Ok, so have two very random things to share with you today.
The first is this: On my personalized Google homepage I have the NASCAR.com RSS feed and one of the headlines for today was “GEM’s test gains end with Kahne as fastest of the fast.” Upon seeing the acronym for Gillett Evernham Motorsports I immediately thought of Jem. Jem is the 80’s cartoon about a singer, Jem, and her band, The Holograms. Jem had this ability to transform into her regular girl alter-ego, Jerrica, with the help of this big computer thing named Synergy. Anyway, the point is that I found this to be funny and from now on whenever I think of Kasey Kahne I will also think of being a “Jem girl,” (not to mention the color pink and big 80’s hair) which I don’t think is what they had in mind.
On the other side of things, I was looking through my traffic stats for my personal website and I found something amusing when I browsed the search terms people used in navigating to my site. Someone searched for “What does ‘Boogity, Boogity, Boogity’ mean?” So funny. Unfortunately I didn’t have the answer on my site; I just used the phrase for a headline, so they were out of luck. At any rate it’s still a timely search because just the other day Darrell Waltrip wrote his annual column about whether or not he should continue to use his now infamous catchphrase.
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Back in August I wrote about my plans/desire to spend 2008 following NASCAR Sprint Cup racing around the country. Since then I have spent my time thinking of and working on every conceivable angle that would allow me to get out there and make this dream happen. It wasn’t until last Friday when my hopes of working my current day job AND setting out on this road trip were dashed by my employer.
I was down about it for the rest of the day until the next morning when I decided that I would just start the trip at the end of June of this year. That will give me 19 races to attend and I can spend the time between now and June saving money and figuring out other ways to earn a living whilst on the road. Hmm, that sounded weird, but you know what I mean!
Over the past couple weeks I’ve been given a chance at an amazing opportunity to grow this site. I’ll have more specific details once everything is finalized. It’s very exciting and I’m so stoked about it.
In other news…
The testing continues in Daytona and here are some photos from yesterday’s sessions.
Richard Petty and flames adorn the No. 43 Petty Enterprises car driven by Bobby Labonte. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)
Kasey Kahne takes over the Budweiser ride as the Gillett Evernham Motorsports No. 9 car gets a new primary sponsor. (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR)
David Ragan has taken off his rookie stripe and prepares for his sophomore season during Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)
No. 88 crew chief Tony Eury Jr. talks with Dale Earnhardt Jr. as they begin their first season together at Hendrick Motorsports. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)
Calendars make excellent Christmas gifts. For years my mom would buy me a new Ansel Adams wall calendar, but now it’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. At work I have a big one for the wall and then a desk version.
So imagine my delight when I went to Calendars.com to check out what’s new for 2008. First is the 2008 Up Close and Personal Dale Earnhardt Jr. wall calendar. It’s photos of Junior away from the track. Brilliant! And then I noticed there’s also a 2008 Dale Jr. Pocket Planner — that’s so going on my Christmas list.
If you’d rather have Jeff Gordon in your pocket they’ve got one for him too, along with other drivers like Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.
Kasey Kahne has an “off the track” calendar, the cover features him on a motorcycle. I guess ya gotta play up that bad boy image somehow since he’ll be pushing Budweiser next year.
My first intention was to post a bunch of photos from the NASCAR Champions Week in New York. But the majority of the photos are basically Jimmie Johnson around the city — Hey there’s Jimmie and Chad Knaus hanging off a light post! — and who really wants to see that? Exactly. So I picked just the photos that featured Jimmie’s wife Chandra. Why? Because the woman is always so stylish and put together. She looked great the entire week and in every photo so I wanted to give her props for making the best of her situation. I’m sure she adores her husband and is incredibly proud of him, but I bet that whole going to New York and having to plan your wardrobe and probably buy new stuff just for the occasion is so tiring… Wait, what was I talking about? Who am I kidding, she’s so friggin lucky. Gah. Ok… Without further adieu the photos:
Chandra and Jimmie Johnson pose for a photo at the 2007 Champion’s Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria. (Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
New York Stock Exchange Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai (left) talks with Chandra and Jimmie Johnson during their tour of the New York Stock Exchange. (Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Jimmie and Chandra Johnson pose for a photo in Times Square. (Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and wife Chandra smile for the cameras on the yellow carpet at the Waldorf=Astoria for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Awards Ceremony. (Photo Credit: Brad Barket / Getty Images for NASCAR)
In other news…
– The Aussie take on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s trip to Australia.
– The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals are being televised for the first time ever, but there’s one little catch. It’s going to televised on Pay-Per-View with a suggested price of $24.95. 250 drivers will spend 4 days trying to qualify their 800-hp midgets for this race so I guess it’s worth the cost. Notable NASCAR Cup drivers participating this year include Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and JJ Yeley. Check out the commercial below:
Now it’s just getting ridiculous. All of the things that can go wrong for Dale Jr. do go wrong for him it seems lately. Sunday I went to the Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, Calif. John Mayer was performing so I had to skip watching the race live and rely on Tivo to catch the action of the race at Atlanta for me. I left the show immediately following Mayer’s performance to make sure I had enough time to zip through my recording of the race. Tivo makes it so tempting to skip everything and just get to the end but I wanted to make sure I caught all the accidents & incidents as they happened.
I was so excited, I mean there were only 3 laps left and he was this freaking close to winning it and then the wheel falls off?? Ugh. So lame. And poor Martin Truex Jr. getting caught behind Denny Hamlin and his watered down gas issue. This season is really starting to bug me. And if that’s not enough I tried to watch the Busch race on Saturday and I had to be subjected to Rusty Wallace. Why can’t they let Allen Bestwick do the Busch races??
Ya know I seriously contemplated creating a petition to get Rusty off the air, but I don’t know… is that mean?
Maybe it should be an all encompassing make NASCAR toss out their deal with ESPN petition?
Anywhoo… In other news…
– Next week I travel to my favorite place Las Vegas for the Blog World & New Media Expo. I am beyond excited. Is anyone else planning on attending? Any of my fellow sports bloggers?? Anyone? Anyone?
You be the judge, is this Kasey Kahne or Carl Edwards? The caption I have says it’s Kasey, but the uniform says Office Depot — which leads me to believe it’s Carl… What do you think?
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet, stands in the garage, during practice for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Pepboys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on October 27, 2007 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)
I know that this is incredibly late to be writing about now, but I still wanted to share my thoughts on Clint Bowyer’s win at New Hampshire last weekend. I was so excited to see him win, finally! He and his team totally deserved it.
I guess the only thing that kinda made it subdued was that he didn’t get to drive into victory lane since his car clunked out after all his burnouts. But whatever, that’s minor — overall it was great to see him win, just awesome. I like that guy. And I liked the fact that it shook up the Chase points standings. I don’t think people were expecting that from him, so it’s a good thing. I hate it when everything is predictable.
In other news…
– Kasey Kahne will be the new face of Budweiser next year and I’m not sure what I think about that. When I think of Kasey I think of a doll. He’s got a total baby face; he doesn’t exactly project rough and tough masculinity. And he’s not classy & cool like George Clooney who does the voice-overs on some of the Budweiser commercials. So I don’t know, I look forward to a commercial with the Allstate girls getting drunk at a bar and then accosting Kasey with Buds in their hands. hehe.
– At the 7-Eleven down the street from my apartment there’s a Budweiser display that has a cardboard cutout of Dale Earnhardt Jr. I don’t know how many times I’ve said that I should go in there and see if I can get it when the promotion ends, but I never do. I think that might be a bit much. But apparently Allstate has a set of commercials dedicated to fans who love Kasey Kahne so much that they play ping-pong with their own cardboard Kasey, or eat dinner with their cardboard Kasey. Scarrrry.
– I am a fan of Aerosmith, but I am so tired of seeing that damn video of them singing “Back in the Saddle” before every race. I seriously change the channel when it comes on ’cause I can’t take it anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I loooove Aerosmith — Joe Perry is one of the hottest guitarists ever — but they gotta change that song. ugh.
Speaking of Aerosmith, here are some photos from last weekend (and last week):
Steven Tyler said that Clint Bowyer would win at New Hampshire and he did.
Aerosmith lead singer, Steven Tyler, rides around the media center at New Hampshire International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Robert Meggers/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Clint Bowyer celebrates with his team after winning at New Hampshire International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)
I’m happy that he’s happy.
Hendrick Motorsports and Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas that he will pilot the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolets in 2008. (Hendrick Motorsports/Autostock)
Don’t mess with Jeff Gordon.
Jeff Gordon takes a break during testing at Talladega Superspeedway. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)
