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Race 20: Louden (aka The Kitchen Sink Race)

Posted by Amy in Contests | NASCAR - (0 Comments)

So to me it seemed like the 14 Team and crew chief Steve Addington had to throw everything but the kitchen sink at the #14 Chevy during the 301 laps at New Hampshire Speedway yesterday. It was near painful to watch the team struggle getting the car where it seemed drivable.  And when I say they threw everything at it- they threw EVERYTHING at it. The first caution pitstop they threw 2 tires (most teams were taking 2)  fuel 1 round up on the track bar and 2 rounds of wedge.  Yet Tony continued to struggle- even after searching for different grooves on the track and being unsuccessful.  The team eventually fell a lap down struggling with grip (I believe at one point Tony mentioned wanting to choke the Goodyear engineers in his frustration with lack of grip).

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, comes in for a pit stop during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 15, 2012 in Loudon, New Hampshire. Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America)

The team has to be credited for not giving up though. After falling a lap down the team was able to get back on the lead lap (and stay there) by taking a wave around.  Then during the last caution pit stop Steve Addington took another HUGE swing at the car- calling for yet another track bar adjustment AND spring rubbers out of the front of the car. He restarted in 16th and was able to move up through the field to 11th at one point.  He finished the race 12th and fell down to 7th in the points.

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, stands on the grid during pre-race ceremonies for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 15, 2012 in Loudon, New Hampshire. (Photo Credit: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images North America)

I don’t really have any “notes” for this race and while watching the race I thought it might be fun for me to share some of my favorite race day tweets with you. You can click on the tweet to be taken to the original. Let me know if you like this feature!

My Favorite Race Day Tweets from LOUDEN, NH:

 

Next weekend is an off weekend as teams prep for the Brickyard 400!

 

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Some (of my) Words About The Espy’s & Amy’s #NASCAR Reading List

Posted by Amy in General | NASCAR - (1 Comments)

I know I usually just throw up a list of articles I have read and then carry on when it comes to the #NASCAR reading list but today I have some words I must share about last night’s Espy’s. Tony Stewart was nominated for two of ESPN’s Espy Awards (Best Championship Performance and Best Driver).  He won Best Driver (Yey! He has won Best Driver every year following a championship win- so whoohoo for keeping the streak alive there!). He did NOT win Best Championship performance, which I think is RIDICULOUS.  Seriously?  The #14 team went into the chase wondering if they should even BE there.  They turned around and won HALF of the chase races- something that has NEVER been done before- and it still came down to a seat of your pants race at Homestead-Miami- where basically Tony HAD TO WIN the race to win the championship.  HAD TO WIN.  Then there was the race…where he had to come up through the field not ONCE but TWICE.  A race where his car sustained damage early on and STILL THEY WON- because that is PURE WILL right there.  And I know Tony would tell you right now- it wasn’t just him- but the WHOLE TEAM that made that happen.  Some of you might be saying I am biased and yeah I probably am (hell I KNOW I am).  But I don’t care which TWO drivers it had come down to- it would still have been spectacular if the situation was the same.  It greatly helped that it was Tony and Carl because the two bantered back and forth in the media about it.  So to quote one my twitter friends- it’s “EMBARRASSING” that they didn’t win. While Tony gets DRIVER of the year all to himself- I think the Championship Performance of the year would have been one that the entire 14 TEAM could have held up together- as they totally deserved that.  (And Yes I voted. And YES I encouraged my Tony fans on twitter and facebook to join me in voting).

Ok so I am off my Espy’s soapbox! Now onto the reading list which includes a link from my brother who does not follow NASCAR as closely but wanted me to share a link with you.

Allmendinger’s NASCAR Career Is Effectively Over- TC for NASCARInsiders.com

The Science and Smoke Behind NASCAR’s MOBIL 1 Motor Oil- Karla Sanchez for MotorTrend.com

The NASCAR drug policy- Bob Pockrass for SportingNews.com

Long Road Ahead For Allmendinger?- David Newton for ESPN.com

Very UGLY Incident Involving Tyler Walker at Williams Grove- Jeff Gluck for SBNation.com

Monday Morning Tear Down: Frustrated Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says Daytona Rules Need Some Work- Bob Pockrass for SportingNews.com

12 Questions with Brad Keselowski- Jeff Gluck for SBNation.com

And the one my brother emailed me to share with his concise commentary of WTF: Woman Watched NASCAR With Deceased Man For Over A Year- Nick Bromberg for Yahoo! Sports

As always a Tony picture for your viewing pleasure:

(Photo Credit: Taken from TonyStewart.com's gallery of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona. Click to be taken to the source.)

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10 More Things About Daytona & Tony Stewart’s Win (It’s Like Watching A Horror Movie)

Posted by Amy in General | NASCAR - (0 Comments)

In my excitement after Tony took the checkered flag after a drama filled Daytona- I had forgotten a couple things that I wanted to mention- but then I watched this video recap from Showtime’s InsideNASCAR and remembered them: (more…)

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Race 19: Daytona Night Race (The Come Back Like a Beast* Race)

Posted by Amy in General | NASCAR - (1 Comments)

What a drama filled race weekend both for Tony Stewart and the #14 Team and for NASCAR in general.  There is A LOT to talk about for Daytona- so let’s get right to it.  Tony qualified 2nd.  YES 2nd! I was so stoked because from what I could tell at work, his practice just seemed mediocre.  As a Tony fan, I know he doesn’t always qualify well- so any front row qualifying effort means that the car is on rails to me and the field better watch out!  I was stoked!  Then I checked my FaceBook a little later on Friday and I saw an esoteric status update one of my “Smoke” friends posted that made me think “uh-oh” so I logged into Twitter and that is when I got the full information. Because of a uncapped cockpit air hose, Tony’s qualifying was disqualified and he would be lining up 42nd in a field of 43.  I literally banged my head on my desk and yelled ARG I KNEW IT WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Luckily for me- there was no one around when I did it because I even did it with my office door open.

Tony Stewart at Daytona Speedway (Photo Credit: Official Tony Stewart Facebook Page- click for original)

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Race 17: Sonoma Race Diary

Posted by Amy in General | NASCAR - (0 Comments)

I have been looking forward to  Sonoma Race weekend for so many reasons this year, but mostly because I have been JONESING hardcore for a race (in person).  In general NASCAR fans in the west kind of get the short end of the stick race wise.  There is Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Fontana- which unfortunately for fans (and fortunately for race teams no doubt) are all kind of close together.  Then we have a long wait until late June for Sonoma (and then again another long wait until Fall Phoenix).

Sonoma Raceway (Photo Credit: Amy K. Marbach)

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June 28th Tony Stewart KY Autograph Appearance And Paint Scheme Info

Posted by Amy in General | NASCAR - (0 Comments)

Hey Kentucky Smoke Fans- Tony Stewart has an autograph session scheduled for 4:00pm on June 28th, 2012 at the Office Depot located at 6825 Burlington Pike (Turfway Square Shopping Center) in Florence, Kentucky (zip for your gps: 41042).  You MUST have a wristband to get an autograph- 600 wristbands will be distributed at the same Office Depot location starting at 8:00 am the morning of the appearance on a first come, first serve basis.  One autograph per wristband, one wristband per person! Wear comfy shoes if you plan to stand in line all day, if you don’t- be sure to be in line no later than 4:45pm!

Also Tony will be running a special WE DO SAME DAY PRINTING Paint scheme this coming weekend at Kentucky:

WE DO PRINTING! on the hood of the #14 Office Depot Chevy in Kentucky.

We Do Printing Same Day! on the TV Panel of the #14 Office Depot Chevy for Kentucky!

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Two Humorous Michigan Raceway Pictures

Posted by Amy in General | NASCAR - (1 Comments)

Ok- so I tend to chock my posts full of pictures- as you probably know (and it gets worse when it’s a race I have actually attended because I always have my camera with me and usually come back with GIGS worth of pictures). Anyway I couldn’t figure out a way to fit these two pictures into my Michigan post- but think they are HUMOROUS so I needed to share them with you:

Picture 1:

Personally I think Tony looks like he is thinking: Damn- how come I didn’t get an umbrella!?!

Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet, and Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, walk the red carpet prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.. (Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images North America)

And this one? I can’t think of a funny caption…but still the expression on Harvick’s face cracks me up:

Kevin Harvick (r), driver of the #29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet, talks with Tony Stewart (l), driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, in the garage during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series testing at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images North America)

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Race 16: Michigan (The REAL Wild Card Race of the Season)

Posted by Amy in General | NASCAR - (0 Comments)

I tweeted something to this effect on Sunday morning before the race but I want to expound on it in more than 140 characters. When thinking about the NASCAR season as a whole- I automatically consider any restrictor plate race a wild card, meaning anything at all can happen to any driver at any point so I can’t count on that track being good to my driver(s) points wise.  This year- because of the repave I considered Pocono grouped in there- forgetting totally about Michigan’s repave.

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