I guess I was the only person who wasn’t surprised to see Joey Logano sticking up for himself on pit road this weekend at Pocono. He had a similar, albeit less obviously confrontational, show of anger last year at Infineon in the Camping World West Series race when he sideswiped Patrick Long with his car on his way to the garage.

So if I had to pick a theme song for Joey it would be Britney Spears’ classic “Oops, I Did it Again,” because he’s “not that innocent.” Don’t let the big, cheesy “aw shucks” grin fool ya. The kid knows how to be pissed off. (more…)

Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway was the day of the Nationwide Series race, the TECH-NET Auto Service 300 powered by CARQUEST. It was also the day that I forgot to put my sunscreen on and got a nice little tan.

The two days that hold the Sprint Cup Series qualifying and Nationwide Series races are always my favorite days during any race weekend. It’s because there’s always, like, 50% less people running around the garage. I know it’s silly but I love feeling like I have the garage all to myself. And practice is always the best time to get pictures of the cars as they exit and enter the track.

On this particular day I witnessed something that has been going on forever but I only discovered it last weekend. I’m not sure what the process is but some cars come off the track and before going to their garage stall to make adjustments they stop at some designated area near or in the garage and the guys from Goodyear check out their tires. There’s also a crew member from their team checking stuff and taking notes. (more…)

I know I should talk about Dover and the Autism Speaks 400 presented by Hershey’s Milk & Milkshakes but I’m way too excited about a new development!

I’m going to attend the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race this weekend and the Coca-Cola 600 the following weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This means I’ll be spending 10 days in Charlotte, NC and I get to attend the first ever NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony!

Feel free to join me in a quick dance of joy. *dance*

I’m sure I’ll have a ton of stories to share and I’m planning on writing while I’m there so there will be no delay, at least not a long one anyway.

And since photos are always a good thing here are some from last weekend’s races at Dover. Super huge congratulations to Aric Almirola who won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Dover 200! It was his first win in the truck series.

Aric Almirola celebrates his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway. He called the win “a dream come true.” (Credit: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)
(more…)

Dear Talladega Superspeedway,

I love you. I just do. You make me crazy and mental and while I always feel like I need a brown paper bag to breathe in just to make it through one lap, I still freaking love you!

Kevin Harvick’s amazing pass just before the finish line to take the win away from Jamie McMurray was one for the highlight reel. This win was HUGE for Kevin since he hadn’t won anything in the Sprint Cup Series in 3 years. I’m still shocked it’s been that long. I loved how his wife, DeLana, couldn’t watch the last lap. I don’t blame her, you’re such a nerve-wracking track! I’m so happy for them. We always expect such great races from you and you never fail to deliver.

Yes, I wish you could of gathered up some of that Native American burial ground mojo and used it to help Dale Earnhardt Jr. get the win instead but I’m okay with how things turned out. He’s still in the top-12 in points.

Oh! Before I forget, thank you for throwing another wrench in the relationship between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. I know I shouldn’t get excited when one person is mad at another person but it’s so freaking fun to watch Jeff Gordon get so pissed off. I wonder why it fascinates me so. I can’t get enough. I’m loving this season so far.

I can’t wait to see you again at Halloween! *JUAD* (that means I’m jumping up and down)

xoxo,
Valli

Sooo freaking close!
Kevin Harvick beats Jamie McMurray to the finish line by .011 seconds, the eighth-closest margin since the advent of electronic scoring in 1993, to win the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. (Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
(more…)

A Sprint Cup Series off-weekend is a hard thing to deal with. It’s pretty sad how hard it is for me to figure out things to do to fill up the time. I’m sure the drivers and teams adore them but I find them to be intolerable and cruel. Ok, ok, it’s not THAT serious but still, I miss NASCAR when it’s gone.

The good news was that it wasn’t really gone, gone. There was still a Truck race on Friday and a Nationwide Series race on Saturday. I didn’t see the Truck race although I heard that some dude named Kyle Busch won it. I did catch the majority of the Nationwide race but I fell asleep during the last 20 laps or so. I woke up to that guy KyBu talking again and I was going to scream because I thought he’d won but he hadn’t, so I was happy. Thank you, Kevin Harvick, for making sure my weekend wasn’t ruined.

Here’s something you should know: I’m NOT working for Z-Line Designs. I can’t/won’t go into details, but I wanted to explain why I haven’t said anything about them since I announced I was going to work for them.

Driver of the #32 Dollar General Toyota, Reed Sorenson, watches scoring in the garage area during practice Friday while he prepares for the Nashville 300. (Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
(more…)

Thanks to Mother Nature there was little to no racing today. Everything, and seriously, everything has been postponed to Monday.

The Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway has been moved to Monday where hopefully it’ll get started and run in it’s entirety. IndyCar had a race in the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida but that got rained out too and is supposed to take place tomorrow. And if that wasn’t enough, the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte Motor Speedway had to move too, to Monday, because of rain.

Rain is not the friend of motorsports that’s for sure.

I must apologize for my lameness in not updating this site for two weeks. Trust me, I really, really wanted to but I’ve had stuff to deal with. Everything is settled for now so I’m back and will be writing as usual from now on.

Here are photos from the weekend, so far, at Martinsville:

David Gilliland cranks his engines before Friday’s practice for the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. (Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)
(more…)