Well the first race of the Chase of the Sprint Cup is well over by now and looking over my notes, I really didn’t take many…So this is apparently going to be done by memory.

One thing I did take a note about is how it always disconcerts me at the Louden race that they start the pre-race ceremony with “O Canada.” You would think I would be use to it by now…but I always think to myself “DId Canada buy NH or something?” I know they are really close and all that but still it weirds me out. It always has and most likely always will.

Now onto the race itself:

Team Home Depot had a fairly remarkable finish with their eighth place finish- all things considered.  Johnny Sauter was in the pitbox in front of Team Home Depot and blocked them in a couple times.  Then there was the contact with Sauter on pit road that caused us to have to go in to pull out a bent in fender.  Then just as we were starting to get our positions back on the field  there was the Pit Road speeding violation- that dropped us back down to 22nd.

It was right around that time that I stopped taking notes. Ok I admit it- I walked across the street and watched the race at my brother’s house so I can play with my nephew at the same time…and left my notepad at home because I didn’t want to look like a big dork.  Anyway…I remember setting my nephew down on his play mat and watching team Home Depot work their way back up the field- thanks to some well timed cautions and the like.  I remember at one point sitting on my brothers couch talking to my mom and cheering “Go Tony GO!!!” And my mom laughed  and said “Look at Matthew watching you!” It was funny.  Anyway- Team Home Depot ended up 8th after a couple of late passes to Bowyer and Harvick. However we moved up one position in the standings to 7th. They are a mere 73 points out of the lead.  Nothing a good run of a couple wins can’t fix.

Other Notes About Louden:

• Joey Logano made his cup debut in the #96 car (also painted with the home depot colors…only this car was more white and less orange).  I honestly don’t remember even noticing him too much during the race.
• Tony wasn’t using his usual spotter at Louden. The spotter at Louden was Mike and he definitely talks a lot more on the radio than Mark ever did.
• Boy Kyle Busch had a bad day. An odd bolt failure amongst other issues, dropped him down to 8th in the standings. That is what makes the Chase kind of cool. Someone who dominated can fall in the standings in the blink of an eye.

Next Week: Chase Race 2: The Monster Mile at Dover.