A while back I was on TonyStewart.com website looking for Tony’s position in the Sprint Cup points standings. I tend to use his site instead of NASCAR.COM because it is just easier for me to find the information I am looking for not to mention it is the home for all things Tony Stewart related so I can check to make sure that I didn’t miss some important news item.

Anyway- several weeks ago I saw an ad on his site for CelebCall- because he is now one of the listed celebrities.  CelebCall is a service where for a nominal fee you can fill out a MadLibs-esque script using pull down menus and have one of their celebrities call someone you know. It’s a recording and there are samples on the website of what it sounds like (but you do not get to hear your particular choices in the sample- for obvious reasons I suppose).  According to the website, the phone call looks like it is coming from your own phone number (the buyer’s phone number) – probably to increase the chances of a successful pick up should the recipient of the call be screening calls.  I admit I was intrigued.  But then I got the information I was looking for and promptly forgot about it.  Until last week when I was again checking Tony’s points in the standings (yeah I do that too much I agree but I can’t help myself- I have to know where my team stands- pun intended) when the CelebCall ad caught my eye again.

This time I decided that Misty could use a little interruption in her work day and since I was fairly certain that she would be able to recognize Tony’s voice I thought I would give it a whirl. I filled out my script- and while indeed Misty was in the list of names (it’s a hugely extensive list let me tell you) – I actually selected from the “If You Can’t Find Their Name” list because one of the greetings there was Hey Beautiful and what girl doesn’t like being called beautiful (and being called beautiful by Tony Stewart is a definite win). Anyway I pressed purchase and waited (you can have it call them on a specific date but I just had them do it now).

Well I don’t think it was ten minutes later and Misty was calling me. Her reaction was priceless and the desired effect was definitely had.  Per our phone conversation she told me she didn’t know what was happening. She said she was pretty sure that when she picked up her phone it said it was me calling but then there was this really familiar sounding guy who was obviously familiar with her because he was calling her beautiful (HA TOLD YOU THAT WOULD BE AWESOME) and then she realizes it’s Tony Stewart calling her.  She said it caught her completely off guard (hard for me to do with Misty because if I get her a surprise I usually end up telling her I got her a surprise so she never really gets the full SURPRISE factor and then I even usually tell her what the surprise is- I am so bad about that just ask her). She even said that at first it was hard for her to tell it was even a recording and she didn’t know WHAT the heck was going on and why Tony Stewart was calling her from my phone.  It was the perfect thing to create a little levity in the middle of a work day.

There are tons of other celebrities available for your call making pleasure including: Charlie Sheen (I know- TIGER BLOOD), Mike Tyson, Ice-T, James Stewart (the motocross star not the dead movie star), Tony Schumacher (NHRA Top Fuel drag racer), Pete Rose and there are even two other NASCAR drivers: Bill Elliott and Michael Waltrip.  You should check out the list for your self because I can’t list them all out here- I am sure you can find SOMEONE to call your friend, relative, whomever!

For “full disclosure” purposes that us bloggers are held to these days: I did not receive any compensation or reimbursement for this post, nor was I asked by a marketing firm to post this post and I paid for the call to Misty myself. It was the best $5.00 I spent all week.

Gratuitous Tony Stewart Picture because I haven’t been posting enough of them according to one of my readers and I do like to make my readers  happy…ENJOY:

Tony Stewart during the parade lap at Darlingon (picture for the Tony Stewart Official Store facebook page- click picture to be taken to the original).

Mobil 2 GM UAW Corvette from the American Le Mans Series race at Laguna Seca in 2012. (Photo Credit: Amy K. Marbach)

Plenty of us were racecar drivers. But a racer was something else, someone who loved driving and competing above all else and who’d drive anything anywhere anytime, just to be strapped into a five-point harness. – Dead Man’s Switch by Tammy Kaehler (page 116).

You may remember that last week I reviewed the novel Braking Points- the mystery novel that takes place in the ALMS (American Le Mans Series) racing series by Tammy Kaehler.  As I mentioned in my review Braking Points is actually the second book in the Kate Reilly (Kate Reilly is the main character and race car driver) Racing Series by Kaehler and since I liked Braking Points so much of course I had to pick up the first book in the series: Dead Man’s Switch.

I have to tell you that despite the fact that I ended up reading the two books in the wrong order- I thoroughly enjoyed Dead Man’s Switch just as much as Braking Points.  In Dead Man’s Switch, up and coming race car driver Kate Reilly shows up at Lime Rock speedway hoping someone will end up needing a driver.  Her hopes come true as she ends up the 2nd driver for a race team she had worked with before. For NASCAR fans not familiar with ALMS- the cars are fielded with teams of two or three drivers (usually dependent on the length of the race) and driver changes are required during the race.  I spent a good amount of time in the paddock area at the ALMS race at Laguna Seca last year and was absolutely fascinated while I watched the teams practice the careful but quick ballet of the driver change in their pit areas- it was so coordinated. But I digress.  Kate Reilly got the ride she was hoping for because the teams second driver was found dead in the paddock parking at Lime Rock- by Kate herself.

And so begins Kate’s race weekend. Rumors swirl around the young female driver- did she kill a driver to get a seat? Many people think so.  Of course Kate knows she didn’t do it and that the only way to clear the suspicion surrounding her is to find out who did.  Kate soon finds herself suspicious of nearly everyone she comes in contact with as it seems they had motive.  But that is as much as I will tell you because you will want to read the book yourself to find out who did it and why.

While this book is not set in NASCAR I still think that my NASCAR fans who like reading will still enjoy Dead Man’s Switch I know I sure did and I am greatly looking forward to the next book in the series!

You can even follow Kate Reilly Racing on twitter! And join Team Kate on the mailing list as well to be a part of TEAM KATE!

You can find out more about author Tammy Kaehler at her website. She also writes for the blog Two For The Road with author Simon wood.

For “Full Disclosure” while I was given a copy of Tammy’s book Braking Points to review for that review – what I wrote was honest and truly my thoughts on the book. I was given nothing nor was I asked to review this book- I did so because I liked the book.

I was thinking this morning yesterday morning (because I had to post THIS instead)- Stewart-Haas got their first win at the 2009 All-Star Race.  It is no secret that Stewart Haas Racing is struggling this season- especially my beloved #14 team.  I would love for them to bust out an awesome race and win at the All-Star Race in Charlotte this weekend. I think the morale boost alone could carry the 14 team into the Sprint Cup Chase- elusive wild cards be damned.  Yeah I am already starting to get nervous about the points. I am a points watcher and 21st in points – well it gives me heartburn AND heartache. But I am hopeful that this season will turn around SOON and Tony and the #14 team will go on a tear- if anyone can do it- Tony can.

Speaking of which- I occasionally will peruse my website stats and one of my favorite things to look at is how people end up on my page.  Someone recently did a Google search for “why is stewart haas racing racing doing so badly.” They ended up here at BadGroove as if I had the answer. If I had the answer I would tell the team straight away so we could END the bad part of the season.  Let’s just say the other day I came across my $2 bill and I remembered that eons ago I read that Tony said that he thought $2 bills were lucky.  Don’t make me send you mine Tony Stewart because I so will.

Anyway- the winner in the Mobile 1 Under The Hood with Tony Stewart was not me-but I didn’t think it would be.  Honestly I forgot to vote a couple days so I don’t think I got in enough votes. Anyway the lucky winner was Sandra Clark…here are some pictures from the event…looks darn fun to me:

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, performs a Mobil 1 oil change on his 1967 Pontiac GTO at his personal garage in Columbus, Ind. (Photo Credit: Duane Prokop/Getty Images North America)

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, shows off his 1979 Pontiac Trans Am to fan Sandra Clark at his personal garage in Columbus, Ind. Clark, from LaGrange, Ga., won the chance to meet Smoke and tour his personal classic car collection through the Under the Hood with Tony and Mobil 1 sweepstakes. (Photo Credit: Duane Prokop/Getty Images North America)

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, shows off his 1967 Pontiac GTO to fan Sandra Clark at his personal garage in Columbus, Ind. Clark, from LaGrange, Ga., won the chance to meet Smoke and tour his personal classic car collection through the Under the Hood with Tony and Mobil 1 sweepstakes. (Photo Credit: Duane Prokop/Getty Images North America)

And my personal favorite:

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, jokes with fan Sandra Clark at his personal garage in Columbus, Ind. Clark, from LaGrange, Ga., won the chance to meet Smoke and tour his personal classic car collection through the Under the Hood with Tony and Mobil 1 sweepstakes.
(Photo Credit: Duane Prokop/Getty Images North America)

Hi there!  You don’t know me- so let me introduce myself. My name is Amy and I am a NASCAR fan (and blogger obviously).  Not knowing me, you would probably characterize me as a gun toting, tobacco-spitting, country music listening, walmart shopping, taxidermy loving, lawn mower riding, cowboy boot wearing, high school dropout redneck living in one of the cities in on your 10 Most “Redneck” Cities in America list.

After reading the list and more importantly the highly scientific method you used to come up with the cities that made the list I am flummoxed.  You see- I am a NASCAR fan and I have been since I was a child.  Yet I am none of those things. Neither are any of the NASCAR fans I know.  You see, that is the problem when you perpetuate stereotypes- you inevitably alienate people.  It would be like me stereotyping football fans as the inebriated, shirtless guy wearing a beer dispensing hard hat while his entire bare upper torso is painted in team colors while standing in 30 degree weather. Or like saying that all programmers are skinny, pale, bespectacled, dateless, socially awkward, caffeine addicted trolls who sit in darkened rooms playing WoW  between code writing marathons. Those sweeping generalizations are for the most part untrue as are yours when it comes to NASCAR fans.

NASCAR fans at the 2012 Kobalt Tools 400 in Las Vegas NV (Photo Credit: Amy K. Marbach)

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Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington. (Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America)

Qualified:20th

Finished: 15th

Race Winner: Matt Kenseth

Points After Darlington: 21st, 170 points behind current series leader Jimmie Johnson. 62 points behind 10th in the standings – still outside of the top 20 and not eligible for a wild card birth.

My Mood After Darlington: Cautiously optimist (more…)

Okay NASCAR Fans! This is your last chance to help with the PARTY IN THE POCONOS 400 taking place June 9th (which isn’t that far away if you think about it). You named the race PARTY IN THE POCONOS! You picked the signature concession – the Loaded Baked Potato Pierogi (which won by a landslide by the way)! Now we need to pick a pace car design.  Looks like the pace car is going to be a Camaro (which you all KNOW I love).  I have a definite favorite of the three designs but I will not cloud your judgement. Here are the three designs for the PARTY PACE CAR:

Pace Car Design 1

Pace Car Design 2

Pace Car Design 3

Voting for the Party Pace Car has already started- vote NOW at the FaceBook Fan Driven 400 page. Remember you can vote once a day until May 27th.  I just found out there are still $25.00 tickets available for the Party In The Poconos left thanks to Walmart- so get your tickets now directly from Pocono Raceway! Can’t make it to the Party In The Poconos? Walmart is offering family track ticket packs for many other races (that’s 4 tickets, 4 cokes, 4 hot dogs for $99).

Sorry it took me so long to get my Talladega race post up! ~ Amy

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, drives down the backstretch after being involved in a wreck between turn one and two during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. (Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America)

Qualified:25th (set by practice speeds due to weather)

Finished: 27th (laps down)

Race Winner: David Ragan

Points After Talladega: 22nd, 159 points behind current series leader Jimmie Johnson. 56 points behind 10th in the standings (if I am not mistaken he gained points on 10th- thank goodness for little favors). Outside of the top 20 and not eligible for a wild card birth.

My Mood After Talladega: Glad it was over. I think Tony was too.

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Tea and a good book…Braking Points by Tammy Kaehler (Photo credit: Amy K Marbach)

“I smelled race day: fuel mixed with hot metal, rubber and concrete, plus a dash of sweat, sunscreen and cigarette smoke. There was nothing like it.” -Braking Points by Tammy Kaehler (page 211).

I haven’t been in the mood to read recently. That isn’t odd for me- I am usually feast or famine when it comes to reading. Even though I love to get lost in a good book and often just want to read read read it’s not uncommon that I then go through a stretch where I don’t want to read or nothing seems to hold my interest.  That is exactly where I have been lately (oddly enough my writing is the same way- I either have a lot of ideas and struggle write them all down fast enough before they leave my brain or conversely I sit there with a blank page and a pen and just blink at it).   I still wasn’t in the mood when I was offered a complimentary copy of the book Braking Points by Tammy Kaelher to read and possibly review for my BadGroove readers.  I took the offer however because I was somewhat intrigued by the brief synopsis of the storyline that was in the email- it sounded like something I would like and it sounded right up the alley of this website.  Little did I know that I was accepting to read a book that I would not only end up loving but would ignite again in me the read read read feast part of my personality.

As I mentioned I thought Braking Points would not only be a book that I would possibly like but that you my readers would like and I still stand by that after reading it.  You will probably be surprised to find out that Braking Points is actually not set in the NASCAR world – the heroine Kate Reilly is a race car driver in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).  We enter Kate’s world at Road America in Wisconsin- where during the race she sends a popular NASCAR driver pulling double duty in ALMS to the hospital in an on track incident.  Then during her post race interview Kate ends up going off on camera, provoked by an extremely upset fan of said NASCAR driver.  The end of her day finds Kate reconnecting with two friends from back in her Skip Barber Formula series days at a local tavern, only to finder her boy friend in the parking lot of the tavern a couple hours later with one of those friends, only that friend is dead.

Don’t worry though- that is just the warm-up lap for this face paced race of a novel.  Kate soon finds herself having to deal with throngs of angry, hateful NASCAR fans – one of which may be trying to kill her, rumors that her spot on her racing team isn’t as secure as she thought, an anonymous racing insider/blogger who seems to take great delight in making Kate look bad, and a new huge sponsorship that Kate isn’t quite sure how she fits with- all while finding the time to prepare for the final race in the ALMS series (Road Atlanta). I don’t want to give up too much of the storyline but Kate is struggling to figure out not just who killed her friend but who she can trust. It’s a definite whodunit and if you are anything like I am you will change your mind about who the murderer is about a million times during the book (OK not a million times but there wasn’t a character in the book I didn’t suspect at some point or another).

One of my favorite things about the book is the character of Kate herself.  I liked that she is human. It would be really easy to take a female race car driver and just make her into this too perfect and too strong person where everything goes right and well for her.  I like the fact that Kate sometimes questions herself-  her abilities as a driver, how she fits with her new sponsor, her lifestyle and ability to have a boyfriend with the kind of career she wants.  It makes Kate very realistic- very human.

I know it may sound from my description that NASCAR fans are painted poorly in the story but trust me- they really are not.  Neither are all bloggers- thank goodness or I might have been offended since I am one! I really think that NASCAR fans or really race fans of any series, or mystery fans alike will enjoy this book. I know I certainly did.

Do note that Braking Points is the second book in a series. That being said it reads extremely well as a stand alone novel- which is how I read it- but you may want to pick up Tammy Kaelher’s first book Dead Man’s Switch and them in order. I know I plan to pick up Dead Man’s Switch VERY soon.  Then I will be waiting for the third book in the series because I have a feeling that Racing’s Ringer (the anonymous blogger) might make a visit in that novel too- (I do not know that for certain- that is just me guessing based on Braking Points alone).

Some information on the author: Before becoming an author Tammy Kaehler  had an established career writing marketing materials and technical documentation (hey I do that in my day job too).  She was working in marketing for a company that became a ALMS sponsor- and went to a race to help with their hospitality and soon found herself hooked!  She is currently working on the third installment of the Kate Reilly Racing Mystery series and plans for more books to come.  You can visit her website at TammyKaehler.com to find out more information about Tammy.

I know it sounds hateful of NASCAR fans but it really isn’t- trust me!

–A side note: I LOVED the quote that I picked up at the top because it reminds me of an experience I had at an ALMS race at Laguna Seca. I had been strolling the paddock area with my parents- my mom had never been to a race before. She looked over at me and said “What’s that smell?” I answered her with “The smell of speed- and I love it!” She looked at me like I was slightly off my rocker but I know that it’s a smell race fans of any series knows well.

For “Full Disclosure” I was given a copy of Tammy’s book Braking Points for the purpose of reviewing it however the thoughts expressed in this review are honest and true. In addition was given nothing nor was I asked to review her first book- I bought that book because I liked this book.