Baseball Action Continues...

I'm not sure where or when, but I'll be at a ballpark somewhere today as Dixie Youth and Dixie Boys Baseball continues in Kershaw County. We still have a team going strong up in Lancaster at the Dixie Boys level, and in Dixie Youth there's a team that has won 5 straight games over the last week and a half playing in Bishopville.

We have now covered 15 games over a 12 day period - something I'm awfully proud of.

I'll say that I'm very tired though and Summer 2 starts today at USC. Little sleep... lot of driving... confusing schedule... gotta love Dixie Youth and Dixie Boys Baseball.

Mayfield not entered at Chicago

Update: NASCAR on Monday said they want Mayfield back on suspension from competition and they have filed papers to have the same judge who lifted his suspension to go back on his decision. This should get interesting over the next few days (as if it hasn't been already.)

Jeremy Mayfield is not entered for this Saturday night's LifeLock 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway. Mayfield won an injunction last week to allow him to return to Sprint Cup competition but could not get his Mayfield Motorsports #41 Toyota to Daytona on time nor could he find a ride over the weekend for the Coke Zero 400. Mayfield released an open letter this week saying he was planning to return to the sport but didn't specify when.

Mayfield hasn't raced since Richmond in early May and was suspended for violating NASCAR's drug policy on May 9th.

MWR to announce Truex on Tuesday

Update: The MWR presser will be at 12:30 Tuesday afternoon and I think it's gonna be carried on SPEED.

Tomorrow Michael Waltrip Racing will announce that 2-time Nationwide Series champion and current driver of the #1 Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing Sprint Cup Chevrolet will join MWR in 2010. With the announcement of Truex, it's highly anticipated that Michael Waltrip himself will step down from a full-time driver next season and only run a partial schedule. This will allow Waltrip to concentrate more on his duties as a car owner and his television responsibilities as well.

Waltrip has 4 career Sprint Cup wins including the 2001 and 2003 Daytona 500. Truex got his first career Sprint Cup win at Dover in 2007 and before that won the 2004 and 2005 Nationwide Series championship, driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chance 2 Motorsports.

One of my favorites...

Over the years as my career in sports broadcasting and journalism has evolved, there was always one voice and one writing style that I tired to emulate. That's because this one character always had a reason for saying something and he always knew what he said was, in his opinion atleast, the right answer.

Tuesday that voice and that talent was silenced. Charlotte Observer motorsports writer and co-host of The Morning Drive on Sirius Satellite Radio David Poole died of a heart attack shortly after signing off the air Tuesday morning.

I admired David because he really didn't seem to care what others thought of his ideas and always tried to see both sides of a NASCAR issue. He argued every caller that called his show and when he debated them, he debated via facts. I always knew that he'd come up with some stat that was really from left field and didn't back down from his opinions. I think a lot more journalists should share the same philosophy.

Now I didn't always share the same ideas as David did. I screamed at my radio on Monday morning driving back from Talladega about his ideas to bulldoze the banking at Talladega because of the danger it posed to drivers and fans. Some of those fans were injured in a last lap wreck that saw Carl Edwards' Ford fly through the air and into the catchfence in the trioval at the Alabama track. I belive there are other options to make the track safer for fans and drivers, but this isn't the time to talk about that.

I give props to Dave Moody and Mike Bagley who somehow managed to both make it through four hours of programming on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. I don't think I could have done what those guys did.

I'll always remember David Poole for his opinions and those hilarious Dramatic Readings each week on TMD. His voice is now silenced, but his influence on me and the rest of the NASCAR media will forever be felt.

Wow... that was like a month ago

Yeah, so I had this great elaborate plan to document every part of my trip to the 51st Daytona 500 last month. Today is March 18th and the race at Daytona was February 15th, so I'm a little late with all that stuff.

I really did have a great plan for everything. I was gonna talk about walking through the Daytona Fan Zone and seeing AJ Foyt a couple of times. I was gonna talk about standing atop the Fan Zone to watch practice on Friday. I was gonna talk about watching Smoke win the Nationwide race, the look of terror on people's faces during that horrific wreck during the Truck race, and sitting in the tv compound food tent on Sunday morning knowning that it was gonna rain at some point during the day. I could also talk about standing in the old victory lane where Dale Earnhardt celebrated his only 500 victory in 1998.

Oh, I had a bunch of stuff to talk about for sure. But, a lot of stuff has happened since I got back.

Combine school, and a playoff run for Camden that culminated with me calling the AAA Boys Basketball Championship game at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, and I haven't really had time to update my trip to the Great American Race.

I'm past the half way point for my penultimate semester of college, and I've got to admit I don't think I've really learned anything. It's like I've learned more about how to call a basketball game and design a website than I have anything sitting in a classroom. My choice for classes this semester was not as good as it could have been and now I'm having to deal with that. Hopefully I'll be able to pass everything and move on in life. And I'll tell you now that the summer is going to SUCK because I need to take 4 classes this summer to assure graduating in December.

There were no NASCAR races last weekend. Everything was on hold because the powers that be didn't want to compete with college basketball conference tournaments. Hey, for me it wouldn't have been a problem because my team was done on Friday. Hey NASCAR, next time you plan an off-week, just look at who South Carolina's playing to determine if you should do it then or push it back a couple weeks.

Anyway, I need to wrap things up for now. Apparently the USC Sumter faculty thinks its necessary for me to go to class today. I'm really kicking myself for not finishing school when I was supposed to.

The Saga That is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Alright, alright. Here we go...

I didn't see the wreck that was started when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers got together on the backstretch during the Daytona 500 last week while I was actually at the racetrack. I heard the commotion on my headset and saw the cars after they were towed back to the Sprint Cup Series garage. But not until yesterday afternoon did I actually have time to sit down and review the video of the accident in detail.

And guess what... Dale Earnhardt Jr. is totally responsible for what happened. It took out the dominant car (Kyle Busch) and wrecked several others that had legitimate shots at going to victory lane (i.e. Jamie McMurray.) Of course I'm not gonna say that without watching the tape first. I'm expected to be the Dale Jr. supporter that I am and not question his integrity on the racetrack or his ability as a Sprint Cup Series driver.

Now, let me answer a few questions that have been raised this week on Sirius NASCAR Radio and various other talk shows (i.e. The Locker Room Sports Show on KOOL 102.7)

First, did Junior wreck Vickers? Yes.
Did Vickers block Junior which caused the wreck? Yes.
Was Junior frustrated over dumb things he'd done on pit road ALL WEEKEND? Yes.
Did Junior want to get back on the lead lap? Yes.
Did Junior INTENTIONALLY wreck Vickers in an attempt to get back on the lead lap? I still say the word "intentional" when used to describe an event happening at 190 miles per hour is absolutely absurd.

Now, here's my thing about all of this. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is expected to lead every lap and win every race. Junior Nation expects it and the media criticizes him when he doesn't. And at that point being a lap down, not in position for the lucky dog, and knowing rain was coming, he did what he could to try to live up to those expectations. At Daytona more than any other track, the fans expect him to win the race. He screwed up earlier in the day (on pit road twice) and then he screwed up on the racetrack.

That unrealistic expectation of winning every race needs to be dropped. He's not Dale Earnhardt Sr. He never will be. I've never expected him to be. He doesn't have the raw talent and ability that Dale Sr. had. People ask me why am I a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. My answer is I've been an Earnhardt fan all my life. But what people don't know is that I followed Junior through the Nationwide Series (formerly Busch Series) in 1997, 1998, and 1999. I bought the AC Delco hats and t-shirts and I celebrated when he won the championships in 98 and 99.

And following Dale Sr.'s death in 2001, I didn't necessarily pick another driver to pull for. I flip-flopped between Junior, and Kevin Harvick, and Bobby Labonte, and hell I even thought about switching to the dark side and pulling for Jeff Gordon. But it wasn't really until late 2002 that I became a Junior fan. And my loyalty to Junior has continued even through the switch to Hendrick Motorsports.

But what Junior did on Sunday was inexcusable. I'll admit it now after reviewing the DVR even though I wouldn't on the Locker Room Monday night, or to anybody else I've talked to since. As an Earnhardt fan, I apologize to everyone whose favorite driver was taken out in the wreck (that's for you Bobby.) I also apologize to everyone for saying so many times over the years that Dale Jr. was capable of winning a Sprint Cup Series championship and being competitive enough to win a bunch of races. At this point in his career, I think that a championship is out the door. I also think my allegiance to him as a fan has begun to dwindle. Overrated is a term that has really begun to sink in with me when talking about his Sprint Cup Series career recently.

If it were any other driver, 2 Nationwide Series championships as a driver and 2 more as an owner, 18 Sprint Cup wins (including the Daytona 500) and driving for the most successful team in the modern era would be a very respectable career. Unfortunately for him, 100 wins and 10 championships wouldn't begin to make the fans happy.

I'm criticized for being a Junior fan, cheering when Jimmie Johnson won his 3rd championship last year, saying Kyle Busch is a good driver, and dipping out when it comes to answering the hard questions about an idiotic move at Daytona. So I ask you this: If I wasn't a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, who should I pull for? Gordon? Johnson? Stewart? Shrubby? I'm not saying I would switch over, but I want some input, remembering that I've been an Earnhardt fan since I started watching racing in the late 80's.

I'll take your suggestions here. I want real reasons and not just some dumb answer for your choice.

2009 Chasers

I know I haven't posted about Daytona in a few days, but I'm still not caught back up on everything I missed here in the real world while I was down there.

But it occurs to me that I never documented my Chase drivers for 2009. Well, here they are:
Jeff Gordon
Jimmie Johnson
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Carl Edwards
Matt Kenseth
Greg Biffle
David Ragan
Kevin Harvick
Jeff Burton
Clint Bowyer
Kyle Busch
Tony Stewart

Daytona (Thursday)

Thursday was go or go home day for 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers. I was down on pit road after the second Gatorade Duel race and was right there when Jeremy Mayfield and AJ Allmendinger got out of their cars after they raced their way in to Sunday's 51st running of the Daytona 500.

The look on their faces, and their crew guys and family, was priceless. Mayfield Motorsports didn't exist a month ago and Dinger lost his guaranteed starting spot the week before the Budweiser Shootout. For the first time in a while they, along with Scott Riggs and Regan Smith, will get a somewhat comfortable night's sleep tonight because they are in.

However, there were a bunch of guys not so lucky. Boris Said, Geoff Bodine, Kelly Bires, and Kirk Shelmerdine are among the guys who will load it up and head for home tonight. I can't begin to imagine what they are thinking. Bodine and Shelmerdine planned to run the entire season. I wonder if those plans have now changed.

***

Thursday was a long, hot day at Daytona. My feet ache and I'm a little sunburned. I got a story into the pre-race show, and it didn't go over as well as I'd hoped, but it was still there. Basically it goes like this: when it was time to talk about Dale Earnhardt Jr, I suggested to the producer and the talent guy that we should say nothing (in the best Seinfeld fan-way I can.) And he did. And it was gonna be great but the people in the stands really didn't get what we were trying to do. Oh well, I tried.

Tomorrow I'll get to sleep in for a bit, then it's back to the track for Nationwide qualifying and the Camping World Truck Series race tomorrow night. That event is always fun to watch because their is side-by-side racing and beating and banging. There's a full-field of trucks tomorrow night and most of those guys need a good showing to stay on track for the full season.

As always I'll have more from Daytona throughout the weekend.

Daytona (Wednesday)

So if everything goes to plan, I'll have suggested and had aired the greatest story in the history of NASCAR Racing during the Sprint Vision pre-race for the Gatorade Duels tomorrow afternoon. Of course, this could be the worst thing I've ever suggested in my life. More on that later.

After the very comfortable drive to Florida (except through the construction zone that was ALL of Georgia) I got to the hotel and really enjoyed my afternoon. Got to sit in on the SV pre-race show prep for tomorrow (hence the opening paragraph above) and then caught up with my friends early in the evening. New Hampshire was a long time ago so it was nice to hang out with the crew for a little while. We're going to dinner in a bit and then who knows whats to follow. I just know I've got to be in the lobby at 8:45 in the morning.

I drove by the track today on my way in and it was a circus. The economy has hit NASCAR hard, but evidently fans are flocking to Daytona this weekend for what is sure to be an entertaining opening to the 2009 season.

Tomorrow's qualifying races will have some interesting points to it. In the first 150 miler, there are 6 drivers going for 2 spots. I'd take my chances in that race if I was Brad Keselowski, Joe Nemechek or Scott Riggs. But race number 2 has 10 guys going for 2 spots and that is gonna bring the fireworks. The difference between a guaranteed quarter of a million bucks to start on Sunday and loading up the truck tomorrow is huge-- this year more than ever.

In race number 2, you've got former Daytona 500 champs Geoffrey Bodine and Derrick Cope, not to mention a few other guys who have some crews that have put in alot of long hours over the last few months. And depending on what happens it could be a long weekend for those guys. I get to stick around until Sunday. Those guys who don't make the show tomorrow have to be out of the garage by sundown. The hopes and dreams of three months will go with them when they head back through the tunnel.

I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, except to say that we will all be entertained by the twin 150 mile last chance races. I'll have more from my trip to the 51st Daytona 500 all weekend long.

18 Days and Counting...

It's only 18 days until the 51st running of the Daytona 500. Only 18 days until the start of what some people are calling the most pivotal year in NASCAR history. The economy has hurt the sport over the last three months. It seemed like things were going fine until the off-season started, then it was a free-for-all, which will (hopefully) come to an end with the Daytona 500 on February 15th.

Now, enough with the generalized thoughts about Daytona.

It's only 14 days until I leave for my second trip to the Great American Race. This time however... things are gonna be a little different. Let's get in our time machine, turn on the flux capacitor and rocket up to 88 miles an hour. Set the machine for 2005.

The 2005 Daytona 500 was my first. Left on a Wednesday, came back on a Monday. Had great seats in the Earnhardt Tower and watched Jeff Gordon win. That race was a time when things were very different for me. Back then, my biggest aspiration to do as little productive things as I could. Matter of fact the only thing I really wanted to do was announce high school football (for free at that time) and announce at the dirt track in Chester. 2005 was also the year that I decided that I hated college and didn't want to go anymore.

Alright... back in the time machine, back to 88 miles an hour, and back to the here and now.

It's 2009. I've realized that college is important and I'm getting the hell out in December. And I'm going back to the Daytona 500. But I'll be there on the other side of the track. The first time, my dad asked me if I wanted to get pit passes. I said no. I wanted to be in the infield because I was working. Well, in 14 days I'm leaving for Daytona to go work. It's at the point now where I haven't actually gotten it through my head that I'll be in victory lane at the end of the race on February 15th.

I'll talk about victory lane later, but for now this simply is a trip that I can't quite put into words at this point. I thought I had my "How did I get here" moment when I walked through the garage that first time at Pocono last June. I think the awesome will be turned up on that a little more when I make my way through the garage on Gatorade Duel day.

The Daytona 500 means so much to me, for no other reason than the fact that I grew up an Earnhardt fan. That race... it's just... All that there is. It's the World Series, Final Four, Super Bowl, and Masters all rolled into one. When the race is happening, it's almost a surreal type deal. You talk all winter long about the Daytona 500; who's gonna win, who's not gonna win, who's gonna win the championship. But then the race starts and you think it's not real. Like it's just any other event. Then when it's coming to an end you think my god, the Daytona 500's almost over.

I'm hoping that this isn't the last time I go to work at the Daytona 500. I know I have to make a good impression over the next three months and really work my butt off to get to where I want to be. Hanging on to the back of a billboard for four hours on a Sunday afternoon as the cars move past me at 190 miles an hour is the goal, obviously, but sitting in an air-conditioned truck pushing buttons at Pocono on a hot August afternoon isn't that bad.

I know this: carrying a tripod and batteries is where I want to be on this Sunday afternoon. Next year, hopefully, I'll be carrying a microphone.

What. Was. That?

Darrell Waltrip suggested dragging tires around the track all night long to rubber it up. Goodyear thought they should bring in tires scheduled to go to Pocono next week. NASCAR thought they should throw cautions every 15 laps to allow teams to change tires. All of these suggestions came up over the weekend in an attempt to not turn the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis into a wreck-fest. 

But everything that was done (or suggested) did nothing to prevent the most pathetic excuse for a race I've ever seen in almost 20 years of watching NASCAR racing. This, my friends, was a travesty. 

If you didn't see the Allstate 400 from the Brickyard on Sunday afternoon, go out to a local track Saturday night and just watch for a few minutes. You'll get the idea. Basically, the 160 lap race was broken down into 15 or 16 lap segments of green flag and then a NASCAR issued caution flag, allowing teams to change tires. This was what NASCAR thought would be the only way to prevent a tire from blowing out as a driver was going into a corner at 200 miles per hour. 

Everyone knew tire wear would be a problem going into the weekend. It always has at Indy. That place is rough. It was built 100 years ago for open-wheel cars to run on, not these monsters that the Sprint Cup Series is running these days. It was ground down a few years ago to allow for better handling cars. That's great. But when a tire is down to the chords after 8-10 laps there is obviously a problem - a problem that everyone thought would get better. It didn't by the way. 

The media says not to blame Goodyear, the track, or NASCAR. That it was circumstances that allowed the outcome Sunday. I personally blame all three. 

First, I blame Goodyear for coming to the track with a pathetic tire. They have for a long time. May I redirect you to the spring race at Atlanta? How can Jerry Punch do a voice-over for ESPN saying that Goodyear tires are track tested and are the best out there or whatever and then continue to watch what was going on Sunday afternoon? David Poole of the Charlotte Observer and Sirius Radio's The Morning Drive says we don't need a tire war like we saw in the early 90's. I tend to believe that if you bring in another tire manufacturer (such as for example, Hoosier) that the product they put out there will alleviate the problem of a tire war because Goodyear will be put to shame.  Then we can get down to decent racing. 

A side point: I can't remember when a fuel issue (an actual problem with the fuel itself and not mileage) affected a race to the point where the teams could only go 10 laps. 

Next, I blame the track for grounding it down several years ago. They spent millions of dollars to repave the dumb thing and then they grounded grooves into the surface in an attempt to smooth it out. Um... HUH? There are laser guided paving machine things that can make a surface of a racetrack as smooth as possible. Why not use it instead of creating grooves in the track surface. The purpose of the grounding was to improve handling for Indy cars, which is apparently IMS's bread and butter. Ok, maybe it is actually their bread and butter and not apparently. Repave the track Tony George. You'll thank yourself later. 

Finally, I blame NASCAR. WHY WASN'T THERE A FULL-FIELD OPEN TEST HERE LAST WEEK? I mean, they had an open test at Pocono... was Indy booked that day or something? If the Brickyard 400 is truly the second biggest race of the year, then why wasn't NASCAR there last week testing? Chicago is a stone's throw from Indy in the grand scheme of things, why not stop by there on the way home and test for two days? I also think that NASCAR should loosen restrictions on certain aspects of this new racecar. If it is the future, then fix it now and prevent bad racing and poor handling. 

You know, the fastest car the entire weekend did in fact win the race. And I think he could've won if there weren't pit stops every 15 laps. I just think the route to victory would have been a little more interesting. 

I'm a fan and I'm still gonna watch the Poconap 500 on Sunday, but the memories will linger from Indianapolis for the rest of the season. Personally, I don't think we should be going to Indianapolis Motor Speedway anyway. O'Reilly Raceway Park would be a good filler in its place. 

Or maybe a second race at Darlington. 

Or A race at Rockingham. Or North Wilkesboro.  

Yeah, I know I'm slack...

But I've got good reasons for not updating my trip to Chicago.

It's a little thing called Summer School.

I documented here last summer about the amount of time summer school takes up. Well, it's true. I wake up, I go to class, I go to the station, I go home and go to sleep. Repeat.

Chicago was fun. I just hate that I've been to six NASCAR sanctioned events in 2008 and Kyle Busch has won half of them. Not to mention the fact that he won last night's Nationwide race at ORP, even after NASCAR took away some of the Toyota's horsepower. I'm not even going to turn on my Sirius this week. I think I'll vomit all the way to Sumter and back if I did. But I digress.

Anyway, back to Chicago. I'm finally starting to see a difference between how racetracks used to be built and how newer ones are these days. There was nothing around the Chicagoland Speedway. There was no city, no neighborhood, no nothing. I'm not sure if I like that or not. I got to spend a lot of time with the actual MRN (radio side) guys during my trip. That's the side of this business I want to be on. Not the television stuff. TV stuff just gets in the way. Radio is the fun part.

I'll say this the media center was excellent, and since nobody had mechanical problems or wrecked hard enough to crash out at either the two races we did, I got to spend a lot of time in the media center.

I think this new racecar really has just baffled everybody in the garage area. All except Steve Addington and Kyle Busch. They seem to flourish in this thing. Maybe the reason why the two were mediocre in past seasons before joining forces this year was because they needed this type of car to perform well. But then, they had 16 chances to do something in this car last year apart and couldn't contend for a lot of race wins. Maybe just the combination of the two are unstoppable.

But I like to think that Kyle Busch wins races just to spite me. And I've gone into another tangent.

I'm gonna stop now before I say something I shouldn't. But I'll leave you with this: Chicago was fun, Watkins Glen will be fun even though I have hatred in my heart for that racetrack, and please Kyle Busch- just wreck once. That's all I ask.

Back from Chicagoland...

And I promise I'll update my trip. I've slept for most of today so far, which means I probably won't sleep tonight, but I'll post some stories later in the week. 

But this first story has to be told. 

Wednesday night the entire crew that was already in town went out for dinner. It was a nice place-- which used to be a church-- that served great Italian food. There were about 16 of us, so we took up two full tables. I sit down at one and a couple other folks sit with me. A few minutes later, the final car gets to the restaurant and walk inside. One person sits down and then another until there is one empty seat at my table and one person left to sit in it. 

So as I'm sitting there drinking my... Coke, who sits down? Legendary broadcaster Barney Hall. That's who. 

I thought I was gonna pee on myself. 

A few minutes pass and Paul finally says something to the effect of, "Barney have you met our intern this week yet?" After saying no, he shakes my hand and I barely get out my name. Then I say it's an honor to meet him and I'd been a fan for a long time. 

He sat there a minute and then finally said, "Well you're not that old so it must not have been that long." 

The entire table laughed and apparently the story got told at the MRN Production meeting on Thursday. What a great introduction. I know I'll never forget it. 

Well that's all for now as I'm going to try go back to sleep for a few hours so I can get up and go to class, work, and do a 2-hour talk show. 

More from Chicago later.

Smoke... it's time to move on

The time has come, I believe, for Tony Stewart to move on.

After a decade at Joe Gibbs Racing with two championships and over 30 Sprint Cup victories, 2008 should be the final season for Stewart to climb behind the wheel of the #20 car. Much to the dismay of my friend Christian Scott whose apartment is filled with orange Home Depot stuff, long-time fans will have to pack the old behind and move on. Much like the last 10 months for me moving to a new ride at Hendrick Motorsports, a new number, and new sponsors for Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2009 will be the same for Tony Stewart fans.

I think Sunday's race at New Hampshire was the kicker for Stewart. After dominating much of the race, Stewart's bid for a win came short when rains approached the racetrack, and instead of a win or atleast a top 5 finish, Stewart was forced to settle for 14th.

The success and luck he has enjoyed since 1999 is obviously done. Smoke said in a very painful interview with TNT on Sunday that his luck has run out. Twice in the last year, rain has taken a win away from him (the other at Kansas last fall.)

I don't think it has anything to do with crew chief Greg Zipadelli. I don't think it has anything to do with Gibbs' move to Toyota this year. I think it has to do with the fact that things continue to change in NASCAR all the time, and this year is no exception. The new racecar has thrown even veteran drivers a loop, and it seems anymore that once a guy gets dominant in one point of the race, he stays that way throughout and only an accident, mechanical problems, or bad pit strategy keep them from victory.

All season long, with a few exceptions, we've seen a driver dominate the race and go to victory lane. At Las Vegas, Carl Edwards was the dominant car and overcame pit problems to win. Last week at Infineon, Kyle Busch led over 75 laps en route to victory. But some strong cars aren't as lucky.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was set to win the Coca-Cola 600 only before an accident took him out of contention. Before that, he was going to win at Richmond before Busch took him out with a handful of laps remaining.

But yesterday at New Hampshire, Smoke was the man, not surprising to anybody, and it looked like he would keep his tradition of burning up the track during the summer months. The stage was set for him to win until late pit stops where he took tires, others took fuel only, and some stayed on the racetrack hoping the rains would come.

The rains came and stopped the race with 17 laps to go. After a short window, NASCAR called the race and Kurt Busch was declared the victor, not Stewart or any of the other cars who ran up front most of the day.

Bad luck, bad cars, and other wildcards are causes for Smoke to jump ship. And with the announcement that Casey Mears will not return to Hendrick Motorsports in 2009, I think Stewart is set to take the empty room in the inn. I hope for Tony's sake he decides not to enter in to partial ownership and drive for Haas CNC Racing next year. I think that's career suicide. Why go to a team that struggles to make races?

As a Hendrick Motorsports fan, I welcome Tony Stewart into the organization if he so chooses. Even if that means that Joey Logano will drive the 20 car next year. I'll just have to deal with that.

Pocono Trip (Sunday)

After three days in the Poconos taking in all of qualifying, practices, and the ARCA Crash Fest 200, it was finally time to get down to business in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pocono 500.

Sunday morning meant leaving the hotel way early and getting to the track, well, way early. But, we beat traffic so everything worked out in the end. The bad part was since we got there at 8:00 and there was nothing to do until noon, there was a lot of time sitting around doing nothing. Oh well, atleast we were at a racetrack and not somewhere else. I must say, Sunday morning at a racetrack is very... relaxing. 

I had time to walk around the pitroad area and experience first hand what goes into preparing for a Sprint Cup Series race. The cool part was the fact that Junior's pit was right in front of the MRN truck. The bad news: I was going to be on the complete other end of the frontstretch for most of the day, so I didn't get to see anything there. 

After 12:00, it was time for the Sprint Vision pre-race show. I got to follow Paul and Thomas around while they shot some stuff and that was cool. I actually got to stir some of the conversation by noting that Travis Kvapil's crew was placing Dish Network logos on their pitbox. I asked something along the lines of, "hey, they're putting logos on the pitbox. Is that full time now," or something like that. And, right after that, Paul went over and asked the crew guys about it. No, it wasn't full time but I got to take part in the pre-race show. That was awesome. 

I really felt like during the course of the weekend and that story from the pre-race that I got to share my knowledge and passion for NASCAR with the folks I was working with and I hope they realize that I want to make a career out of this. 

About one hour before the start of the race, I got to go to victory lane for the pre-race activities. I mentioned earlier in this series about how Pocono does things very weird. Well, this was no exception. They seemed to do what they wanted when they wanted and didn't really care about timelines from the network television, radio, or NASCAR itself. I wish that Pocono was filled up with water and stocked with Bass. (Yeah, I stole it from Kyle Petty... get over it.)

Once the command was given, I walked back to the Sprint Vision truck to put up the tripod and get ready for the race. I finally made it back behind Jimmie Johnson's pit box right as the field was taking the green flag, so atleast I got to see the flag drop. 

After that, it was pretty much just waiting in the media center for stuff to happen. I got to watch all the way up until Kyle Busch hit the wall. After that, I spent about 100 laps in the garage area waiting for him to come out and talk to the media. That sucked. I missed alot of the race because of Gomer Kyle. I didn't appreciate that. But I guess that's the nature of the job. At Chicago I hope I can atleast take a radio with me so I can listen to the MRN broadcast and atleast know what's going on. 

The coolest part of the trip was going to victory lane after the race was over. Yeah it was Kasey Kahne and all that won the race, but it was still victory freaking lane for a Sprint Cup race. And I got to talk to Miss Sprint Cup for a few minutes. 

I got to see myself on NASCAR Victory Lane on Speed which was very cool. My folks DVR'd pretty much everything that was on tv this weekend so I could see myself.

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My overall thoughts on this weekend: Overwhelming, tiring, exciting. I experienced things that I never thought I would be able to, and I got to see things that you don't normally see watching a race from the grandstands or on television. I hope that I was a help and not just a fat guy in the way this weekend. I really hope this internship can lead to bigger and better things in the future. 

Pocono Trip (Saturday)

We got to the track real early this morning. I spent a lot of the day walking through the garage area and on pit road and didn't really do anything important until noon. Made my way through the Sprint Cup garage during practice. It was amazing. Like ants scattering around if you step on an ant pile or something. That's the best way I can describe it. 

The ARCA 200 pre-race ceremonies began immediately following Sprint Cup practice. So after practice was over, we went to victory lane for driver intros and such. BTW- I'm sure the people at Pocono are nice, but driver intros were very disorganized I should say. 

After driver intros and the command, I put my stuff back in the infield Vision truck, and headed out of the track via in the pedestrian tunnel to the television compound. Got to watch the ARCA race from the Vision control truck and they actually let me press buttons. That was freaking awesome! The folks in there told me it was boring and next time you'll get to do more, but I really had a great time with it. 

Basically, what I did was flash graphics on the Sprint Vision screens, such as the driver and their hometown and all. I also got to flash the please drive safely sign. That was awesome. 

The two kicks for today: 1) I got to meet Wendy Venturini from NASCAR Raceday on Speed, and 2) after the ARCA race was over and we were leaving the racetrack, we headed for one exit, but it was jammed with traffic. So, we turned around and headed back towards the track. Next thing I know (instead of heading towards the infield and out through the tunnel) we turn right and head straight towards turn 1 at Pocono! Went all the way through turns one and two and into the short chute and then headed out a gate. SWEET!!

The fan in me definitely had a great day. Got to see the garage in action, got to go to victory lane for driver intros, got to push buttons in the production truck, and I got to ride on the track.

I had so much fun today. We'll see what happens tomorrow for the Pocono 500. 

Pocono Trip (Friday)

Friday at Pocono=long and tedious. 

After eating the best meal I've ever had at a racetrack, I made my way into the track via the infield tunnel (The infamous Pocono Tunnel turn tunnel.) While it may have been a bore for the guy I was riding with, there was really nothing better for me. After getting to the MRN truck in the infield, I got an overview of how things worked.

Finally made my way into the Sprint Cup garage! The smell was again, as always, overwhelming. I love the smell that comes off the engines. It never gets old. 

After heading to the garage, infield care center, and media center, we went to victory lane. 

Victory. Freaking. Lane. 

Qualifying started at 3:40. Pocono is so big that after a car passed on the frontstetch, you didn't know they were on the racetrack until the got back to the line 55 seconds later. And qualifying took a long time because it's such a big track. 

I pretty much felt useless today. Just alot of standing around... you know, hurry up and wait. I know that today was pretty much an orientation, but I still felt useless. They told me that's how it is sometimes, but I still wish I could've done more to help than just stand around behind the pit wall holding batteries and a camera cover. 

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I do a really good job of getting to know people I work with when I start something like this. I got to know the people today. I'm hoping they don't frown upon the interns getting to know the staff, but that's one way that I work better with people: getting to know them. 

Oh yeah, I saw Steve Letarte (crew chief for the #24 Dupont Chevrolet of Jeff Gordon.) Didn't talk to him, just saw him. 

Back to the other thing... went to dinner with alot of the Sprint Vision crew tonight. I'm really hoping I didn't over do it hanging out those folks tonight. 

Tomorrow it's Sprint Cup practice and lead up to the Pocono ARCA 200. Hoping I get to meet more people tomorrow. Today was really an orientation and training day. 

I just wish I could do more. 

Oh yeah, Postman hit a bear going to the hotel last night!

Pocono Trip (Thursday)

After sitting in the Columbia airport for nearly an hour and a half before my plane was scheduled to leave, I realized that flying was something that I had to deal with. The best way to do that: get on a plane. Got to Charlotte with no problem. Then when we were getting ready to leave Charlotte for Philadelphia, the captain said that we would be delayed leaving. Two hours later, we finally got off the ground. 

When I got to Philadelphia, it was time to make the trek to our hotel: some two hours away. Got to ride with two really cool guys, Paul Bartholomew and Kurt Becker. It's weird talking to them and knowing that I hear these guys on the radio all the time. It's the same deal that people have talking to me who've heard me on air before. 

I finally got to the hotel and got some shorts on around 11:15 or so. Man what a long day. Setting alarms and wake up calls is a difficult task in this hotel. The hotel is huge, as is my suite. It's got a three-story lobby and a waterpark that is incredible. I don't know if I'll make it back there or not, but just from looking at it through the windows, it's big. 

I get to get a good night of sleep tonight because I don't leave for the track until 11:00 tomorrow. Once I get there, it's a trip to the credential truck and then into the track for Sprint Cup practice, ARCA qualifying, and Sprint Cup Series Coors Pole Qualifying. 

I'll have more tomorrow. 

BTW- HOW DID I GET HERE?

And so it begins...

Since the date is now officially June 5th, I can say that my internship with the Motor Racing Network and Sprint Vision has officially begun. In 14 hours and 32 minutes (that's from the time in which I started writing this) I'll be wheels up from Columbia Metro Airport and on my way to Pennsylvania for the Pocono 500 weekend. 

Nerves are definitely getting the best of me right now, although not for what I'll be doing when I get to the racetrack on Friday. My nerves revolve around the fact that tomorrow I'll be flying for the first time since I was in the 4th grade. That's been about 14 years since I was at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. 

It scares me to death. For some reason, I cannot seem to overcome this fear of flying. I don't know what it is. The aspect of being in a confined space doesn't bother me (I'm use to riding in buses for long periods of time.) I guess it's the 35,000 foot difference between me and the ground. I realize that flying is safer than driving a car... but I know I'm in control when I drive my Charger. 

I sit here and think this is absurd to think about being afraid of flying. If I want to work in NASCAR longer than two seconds, I have to be able to fly. If being afraid of flying is all that stands in my way from living my dream, well then I'll just have to get over it. 

I'll be taking notes and I'll update my trip to Pocono on here sometime next week. 

14 hours and 22 minutes.

You know what... ESPN is alright.

Let me preface this before I continue: the ESPN NASCAR team is alright. Pretty much everything else at ESPN from Sportscenter to College Football to "Oh God I can't go more than five seconds without talking about the Lakers or Red Sox" pretty much sucks.

Now, if you missed the rain-delayed NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover yesterday, then you missed a treat. From sign on to sign off, the ESPN crew did a tremendous job with the cards they were dealt. When the bottom fell out and heavy rains pelted the Dover International Speedway about one hour prior to the scheduled start of the race, the tv crew knew they would be in for a long day. And they were: the race ended at about 7:45 last night.

I've really been impressed by ESPN's NASCAR coverage this year. Last year, you couldn't have paid me to say something nice about their coverage. But this year, the on-air and behind the scenes folks have made such an improvement that I would venture to say they have the best product out there.

I think moving Rusty Wallace to the pit studio was a smart idea. He knows his stuff, but he presents it in a way that is often confusing and makes him sound dumb. He also has a tremendous conflict of interest being that he is a 2-team car owner. Last year, "My son Stephen" was almost more popular than draft-tracker. Note: Please don't bring that back.

Alan Bestwick was obviously the best choice for the host of the infield pit studio. He has about as much knowledge as any member of the broadcast media and has that presence about him that ups the level of the program.

I was very critical a year ago about the trio of Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, and Rusty Wallace. While Dr. Punch may be better suited for a pit road reporter, he has gotten better. I would like to see a little more emotion from him when it becomes necessary to do so. Remember back to Dale Sr's final win at Talladega in 2000? Jerry Punch was on the play-by-play for ESPN that day. His words sent chills down my back that day, and after watching that video a couple weeks ago, it still does. If he can bring that level of enthusiasm and excitement to the broadcast, then ESPN is really in business.

Andy Petree is the most pleasant surprise of the season. He did well in the booth last year, but I think with all the extra on-air time on NASCAR Now, he has really turned into an excellent broadcaster.

Finally, I think with the addition of Dale Jarrett later this year, the ESPN crew will gel into the successful product they produced in the 80's and 90's. I am actually looking forward to ESPN's first Cup Series race, and would gladly do without tv coverage for the six weeks that TNT has coming up.

ESPN gets what the NASCAR fan wants to see. They show the leaders; they show the back of the field. They show the winner crossing the finish line and then the rest of the cars cross the line as well: a concept that FOX still doesn't get.

FOX built their brand into the benchmark for NASCAR coverage when they took over in 2001. But in the 7 years since, their coverage has gotten a little worse each year. With Digger becoming more important that showing a pass for the lead, then the folks at FOX need to get to work during the off-season.