– I heard about the fight between drivers Michael Simko and Don St. Denis during Sunday’s Glass City 200 ARCA Late Model race at Toledo Speedway in Ohio yesterday. So of course I had to find video of it and thanks to YouTube I was able to view the glory that is the best racing-related fight this year. This beats Jeff Gordon shoving Matt Kenseth hands down. Enjoy!
If you can’t see the video click here.
– It’s about time Jeff Burton won a race. I was so incredibly happy for him. Seeing his wife Kim’s reaction during the final laps really shows you how much winning really means to the drivers, the team and their families. It’s not just about money. Well I’m sure that’s in there somewhere, but really it’s about wanting to prove that you can win and that you’re still worthy of being at this level of competition.
Since Burton won the race on Sunday he went from fifth to first in the Chase standings. With 8 races left it’s still — almost — anybody’s game.
– What was up with Brooke Hogan’s outfit at Dover on Sunday? She was there to sing the national anthem, and her father, Hulk Hogan, was there to give the drivers the go ahead to start their engines. Apparently Brooke can’t go anywhere without the Hulkster in tow. But I digress. Her dress was a bad choice. This wasn’t the… the… Wait, I can’t think of anywhere that dress woulda been appropriate. No, wait, if she was singing the national anthem at the Championship dinner in New York at night it woulda totally worked, but not so much in the morning at a dirty, grimy race track. I just thought it was a bit much. (photo credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
– The winner of the InsideBayArea.com/The Fast and the Fabulous 200 at the simulated Indianapolis Motor Speedway last night was Bob Bryant . Congratulations to Bob! For more details on the race click here.
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Tonight is the first ever Fast and the Fabulous 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana.
Yep, we’re the sponsor of a stock car race, a simulated stock car race that is.
In his downtime Dale Earnhardt Jr. enjoyed racing online against people from across the country. Nobody knew it was him at first but as he kept racing against people, really good people, he revealed his identity to a select few. One of the guys impressed Junior so much that he eventually got a real racing gig out of it.
Eventually Junior started his own thing called DMP Online Racing League. Drivers must be invited to the league in order to participate; otherwise all you can do is watch. It’s exactly like a real NASCAR race except it’s completely computer generated. There are points standings, stats and even a pre-race show with driver interviews!
From time to time Junior, Denny Hamlin or Martin Truex Jr. will drive in one of the races and sometimes even talk with people in the chat room. I think that it’s such a cool thing for Junior and the other professional drivers to do with their fans. When are you ever going to get a chance to play a pickup game with Kobe Bryant on the weekends or play flag football with Brett Favre?? Mmm yea, that’s what I thought, not anytime soon. (Although maybe with Favre sooner than you think, he should just call it quits, I love the guy but c’mon)
Check out the press release for tonight’s race:
Dale Jr.’s DMP Online Racing heads to the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of The Fast and the Fabulous 250.
Tonight, at 9:15 p.m. EST some of NASCAR’s best may race head to head with some of the best Sim Racers in the world from the United States, Canada, and yes, even Europe. Go to simracingnetwork.com and click on the Broadcast link in the top left column to view tonight’s racing action live on your own computer with a Broadband connection.
These broadcasts highlight the live racing that these racers are taking part in. From the Pre-Race show to the performance of Country’s Newest all girl Sensation from CURB Records, Cowboy Crush, performing the National Anthem exclusively for the DMP Series.Watch these drivers online, hear on track interviews and in car interviews with in car camera shots, action from the box and from pit road with Tommy Olson and Scott Fairman.
When Dale Jr. and Denny Hamlin race, you can hear them being interviewed live. There has been a lot of hype recently about Online Racing. Find out what all the buzz is about.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski race in virtual Sim Racing environments right from their own home. Now you can watch these races from the comfort of your own home computer every week for FREE.
There are some races these drivers can not find time to participate in due to scheduling conflicts. These drivers agree that driving in Sim Races on virtual tracks during the week helps to sharpen their driving skills.
We’re finally down to the last ten races of the season that will determine who will win the Nextel Cup Championship for 2006. The top ten drivers — Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne — spent a few days in New York making the rounds on TV to remind America that NASCAR still exists, and oh yea, they’ve got a playoff season now. 
The only thing that I was able to Tivo was Live with Regis & Kelly, where everybody but Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (I think) were there to throw cream pies at Regis, Kelly and Gelman for some sort of record. That’s not the point of this story. The thing that got me about that appearance was Matt Kenseth’s posture. He has the worst posture ever!! I want to shake him and attach a stick to his back to make him stand up straight.
In this photo he’s talking with Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the Chase driver’s dinner in New York earlier this week. Notice the slouch? It’s not as pronounced in this shot as it was when he was on Letterman. He looked almost Mr. Magoo-ish.
So now the top ten drivers are separated by only 5 points each. This is where it gets fun and really stressful. Not just for the drivers but for me! At least the drivers have something to do, I can only eat so many potato chips before I get sick. I don’t know if I can handle hundreds of laps hoping and praying that nothing happens to my favorite drivers, er, driver.
I like Kasey Kahne (driver of the Dodge #9 car), but he’s not my fave driver. I can appreciate his good looks and I don’t mind if he wins. I came across this photo while working on updating our motor sports section on InsideBayArea.com.
My question to you is: Could he be any cuter and could this photo be any more amazing??
The layout of California Speedway is simplistic in theory but not really when it comes to actual application. Walking from the media center in the infield around to the midway section behind the grandstands is a trek indeed. When you add in the heat you’ve got a serious cardiovascular workout. I swear I lost 5 pounds on Friday just walking from my car to the pits.
After the seating debacle on Friday I was hesitant to ask if there was space upstairs in the press box during the race. ‘Cause here’s the thing, I didn’t fly to La La Land and then drive an hour and a half to watch the race on TV. So I asked and of course there was already a seating chart in place, which is totally ok, I get it, but the thing I didn’t appreciate was being treated like the complete nobody that I know that I am. I will say this, certain staffers were very nice but others were not. The thing about it was that the attitude from certain people was so unnecessary, so I have to mention it.
Once the race started I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting in the room downstairs all night, so I went up to the press box to see if I could stand in the back. Turns out the whole back row was empty. I sat there for the entire race with a great view of the start/finish line.
The race wasn’t that exciting in terms of crashes & cautions, but it was extremely fun to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. continually move up through the field every lap. Usually the top three finishers are available after the race for a press conference. This was my best and LAST hope of seeing Junior in person this weekend. On Friday before and after qualifying he bypassed the fans assembled outside the garage during qualifying. He also managed the same feat on Sunday before driver introductions. I did a couple laps around the garage and couldn’t catch a glimpse. So all my hopes were pinned on him getting into the top 3 and being in the press box after the race.
My Hopes = Dashed
They held the press conference with Clint Bowyer, who came in third, and Junior in a room I had yet to find but knew that it was in somewhere in the garage. Unfortunately for me the garage area was hot at that time and I couldn’t get in because I only had a cold pass.
The only driver that I saw in plainclothes after the race was Tony Stewart. He’d just hoped on a golf cart and was being whisked away to a helicopter or plane somewhere. Was it too much to ask for that to have been Junior? C’mon!
One of the bright spots of my trip was getting to meet tallglassofmilk, the woman behind the website/blog Answer This. I’ve mentioned her site’s plentiful details on the love lives of NASCAR drivers before, and on Sunday we got to dish in person about the latest scandals.
Overall I had a great birthday weekend at the races. There were pluses and minuses but I still love NASCAR and what it’s about. I can say that this experience renewed my spirit to do more with my blog. Stay tuned.
Oh! This has nothing to do with the race at California specifically, it’s just good stuff. Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Ack! There’s so much to tell you. First off once I arrived here this afternoon the track was completely opened up the fans. I’ve added photos of this to the photo gallery. It was so incredibly cool to be standing where they’re going to be racing tonight.
I walked around the garage area, but there wasn’t that much going on. Cars were going through inspection and trying to find a driver is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Although, I did see a small crowd standing in front of Matt Kenseth’s hauler. He was sitting there eating and people were just staring at him. I find that a bit odd. He’s not a monkey in zoo for you to stare at, he’s just a guy.
I completely missed the Kelly Clarkson press conference but I caught a glimpse of her in the garage area. Kelly is the Grand Marshal of tonight
