It’s always hard for me to watch races at Phoenix on the TV because I LOVE that track- it is one of my favorites that I have been to in person.  It makes it all the harder that the first Phoenix race is so early in the schedule because I haven’t been to a race track since last November (which coincidentally was Phoenix) and I miss just being at a track. I miss the smells and the noise and the colors and the hustle and bustle of the tracks so watching the first Phoenix race of the season is akin to torture for me.

Why, if I love Phoenix so much, did I not go to the race?  Well regular readers might have heard this before- but it has to do with it being back-to-back with the Vegas race (which I absolutely will not miss if for no other reason than that was my VERY FIRST NASCAR RACE) and also being so close to the Auto Club date as well.  Plus Misty and I both have real 8-5 Monday-Friday kind of jobs (and we work in way different fields in different states) so that going to 3 races in one month is impractical if not impossible.  So Phoenix gets put off until the fall race. I am SO GLAD it has a fall race because otherwise it would be hard to have to narrow which track to miss.

Anyway- the Subway Fit Fresh 500k (312 laps/miles) was not so good for the Stewart-Haas drivers! Yikes!  First poor Ryan Newman couldn’t catch a break! First he suffers not only one but two blown tires- the last one putting a premature end to his race. Then Danica also suffers a blown tire and ends up not only hitting a wall but then getting hit by another car and ending her day.

Thankfully, Tony Stewart didn’t seem to have any tire issues- but don’t think I wasn’t worried that he would…especially as the runs got longer.  Tony started the race in sixth place and it seemed like where he was in the field depended on how many tires he took. For a long time after his four tire stops he would end up mired back in traffic in 18th, 20th position somewhere.  I know he was frustrated too because I heard him say on his radio that he didn’t understand how the were slower when they were on 4 tires than with 2.  He would eventually start working his way up towards the front towards the end of the runs though or so it seemed to me.  Luckily he ended up in or near the top 10 before the last top which ended up being two tires.  Tony ended up finished 8th and moving up to 23rd in the points standings.

Notes About Phoenix:

1. I don’t know if you noticed but when Ryan blew a tire and wrecked the second time- he decided to walk to the infield care center instead of ride in the safety vehicle. Tony must have seen him at some point walking on the track because he asked on his radio “Is he mad or is he just getting out of the way?” I thought it was funny. I think he was frustrated- but not at someone else like Tony may have thought.

2. I don’t have NASCAR.COM’s RaceView to watch the races with. I was actually considering getting it since DirecTV ditched their Hot Pass stations (Boo directv boo!) but I have heard from a couple people that they have been having major issues with it. Is anyone else having trouble? Because I don’t know if I want it if it’s going to be more of a frustration than anything else. (For those wondering- I have Sprint and use the NASCAR13 Sprint mobile ap for the scanner).

3. Am I the only one who can’t find the simple things on the new NASCAR.COM- like race lineups, qualifying orders and the like?  I have been trying to keep an open mind about their new layout (I tend to be one of those anti-change people) but when I can’t find the information I am looking for easily- I get frustrated on give up.

I am going to leave you with this picture from Phoenix Raceway because it seems to me that every time I see Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon together- Jeff is usually CRACKING up big time and that makes ME crack up:

Next race; VEGAS BABY!

It’s taken me a week to post about the Nationwide race last weekend.  Let me preface this by making it perfectly clear- I actually did not watch the race live. I had been following it along via twitter until I found out that there was a pretty signifigant last lap crash and that there was an engine in the stands! I immediately stopped what I was doing and got to the nearest television to turn on the race.  The first thing I saw was the engine sitting on the wrong side of the safer barrier and all I could thing was CRAP THAT IS NOT GOOD. I saw replays of the crash and was amazed that the drivers walked away- and hoped and prayed that none of the fans were killed.  It didn’t even really register to me that Tony Stewart won the race- until they finally showed his “subdued victory lane interview.” You could tell that Tony didn’t care about winning- he was worried about what happened to the fans.

After his victory lane- Tony went to talk to the NATIONWIDE director Joe Balash.  I found some pictures of Tony and Joe Balash- and it was these pictures that really made me want to actually do this post.  You can tell Tony is concerned by the whole accident by the look on his face in this picture:

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I can’t even tell you how much I wanted to title this post “Tony Stewart-Finally A Daytona 500 Winner” but instead I had to refrain from using “Welcome To Daytona- This Bitch Bites.” This was not the way any fan wants to see their driver start the season.  Tony went from being the favorite in Las Vegas to win the race to finishing the race 82 laps down in 41st place after sustaining considerable damage on lap 33.  Needless to say this Smoke fan threw a bit of a hissy fit- stringing along words that are not fit for mixed company.  Some of the tamer things I said during my little fit: “$#!& our day is already over. @#*&%^@*@$ may as well not even bother to watch the rest of the race.” Yeah I was not a happy camper. I had my iPhone headset in because I was using it to listen to Tony’s scanner on the NASCAR13 Sprint Mobile ap and I can’t even tell you what he said on the radio after the wreck if anything because I ripped my headphones out of my ears and tossed my phone (harder than I meant) onto the table.  All I can say is THANK YOU OTTERBOX (my phone has never NOT been in an otterbox- I bought one at the same time I bought my iPhone and put it directly in).

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The movie Almost Famous is one of my favorite movies.  Misty and I often throw quotes from it back and forth between the two of us and one of those quotes is “It’s all happening!”  We use it like “Everything is falling into place!” Or “Can you believe how exciting this is!”  Well I am EXCITED because Daytona is here which means that NASCAR is finally starting! It’s ALL happening!

Tony will start tomorrows NATIONWIDE race 10th and will be driving the #33 Ritz Camaro. IF he pulls off the win he will tie Dale Earnhardt’s record. I hope he wins.  He will be starting Sunday’s SPRINT CUP SERIES race 13th in the #14 Bass Pro Chevy SS! Both are fairly decent starting positions.  It’s ALL happening!!

Some items out of Daytona so far that you may have missed: (more…)

Hey Tony Stewart fans!  Guess what? The first 25 people through the doors of their local Bass Pro Shop this Saturday February 23rd, 2013 will receive an officially licensed, limited edition 1:24 scale Action Racing Collectibles Tony Stewart 2013 Pass Pro Shops #14 Chevrolet SS!!! So head out to your local Bass Pro Shop to show your support of their new driver Tony Stewart and get a FREE Diecast (no purchase necessary)!

Also- on Sunday February 25th, 2013 if you are one of the first 50 people through the door you will get a limited edition “Evolution of the Stock Car” NASCAR Poster.

Please note that these offers are only good in stores and not available online.

 

The NASCAR Sprint Unlimited race just finished and all I can do is liken it to a frustrating appetizer. Why is it frustrating you ask? Because to me watching the Unlimited is like eating a delicious yet commercial-ridden appetizer only to have to wait a week for the main dinner course (the salad course will be the Bud Duels that are happening on Thursday while I am at WORK! URGH!).  This year the format of the (too short) non-points paying race was voted on by fans (yes I voted too). The fans chose a race that was segmented into  30 laps,  25 laps and 20 laps respectively.  They also (wisely) chose a 4 tire pit stop after segment 1 and for no driver eliminations (don’t worry though- there were only 12 drivers left by segment three anyway and only 10 of them were really in any sort of contention for the win- with two cars being cut off from the main pack).  They also could choose the fire suit that Miss Sprint Cup wore in victory lane.  I think it is fun that NASCAR does things like that to encourage fan participation- especially on non-points races.

Personally I was anxious for the Unlimited because except for a couple laps of pre-season testing and practice- I hadn’t really seen much of the Gen 6 cars on track at all.  Seeing the cars on track- I am liking how easy it is to tell the manufacturers apart with these cars.  And one thing that I was kind of iffy on when I heard about it- the names on the top of the windshields? LOVE it- I find it very aesthetically pleasing.

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If you are a NASCAR fan you know that NASCAR strives to be extremely fan friendly using social media- well that goes for sponsors too! What am I talking about? Walmart is putting you, the NASCAR fan, in control of the June 9th Pocono 400.  Walmart wants NASCAR fans to help them NAME THE RACE! How cool is that? But it doesn’t stop there! Not only do you get to help NAME A RACE (the Pocono 400) but you also get to help choose a signature concession and a pace car design for the race!  You the NASCAR Fan are in control of the Fan Driven 400!

And it all starts NOW!

First step? Submit your name for the Pocono 400 race!  Walmart wants YOU to name the June 9th 400 miles race at Pocono! So put your thinking caps on and submit your idea using the My Local Walmart/Fan Driven ap on Facebook.  You only have until February 25th to submit your idea- that is only 10 days people so get to submitting!

Then starting March 11th (don’t worry I will be back to remind you) go back to the My Local Walmart/Fan Driven Facebook page to find out the three names that it was narrowed down to and VOTE on your favorite!!  In April you can vote on one of three types of pierogies to be the featured concession at the race.  Then in May can vote for one of three pace car designs for the to-be-named race at Pocono.  It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure race (am I the only one who liked those choose your own adventure books?) where your votes will decide!

Just to thank NASCAR Fans- Walmart is going to offer 16,000 Concourse grandstand tickets to the June 9th race for $25 each! That is a steal!  Tickets are on sale now through Pocono Raceway or through Walmart.Com/NASCAR. Also- there will be $99 Family Track Pack (that’s 4 tickets, 4 sodas and 4 hotdogs for $99) offers for many of the races (Las Vegas, Fontana, Darlington, Charlotte, Dover, Michigan, Daytona (July race), New Hampshire, Pocono (August race), Watkins Glen, Atlanta and Homestead)…the Family Track Packs can also be purchased at walmart.com/nascar!

So don’t forget to go to the My Local Walmart/Fan Driven Facebook ap and enter YOUR idea for the the name of the race! I will be posting in the future to remind you of the other deadlines!

Am I the only one starting to get antsy for the beginning of the NASCAR season? I can’t be the only one who hears a revving engine and is like…MAN when does NASCAR start- NOT SOON ENOUGH that is when! But our “long off season” – which isn’t actually so long in the grand scheme of other sports – is coming to an end sooner than you can shake a broken transmission at (PSA: do NOT attempt to shake a broken transmission- those things look quite heavy).

The Sprint Unlimited is just a little more than week away (Feb 16th) – this race takes the place of what use to be called The Bud Shootout and then just The Shootout.  Then the Bud Duels (formally the Gatorade Duels) are Thursday Feb 21st (URG I have to work and they are in the middle of the dang day! WHY NASCAR WHY DO YOU TORTURE ME SO?). Then of course, the DAYTONA 500 is on the 24th. So it’s all happening and soon!  I CAN’T WAIT!  Sorry for the excessive caplock usage- but when I get excited I have no other way to let you know that to YELL it in my post.

Can you say (or tweet) #GoTonyGo? (more…)