Fencing

Tony Stewart has got a challenger. A NASCAR talk radio show host, Rob Pascoe of WDFN AM 1130's "On the Track" from the Detroit area has challenged Stewart to a race to the top of the fence at MIS in June '08. This came months after Stewart said to a media person... "I'd like to see you get your fat butt up there"... this guy, Rob, will probably blow Smoke away!! He is apparently not a Stewart fan and has also challenged Smoke to a boxing match. Smoke better be cautious...

I've not commented much on the Atlanta race because of the disappointing end. Seeing Martin Truex Jr. lose what was his race to Johnson over possible water in the fuel tanks sits better. At least now I can point the finger at NASCAR and/or Sunoco instead of the Hamlin crew. Marty Jr. had a great day!! Well... almost.

Back at the Cottage... I apologize to my fellow bloggers for my lack of attendance. I have been sick with some sort of flu bug. It's still hanging on and seems to enjoy me as a host. Little bastard!!

World Champ's...Again

True Irish blood!!

If you're even remotely aware of how loyal a typical Red Sox fan is you'd know that they are all in celebration today after the team clinched the world title last night after a 4 game sweep. They did the same thing in '04 against St. Louis. This '07 team is full of young blood and it's likely the Red Sox can win the World Championship again next year.

The Atlanta race... bizarre.

GO REDSOX

Yellow pretty much sums up the Busch race at Memphis yesterday. Cautions are all part of a good race, but this race proved, to me at least, that there can be too many. By the time lap 120 was complete I was ready to watch a movie or something.

Kudos to Dave Reutimann for his first Busch Series win and chalk one up for Toyo and MWR too.

The Biff on the pole at Atlanta.... now there's a surprise! Perhaps with all the negative publicity Roush-Fenway is getting over the Edwards-Kenseth fiasco, The Biff was able to focus... whatever!! But I think it's cool to see Greg get a pole and the RedSox... WOW!! 3-0 in the World Series. Our household is full of diehard RedSox fans, including my 10 year old son who is going to get a pancake breakfast this morning to celebrate the Sox victory.

Time for Carl to Grow Up

Reading all the A.P. articles, blogs and other related media concerning Carl Edwards, Kenseth and Roushfenway only made me look into this on a deeper level, especially where Carl is concerned.

I've concluded, although my conclusion is relative to only one side and/or possible reason{s}, that Carl is disliked not only in the RoSox camp, but in the general garage areas as well. This is a guy that has it all. Personality, talent, looks, brains and brawn. He is very sure of himself with glowing self esteem and confidence. Chances are he grew up this way and his peer rivalry goes back as far as Kindergarten. Living in these shoes is not easy. His peers have most likely always viewed him for something he's not... a cocky, self-centered know-it-all. Guys like Carl usually develop a lot of resentment and unresolved anger due to their being misunderstood, disliked and ridiculed. This evolves over time and can erupt. The good news is, with maturity it usually levels off.

Does this excuse his on-camera display? No. But it does make sense in what is a very gray area. I hope these guys work this out. RoSox is an awesome organization with the potential to win championships and it's a shame to see all this talent faltering due to boys being boys.

Boring

I know how that Otter feels. After Sunday's race at Martinsville, I've succumbed to what's been the norm all season... Hendrick dominance. Clearly at this point in The Chase it would take DNF's by both Jeffy and Jimmy for Country Clint or Smoke to become contenders. This weeks race at Atlanta will certainly clinch it for both of those Californians, but a glimmer of hope remains that there could be an upset in the points. This would make the season's finale far more interesting, unless you're a Gordon or Johnson lover. It almost reminds me of MLB's playoffs with the best two teams going to The Series...{GO SOX!!!}... Maybe this brainchild of Brian France's is not so genius afterall. Robert at Nascar from the Bleachers made some very good points in a recent post concerning not only The Chase, but Brian's role as Chief... which, if the rumors are true, may be shortlived.

Pre-Chase NASCAR was not much different. There were usually 2 and sometimes 3 drivers in contention for The Cup. "The Chase" was supposed to make the very long racing season far more exciting. It's supposed to keep us interested and be tuning our TV's in on the final races instead of MLB or the beginning of the NFL season. The race for The Chase was far better this year than the race for The Cup is. Perhaps Uncle Jim taking control... {everyone pray}... will bring some changes.

I'm probably biased in my opinion's because clearly Hendrick dominance has been the norm all season, so why would it not be now?

Jerry at Ranting and Raving posted an awesome article. Please read!!

Back at the Cottage... Yesterday brought some sad news to our house. We brought home a Minature Pinscher at 10 weeks old in early spring of this year. Within a couple of days we noticed a limp in his front right leg and promptly had it x-rayed. He was either born with or sustained a separated shoulder shortly after birth and at 10 weeks it was too late to correct. We paid $1,300 for him and could've gotten a full refund, but instead we took another pup, which we gave to Pattyjo's mom, and we kept Coco. He went in for a neutering yesterday and while under anesthesia the Vet x-rayed his shoulder again, which has progressively gotten worse. The sad news is, there is nothing they can do for the little guy. It's not operable and cannot be amputated. We can only give him life until the pain and discomfort becomes too much to bear. This is tearing Pattyjo to pieces... Coco is her baby and his personality is not A-typical of the Min-Pin. He is a sweetheart. I've told Pattyjo that at least we gave him an opportunity at life, because he surely would've been put down at 10 weeks had we not opted to keep him. We are unsure how long he can go on.... months... years... we really don't know. At this time he does not appear to be in pain and his mobility is okay... but it's only matter of time when this thing will become too much for him. I will replace him with another Min-Pin when the time comes, and we will always have Coco in our hearts as the little guy whose life was in our hands.

Ping Pong Anyone

Skinner... Hornaday. Hornaday... Skinner.

Skinner.

These NCTS drivers are switching the points lead on a weekly basis. But Mike Skinner actually spread the lead yesterday by 11 points. If the pattern continues with 3 races remaining, the Champion will be Ron Hornaday.

The Truck race at Martinsville had it's share of cautions as usual, but the best two came near the end. With only 7 laps to go the track was red flagged due to a multi-truck wreck that left fluid and assorted truck parts everywhere. With the restart underway and Skinner in the lead with 3 laps remaining, things were crazy with more bumping and banging than that of a wreck-um derby. With less than a lap to go and Skinner out front Hornaday pulled a stunt I've never seen to get around another truck and what he left behind turned into a pile up that allowed Skinner the win, followed by Jack Sprague and Hornaday took 3rd. The rest of the field literally limped, crawled and trickled across the finish line, under power at a reasonable speed with spoilers dragging and flat tires.

Good ole Truck racin'!!

The Petty Enterprises #45 car is falling quickly and Richard Petty himself is getting behind the wheel to keep the car in the top 35.... well not quite, but Kyle Petty has talked about putting Bobby Labonte in the seat. Bobby has done very well lately in the #43 Cheerio's car and with that momentum

it'd be crazy to pull him. Kyle wants both cars in the top 35 and instead of earning it himself he wants to do it by proxy. Bobby has provisional's as well and far more talent than Kyle, but I'm against this sort of thing and although other teams do it {MWR} I don't condone it.

Scenario:

Martin Truex Jr.'s car has fallen out of the top 35... DEI decides to put Dale Jr. in the #1 and Truex Jr. in the #8 for the rest of the season.

YA Right!! That would fly with the fans like a lead balloon.