Too bad because it looks like Jamie had an awesome time in the city by the bay.

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray hangs off the side of a cable car during his victory tour of San Francisco on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray jokes with members of the California Highway Patrol before he boarded a cable car for his victory tour of San Francisco on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray, his wife Christy McMurray, and Infineon Raceway President and General Manager Steve Page take in the sights from inside a cable car during McMurray’s victory tour of San Francisco on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray gets lessons on how to cook and crack a crab from Anthony Geraldi, co-owner of Grotto No. 9 at Fisherman’s Wharf during his victory tour of San Francisco on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray is given a San Francisco Giants jersey by Russ Stanley, Managing Vice President, Ticket Services and Client Relations of the San Francisco Giants, during a press conference at Willie Mays Plaza in front of AT&T Park on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Best photo of the bunch! That little boy looks so happy. Supercute!

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray signs an autograph for a young fan during his victory tour of San Francisco on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray stops for an ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli Square during his victory tour of San Francisco on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

A cable car that carried Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray through San Francisco on his victory tour is parked at Willie Mays Plaza in front of AT&T Park on February 17, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

In general, aren’t you all stoked that the 2010 NASCAR season is upon us? Budweiser Shootout on Saturday! It’s all starting up again and it’s fun. Although, all the PR emails I’ve been receiving this week have been crazy, I need, like, a day to just read everything.

And speaking of media, today was NASCAR Media Day where all the drivers were attacked by about 300 members of the various media outlets from all over. NASCAR.com had this funny little video clip show of the day’s activities.

In other news…

– Singer-songwriter and actress Kate Voegele is set to perform the National Anthem for the Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway on February 20th, and former American Idol contestant and actree Katherine McPhee is set to perform the National Anthem before the start of the Auto Club 500 on the 21st.

– For those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area you can text your way to a meeting with this year’s Daytona 500 winner.

One lucky race fan will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the winner of the upcoming Daytona 500 on a San Francisco Victory Tour on Wednesday, Feb. 17.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series kicks off the upcoming season with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 14. The winner of the Great American Race will be in San Francisco three days later, Feb. 17, for the 2nd annual San Francisco Victory Tour.

Race fans can enter this contest by simply texting the word Sonoma to 41411. A winner will be selected and notified on Monday, Feb. 15.

The San Francisco Victory Tour will take place on a motorized cable car and begin at North Vista Point at the Golden Gate Bridge. The cable car will cross the historic bridge before winding through the streets of San Francisco, with stops at some of San Francisco’s most iconic areas. A press conference and fan rally will be held at Willie Mays Plaza, at the home of the San Francisco Giants, at approximately 12:45 p.m. (PT).

NASCAR will invade the Sonoma Valley on Father’s Day weekend, June 18-20, for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. For ticket information, call 800-870-RACE or visit www.infineonraceway.com.

Eventually, I ducked into Jennifer Azzi’s press conference. As I wrote a few days before the weekend started Azzi was on hand as the race’s Grand Marshal. It was cool to see her and I must admit that I totally missed my opportunity to introduce myself and tell her what an inspiration she’d been to me as a kid. I’m shy, OK. And I have to work up what I’m going to say in my mind before I actually do it and make sure it’s not lame. There never was a perfect time, but whatever, she’s on Twitter and I plan on saying something to her at some point over there.

So let’s talk about Marco Andretti. I don’t know what was up his butt that particular weekend but he was driving around on his scooter with a scowl the entire time. He’s rumored to be dating a Playboy Playmate so you’d think he’d be a little happier but who knows. Maybe he’s irked that he’s not contending for the Championship? His year has been pretty lame, he hasn’t finished better than 4th so far. Or perhaps it’s the fact that his ex-girlfriend is supposedly dating Graham Rahal. Hmm?? I don’t care who you are or what you do that’s gotta be kinda awkward right?

Oh! I forgot to mention that on Saturday I attended a press conference for iRacing.com Motorsports Simulations. They were talking up their agreement with the IRL, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Dallara in creating a virtual Indy 500 where regular people like you and me can drive the infamous racetrack online. Justin Wilson was on hand to extol the amazing realness that is iRacing.com and I couldn’t get over how tall he was. When I walked into the press conference room was standing in front of the doorway right as you walk in and I couldn’t get over the fact that I had to look up at him and he’s a race car driver.

Anywho, I have to say that the iRacing.com simulation is really, really cool. Online sim racing has come a long way, baby. It’s super duper realistic. As the representative from Dallara Automobili said in the press conference, “This is not a video game. Forget. This is simulation.” I wish you could have heard him say that with his Italian accent, it was pure awesomeness. Basically, iRacing.com is no joke.

So back to Sunday, I watched the start of the Indy Lights race from the pits, or as I like to call them, The Coffee Bars. That’s what they look like to me. Plus there’s just so much more openness at IRL races. I felt like I could go pretty much anywhere. During the Indy Lights race people were standing in empty pits, even sitting on the pit road wall, which is impossible to do at a NASCAR race. I didn’t go that far, I love my fave spot at the back of pit road sitting on the little wall up against the grandstands right in front of the start/finish line.

And now it’s time to reflect on why I think it’s so important that more clothing companies like William Rast and Izod get involved in racing. William Rast, a clothing company started by Justin Timberlake and his BFF, Trace Ayala, sponsored the No. 20 Vision Racing team driven by Ed Carpenter. Their merch was like fifty times cooler than anyone elses because their brand and logo was made for clothing. I’d wear one of their hats in a heartbeat ’cause it doesn’t look like your typical racing gear. Izod is a sponsor of the entire IRL and as such you’ve got IRL employees running around in Izod all day looking “classy.” There’s a quality that sticks with you when you see that.

SO it is my fervent hope that more clothing companies will get in the act of sponsoring teams in both IndyCar and NASCAR. Plus, it’s stuff that the drivers and their families could wear in their off-time as well. Couldn’t you see Jimmie and Chandra Johnson rocking Lucky Brand Jeans together? It’d be supercute.

For the IndyCar pre-race festivities I walked out on to the track to watch driver introductions from the start/finish line area with other fans. As it happened I was using the same route as the drivers were to get to the stage area. I got a shot of Hideki Mutoh and Franck Montagny as they walked together behind me. Walking and taking pictures isn’t my specialty, and as such I didn’t realize that Dan Wheldon had been walking beside me for awhile. I was so annoyed I didn’t get a shot of him.

The IndyCar race itself was snoozeville. It started off great, with a melee in the first lap, but after that and until close to the end it was boring as all heck. I hoped that Helio Castroneves‘ bad luck would cause the field to bunch up and maybe give Ryan Briscoe and Hideki the chance to swipe the win from Dario Franchitti, who led the entire race, but it was not to be.

The top three drivers had to come into the media center to do a post-race press conference with the media and it was my first time experiencing Ryan Briscoe. He’s such a cool dude. He just had this relaxed air about him, like he wasn’t cocky or jerky, but just normal. I’m sure you’re saying to yourself “so what?” but that’s not a given with drivers, especially given the fact that he took over the Championship points lead that day.

I really like Dario so it was great to see him win. However I was disappointed his wife, Actress Ashley Judd, was not on hand as it would have been cool to see her reaction. Dario, was another cool cucumber, but I’m thinking some of that might have been the winner’s goblet of wine that he carried into the press conference. As he sat down he jokingly attempted to take another swig of the red wine left in the glass.

My fave moment was when Dario made a veiled jab at Milka Duno’s permanent lame duck status. Someone asked him if there was a ever time during the race that he thought Ryan Briscoe would get past him. Dario said, “The only time was when the 23 car was cruising around in turn eight. The speed differential was such, a flat chicane there, the speed differential must have been 40 miles an hour. So I had to back off and time the pass so Ryan wouldn’t get a run on me. If I’d have gone steaming up there, he would have got running past me. That was the one real worrying point.”

You had to hear his tone when he said “when the 23 car was cruising around.” It was priceless, and I’m pretty sure a few people chuckled.

Tony Kanaan gets a ride back to the garage after the race on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Ryan Briscoe speaks with the media on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Hideki Mutoh and Franck Montagny walk to the stage for driver introductions on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Helio Castroneves walks back to the garage with his girlfriend, Adriana Henao, after the race on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

It should be noted that I did not Photoshop Dan’s teeth.

Dan Wheldon chats with fans on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Dario Franchitti drives into Victory Lane on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Dario Franchitti chats with the media on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

I loved that in his interview with ESPN President Obama stressed the importance of NASCAR and its role in helping the automotive industry. It’s a very important marketing tool and I’m so glad he took the time out from his insane schedule to support the automakers and NASCAR.

Now, the other really cool thing about NASCAR’s White House trip was seeing all of the drivers in suits. They all looked like serious hotties.

(center) President Barack Obama welcomes to the White House Connie Montoya (left) and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya (right) during NASCAR’s visit to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. (Photo Credit: NASCAR Public Relations)

(Left to right) Three-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson presents President Barack Obama with a helmet in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. (Photo Credit: Official White House Photo)

– Denny Hamlin hung out with the guys on the Virginia Tech football team while he was in town promoting Richmond International Raceway’s NASCAR race scheduled for next month.

(Left to right) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin sends in a play with Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor during Hamlin’s visit to practice Thursday in Blacksburg, Va. to promote next month’s race weekend at Richmond International Raceway. (Photo Credit: Harrelson Photography / Richmond International Raceway)

(Left to right) Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin switch uniforms Thursday in Blacksburg, Va. during Hamlin’s visit to promote next month’s race weekend at Richmond International Raceway. (Photo Credit: Harrelson Photography / Richmond International Raceway)

– This weekend is the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway and I will be in attendance again this year.

I’m really looking forward to it but not for the reasons you might think. Two women, Kristi Yamaguchi and Jennifer Azzi, that are both Olympic gold medalists that I looked up to as a kid will be on hand for Sunday’s IndyCar race,

Azzi, who helped the US win the gold medal in basketball at the 1996 Olympics and played for Stanford University, will be the Grand Marshal. When my sister was deciding which college she would go attend to play basketball for I was around 11 years old and I got to meet Jennifer when we went to Stanford to check out their program. She gave me an autograph that I still have to this day. It was a huge deal for me at that time because she was one of the best female college basketball players in the country.

– Staying on the topic of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, three of the drivers competing this weekend took part in another kind of race yesterday in San Francisco:

IndyCar® Series driver E.J. Viso beat the odds and took the win over fellow drivers Justin Wilson and Scott Dixon in a one-of-a-kind competition today, claiming the victory in a “Daddy Boot Camp Challenge.”

Viso, a bachelor with no children, was an unlikely winner of the challenge, which tested the drivers’ abilities at diaper changing and swaddling. Dixon, the father of a one-month old daughter, and Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing), who has a one-year old daughter, were certainly the favorites entering the competition, but Viso took the early lead and the win in the fun-filled activity. The drivers were in town in advance of this weekend’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, Aug. 21-23.

Viso credited his skills and victory to helping out with his seven nephews.

“I’m very excited about the win. I think this might be a sign,” said Viso, who drives for HVM Racing. “I actually have a lot of practice (in diaper changing) because I have seven nephews, so I’ve probably changed more diapers than these two guys put together.”

The three drivers (from left) Justin Wilson, Scott Dixon and E.J. Viso compete under the watchful eye of Expectant Father Educator Armin Brott at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco (credit: Infineon Raceway)

It’s hilarious that the one guy with no children won this thing. Good job E.J.! Meanwhile, Scott and Justin have some serious splainin’ to do.

If you’re thinking about going to race this weekend, tickets are still available. Some ticket deets: $10-$65 single day/$65-$85 weekend; parking is FREE and kids 12 and under are FREE (Saturday only). Garage passes are available for purchase. More information at InfineonRaceway.com

I’ll be twittering both days so be sure to follow me for updates!

Now, I bring up Dawn because in one of our many “We’re so excited the race is coming up!” conversations we started to talk about how we pack for race day. Women think of this stuff. It’s important to be prepared for any and every eventuality so that you’re not left looking like a crusty, sunburned nut job at the end of the day, basically you don’t want to look like I did at the end of the weekend, but I’ll get to that later.

This was Dawn’s second year bringing her “kit” with her. The first year she did it the guys in her group made fun of her, but of course when they cut their finger and needed a Band-Aid who did they come crawling to? Exactly.

Dawn graciously photographed (above, left) and listed her essential, and seriously smart, items, in her own words:

• Nike duffle backpack
• Deodorant
• SPF 50 sport sunscreen, applied many, many times through out the day, don’t forget your ears
• SPF 50 just for face sunscreen, applied many, many times through out the day
• Lip balm with highest number of sunscreen you can find, Banana Boat has an SPF 45
• Daily facial wipes, the already wet ones
• Baby wipes (for blue house trips and cleaning hands)
• Hand sanitizer
• Gum
• Listerine strips
• Brush ups… those travel toothbrush finger things (dirt in the teeth is not hot)
• Floss picks (left over lunch in your teeth isn’t hot either)
• Change of clothes, for after the race
• Two pairs of socks, one for walking around during the race then to change into after the race, if need be.
• Thin jacket
• Hooded sweatshirt
• Tennis shoes for walking around
• Baseball hat
• Extra hair ties and hair clips
• Flip flops for tailgating. Sensible shoes, people! You’re walking at a race track not a runway at fashion week!!!

So I had every intention of diligently following Dawn’s list, but I didn’t and I totally paid for it in the end.

These are the things that I brought:

• Digital camera
• Cell phone
• Digital voice recorder
• Notepad
• Orbit gum
• Pens
• Tissues
• Burt’s Bees lip balm
• Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte (absolutely necessary!)

Notice any glaring omissions from my list? Ya know, like sunscreen and a hat. I didn’t wear a hat and I didn’t wear sunscreen, which are two huge no brainers. I ended up with the most amazing sunburn ever, that is still with me. When my forehead started peeling I miraculously remembered where my fashionable, non-NASCAR driver associated, hats were located. I wore a hat for a complete week to cover up my icky, peeling forehead.

If you were to look at me right now, you can see where the strap from my credentials lanyard laid against my neck and chest. I got my hair done a week ago and my hairdresser said she found stark blonde strands of hair, mixed in amongst my very brown hair. So that’s one way to can get natural highlights.

My first thought was about the blog and making sure I got content for it, (look what I do for you people!) and I completely spaced on bringing things that would protect me from the weather.

So I thought this was a great question to pose to you race fans out there: How do you pack for race day? What are your must-haves for spending the day at the track? Leave your lists and thoughts in the comments section below. (Remember you have to fill out the Captcha box before hitting “Submit Your Comment”!)

Mmm. Okay, yea I can’t. This weekend means a lot to me for reasons I can’t specifically describe to you in this post. Let’s just say that I need this opportunity, now more than ever, to be immersed in the world of NASCAR and to think of nothing else for three whole days. NASCAR is my escape. It’s funny, this weekend I watched “Into The Wild,” a film based on the true story of one man who got rid of all material possessions except for a backpack and clothes and headed to Alaska to be with nature. I also read the Vanity Fair article about Johnny Depp (on newsstands now) and learned all about how he escapes (in short, he owns islands in the Caribbean and big boat). After taking all of that in I realized that I use this blog and NASCAR as my escape from all of the trappings of “the real world.” This blog isn’t work, it’s fun.

So for this weekend my only worries will be whether I should attend Kyle Busch’s press conference or ditch him in favor of Matt Kenseth or Juan Pablo Montoya who all have conferences scheduled at the same time. Ah, such simple decisions. I can’t wait to figure that all out. I’m leaning towards Kyle just because you have now idea what he’ll say, but I’m guessing it’ll include some lame remarks about Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans.

Besides all of that there is the matter of double-file restarts. On this road course it’s going to be tricky to say the least. It’s going to be good people, for once you won’t fall asleep watching this race. It’s gonna be fun which is why I zeroed in on this quote from Jeff Gordon this week:

“I’m anxious to get through it and see how it works out,” said Gordon. “I think Pocono and Michigan were two good tracks for NASCAR to try out the double-file restart rule, but I think it’s going to create some havoc here.

“The drivers may need to rethink how we’ve raced in the past. We’re going to need to figure out how to get through the first set of corners on each double-file restart. But, at the same time, we’re going to be battling even harder and more intense for each position. And sometimes that leads to more mistakes and more accidents.

“Then off the track, our crew chiefs are also going to have work through some interesting scenarios with pit strategy.”

Mistakes? Accidents, you say? Sign me up! I’m all in.

– I’m attending the NASCAR Toyota/SaveMart 350 race weekend at Infineon Raceway, June 19th through June 21st. This is so awesome! You have no idea how badly I need that weekend. It’ll be my chance to recharge. Just thinking about standing in my favorite picture taking spot in the garage makes me giddy. I’m not sure how much posting I’ll get done during that weekend, I’ll definitely have posts after, but I do know that I’ll a Twitter fool, so be sure to follow me. Oh, and also I’m pretty sure I’m going to dinner with a bunch of fellow NASCAR bloggers that same weekend, so that’ll be really cool too.

– Double file restarts! Ok, why did it take NASCAR so long to do this? It’s built in excitement and it takes out all of that useless drama with the lapped cars trying to earn their laps back. I’m glad that we get to see the guys that are leading the race duke it out. It’s going to be good!

– Okay, so I only have two things that I’m really excited about right now but still those two things are awesome and it’s nice to have anything to be excited about in general.

As is normal for me these days I compared the entire experience to NASCAR. Motorcycle racing couldn’t be more different, from the racers to the fans it was a completely different world.

The first thing I difference was in the insane amount of dudes in attendance. It was probably 80% dudeage. I had no problem with that fact because it was insanely hot that day, in the upper 80s to lower 90s, and lots of guys with great bodies decided to walk around shirtless. Hey, it helps. And, yes, there are tons of men at NASCAR races, but there’s usually just as many women to go with them.

While the size of the crowd on hand was no where near the amount of people that would show up for NASCAR on a Sunday they were all very passionate about the sport.

I didn’t know that much about any of the drivers, except that I could recognize a few of their names, like Mat Mladin and Tommy Hayden. Hayden of course because his brother is MotoGP superstar Nicky Hayden.

Once upon a time I wrote about how I saw a documentary on Nicky that aired on MTV called “The Kentucky Kid.” It was a great glimpse inside motorcycle racing. And from that I learned about the motorcycle racing family that is the Hayden’s.

While I was waiting for the Daytona SportBike race to begin, the first of the day, I stood under a non-descript tent posted on pit road. I stood there mostly to be A.) out of the way and B.) to stay out of the sun, which didn’t help all that much because my jeans were stuck to my body, totally should have worn shorts. But I digress. So I’m standing there, checking out all of the bikes that are lined up on the grid along with various crew members and those women whose only job is to hold an umbrella, wear a ridiculous outfit and look pretty.

So I’m standing there going, ok, where are the drivers? Being the SportBike division I know no one at all, at least not visually. The most notable names to me, and I know nothing, were Jamie Hacking and Roger Hayden.

I know of Jamie Hacking because he picked his number, 88, specifically because it’s Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s. “I chose the number, style and color because of Dale Earnhart Jr.,” said Hacking. “He lives close to where I do and I thought it would be a good way to represent North Carolina. Also since our sport is now owned by the France’s, it seemed good to tie in NASCAR with motorcycle racing. I ran the No. 2 for 11 years and I’ve already moved on and really like the No. 88 better.”

Although, one big difference between the two is that one of Hacking’s sponsors is Monster Energy, and we all know Dale belongs to AMP Energy. Hmm.

Okay, so back to the pits. I’m standing there, melting and these guys start showing up one by one, all with their racing suits unzipped halfway showing off bare chests and a wee little bit of their undies. I am not kidding about that last part.

So I got to watch as Chris Peris, who rides the No. 10 Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR, put all of his gear on and zipped himself into his racing suit. He’s a very cute kid (gorgeous eyes). He’s 22 and his bio says that he’s 5′7″ which I think has to be wrong. Here’s a tip for the ladies out there from your BFF Valli, men lie about their height the way women lie about their weight. Whatever he tells you just subtract 3 inches. The only exception is if he’s really tall, like over 6′2″ and above. I am a walking truth monitor because I happen to be 5′9″ and as a woman I don’t lie when it comes to my height. It is what it is, and I don’t aspire to be taller or shorter. So having seen Mr. Peris in person there’s no way he’s 5′7″. I’d say he’s more like 5′4″.

After Chris’ arrival on the scene a couple of the other riders came into view, a couple of them were interviewed for some television show right next to me. It was then that I noticed the older gentleman standing in front of me. It was none other than Earl Hayden. The father of Nicky, Tommy and Rodger! I thought that was so cool. I loved how he had a had that listed each of his son’s names along with their racing numbers. The Hayden mother, Rose, was there too holding a green umbrella which I realized was the same color as Roger’s team. Later in the day I spied Rose holding on to a blue umbrella during Tommy’s race, blue being the main color of his racing team. Very sweet.

Watching the actual races was very interesting. Each race, of which there were three, lasted only 20 laps each. In the second race, the AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei, a couple of riders, Ricky Parker and Leandro Mercado, put on a great show playing cat and mouse for the first and second positions. It was truly exciting.

At the end of the day, and for the biggest race, Mat Mladin came out on top for the AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited. (That has to be THE longest race name ever) Benjamin Bostrom and Tommy Hayden came in second and third respectively.

I dig motorcycle racing. I think it’s crazy how incredibly fast they go and how close to the ground they get without killing themselves or skinning themselves alive. I want to do more with it, and hopefully I will someday.

All I can say is that it’s worth checking out if it comes to a town near you. The ticket prices are reasonable and you get a lot of access without having to pay extra for it.

The garage at the AMA Superbike Showdown at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA on Sunday, May 17, 2009 (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Starting grid for the Dayonta SportBike race at the AMA Superbike Showdown at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA on Sunday, May 17, 2009 (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

AMA Superbike Showdown at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA on Sunday, May 17, 2009 (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Roger Hayden before the start of his race during the AMA Superbike Showdown at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA on Sunday, May 17, 2009 (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

Moto Garage Racing rider Scott Jensen at the AMA Superbike Showdown at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA on Sunday, May 17, 2009 (photo credit: The Fast and the Fabulous)

– Clint Bowyer will appear on the March 24th episode of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” Isn’t it interesting that the guy that is sponsored by Hamburger Helper is guest starring on a non-reality-reality weight-loss game show? I don’t remember HH being billed as the healthiest thing you could make for dinner.

– Carl Edwards was in New York this week to film a commercial for Claritin. During the shoot he was interviewed by Beth Stern (radio host Howard Stern’s wife) for a segment on the celebrity news TV show “Extra.” Is anyone else bored by the fact that Carl and other drivers are so boring when they talk about stuff like doing commercials? It should be fun right? But like really fun, not implied fun. It’s the same line over and over with them, “It’s really kind of fun.” Wow, definitely sounds like it. I guess I believe you? I dunno.

– Infineon Raceway gave $5,000 to the North Vallejo Little League on Thursday. Jerks broke into the league’s concessions and storage building and stole all of the uniforms, equipment and $600 worth of candy last week. The nutjobs also decided to break computers and trophies and ransack the building before leaving. Vallejo, where this burglary occurred, is the hometown of Jeff Gordon. The good news is that so far the league has received more than $13,000 from San Francisco Bay Area companies and organizations like the San Francisco Police Officers Associations and the Oakland A’s. “With these checks we really should be able to get back to business,” said the league’s President Tony Hodges. “I feel grateful. We are in a bankrupt city in a disadvantaged area. I appreciate everything that everyone has done for us to help these disadvantaged kids.”

– Jeff Burton made an appearance on the soap opera “General Hospital” and all I really want to know is if he asked them why no one ever says “Bye” before hanging up the phone. I mean, really, what’s up with that?

– Tony Stewart will be meeting fans and signing autographs as a part of the 5th Annual “Mark Martin Fan Appreciation Days” event in Batesville, Arkansas on Thursday, April 9th from 3 to 5pm CST. For more information go to http://www.markmartinfordmercury.com

– Some news for the IndyCar fans out there: Versus will air more than 130 hours of IndyCar Series coverage throughout the season with a minimum of seven hours each week the network airs a race, the most ever during a race week.

“IndyCar fans have been asking for significantly more coverage of the sport and with our new partnership with VERSUS we have responded to our fans in a way that we think they will love,” said Charlie Morgan, president and chief operating officer for IMS Productions. “With the new VERSUS schedule it will be a weekend of IndyCar programming with Qualifying coverage, expanded race day coverage, and race encores. With so many great drivers, teams and sponsors, the time is right for expanded programming.”

The network will air 12 live IndyCar Series events in 2009 beginning with live coverage of the season-opener from St. Petersburg on April 5. Each of VERSUS’ race telecasts will last a minimum of three hours and will include extended pre-race coverage. VERSUS will also air one-hour preview shows at 6 p.m. ET the day before each race which will feature qualification highlights and all of the relevant IndyCar Series stories of that weekend.

And since I’m on the topic of IndyCar I have this message to send out to all of you: If anyone is interested in paying for me to fly down to Long Beach for the 35th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach’s Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race drop me an email will ya? I would die for the chance to hang out with Keanu Reeves and Luke Wilson and give them the opportunity to realize that I am their future wife. So really you’d be doing them a favor as well.