Sleepless in Lake George

It's late by my standards, but I had a pressing issue with New York State Energy Code requirements on a family room addition I'm designing and subsequently could not sleep until I corrected it. I got through that painless enough but I had to go and click on Fox NASCAR in my Favorites and wouldn't ya know.... the first thing I see is "Free-agent Kyle Busch to drive for Gibbs".... so now I'm expected to fall asleep?? I'm speechless, so I suppose I'll go wrestle with the sheets. I hope the rest of you are in deep slumber. Sweet Dreams!!

Nothing like HDTV

The June experience at Pocono left me with a bad taste. That place is horrible for a live race, rain or no rain. Yesterday's race, The Penn 500, on the other hand was decent and worth watching, but that's because I was in my own home in front of my plasma tele. Espn's coverage is ok at best and Rusty Wallace should go back to commentator school, but I like the down force wind graphics. No other network can out-do Fox, at least not in my mind.

Aside from Kurt Busch's domination, the race had some pretty cool racin. Did Jr.'s spin and comeback remind you of anything?? Young Denny at last years race... the only differences were the shock change and Denny did win it. Jr. did an awesome job, but Busch bumped him out of the top 12. The next 5 races will be very intense for the 10th through 14th spots and those Penske cars are on a rampage.

This weeks race is right here in my state at The Glen, but we won't be going. Actually, we live closer to Loudon than we do Watkins Glen and although I've never been there I've heard that The Glen is also horrible as far a seeing a race.

Robby Gordon sat one out... at least he is man enough to stand up for what he believes in and then man enough to take the penalty without whining.

And The Winner Is....

The "Roo" Marcos Ambros maintained his composure and integrity after Robo-Gordon purposely spun him in the final laps of yesterdays French Open in Montreal. Of course Marcos had done the same to Gordon just prior, and a caution was thrown at that point because of chaos behind them... but was it thrown before or after Ambrose nailed Gordon? The topper is Robby is now contending with NASCAR. He was told to drop back behind the #33 car before the Green flag but he refused, then shortly after the re-start he spun Ambrose who had the lead and Robby is now telling NASCAR he won the race!! Of course we know the win went to Happy Harvick. I have a soft spot for Gordon because he tries so hard on a shoestring, and I do think he has a legitimate gripe and he certainly has some brass you know what's!! A battle with NASCAR is silly... right or wrong... they are always right.

Fellow Blogater Vroom reminded me that winter is creeping up on us here in the North. The recent heat that most of the eastern half of the Country has suffered has been bittersweet. The bad part is obvious... the good is the lack of clothing we need to wear and it's a good excuse to go in the water. My Golden Retriever is now 13 weeks and because of the heat wave she has been afforded the opportunity to learn to swim and she has become an expert.

All Bud

Kudos to Jr. for getting the pole. Seeing him with the award and the "Bud" backdrop in his Bud drivers suit was cool, but it may be the last time we ever see anything like that. He looked camouflaged and all we could see was his big smile.

Penske boys up front again. They need consistency to break that top 12 barrier. Ryan was a guest on Trackside last night and listening to him talk he always maintains a good attitude, although I noticed he is picking up a bit of the Southern accent, not that that is a bad thing, just an observation. This sort of thing happens... my sister Madeline has lived in Rotterdam, Holland for years and barely speaks English anymore. If anyone hung out with Elliot Sadler for long enough they'd have to pick up the heavy drawl... and Hermie...well I can hardly understand him.

Back at the Cottage... The heat wave is supposed to break today. It was unbearable for most of this week and I shut down the tools early every day. My carpenter, Mike, is grateful, even if he misses a few hours. I did put an extra few dollars in his pay... I told him he sweated out more than that.

The Northway

This is a shot of I-87 on the Canada/New York border. This beautiful interstate runs from NYC to near Montreal, winding through the Catskills and Adirondack Mountains and is the main and only interstate here where I live about 2 hours south of the border. This means that the NASCAR haulers and Motor Coaches for this weekends Busch race are running through my town. It makes me want to go sit on an overpass with my camera, but duties prevail. Still, it gives me a cool feeling knowing that once a year the NASCAR brigade travels through here.

The Pocono race.... I'm leaning towards another JGR victory with Hamlin being the favorite. Denny plays a lot of EA Sports NASCAR games and has stated it helps his performance. I have these games and the Pocono track selection is the easiest to play. Makes me wonder how realistic these video games are, because I have the Pocono track mastered and end up in victory lane always. Perhaps Joe Gibbs would let me drive the #11 this weekend.

Warren Wallace LLC.

Rumor has it that Steve Wallace has hired young Warren as a bodyguard. The first thing Warren told him was to stay out the candy isle at convienent stores and to buy a cheap watch. This came after Steve suffered minor cuts and bruises in an attempted mugging after the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, the men jumped him as he left the store and tried to take a wrist watch. Maybe now that Steve has Warren as a sidekick he can stay out of trouble both off and on the track.

Gotta love Smoke and his on air "Bullshit".

Pocono-no.... well that's because I've been there and putting it kindly, that place sucks!! It's better on TV.