backed it into the wall!...Bet the boys at the shop gotta love that.

Roush had 4 of 5, and Hendrick had 3 of 4 drivers finish in the Top Ten.

Biffle (1st), Martin (3rd), Kennseth (7th), and Bush (9th) for Roush.
Kyle Bush (2nd), Johnson (4th), and Vickers (6th) for Hendrick.
Penske was happy with Rusty (5th) and Ryan Newman (8th).

The 'most cautions in a race' record is safe for another week. Only seven yellow flags for 33 laps.

Jeff Gordon took his car right to the dumpster, after Tony Stewart, on lap 40, tapped him in the rear on a re-start.

The way I saw it...Gordon's car was a lot slower than Stewart's on the re-start, Tony had a better run going on the low side, and Gordon tried to close the door. They barely touched, but it was enough to break the 24 car loose and in to the wall he went.

"All I can say that the next time Tony's holding me up, it won't be very long for him to be out of my way," Gordon said...

Gordon had good reason to be pissed....he's had 5 DNF's in 13 races this year, and it's the first time he's had 3 DNF's in a row, since 1993.

When asked what he thought about Gordon calling him out...Stewart replied: "Jeff Gordon is always whining about something!"

I was surprised to hear DW mention it's was way to early in the race for Tony to drive like that and how, Tony has no respect for Jeff....WHAT? Too Early? No Respect?....You have got to be kidding me, DW!... If there was 40 to go,you'd be the first to scream.."Move 'em out of the way!"

Dale Jr. came in 22nd and was a non-factor all day....It's not getting any better for the "Brew Crew", actually, it might be getting worse! He even got beat by Jason Leffler, who came in 20th!

Maybe, next week, Dale might want to use a car from his prom-pic TV commercial .."Enterprise", 'cause the stuff he's run lately has been junk...

"Enterprise, We'll Pick You Up!"... He needs one.

Mark
www.nascarstockcar.com

"Dover Questions?"

 

In no certain order....

How many front right tires will the track chew up and spit out?
Will there be any long green flag runs?
Is the new 22 cautions record in jeapordy?
Who's going to apologize to Dale Jarrett this week?
Will Harvick accidently exchange sheet metal with Kyle Busch? (see Saturday's Busch race)
Can Kurt Busch stay out of the wall for at least 11 laps?
Can Dale Jr. get his MOJO back?
Will Shane Hmiel get the munchies during the race?.(cheap Shot?...He's an idiot)
Will Tony Stewart suffer his first-ever DNF at the Monster Mile? He has nine top-five finishes in 12 starts at Dover.
Can Jason Leffler finish a race?..
Three wide thru the corners, but not down the straight, Who's backing down?
How many cars get taken out on pit row? (very narrow)
How many cars wad it up getting into the pits? (Ask Matt Kenseth)
How will the hottest race day so far this year (mid 80's) affect the cars?
Can Mr Friday Ryan Newman make it two-in-a-row at Dover?
How many references to Bristol will we hear?

We'll have our answers this afternoon...

It's a bumpy concrete track, that eats tires, and wears drivers out, you're three wide in the corners, NOT down the straight...It's the first time this year, they've raced in this kind of heat (90 degrees), there will be some HOT drivers today.

Note to Fox announcers...Please don't waste any time with some phony politically-correct BS...about how you wish Shane Hmiel gets his life together ...the kid blew the opportunity of a life time!..."oh, he's a great talent....we just hope he can get the help he needs, so he can get back to racing...bla, bla, bla".... what a bunch of horse hockey!

No wait, hang on...I got it!...let's turn this into a drinking game...yep, everytime they (Hammond & Larry Mac) try to sound sincere about Hmiel......you do a shot.....and when they mention Shane's dad...Jr's crew chief, in the same breath...you do another shot.....you should be aiming with your face about 100 laps in..

Drive it like you stole it,

Mark
www.nascarstockcar.com

"Hey Danica, Need A Ride?"

 

Shane Hmiel, driver of the 32# WINFUEL Chevrolet, (you know the kid that got spanked for flipping off Dale Jarrett a while ago) practiced his Busch car Thursday at Dover, posting the second-fastest speed in the first practice, but was escorted out of the garage by several NASCAR officials before the second session.

Here's why.....

He got busted for violating the substance-abuse policy! "Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and Section 12-4-E (violation of the NASCAR substance abuse policy) of the 2005 NASCAR rule book."

So what was it?.... Pot?...Coke?...Ludes?...Vicodin?...Flintstone's Vitamin?

What ever it was....he's gone! This is his second suspension for drug-abuse. He got launched for 4 months in the 2003 Busch season. This is ugly....

His sponsor WINFUEL (headquarted in N.J), consider Dover their home track.So you have to expect, they emptied the office, to come watch their boy race! Now they have to pull all the TV commercials, print ads, and merchandising with his face on it....That's big money, kids!

I was lucky enough, to travel the circuit in the very early 80's, and there WAS a few of the young guns, (no, I'm NOT going to name them, 'cause I don't roll like that...<---street talk) takin' a toke now 'n then, even one or two, that would snort a start and finish line in between races...the reponsibility of drivers today is huge..what the hell was he thinkin'?

Hey, my hands aren't clean...it was, shall we say...a sign of the times. Things were different then, there wasn't alot of multi-million dollar sponsors, televised races (especially for the Busch series), well, you get the idea!

You've got to feel bad for the team, his sponsors, and especially his Dad. Steve Hmiel, is the the technology director at Dale Earnhardt Inc. who took over as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s interim crew chief last week. Like he doesn't have enough crap to deal with already....

This kid just FUBAR'd his career...so who's going to drive the ride now?

Hey Danica, what are doing this Saturday around 1pm?

Mark
www.NascarStockCar.com

"The Great 8# Summit!"

 

It's been a rough couple of weeks for D.E.I....so the driver of the 8# car invited his "Brew Crew" (team) and the crew from the 15# car (Mikey's team) out to his place Wednesday night, to pass around the olive branch, throw back a couple of Bud's, and do some laps on the go-kart track in his back yard.

Here's what Dale Jr. had to say:

"It's been a rough week. But we're all going to do what we can to go to Dover and win. All of us at DEI want to win so bad, things happen or are said in the heat of the moment. It's the way it always has been. That's family, ya know?
Win or lose, with the focus from the fans and the media on me and on this team, we've had some sort of drama or controversy every other week for five or six years. We all move on and focus on the next race. We've been through much worse situations together, and we've always been able to rebound together and come back strong. I don't expect anything different this time."

Michael and Dale spilled their guts to each other yesterday, so it looks like those two are cool for Dover...at least Junior feels confident about "The Monster Mile!"

"It's a place where we've won, so there's always that confidence there. You always feel good going back to a place you've won. Last year we had to race our guts out for those top-10s, especially the first one. We were two laps down with about 50 to go and ended up finishing third. That was one of the craziest races I'd ever seen. I'm a big fan of the place, enjoy going there, and hopefully we'll have a good car to run. I was really impressed with how good we got our car running Sunday (in the 600). Even when you don't get the finishes you want, just knowing you've got guys with the ability to adjust and make the car really fast is exciting."

Well, it sounds like everything is honky dory...at DEI's "Garage Mahal!"

Now, if Dale Jr. could only start dating... (uh, excuse me...don't you mean Bump Draft)... Danica Patrick?

Mark
www.NascarStockCar.com