Happy Columbus Day

They're stealth and come from behind to bite you in the ass.

That's how it felt watching as Jeffy and Jimmy snuck in from behind the pack. Unpredictable... but that's Dega.

Pattyjo was wondering why the crowd was cheering as Jimmy took the lead followed by Smoke's attempt to cross over only to get shuffled back... I guessed it was due to the good ole plate racin going on.

It was a great finish.

The RO-7 Chevy apparently cannot hold up under 8900 rev's. Surprising any of the engines could hold up under that for 3 plus hours. The attrition was biased though and DEI-RCR should literally put the RO-7 on the {auction} block.

So now that the COT has made it's debut into the restrictor plate world, maybe the driver's will stop their bitching about it. The car did well as far as I could tell and I'm sure Kyle Petty feels good about it this morning after the body slam he took.

Several Chase contenders are now eliminated from winning The Cup. It's pretty much left up to the top 4 now, with Smoke in 4th. Although Harvick, Edwards and Kurt Busch have a glimmer of hope.... mathematically. And the Million Dollar spot, 13th, can be had by several, even though Jr. still holds the spot. Newman, Mears and The Biff are all easily within reach.

Back at the Cottage... In a word... hectic. I'm faced with a moral dilemma concerning a business decision. In a nutshell... I have almost priced myself out of an upcoming contractual project due to the high wage I've been asked to pay an employee. A big part of my success comes from the fair pricing I've maintained, but a carpenter under my employ has made that difficult. I had to back peddle and lower my price on this job, which means I'll have to let the carpenter go. If I lower the price's and keep him on he'll make more than I would and in all honesty... he's not all that!! His skills are lacking in several important areas, but he's good with vinyl siding and drywall... ask him to trim out the windows and doors and he's lost. It's never easy letting someone go and it takes a lot of courage because chances are he'll take offense. This because he does feel he's worth every penny.

Dega Day

Kudos to The Onion {Bodine} for winning the Dega Truckfest yesterday. I missed most of it because Pattyjo and I got caught up in Dick's Sporting Goods. I needed a new pair of shoes and after spending a couple of hours on my own earlier in the day without success, I asked Pattyjo if she'd go to Dick's. She brings me luck and sure enough I ended up with a very nice pair of Merrell Moab Hiking shoes.

Theses puppies are not cheap, but OMG!! they have to be the most comfortable shoe I've ever owned. So... I missed the race to tend to my feet, but I'm happy I did. Jack Sprague wrecked and I get ired when he wrecks. He is an alumni of my own public school in tiny Spring Lake Mich. and graduated with my younger brother. I remember Jack as a little kid and I have that protective nature about me. I only just read about it this morning so I didn't sit around pissed off last night.

Qualifying for the Cup race... bizarre to say the least. Mikey on the pole! I did watch this in it's entirety and I must say it was one of the most interesting qualifying telecasts I've watched. So... what will happen today when all of those "Go or Go-Homer's" up front get run over? Their cars are not in race trim and I envision a draft locomotive plowing through the Brat Pack within minutes. Well at least the NAPA Toyota got some much needed publicity as well as Toyota in general. It's been their weekend with this and their first victory with the Friday ARCA race. Cup win looming??? I predict that'll be next season in a JGR car.

Happy "Dega" race day and may the draft be with you.

A Fans View

Dega.

The word alone sounds ominous. Many driver's are concerned over tomorrows race and rightly so.

We've been there and the mere sight of this mammoth is surreal. I've posted a few pics I took there from the Spring 06' Busch and Cup races. From the grandstands it is like none other. We witnessed some horrific wrecks.

I hope things go well for the guys tomorrow... it's a frightening place... but we will go back again!

Melting Pot

They forgot the ears!! M&M's don't have ears, but in this case they should've included them. It looks more like Elvis than it does Kyle Busch. I'm a tad disappointed that Shrub is the newest M&M driver, and probably the last for years to come. M&M's are my favorite candy and now every time I go to eat them I'll have Shrub on my brain and I'll want to hold them to prove they do melt in your hands. The E. Sad M&M stuff was the coolest and I began to accept Gilliland, and seeing the #88 with it was awesome.... but Kyle Busch!!! I will never be able to root for the M&M car again.

Speaking of the car... the 08' COT Camry JGR #18 M&M car is very cool looking... well maybe now that Gibb's has Mars on board some of the other driver's may get some cool looking candy coated cars on occassion, ie; Smoke driving the nuts off the Snickers car in the "Nationwide Series".

I kinda like the new Grand National major sponsor. The only problem is they have already given Warren Wallace the axe. GEICO has two years to leave Nationwide Series. But I don't think this keeps them out of the Cup level.

Yesterday brought an explosion of news. So much at once it's hard to keep it all straight. 07' will always be the year of change.

All In A Day's Work

I enjoy sharing what I do in the world other than living and breathing NASCAR.

Below is a pic I posted in an earlier blog and I said I would follow up with progress photos.

The mason and excavator sub's I use finally got it ready for framing. It's a family room with a bump-out for a stairwell into the garage. That is a 12' wide opening you see into the existing basement wall. We had to hire a specialist to cut through the 8" thick concrete. It took him all of 3 hours and he charged $850.00. The new basement area will eventually be a home theater room.

That's yours truly this past Monday standing atop of a wall like I have Spiderman powers!

A regular client of mine owns several old apt. buildings. Below is one she owns that was built in the 1850's and was originally a mule barn for mules that pulled the log barges down a nearby canal that dumps into the Hudson River. It is now and has been for well over 50 years a 4 unit apt. house. The deck portion of the porch was nearly 75 years old and was very hazardous. It serves as a main entrance so I had a big challenge on my hands to remove it and rebuild it in one day. Success!! The 1st pic was taken at 8:30 am yesterday, the last at 5:30 pm. Nothing fancy, but certainly safe and sound.

This is the boss, "Chase". She just turned 5 mos. and as you can see loves scrap lumber.

One note on NASCAR... I'm happy to know that "The Rock" has been purchased by someone with plans to revive it. Richard Childress was also a high bidder but former racer and driving school owner Andy Hillenburg now owns it at a bargain price of $4.4 million.

It's The Biff's!!!

I am very happy with "Da" Biff's win. He clearly had the best car at the end. The slowing down?? He said he had fuel and crossed the finish line under power, the field was frozen, the caution was out, that's it. That was just the icing on the cake to what was an insane day in Kansas.

NASCAR took their own rules and manipulated them, but then again I don't have a copy of the rule book. I always thought that if there is a rain delay beyond the halfway mark and there is not enough time to finish the race, then it's called at that point. Okay... so apparently that is not the case. So be it and let it be. Anyway, I think the whole thing turned out humorous with Country Bowyer stating "I don't know... but Jeff and Jimmy said.... and those guys know racing". I forgot his exact words, but to claim these clowns have rights to the tower was hilarious. And then both of these Hendrick pion's bitched, as expected.

Did anyone happen to catch Kasey Kahne getting snubbed by Johnson? It was during the second rain delay very near the re-start. Kahne approached Johnson as Johnson walked past and Kahne got a look from Johnson like he was a pawn. It was very apparent and deliberate and frankly it turned my stomach. Something about Johnson has always held me from giving him the benefit of the doubt as far as his character goes. He has got to be the most arrogant SOB in NASCAR and that attitude does not mesh with what NASCAR stands for or where it all began. I hope that his high horse breaks a freaking leg.

I'm short on time this morning, so cannot read other blogs. I'll check in on everyone later and I'm certain to find some interesting stuff!!