“I’m not sure I know the answer to that one. Anybody? Marc? 4-Ever-3? Dude?

I did get ahold of the outline for the ‘Invocation’ at the beginning of the Dickies 500 this weekend though.

I’m sure they are still working it out…as it seems a little over-the-top at the moment.

Dear God,
we thank you for the great state of Texas and for blessing us with Texas Motor Speedway. For by your grace it truly is ‘The Great American Speedway‘.

We ask for a safe race today. Protect the drivers and their crews. I pray that the powerful batteries supplied by Radio Shack will provide us with the crystal clear reception we have come to expect and enjoy on our Nextel phones.

As such, we do offer you thanks for the great cellular coverage efforts that have been provided for us as we enjoy today’s Dickies 500. Let us never forget your faithfullness and goodness towards us. You are much like a pair of Dickies work wear, which is strong yet fashionable.

Now lest we forget, dear God, let us remember our military men and women that so bravely protect us. Let them return home to family and friends safely. Bring them home to enjoy the simplicity and freedom we enjoy in America. Let them once again drive their Chevrolet Silverado’s around this great state. Remind us all Lord of the blessing that we have in great auto parts such as those at O’Reilly Auto Parts, who by the way is having a ‘Buy 2 Get 1 Free’ special through November 21st.

It is in the great name of your son, Jesus Christ, that we pray these things.

Amen

If you know what I’m gettin’ at…then you were watching the Atlanta race and your ears are tuned to this sort of thing. If not…well never mind.”

“I just finished posting the practice results for the Bank of America 500.

I’m none too surprised with Brian Vickers poor performance in practice and qualifying.

He starts out 25th for the race. He is 4 up from the bottom on the overall practice chart. It’s not like he has ever really impressed at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. His best finish is 12th. His average starting spot is 16th, with a dismal 28th place average finish.

I reckon’ though that his showing so far this weekend is related to the turmoil from last weeks race.

One of our Fantasy Racing Experts picked Vickers to win this weekend. Can’t wait to see how it pans out.”

Caution For Debris On The Front Stretch

Why so much trash on the front stretch at Talladega? Car debris from the final lap crash?

I wonder what is the hot topic this week in NASCAR?

Brian Vickers first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory. Right?

To the non-NASCAR-ish among us, that’s not a loaded question. Those watching the UAW Ford 400 at Talladega Superspeedway, it’s The Big One™.

I’m not a Brian Vickers fan. I don’t root for him nor against him. I could usually care less where he finishes.

Short Trip To Victory Lane

It’s neat to see a driver score their first victory. Not much television coverage for Vickers win. Just a glimpse of his victory burnout and a quick victory lane interview. Maybe it was all the Earnhardt lemmings chanting “Bulls**t, bulls**t” in the background that kept us from seeing more.

Brian Vickers has been attempting this win for many races. We all knew it was coming, after one 2nd place and three 3rd place finishes last year. His consistancy of only 13 DNF’s in 107 NASCAR races is also great.

So what happened today? The kid, as Tony Eury Jr. said, “Got a little excited.” Vickers says he can enjoy this victory. I think the next one is much sweeter though.

Your Not On My Team, Mate.

There is already more Vickers-hating at the RHM camp. We endured Jeffy’s ‘he’s not much of a teammate’ speil about Vickers racing him hard a few weeks ago. Now, the forever whining Jimmie Johnson (who thank God is not my wife). He obviously has forgotten how many wrecks he has caused at the Superspeedways. He forgot about the time he had to say he was sorry.

The self-righteous Jimmie Johnson says about the wreck, “It’s absolutely uncalled for, completely out of line, I’m racing for a championship, okay? The only way to win (the race) was to crash us both.”

He further elaborates with his sage wisdom, “I don’t think he meant to do it, but he did it. He shouldn’t even think about putting any of us in that situation. It’s ridiculous.”

As if Jimmie has not said enough, little Chad Knaus has to pipe in as well. Of course this ‘just-push-the-envelope’ crew chief knows all about talent. Thinks he knows it like he knows shock absorbers. “It wasn’t bad judgment, it was lack of talent,” Knaus said. “I just don’t think he has the talent to understand what he has underneath him.”

Step back, cause I’m gonna puke.

What do you think? Vickers a no-talent? Johnson a whiney baby? That’s just hard racin’?

As for me, I can’t wait until NASCAR ‘08 comes out for ps2. I’m looking forward to driving that smooth as glass new surface Talladega is sportin’.”

“I’ve added two new pages to the NASCAR racing database. Consider it a preview of NASCAR statistics I plan to incorporate during the off season.

The only data in the database right now for these new pages is for the UAW Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. I’ll post the data for the remaining races of 2006 each Saturday.

So What Are The New Stats?

• Practice Results
• Qualifying Results

I think these are great statistics to ruminate on in setting your fantasy race league line-up.

I know that they are available elsewhere on the mega-million-dollar-sites, but what I hope to accomplish here is presenting them in the most usable way.

I think I’m hitting the mark, especially on the practice results page. Check ‘em out and let me know how I can make them even more useful and beneficial to you.”

Was there anything missing from the NASCAR race run at Kansas Speedway today?

Let’s see…

• Lots of passing
• Lots or hard racing
• Three & four-wide racing
• New ‘Chaser-Mulligans‘
• Group B drivers running and finishing up front
• Excitement right down to the last drop (and beyond)

I would say that for a cookie-cutter 1 1/2 mile track, today’s race was outstanding!

I only wish that my hometown speedway provided racing as good.

New Tires Are Better Than Old Tires

This is a note that every team made for next years race at Kansas Speedway.

The ‘Rocket Man’, Ryan Newman, stayed out at the first caution and couldn’t run with the big dogs once the green flag waved. And, as a result, old tires versus four tires was almost the cause of disaster for Jeff Burton.

Good presence of mind kept Jeff from having his day ruined when Newman spun right in front of him. (I’m trying to believe that nothing is the result of ‘luck’, even in NASCAR racing.)

Team Chevy Winning Moment

If any of you play NASCAR Thunder ‘04 you know that Michigan is a total fuel mileage race. The only way to win that race is to run your car out of fuel (preferably coming into turn 3 and 4) before pitting to fuel up.

Tony Stewart did just that and won. That was very cool. He had a 17-second lead and luckily had enough momentum to cross the finish line ahead of Casey Mears. Even though it took his teammate Denny Hamlin to push him to victory lane.

It would have been even cooler to see a deserving driver like Casey win the race. But, on the other hand, Stewart Fan and I are rooting for Tony to finish third under the old NASCAR point system.

Some Old Faces

It was a particular treat for me to see Dale Jarrett get a post-race interview.

It’s hard to believe it was his first top-5 finish of the year. It’s amazing how hard and fast the whole Robert Yates Racing stable has fallen.