I don’t often watch the truck series races and that was the case this past Friday night. I only heard about the dust-up after the face. I’ve seen the replays multiple times. I’ve heard Kyle’s post race words and read his open letter of apology.  I’ve listened to Mike Helton’s explanation of the penatly. I’ve listen to Coach Gibbs. I’ve read parts of the letter from sponsor Mars. I’ve listened to commentators and drivers and fans.

I do realize that Ron Hornaday Jr is/was running for a championship. So was Matt Kenseth at Martinsville when Vickers repeatedly wrecked him last weekend. NASCAR took no action there- after all isnt it “boys have at it?” Is the idea not that the drivers are to police themselves? I also realize that Kyle did wreck Hornaday intentionally under a caution. A caution that had just come out and there were no safety vehicles in their vacinity.

I am not saying that Kyle didn’t take it too far. He did, afterall, wreck a championship contender intentionally under a caution.  NASCAR should not look the other way and I am not suggesting that they do.  Parking the truck for the remainder of the race was a good start. Points and monteary fines for Kyle Busch and Kyle Busch Motorsports should probably follow.  My big issue is parking Busch for the Sprint Cup race.  At the time of the incident Kyle was not driving for Joe Gibbs racing during the truck race.  It’s no different then when Tony stewart or Kasey Kahne go racing for their own dirt teams on friday nights.  Their actions at those tracks should not effect their current sprint cup rides much in the same way that Kyle’s incident in the truck series should not effect his Sprint Cup ride. Sure penalize and fine the everloving hell out of Kyle Busch and KBM but not JGR. This is the same stand that I took when Kyle got in trouble for his excessive speeding in North Carolina earlier this year. That had nothing to do with Joe Gibbs Racing either.

I admit I am surprised that according to the ESPN pre-race pole that 55 percent of those polled think that Kyle Busch should be let go by Joe Gibbs racing. I wholeheartedly disagree with that, which should not be a surprise.  I have a feeling that many of the NASCAR fans voting for the pro-firing must be the Kyle Busch haters. You know the ones. The booers. The same fans who write things like Kyle Busch Crash HERE X on the Safer Barrier by the start-finish lines at the tracks. The same fans who boo his crew as they push their car onto the qualifying grid. The same fans who harassed his wife on twitter- which is so beyond not cool to me.  It’s one thing to use social networking to call out a driver for their actions – it’s a completely other thing to call out or harass their spouse, girlfriend, or other family member or loved one.  That is not cool at alll.

Taking Kyle out of the race effectively ruined any remote chance at a decent chase finish. He is now mathematically eliminated from the chase. It also pretty much ruined the race at Texas Motor Speedway for both Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano- his teammates. They spend the weekend sharing notes on their cars and handling. Kyle is very obviously a BIG part of that looking at the finishes by both Hamlin and Logano.  Joe Gibbs Racing has already suffered enough for Kyle Busch’s actions while racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports. I don’t think any further action is necessitated by NASCAR or any of the JGR sponsors.  I keep hearing the voice of Kyle Busch singing in the newest Toyota commercial “Everybody wants a second chance.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, leads Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, during Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images North America)

That’s not to say I was completely clueless when it came to the race though. Between Sprint Cup Mobile, Twitter, NASCAR.COM‘s leaderboard and Misty’s occasional texts (she has a TV in her office). Now it’s nothing I recommend doing…I would much rather see the race with my own eyes (not to mention not having to not only do my work but to take customer calls during it- oy! Don’t they know there is a race on?) then have to rely on other methods- it still mostly satisfied my needs to know what was going down at the Glen while I was sitting here working.

Tony seemed to have a fairly strong car- because he was in the top 10 most of the day except after pit stops…which I can’t tell you why mind you (even though I was listening to Tony’s radio on my Sprint Cup Mobile) where he would get knocked way back.  Actually I don’t know if it was because it was the glen or because the building I work in has this industrial feel to it so it is clad in concrete but I didn’t get a lot out of Tony’s radio this race.

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, walks on the grid during qualifying for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen. (Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America)

I will say two things about the end of the race:

1. It really SUCKED not having a TV for that last lap crash because best I could tell from the information I was getting from twitter was that there was a heck of a crash that involved the Davids (Ragan and Ruetimann) and then Tony fell on the leaderboard from 7th to 27th.   I saw some of my tweeps (twitter peoples) mention Tony spun or crashed and that was the end of it. I had no idea how bad Tony was involved (in my mind it was all a single crash) or what the heck happened and most importantly if Tony was okay.  (I knew that the David’s were both out of their cars under their own power from twitter- but no one said anything about Tony beyond he too had spun/crashed).  Misty texted me that Tony’s wasn’t bad and he was fine when I texted her to ask if he was okay.

Tony Stewart limps his injured car to the finish line at the end of the race at the Glen, finishing a dismal 27th. (Photo Credit: Kevin M. Boots)

2.  I may have thrown a little fit when Tony dropped from 7th to 27th in the standings right there in my office. Fit included ripping off my rubber 14 bracelet and tossing it across my office. Fit also included a disgruntled text to Misty (after the one verifying Tony was okay) where I said “There goes our chase!” Misty reassured me by telling me that luckily Denny Hamlin was out of the race early, and I credit that with the only reason that Tony did NOT drop out of the top 10. We are still in it (tenth place)…but we are hanging on the edge of the building with just our fingernails.  I very well may develop an ulcer before the beginning of the chase at this race.

Race winner was Marcos Ambrose:

Marcos Ambrose celebrates his win at Watkin's Glen with a burnout. (Photo Credit: Kevin M. Boots)

Notes About Watkins Glen:

1. I couldn’t tell who bumped into Tony that caused him to mow the lawn in the interloop…was it Jeff Burton?  Best I could tell it was either Jeff Burton or Clint Bowyer.   Anyone know?  I have watched it several times now and I still can’t tell…not that it matters I guess but someone it sure looked like someone clipped him unlike what was said during the race broadcast….

2. Kevin Boots shared his Watkin’s Glen photos with me…he took two of the ones I have shared with you in this post. To see the rest of his Watkins Glen photos check out his album here.  You should check them out – he has some great pictures- I love the picture of the Drone! Thanks Kevin!

3. I don’t know that this was mentioned much during the race broadcasts but I loved what the TV panel said on Jeff Gordon’s car at the Glen- whoever thought that up should get a prize…very witty:

TV Panel of Jeff Gordon's car he ran at Watkins Glen (photo credit: Jeff Gordon Facebook Page)

If only we could get Tony to tweet…but I understand his reasons for not.

And…bonus picture begging for an LOL caption.  Don’t you just wish you knew what he was thinking here? If you think you have a funny caption leave it in the comments:

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, walks on the grid prior to the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen. (Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images North America)

Next Race: Michigan on Sunday

Here are some visual goodies from the Richmond Weekend:

Tony also took part in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown- racing the Prelude To The Dream Late Model Chevy on Thursday evening:

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Prelude To The Dream Chevrolet, makes a pit stop during the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at Richmond International Raceway on April 28, 2011 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America)

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents The Matthew & Daniel Hansen 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 29, 2011 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images North America)

The Fox pre-race show featured a Darrel Waltrip interview with Tony and promised more of the interview online at the FoxSport’s NASCAR page. Well I found that little tidbit for you and embedded it here so you don’t have to worry about missing the rest of the interview with DW:

I think they left some of the best parts of the interview for the online portion!

Notes about Richmond:

• I LOVE the looks of the Mobil 1 paint scheme…especially the firesuit…but I have to say that it’s hard for me to find that car on the track! It’s much easier for me to find that Office Depot red machine!
• I think Fox actually did a decent job covering what was going on with this race. I didn’t feel like things were happening during commercials…and when things did happen they seemed to come right out of commercial break to show us.
• I know Misty agrees with me- but that race was one that seemed a bit too long. What do you think?
• I kind of wanted to see Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya go nose to nose a little bit after the race…after all isn’t that what “have at it boys” is all about?

Next week:  Darlington’s Southern 500 on SATURDAY night

There is a web promotional video that Mobil 1 has put out to talk about the F1/NASCAR car swap that Tony Stewart and Lewis Hamilton are doing later this summer at Watkins Glen that I enjoy too.  I can’t find an embeddable video for that one either but I can at least refer you HERE to watch it on the Official Tony Stewart facebook page.  Beware- the video has some strange pixelations – do NOT adjust your set (that shows my age huh?) I think it’s artistic pixelations.  That video has me thinking “Tony, I’ve Got An Idea” would be a great blog post title…but damned if I can think of the body to go with it.  Don’t be stealing on my idea…I am still thinking about it.

Speaking of Tony Stewart and commercials and thinking,  I was read this article by Richie Whitt for the Dallas Observer where he got to be an honorary crew member for the race. That got me thinking about this Clint Bowyer FANTASY NASCAR LIVE commercial (I don’t know why- that is just how my brain works):

Anyway I was thinking it is probably a good thing that this gadget allowing fans to talk directly to their drivers midrace is fictional.  Not only because could you imagine all these people trying to talk at once but I know for a FACT that I would probably say something in the heat of the moment that I would regret.  Could you imagine having the ability to actually speak with the driver who just tangled with your driver and wrecked him out? It’s fun to imagine…but frankly as huge of a Tony Stewart fan I am- I wouldn’t necessarily want him to hear my race comments I tend to curse like a sailor during races because I become viciously competitive. Just saying. So how about you? What’s your favorite NASCAR commercial so far this season?

The young gun class of 2011 is: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Matt Ryan, Ray Rice, Evan Longoria, and Carlos Gonzalez.

Then it was the Victory Lap and Burnouts down the Las Vegas Strip.  Having attended this last year- Misty and I had the perfect spot for viewing (and pictures and video) the burnouts.  Also? This year rocked because all top 12 drivers did burn outs- last year just Jimmie burned out- the rest just squirreled around the turn! Anyway, we staked out our spot early. Ok, really early, because we didn’t want to worry about it getting usurped.  The weather this year was warmer than last year which was great because by the time they burned out last year I was frozen solid into a Popsicle.  We were so cold that by the end of it last year we were both shaking uncontrollably. This year we were prepared with layers but didn’t need to worry.  So without further ado…some pictures:

Jimmie Johnson burnout on the Las Vegas Strip for the Champions Victory Lap celebration.

Denny lights them up on Las Vegas Blvd.

Smoke burns some rubber on Las Vegas Blvd.

Kyle burns out on the Las Vegas Strip.

Jeff Gordon takes his turn laying some rubber on the Las Vegas Strip.

Clint Bowyer's Las Vegas burnout.

(All photos of the burnouts are credited to ME!)

And Misty with her arms of steel took this great video of the awesome burnouts:

(Video credit: Misty Bethany who is now the chief videographer for badgroove.com)

So who were you rooting for of the three contenders at Homestead? Were you rooting for Denny? Kevin? Jimmie?  I will tell you who I was rooting for if you tell me who you were rooting for!

Notes about Homestead:

• I hate to say this…but that incident between Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle on lap 24- the one that caused Denny to spin – and some damage to the car? That really looked like Denny drifted up into Greg to me anyway.
• And what about Kyle Busch? That was a fiery crash! I was all STOP THAT SUCKER AND JUMP OUT KYLE!!!  Of course I don’t want to see Kyle burn! I actually enjoy him as a driver (not as much as Tony of course).
• I always feel bad when the championship is clinched by a driver who is NOT the winner in the race. It made me feel that Carl Edward’s celebration was truncated.  He did win the race.  I was a little worried for his safety when he got out of his car to do his trademark backflip and Jimmie had started burning out right next to him. Yikes!
• Jimmie’s in-car reaction to having won the championship though? He was so excited! I have to say that Chad Knaus’s Post-It note (Our TEAM won!) to the camera- was appropriate. I liked how he emphasized TEAM especially since the pit crew swap.  (Consequently enough I noticed that nearly right away – with in the week of the swap- the Lowes racing website listed the “new” crew- while the Jeff Gordon website also listed his original crew. Interesting.) Ha! Take that Mike Ford!
• Speaking of the pit crew swap- I had to say I was concerned that since the swap the wrong crew would get credited with the Tissot Fastest Pit Crew – but luckily they explained that on the national broadcast….that while Jeff Gordon’s crew won the award- it was the original crew….the one that ultimate went to help Jimmie after Texas.
• Apparently we missed some sort of on track altercation between Logano and Montoya after the wreck? They mentioned it on the national broadcast quite briefly but inquiring minds want to know! What happened?

Next Race:  Daytona 2011.

Seriously though- like last year, I am planning on attending Champion’s week celebrations after Thanksgiving so posting might be light that week. I will tweet and facebook so follow me or friend me or whatever…but of course I will post afterwards!

(SMOKE fans…be sure to check back here Wednesday…Just saying).