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Martinsville vs. Talladega: NASCAR style

2009-11-03T00:50:00.002-05:00

In the past two weekends, NASCAR has raced on one of the shortest racetracks that they go to Martinsville Speedway, a tight paperclip half-mile speedway where you will find some of the best short track racing on the NASCAR schedule. And the next weekend (this past Sunday) at the largest racetrack on the schedule, Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 mile high speed oval simply known as restrictor plate racing.

Martinsville Speedway
Last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, the site of the Tums Fast Relief 500 that saw some of the better side of racing in NASCAR. 500 laps around a tight paperclip half-mile speedway, short-track racing at its finest are what racing is all about whether it’s NASCAR or just a short track bullring all around the United States, Canada and beyond.

Last weekend’s Tums 500 saw Juan Montoya roughing up several drivers including Jeff Gordon to make his way to front of the field. I like what Jeff Gordon said early on during the race after Montoya went by him, “He’s got the best car out here, but doesn’t know what to do with it” and I agree with fully. I will go on record as saying I will be completely surprised when he wins again in NASCAR so long as it’s not on a road course. This was one of those races that had action throughout the field at any given time.

One theme had to be pass or a lack there off, however it’s not supposed to be easy. I never expect a driver to just pull over and give up the position, especially on a short-track like Martinsville. This is racing, you have to earn each and every position period.

At the end of the 500 laps, it was the classic rivalry of Jimmie Johnson vs. Denny Hamlin with this one going simply to Denny Hamlin. However just like Denny Hamlin said in victory lane, the story was Jimmie Johnson finishes 2nd and extends his points lead, while tucked in the right hand lower corner was Denny Hamlin wins Martinsville.

Talladega Superspeedway
Well now this brings me to Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at you guessed it, Talladega Superspeedway. I would describe restrictor plate racing as a heart-stopping, yet hard to watch at times type (or form) of racing in NASCAR.

Now I watched Sunday’s Cup Series race at Talladega I agree with several drivers, the racing just wasn’t there. I believe the race was boring. During the race, two drivers talking on the radio to their crew chief/crews summed up at least the first 80 somewhat laps of this race. Kevin Harvick asked for his iPod, of course the response was we can put it in your drink cup on the next stop (I hope I got that right, don’t quote me), but even better, Tony Stewart said “Somebody tell me something to keep me awake”, unfortunately I didn’t catch the response from his crew.

The first 80 somewhat laps was racing single-file, it was a parade, we don’t have parades in NASCAR during a race on track, come on.

However when the racing finally got going, the fans commented later that they hated some of the strategy of running in the bad until the closing laps and then making their way to the front to try and win the race. Case in point was Jimmie Johnson, he hung out in the back until 15 almost 10 to go before moving up. I even thought that he was too late.

But you know that it had to happen sooner or later and two “the Big Ones” happened. 5 laps to go had Newman getting turned with his teammate Tony Stewart going into the outside, Ryan Newman ended up getting turned, going airborn, coming down on Kevin Harvick’s hood and windshield which I think softened the blow if that is possible, before flipping several times, and coming to a stop on his roof. Race at this point was red flagged. What a wreck, I was glad to see him walk away.

Then coming to the white flag, another wreck happened with I believe Brian Vickers hit Brad Keselowski who hit Kurt Busch (bump drafting) which touched off a chain reaction that also saw Mark Martin get hit in the right rear quarter and flip wildly, several involved and the race was over. I couldn’t believe it, Jamie McMurray wins at Talladega, but the bigger story once again, Jimmie Johnson finishes (6th as of Sunday night) and extends his points lead.

Two races that were completely different, but really shouldn’t be considering the goal of all NASCAR races is to put on a show for the fans period, well Martinsville in my opinion did, however Talladega didn’t. What’s next for NASCAR, what can they do about the restrictor plate racing?

2010 already underway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup for some…Keselowski and Rogers in

2009-11-02T18:10:00.000-05:00

Over the last few weeks, team in all three NASCAR national series have been making preparations for the upcoming 2010 NASCAR season and especially in the Sprint Cup Series, changes are in full swing.

Early today, Penske Racing announced that Brad Keselowski would get a jump start on 2010 and replace David Stremme in the #12 Dodge in the upcoming races at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. (Penske Racing PR)

I believe as a Brad Keselowski fan that this is going to be great opportunity for Brad to get some more seat time. Who knows, maybe this is exactly what the series needs in the final three races, Brad coming in and racing hard against some of his rivals Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and even Juan Montoya. Brad isn’t just going to move over, the last three races will be a learning experience. Also consider this, Brad has been driving Hendrick Motorsports equipment in both the #25 and the #09 (the #09 Chevy’s are Hendrick stuff), now he will be running Penske Dodge’s…he’s going to need those three races period.

Last week saw two crew chief announcements…
First it was announced that Dave Rogers would replace Steve Addington on the #18 Kyle Busch Toyota starting this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway (Joe Gibbs Racing PR).

I have to admit that this move caught me off guard. Steve Addington is one of the best crew chiefs in the garage area. It wasn’t too long ago that Kyle Busch led the series in victories, but this is a performance driven business and crew chiefs are the first to be changed. But my main question is, where does Steve Addington go from here? He knows this car, if JGR doesn’t have room for him, maybe on his fourth car, then another program will, maybe even with Kyle’s brother Kurt Busch at Penske Racing? Good luck to Steve Addington if he going there.

And second, Lance McGrew was named the full-time crew chief of the #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet after being an intern crew chief since he replace Tony Eury Jr. As a Dale Jr. fan, I believe that this is a good move, but the #88 is far from getting to where they should be. I still believe that Hendrick/Dale Jr./Lance McGrew now needs to start from scratch with this team for 2010, all new people working on this car. I don’t know what the #5 and the #88 do in that shop, but they need to make it like the #48 and #24, one team, two cars.

However this will not be the end of 2010 changes, in the rumor mill still has Kurt Busch getting a new crew chief before Homestead, but don’t think for a moment that Penske is going to let Pat Tryson go over and start at MWR, instead I think Tryson will just be sitting home until after Homstead, then he’s free.

And finally, where is Talladega winner Jamie McMurray going to go? I’m hearing back to his old team owner Chip Ganassi at EGR. I think this will be interesting, one McMurray is an outdoors person that seems to be the problem, Bass Pro Shops wants a marketable person for their brand, Martin Truex Jr. was an outdoors person… maybe Bobby Labonte would be a better choice.

Now it’s off to Texas Motor Speedway with just three races to go in the chase for the Sprint Cup.

Do you agree with Popular Mechanics winners of 2010 Automotive Excellence Awards?

2009-10-30T18:25:00.001-04:00

Every year, automotive magazines, websites, journalists and more come out with their picks of what vehicles they believe are the best of the year like the Car and Drivers 10Best and this past Wednesday was no different when after well over 100,000 miles of testing was done on over 100 of the newest cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles, Popular Mechanics Magazine announced their 2010 Automotive Excellence Awards.

“Despite a tumultuous year in the automotive industry, engineers have rolled out some of the best cars we’ve ever seen,” said James Meigs, editor-in-chief, Popular Mechanics. “We are exceptionally proud of this year’s Automotive Excellence Award winners, all of which represent the innovation and foresight that will keep this industry moving forward.”

The recipients of the fourth annual Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Awards:

• Performance: Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
• Design: Chevrolet Camaro
• Value: Kia Soul
• Fuel Efficiency: Toyota Prius
• Versatility: Subaru Outback
• Fun to Drive: Hyundai Genesis Coupe
• Off-Road Ability: Ford F-150 Raptor
• Technical Innovation: Lexus Remote Touch
• Luxury: BMW 335d
• Workhorse: Ford Transit Connect

However after reading this list, do you agree with Popular Mechanics winners of 2010 Automotive Excellence Awards?

When I look at this list, I have to say that while I agree on some and see where they choice that make and model, in other categories, the results have left me asking why.

Of course let’s start with a few categories that I agree with like the Fuel Efficiency going to the Toyota Prius. How on earth it gets those numbers is interesting to me, but nonetheless, it is what it is. However I would actually choice a Audi A3 TDI or a VW Jetta TDI. The advancement in diesels is amazing right now. It surprises me that more consumers don’t look into these types of vehicles, gasoline isn’t going to be around forever, you are going to have to explore alternative fuels sooner or later.

In the performance category, the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro definitely put up some amazing numbers in performance, but I can also see how the Ford Shelby GT500 beats out the rest this year. The same can be said for design, the Chevrolet Camaro is incredible to look at. Chevrolet’s designers hit this one right on the mark. The 2010 Camaro reminds me of the First Generation Camaro (1967,1968,1969). I will say though that the 2005 Ford Mustang was incredible to look at too as is the 2009 Dodge Challenger. Both were designed with the past in mind as was the new Camaro.

Value left me wondering why, the Kia Soul might have a balance between price tag, power and everything else inside, but it’s ugly. MotorWeek compared the Kia Soul, Scion xB and the Nissan Cube and while they did end with the Kia Soul, the Scion xB was a good compromise between the Soul and the Cube. I would have chosen the Scion xB here, consider its reasonable fuel economy, space (cargo space included), power and it’s not as ugly.

However what simply got my attention had to be three categories, the fun to drive going the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, the off-road ability going to the brand new Ford F-150 Raptor and in Luxury was the BMW 335d. The Raptor was made for off-road, however in not seeing the tests on it, I can’t say for sure that I would agree here. I mean you didn’t get that off-road ability from a Trail Rated Jeep or a Land Rover, really, REALLY?

Under fun to drive, I have to say that from what I have read and seen, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe is a giant surprise especially considering the guys from Autoblog.com took it on the 2009 Targa Trophy rally and finished 6th, but nothing is as fun to drive is a BMW.

Finally is luxury, I’m curious why they choose the BMW 335d? Well Popular Mechanics defined it as “Luxury cars don’t have to be one-dimensional. The 335d blends luxury, performance, fuel economy and fun into one very rewarding package.” I will definitely agree on the performance, fun to drive and the fuel economy, but the jury with me is still out on the best in luxury, what about a Porsche?

Remember that there are a lot of awards that come out every single year for automotive excellence and while you might not agree with all of them (I know I didn’t as I said above), it does leave you pondering a few of them that you might not have considered before. But I will say that like I said above, the 10Best included in a Corvette, Porsche and a VW in theirs, what’s in yours?

(Source: Popular Mechanics; Photo credit: NetCarShow.com)

Health Care Reform and a Public Option: Yes or No?

2009-10-26T18:59:00.000-04:00

No Government Public Option, instead help each state run their own that is subsidized though a health care insurance company.

One of the most talked about subjects in the United States right now is health care reform and here in the United States, it costs a lot of money to get health insurance let along dental. Now let me state the something right from the start, I don’t know too much about the current talks on health care reform going on in Washington D.C. right now, it’s only in what I hear in the media. However I have heard the talk about having a government run public option.

I have to say out loud that I’m opposed to a government run public option. As a Massachusetts resident who is currently unemployed just like a lot of people right now, I was forced to use the Massachusetts run public health care insurance called Mass Health. I fill out the forms every now and then for status and it’s a good option and model for Massachusetts residents. I’m not the only one who uses it, there is demand here for it in every state.

So with Massachusetts and a few other states already having their own health care insurance that is subsidized though a health care insurance company, why does the federal government need to have one too? And why doesn’t every state have one for their residents?

I strongly believe that the federal government needs to leave out the public option on their Health Care Reform bill.

First, think about it for a moment, the Federal Government already has Medicare and something else and it doesn’t work. Second, why should the Federal Government build one if Massachusetts and a few other states already have a public option for their residents.

So I propose instead of the Federal Government running or subsidizing health care insurance though a health care insurance company to everyone who needs it, the government should just help each states (all 50 states) create and maintain their own health care insurance using the Massachusetts model.

Personally I would rather have Massachusetts or if I lived in another state run it (which is subsidized though a health care insurance company) instead of the government. Another reason is more options for the consumer/resident who needs coverage. If the Federal Government runs it and there is a huge issue, the only option you have is private insurance company. If each state runs there’s separate, you have more options just by moving to another state.

Basically to the Federal Government and everyone in Washington, No public option, instead just add funding to each state and let them run their own health care plan options. The Massachusetts health care insurance works, so just help each state have the Massachusetts health care insurance model for their residences.

The Health Care Reform bill should work on the overall cost like for example, when I went to the hospital years ago after a automobile crash, the bill was almost $600, now the bill is even more. How about prescription costs? Doctor visit costs? Emergency Room costs? And what about waiting time to get a doctor's appointment? Work on that.

Is the world big enough for both Facebook and Twitter?

2009-10-24T22:11:00.001-04:00

According to an article on Mashable that talks about the “The Web 2.0 Summit” in San Francisco, the Twitter CEO said “The world is big enough for Facebook and Twitter.”

In reading that one quote, that got me thinking and while I’m not going to go into full details, I truly believe that he is right for now in the year 2009. The future is bright for social networking which includes blogging, lifestreaming, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook and more, at least in my eyes.

While I will get into all of social networking in the future, today I am talking solely on Twitter and Facebook.

As a webguy who uses the internet daily from looking for articles, news, information, connecting with friends, family, old high school classmates and just exploring, both services have their positives and negatives.

I currently use both services, I have been using Twitter @RaceDriven for months now and Facebook (Brian Vermette) for two months now and both service yield differently to me.

Twitter is a basic service that you can communicate with all over the world just by typing in a short 140 character message as well as post pictures to using the Twitpic. It’s a way to get your message out, whether its announcing a protest, an article you have found, promote your site or business to ask for help. In asking for help, I mean getting answers from companies or getting answers on something that is going on either across the world, across the country or across town. It’s simple.

The downsides are that you only get 140 characters including url and for some that’s not enough. The second is URL Shorteners, this shouldn’t be used, normal url’s are better and safer. I find the service to be cool, straight forward, simple, but needs work. I use Twitter to get small bits of info, spread the word about a post/article and in some cases keep up with celebrities.

Facebook on the other hand is completely different. It’s where you can communicate with friends, family, old high school mates, play games, use apps, and post updates on yourself with more than 140 characters and that doesn’t include the url itself. I am still trying to figure out this service, but am quickly adapting.

I use Facebook in one way like I do Twitter, to promote a post/article that I have written on my blog, however I go a lot further. I use it for playing games, connecting with people (family, friends and more), I find the service to be more advanced and takes time to learn.

I don’t know what the future holds for both Facebook and Twitter. A few sceneries that could play out, one is, Twitter and Facebook could combine, yes I know it’s hard to imagine, but in this world, anything is possible. Two, MySpace could bet both out and create a combo service, three, Twitter could become more advanced now that video is being worked on or Facebook becomes the new proven thing.

However I do know one thing, while there is room in this world right now in 2009 for both Facebook and Twitter, soon there might not be. Consider that there are so many brilliant people in this world that are consistently trying to come up with something new (also in some cases, have nothing better to do) and whether its next year, in 2011, in 2015, in 2020, or beyond, someone will come up with a new service that will make both, most or all other social media service obsolete.

To prove my point, what social networking service where you using before Twitter and Facebook got so hot? I bet you were blogging and/or you could have been using a service called MySpace.

Remember this, MySpace was founded in 2003 and become the most popular social networking site in the United States in June 2006. However things change and Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004 and in April 2008, Facebook surpassed MySpace by becoming the most popular social networking site internationally. And in and among all of that, Twitter was founded in 2006 and right now (October 2009) are half the size of Facebook, but known and used in several countries that allow it and even some that doesn’t.

Where will we be in 2011 or in 2020?

Five races down and 100-plus out, who is still in the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship hunt?

2009-10-18T19:47:00.000-04:00

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin where not only racing hard this past weekend side by side at Lowe's Motor Speedway, but are battling for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship. (Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR via NASCAR PR)

In the wake of the first five Chase for the Sprint cup races, there are now really only four drivers within striking distance of the point’s leader Jimmie Johnson with just five Chase for the Sprint Cup races to go.

NASCAR fans saw some drivers going for the victories while other where just points racing, first in New Hampshire, Mark Martin held off a hard charging Denny Hamlin and Juan Montoya to take the victory in the Sylvania 300 and the points lead. Dover on the other hand, NASCAR fans saw a sleeper with Jimmie Johnson run away with the race over his Hendrick teammate Mark Martin to win the AAA 400 and close the gap between him and point’s leader Mark Martin.

At Kansas Speedway, the field looked to be covered by the #48 team however a late race caution and a few drivers taking two tires put a new man on the point, Tony Stewart as he held off Jeff Gordon for the victory in the Price Chopper 400. The victory closed Tony Stewart in the top 5 in points. Ironically enough the Kansas race ended up being better than the Dover race the week before.

Then all eyes were on California Speedway (Auto Club Speedway of Southern California) for their first chase race and it wasn’t a delightful one where drivers raced in not a bad race, but not a good race in front of a less then stealer crowd that in the end saw Jimmie Johnson beat out his teammate Jeff Gordon to win the Pepsi 500. (Read article here)

Finally we come to last night’s slugfest at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Banking 500 where crowds were also less then stealer, but unlike California Speedway (auto Club Speedway) the racing was entertaining from what I saw of it. ESPN on ABC really needs to do a better job on showing the entire field and not just the chase drivers and Kyle Busch.

This was a night that some chase races including Denny Hamlin, Juan Montoya, Brian Vickers (if he wasn’t already out of it) and even Mark Martin would like to soon forget as Jimmie Johnson put up (put up or shut up and Johnson puts up) to beat Kasey Kahne after a good battle between Jeff Gordon and Johnson to win for the 3rd time in the chase and 6th win in 2009.

However with the top 4 battling for the championship, who is still in the hunt for the championship, who is out and why?

Now while several media members have basically written this chase off and awarded Jimmie Johnson the 2009 Sprint Cup, I haven’t. Sure I picked Johnson to win the championship this season, but even though Johnson has a 90 point lead over Mark Martin and 135 point leader over Jeff Gordon, there is still fiver chase races to go including Martinsville next week followed by Talladega, Texas, Phoenix, and the finale in Homestead, anything can happen.

Jimmie Johnson leads over Mark Martin (-90), Jeff Gordon (-135), Tony Stewart (-155), Kurt Busch (-177) and Juan Montoya (-195), meanwhile, 7-12 are out of the hunt, so they are just fighting to be in the final top 10 to be up on stage at the awards banquet in Las Vegas.

I’m a little surprised that Kurt Busch is still in it because of the Penske Racing vs. his crew chief and only allowing his crew chief Pat Tryson into the shop once a week for debriefings, that is ridiculous, I guess they don’t want a championship. Juan Montoya was a welcome change to be in the championship for some fans, but after Charlotte with the drama of a ill handling car due to some damage on the right rear, he’s on the bubble. That just leaves Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Brian Vickers on the outside looking in while with the exception of Denny Hamlin, it’s a big surprise if you look at their stats over the first 26-races.

I believe that while there is still five chase races to go, this is coming down to a top 4 battle for the championship with 5th and 6th on the bubble in the championship hunt, there are other drivers further down that in my opinion are completely out of it. All I have to say now is, Martinsville, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart…thoughts?

No more excuses for Auto Club Speedway, it’s time for some changes NASCAR.

2009-10-14T18:48:00.003-04:00

Where were the fans at Auto Club Speedway in California for the NASCAR Cup Series Pepsi 500 race?

Let’s state the obvious, NASCAR needs to be racing in Southern California, it is a huge market for them. However when it comes to putting on an event such as show, concert or in this case a doubleheader race weekend, it takes two thing to get fans to buy a ticket besides weather (and hot temps don’t help), a good product and a reasonable priced ticket or for some, a package deal.

When it comes to a good product, some racetracks have it, while others just don’t. For me, short track racing and intermediate tracks for the most part have a good product as well as superspeedways in some fans eyes.

When it comes to California Speedway (Auto Club Speedway in Southern California), the product for some fans including me aren’t there anymore. This is due to a few thing, one is the size of the speedway, a 2-mile D-Shaped Oval and the other one is the new COT car in the Cup Series and I will give you an example.

This past weekend had a double header on television. In watching some of the Nationwide Series race and the entire Cup Series race, the Nationwide Series race for this racetrack was a good race. However the Cup series, while there was passing, it wasn’t a bad race, but not a good race neither. One fan told me it was a boring race. Others didn’t even bother watching either race at all.

For the Nationwide Series race, that one was interesting, I don’t know why NASCAR didn’t black flag or penalize Greg Biffle, that was rough driving plain and simple. But hats off to Joey Logano for coming back from being put into the outside wall early on by Biffle and battle his way back up past Carl Edwards to win the race…again.

Now all eyes were on the Auto Club Speedway on Sunday for the Pepsi 500. I can’t tell you how many press releases I received in my email box from the speedway itself tell me about each and every promotion, deal and news to come out of the speedway. Sunday was that day that was supposed to be huge, good weather and a chase race in Southern California.

The Speedway promoted several packages from a $35 ticket in rows 1-5, a $55 ticket that included a reserved ticket to the Pay-Per-View event “TNA Bound For Glory”, to a $148 ticket called the Jimmie Johnson Foundation package that Includes Pepsi 500 Ticket, Pre-Race Pit Pass, access to Q&A session w/ Johnson, limited edition #48 souvenir, $48 donation to the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and more.

The Speedway also appearances from Rock group Foreigner, Four-time Emmy Award winner and Pepsi 500 Grand Marshal Kelsey Grammer, Christian Slater drove the pacecar, Recording artist Jesse McCartney performs the national anthem, Audrina Patridge waved the green flag, and more.

According to scenedaily.com via Speedtv.com, during the race, they interviewed the president of the speedway Gillian Zucker. According to the article, she brushed off the attendance; she thought it was going to be “pretty flat” compared to a Labor Day date. The media estimated the crowds at 45,000 to 60,000 while NASCAR’s estimate where at 70,000. In reading the article, it bothered me a little bit, they really didn’t have the attendance that I thought they would and while I agreed with her that banking the track even more would be a bad idea due to safety, I disagree that this speedway deserves two cup dates.

The speedway did better with one cup series date, but I wonder if the Auto Club Speedway could even sellout with one Cup Series date.

Originally I wrote “Should the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana be converted into a high-banked, restrictor-plate track?” was a good idea, however some NASCAR drivers said it wouldn’t work, the speeds would be too fast and safety is number one in NASCAR. The truth is, other than making the track smaller, something like a unique track…Darlington or Phoenix or a Road Course, I don’t really know what configuration California Speedway should turned into from the 2-mile D-Shaped oval. Personally I like racetracks like Phoenix, Richmond, Darlington and especially Bristol. Why no track developers are creating another Bristol or Richmond is beyond me, short track racing puts on some of the best racing out there.

But Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 race was a different story. It seems like this is a year of just surviving races to finish in the top 10, let along the top 5 or winning the race. These drivers are driving all out just about every lap. They are up on the wheel. During the race, you couldn’t help but notice Dale Earnhardt Jr. having another good run, however like so many others, he was caught up in a late race “Big One”, but I don't know how it started because there was no real good view. One fan said Juniors tire went flat.

All four RPM cars were in the wreck. Afterwards, Kasey Kahne said something that got to me, he said it was a phantom caution or a NASCAR caution as some put it for the fans.Wow, I’m 3000 miles away in Massachusetts and I caused a caution, really? The debris was show on television and that’s exactly what fans want to see.

In the end, it was the man Jimmie Johnson who picked another victory this season over his teammate Jeff Gordon. I will say one thing, Juan Montoya is still in this chase which is a big surprise to me, but EGR and Montoya are doing it and he’s right, they don’t have much to lose. This chase is really down to the top 5 driver’s period.

After the race, I read a report that said the Auto Club Speedway wanted to move their Feb. date to mid-April, being the Phoenix date. No, no, no, you can’t take a good date from a racetrack that puts on an amazing product, a good race and move to it to a bad race period.

Bottom line, the product just wasn’t there and now changes need to be made in three areas. First in the speedway by removing one Cup Series date and either leave it as an open weekend or give it to Iowa Speedway or another track that doesn’t have one that is in a good market like California.

Two would be reconfiguration, but who knows how. And three, NASCAR needs to take some advice from Dale Jarrett, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and several other drivers, crew chiefs, crew members, owners and more on how to improve this COT car, otherwise you’re not going to have the best product at every racetrack.

The COT is safety, that’s a good starting point, what about fuel injection and going back to a rear spoiler? A better front splitter? Look at the new Nationwide Series COT. What do you think?

(Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, Bill France Sr. and Jr. are the Inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

2009-10-14T16:19:00.003-04:00

All day today, SPEED has been analyzing just who should the first five members of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Like I said this past June when NASCAR unveiled the 25 nominees, when it comes to picking these five names, they have to be the best of the best and while most people will find that two names should be a lock, of course they would be 7-time champion Dale Earnhardt and 7-time champion Richard Petty, both would be perfect for the inaugural class just by their records in NASCAR, but the last three, those will be discussed at length. I believe it will be even more difficult to pick the second and third class into the Hall of Fame.

Last June I choice my top 5 list of who should be in that inaugural class, first is Bill France Sr., he was the Co-founder and manager of NASCAR. Second is Dale Earnhardt Sr. One of the best drivers in NASCAR, 7-time Cup Series champion. Third is Richard Petty. Nobody should be saying that Richard doesn’t deserve to be in the first class period. He is the best racecar driver in NASCAR and he is a 7-time Champion and won 200 races. The fourth and fifth were a little harder to choice, but I went with the Silver Fox David Pearson and a driver, car owner, builder and more Junior Johnson.

So with that said, earlier today after the voting happened, NASCAR announced the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and they are:

1. Bill France Sr.
2. Richard Petty
3. Bill France Jr.
4. Dale Earnhardt (Sr.)
5. Junior Johnson

Interesting to note that the one vote was casted on behalf of the fans, of more than 670,000 fan votes submitted online, the fans choice: Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Bill France Sr., Cale Yarborough & Bobby Allison. Its good to see that the fans choose three out of five that made it into the first class of the NASCAR Hall of fame.

What an incredible and surprising list. Both lists were going to be surprising just by the way people in the media and who could cast a vote where talking about who should be in and who be not. I am very happy with this inaugural list, perfect picks. I have to say that the second class is going to be difficult to pick, but I’m think Darrell Waltrip and David Pearson. The NASCAR Hall of Fame is set to open next May (Sunday May 23, 2010). What does everybody think?

Video: Toy Story 3 Trailer

2009-10-12T19:21:00.000-04:00

Back in April 2008, Disney/Pixars announced that two of my favorite movies will have a another installment and while I haven’t seen a trailer for Cars: The Movie 2, this week the Toy Story 3 trailer hit the internet with a full theatrical trailer. This 2:18 minute not only gives you an idea of what characters will be in the movie, but what the plot will be.

So on June 18th, 2010, the question is, what’s next for the toys?

Toy Story 3 Trailer in HD

Trailer Park MySpace Videos

Shelby Cobra tops 2009 IACOCCA Ford Mustang at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Las Vegas.

2009-10-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

So what did $500,000 dollars get you at Auto Auction?

Over the past several years, enthusiasts have been invading all of the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auctions looking to buy their dream car. However with the tough economy right now that let’s face it will continue for years to come, I wondered just what some of those incredible automobiles would sell for in front of a huge bidding crowd.

Over the past three nights, enthusiasts saw not bargain prices, but reasonable prices. The prices that people, yes even in this economy can afford and that is a good thing. For me, a car enthusiast, ever since I was five years old, I’ve loved cars from a cool Corvette, a 1987 Buick Grand National, a 1969 Ford Mustang, a 1955 Chevrolet Nomad, a 1971 Plymouth HemiCuda, to a 2008 Ford Mustang, a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro or a Shelby and watching people showcase cool cars on television definitely gets my attention.

So after all of that, what did $500,000 dollars get you at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas and more so, who were the showstoppers and the stars?

There were two cars that got my attention way before the heavy hitters hit the stage, first had to be on Thursday night, where the headline read “A 1963 Ford Galaxie sells for $110k at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas, but...”, but why? By the way, it’s a Barney Fife replica cop car signed by the late Don Knotts. Any thoughts and yes even the announcers where shocked.

The second car that caught my attention considering yes I am a Dukes of Hazzard fan (not the movie, the TV Show) had to be Bo’s 1969 Dodge Charger, yes that’s John Schneider General Lee. He was, for another time actually on stage trying to sell a General Lee and while it didn’t sell for millions of dollars, the General Lee actually sold for $230,000. The car included signatures from several of the stars from the reunion as well as behind the scenes crew. There really are not many of these actual TV shows cars around, I believe it’s less than 10.

The showstopper had to be when Carroll Shelby and Don Prudhomme came up on stage to auction off a 2007 Ford Shelby GT500 Super Snake Prudhomme Edition that sold for $275,000 ($302,500 total). I can’t believe that these two teamed to build the ultimate street legal dragster. The GT500 Super Snake has a 5.4L Supercharged engine 750hp engine on 93-octane pump gas and does way less than 10 second in a quarter mile. Like I said, what a showstopper and it’s great to see Carroll Shelby in the house.

Now let’s get to the heavy hitters, the top 3 sellers:

The 3rd top seller was a black 1967 Shelby GT500 SE Super Snake Continuation Fastback that sold for $300,000 ($330,000 total price). SPEED just highlighted this Mustang for a moment, but what a piece. The Mustang is the 1st continuation GT500SE Super Snake to be produced that is powered by a supercharged aluminum Shelby big-block 427 FE engine with 780hp with a Tremec TKO 5-speed Manual and coilover suspension. It was even signed by Carroll Shelby at Barrett-Jackson, Palm Beach.

The 2nd top seller was the car that was featured on the Barrett-Jackson Las Vegas posters; yeah it’s the 2009 IACOCCA 45th Anniversary Ford Mustang Coupe that sold for a total of 352,000. This specific Mustang had a supercharged 550hp Ford Racing engine that was modified and coach built fastback, #5 Lee Iacocca Mustang.

What a really cool car, this Mustang on the outside really reminds me of a 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback like the one that Steve McQueen drove in the movie Bullitt. I do have to say though, SPEED didn't show the car going across the block and that is terrible, I really wanted to see it.

However the top seller a blue 1965 Shelby Cobra Roadster that sold for $400,000 ($440,000 total). What an original car. According to Barrett-Jackson and the documentation, the CSX2568 has the original California black plates and registration tags that expired in 1972. This is the first time CSX2568 has been in the public in about 40 years and the first time it has been offered for sale since 1968. The Cobra was completely redone with a 289cid High Performance engine with 306hp.

Now all that we can do is wait for the 2010 Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale next January and by the way, Americans still want their high horsepower, big vehicles, that go like a bat out of hell, so get use to it.

(Source: Barrett-Jackson website and SPEED Broadcast of the Auto Auction)

NASCAR listens to the fans: Sprint Cup Series races in 2010 will have uniform start times.

2009-10-09T03:28:00.000-04:00

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events moving to earlier, standard TV Start Times

Back in March, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was heading Bristol Motor Speedway, in an article called “NASCAR’s top 5 biggest issues in 2009”, I wrote “there are currently a lot of decisions among the drivers, teams, owners, sponsors, fans and especially in the media about NASCAR’s future and what impact the shaky economy right now will have on the sport. So here is my top 5 issues in NASCAR that should to be address going forward and even though I don’t see NASCAR making wholesale changes in the future, it is a new era, new economy right now in the world and with everyone coming down to reality, it’s time for some change, step by step.”

The top 5 list included: What can NASCAR do with the Nationwide Series and the Truck Series? What about the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Schedule? What about the owner’s points is getting out of hand? NASCAR needed to do something about the “exclusive part of being the title sponsorship of one NASCAR’s national series”.

And while NASCAR has already released the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule that included very few changes and left people asking where Kentucky Speedway is, of course except me consider they don’t need a date. NASCAR has made a change in setting a consistent time for most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

On Wednesday NASCAR announced that starting with the 2010 Daytona 500, most of the Sprint Cup races will start earlier in 2010. According to the press release, NASCAR is continuing the sports “back to basics” approach. The race start times for Eastern and Central regions will begin at 1p.m. ET. West Coast races will begin at 3 p.m. ET and night races will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET with one exception, the Coca-Cola 600 will begin at 5:45 p.m. ET. So following the invocation and national anthem, the green flag will drop 15-20 minutes past the hour after each listed race start time. (2010 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule)

“NASCAR fans have been asking for earlier and more consistent start times, and we are making this change for our fans, beginning with the Daytona 500 next February," said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. “We are revisiting our sport’s tradition of earlier green flags, and the added consistency will make it easier for fans to know exactly when the races are being televised. Additionally, the new start times will help track operators get fans in and out of the track earlier in the evening. Many fans heading home from the race earlier will be able to eliminate the costs of an extra travel day.”

I have to say that I was surprised to see that NASCAR could work with the television networks considering they are the ones that asked for later start times in the first place. Yes I said it out loud. Nonetheless I believe this is exactly the direction that NASCAR needs to move in with not only the fans watching the races on television, but the fans attending the event at the racetrack.

I watch all of the NASCAR races at home or at a family or friends house and this is a welcome change in pace for me, I’m always wondering what time the drop of the green flag will actually be, not what time the pre-show is. However this move in my opinion works well for the fans attending the event at the racetrack. I attended last June’s New Hampshire Cup Series race and the race started just after 2 p.m. Keep in mind, I got their at about 8 a.m. for good parking, by the way, the parking lots were filling up at that time.

Having the race start one hour early does two things, first it cuts one hour from day before the race, and second, it gives NASCAR another hour of daylight to run the race in case of bad weather.

I do realize that this also affects the people on the west coast as they are now going to be watching the Eastern and Central races just after 10 a.m. But think about this for a moment, yes they are up at 10 am, however once 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. comes around, the race is over and you have the rest of the day to enjoy.

I will be interested in seeing what the TV ratings and the attendance at the racetrack will be with this more standard start time.

So will this have an impact on you or is it business as normal? What about the Nationwide Series and Truck Series?

A 1963 Ford Galaxie sells for $110k at the 2009 Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas, but...

2009-10-08T23:02:00.001-04:00

Well it isn't quite that time of the year yet for the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Scottsdale, but it is time for the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Las Vegas and here we are, a car guys dream.

With the tough economy right now, I always wonder what a particular car like a restomod 1969 Chevrolet Camaro would go for or an original 1970 Plymouth HemiCuda would go for, however when this 1963 Ford Galaxie 4-door sedan went across the block, even the announcers didn't know what to make of it. They were really puzzled and I have to say so was I when this car sold for $110,000.

Yes, two or three bidders bidded fearlessly on this car and one women just had to have this Galaxie, but why? At this moment for the love me I can't figure this one out as to why a car that most likely should have sold for $40k went all the way up to $110,000 ($121,000 total).

The Galaxie pictured above and is described as: "This vehicle was redesigned to accompany Mick Kieffer, one of the nation's leading Barney Fife impersonators. This vehicle has been autographed by the late Don Knotts, documentation and photos are included. Featured on 2 magazine covers: "Rod and Custom" and "Good Guys Gazette". In addition it has been the feature subject of many magazine and newspaper articles across the country. The car's film credits include an episode of the TV series "Cops" filmed in Des Moines, IA, the film "Trash" filmed in CA and a rock video for the Harvey Danger Band. This is a functional "Squad" car powered by a 289cid V8 with a Cruise-O-Matic transmission. The trunk contains the original jack and spare tire. " - (Description and Photo from Barrett-Jackson Web Site)

Well I guess a Don Knotts autographed and magazine cover car does strike some interest and like the announcers keep saying, "all it takes is two bidders to have an auction."

Alright, what do you think, is it worth it, would you buy it?
Personally while this car is not my thing, I would prefer a '87 Buick Grand National, a '69 Ford Mustang, a '70 Plymouth Cuda, it did get a few bidders attention and I hope they enjoy it. You know if this car has all of the original equipment on it, it would make a good car to turn into a restored original.

Damn its Las Vegas, anything can happen and I can't wait to see what vehicle comes across the block tomorrow, I just wish I was their.

NASCAR gets it wrong with telling non-Chase drivers to back off.

2009-10-07T18:16:00.001-04:00

Racing is all about pushing the limits and the #48 and #5 were and are doing just that.

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, over the past three weeks, NASCAR has been pushing the limits with several teams as well as its NASCAR fans and among the first three Chase for the Sprint Cup races has caught my eye in two areas that have just left me asking why they would do that.

With New Hampshire two weeks ago in the record books with a good race on the magic mile that ended up being a battle right to the caution flag on the white flag laps that saw Mark Martin hold off hard charging Denny Hamlin and Juan Montoya to win the Sylvania 300 and extend his points lead, it was off to Dover. While Dover didn’t do the chase drivers any favors, the race itself ended up being a sleeper as Jimmie Johnson dominated to win the AAA 400 over him teammate and the point’s leader Mark Martin.

However after the race was really where the story lied sort of, it all depended upon who you talked too or listened too. After the AAA 400 at Dover, the winning car, the #48-Jimmie Johnson and a random car which just so happen to be the #5-Mark Martin where not only inspected at the racetrack, but were also brought back to the NASCAR R&D Center for closer inspection.

According to NASCAR, this is a normal practice to bring the winning racecar and a random racecar back to the R&D Center for closer inspection. I have know this for a long time, SPEED even showed what NASCAR does in an average weekend (that being the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte) which included them bring the winning racecar, the #9-Kasey Kahne back to the R&D Center for closer inspection.

However after the inspection, “NASCAR officials found both cars to be pushing the limits of NASCAR's allowed tolerances, and notified them accordingly” (Info from NASCAR.com article and interviews with NASCAR officials on SPEED).

Basically even though both the #48 and #5 were found legal and broke no rules, NASCAR felt since both cars were too close to the tolerances than normal that they should call both teams (crew chief, engineers, anyone that really worked on the car) to the NASCAR R&D Center for a meeting to go over where they were too close and to see what the teams measurements where compared to NASCAR.

I guess I understand what NASCAR’s position is here, I mean they don’t want to see this chase be affected by penalties rather than what happens on the racetrack. I heard thi story hit Friday morning when I was watching the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session the next week at Kansas on SPEED.

One reporter asked the NASCAR official John Darby about, he commented which is basically listed above and that was it. I would have thought that the end of the story, but since NASCAR called a meeting, the story blow up. I personally don’t see a story here other than both the #48-Jimmie Johnson and the #5-Mark Martin where pushing the limits.

Ladies and gentleman, racing is all about pushing the limits, from getting everything out of the racecar (10ths, 100ths, 1000ths of second can make the difference on the track and can be the difference between winning and finishing 10th or 30th) to racing everybody, chase driver or non-chase driver as hard as you can for each position. Both drivers with their crew chiefs, crews and the people back at Hendrick Motorsports did their jobs plain and simple, they found everything in those racecars and it showed on the racetrack.

Looking past the #48 and #5 cars being too close in inspection last story which by the way both cars were taken back to the R&D Center after Kansas and cleared, who didn’t see that one coming, another bad call by NASCAR entered the spotlight. Now I have to admit, I love watching my NASCAR on television every week, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be writing about it, I hardly miss a Cup Series race and if I do I make sure I tape it on my DVR, but there is one thing I hate about NASCAR, they try and change a few things, as one driver put it, playing god.

According to the live telecast of race on ABC/ESPN, it was reported that during Sunday's Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway, NASCAR officials told Brad Keselowski to not race so aggressively with the Chase drivers early in the race. (Read this article for a head to head on it)

So is it ok for NASCAR to tell a non-Chase driver to back off? Let me think about this one for a moment, oh NO, No NASCAR, it’s not ok for you to tell a non-chase driver to back off period.

NASCAR, you put on good races most of time, yes there are these races that are just boring and last week at Dover was just one example and another one is California Speedway. Personally I can’t figure out if the boring racing at California Speedway is because of the new COT car, the tires or the racetrack itself.

However telling non-Chase drivers, especially a driver like Brad Keselowski that earned a top 5 starting position to back off is wrong, stop trying to change the racing. The chase drivers can handle themselves. If you want to change the racing, fix the COT car.

I watched last Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway live on television (yes on ABC), and while the race did turn out to be not only a good race (better than Dover) and helped the chase itself including now having the top 8 chase drivers back in the championship hunt, it was the chase drivers that actually caught my eye.

If NASCAR really wanted to warn drivers for aggressive driver, they made the wrong choice in picking Brad Keselowski considering its Denny Hamlin who keeps not only running his mouth, but doesn’t respect some other drivers nor Juan Montoya. NASCAR should have looked at Montoya, he was ruffing up Brad Keselowski, not the other way around. Be fair cross the board, not just with non-chase drivers.

What about the chase picture, congratulations to Tony Stewart on winning the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas, that win really put him back into the championship hunt and to Joey Logano for winning last Saturday’s Nationwide Series race after that terrible crash at Dover last Sunday in the Cup Series race. Logano, 19, flipped 8 times in his #20 Home Depot Toyota and he walked away, that’s the way to get back into it.

Bottom line, to NASCAR, NASCAR fans, media, everybody, racing is all about pushing the limits, from getting everything out of the racecar (10ths, 100ths, 1000ths of second make a difference on the track and can be the difference between winning and finishing 10th or 30th in some cases) to racing everybody, chase driver or non-chase driver as hard as you can for each position. There are no free rides in racing, you want to pass, earn it, don’t just cry on the radio or knock them out of the way, race for it.

(The photo of Jimmie Johnson crossing the finish line to win the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway was taken by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Speedlinking: Alonso to Ferrari, Twitter and URL Shorteners, GM, Massachusetts and more.

2009-10-05T19:11:00.001-04:00

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to a new edition of speedlinking. I can’t believe the weekend is already gone and it’s Monday afternoon, but life goes on and Monday is all about putting the news out.

- Alonso to replace Raikkonen at Ferrari in 2010 – from Formula1.com

In one of the worst kept secrets in Formula 1 and a story that had been speculated and rumored on for the last few years, Alonso finally gets what he wants, to drive for Ferrari. Alonso said he wants to finish his driving career with Ferrari. However three things, first will Alonso succeed at Ferrari? Second, will he end his career at Ferrari? And three, does anybody care?

First, I believe Alonso will win races at Ferrari, but championships are another story, one reason is Ferrari has been lost so far in 2009 and conceded in the championship fight months ago. Second, I believe has almost has to end his driving career at Ferrari. Alonso has already driven for most of the teams and made a mess at some including McLaren-Mercedes. And three, no I don’t care one way or another.

- Should Twitter really count URL characters against you? – DownloadSquad

First, I don’t like URL Shorteners (they shouldn’t be pushed on you, Facebook doesn’t have them, why Twitter), like the article points out, they are bad for the web. You never know where they are pointing to, they could be an advertisement, imagine retweeting that. Second, I use twitter and I like to just put my real url in the lines so people know exactly where to go, but that difficult because sometimes the URL is so long. Bottom line, Twitter needs to update their service so url’s don’t count towards your 140 charactors or give you 10-15 extra charactors for the URL, another over 15 counts against your 140 charactors…that’s fair.

- GM Announces Chevrolet Caprice Police Package – Straightline Blog

I have to say that I’m not surprised that GM decided to bring out what a rear-wheel drive cop car, let’s be honest GM needs anything that sells right now. Personally though, GM should have just kept the G8 as a Chevrolet, it wouldn’t be a cross-brand item because Pontiac is being phased out. They should also keep a few other vehicles from Pontiac and now the phased out and shut down Saturn.

- JR Motorsports executive says team interested in Danica Patrick – SceneDaily

This is a story that just keeps changing except that Danica Patrick wants to come to NASCAR and yet she can’t confirm her IndyCar Series 3 year deal that has been rumored to be already signed with AGR. I have a feeling that there will be no announcements until after the IndyCar Series season finale this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The problem is, is that Danica was rumored to be with Stewart-Haas Racing and now with JR Motorsports. Ironically enough, JR Motorsports is Hendrick and they have room as far as Nationwide Series goes. She has to be in the Truck Series and/or the Nationwide Series for a full-season or two before she goes full-time in the Cup Series. I’m thinking 2013 she will be in NASCAR and I will end it there, but with whom.

- TRUCKS: Piquet Jr, Meira To Test For Red Horse Racing – Speedtv.com

I don’t believe, another F1 driver trying to come to NASCAR, no that’s not the story here, the story is the F1 driver is non-other than Nelson Piquet, Jr. Nelson Piquet, Jr. is the driver that was released from Renault and then blow the whistle on his former team to the FIA because he was ordered to crash in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the FIA court gave Renault a suspended two year ban, his boss a indefinite suspension and yet he got off free of charge. He will not have another F1 ride again, no one wants a whistle blower, I guess he thinks someone in NASCAR might give him a ride, yeah I wouldn’t count on it.

Personally I believe Nelson Piquet, Jr should have been suspended too or some type of penalty. He didn’t have to crash a racecar, he choose to accept that order.

- Massachusetts Gets Lower Than Expected Revenues & Mass Registry on Mass Turnpike – Both from Thatsthepits.com

Massachusetts is one of those unique states that just don’t think things through correctly and since the state is not meeting expected revenues, they have decided raise fees, raise the sale tax to 6.25% and move two RMV’s to buildings on the Mass Pike. I find it interesting that in order to use the registry, I have to pay tolls and use the Mass Pike. Let me state the obvious, I don’t use the Mass Pike, tolls are a waste, this state would have less debt if you get rid of the Mass Pike then keeping it and jacking the tolls, welcome to Massachusetts.

Playlist: Carrie Underwood, Gloriana, Mallary Hope and more.

2009-10-05T00:01:00.001-04:00

What a weekend it has been or more commonly referred to as CMT Big Music Weekend, where nine music videos from Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Reba to Michelle Branch and more debuted only on CMT.

One thing you have to know about me is that I have three country music channels on my television and an on-demand and I use them all daily. I love good music videos, but keep in mind one thing, I like some videos with actual live performances in them, for example Lady A’s “Lookin' for a Good Time” (Fan Video), Taylor Swift’s” I’m only me when I’m with you”, Gloriana’s “The Way It Goes” video or even better Carrie Underwood’s “I Told You So” video from the Grand Ole Opry.

Now here’s what I’m listening to right now:

- “Cowboy Casanova” – by Carrie Underwood from her new CD “Play On” that is due out in November.
What a video Carrie Underwood did for “Cowboy Casanova”, that one took my breath away, she did an amazing job on it. You can watch the music video either at CMT or Carrie’s YouTube Channel.

- “Love Lives On” – by Mallary Hope
Mallary Hope is a new comer to country music at least to me with a really cool personal music video. It was actually her music video that caught my ear on her music, I believe people should listen to her EP (3 tracks) on Amazon.com, iTunes or another Music Service, it’s really good.

- “Wild at Heart” – by Gloriana (Get use to this track, I love it.)
According to the Gloriana email I received yesterday, they said they just finished filming the music video for their new single "How Far Do You Wanna Go?” If this one is anything like their first two music videos “Wild at Heart” and “The Way It Goes”, the video should be good.

- “Need You Now” – by Lady Antebellum
- “Consider Me Gone” – by Reba McEntire from her new CD “Keep on Loving You”.
- “I Believe I Can Fly” – by R. Kelly
- “Home Sweet Home” – by Carrie Underwood
- “I Don’t Want To” – by Ashley Monroe

Before I go, last month I wrote an article titled “Carrie Underwood goes for three with Play On” where I wrote to all of the Carrie Underwood fans who read the article above, what are your favorite tracks of hers? Well one comment read:

flicketyflack said... “Nice blog! My top 10 favorites in no particular order are: I Told You So, Before He Cheats, We're Young & Beautiful, Crazy Dreams, The Night Before (Life Goes On), I Ain't In Checotah Anymore, All-American Girl, Wasted, Get Out Of This Town, and I'll Stand By You.”

Thanks for the comment and good list. Now what are you listening to right now and it doesn’t have to be country music.

Disclaimer: Let's get one thing straight, I wrote not only the advice above, but the Playlist article because I not only love music, but I wanted to share what music tracks I am listening to right now. I don't write just to sell albums, MP3's or fill a shopping cart to make money, so keep that in mind.

What is Speedlinking? What is the Playlist?

2009-10-04T17:08:00.001-04:00

First, what is Speedlinking and why would I do it? Speedlinking is nothing new in blogging, it’s collecting and creating a list of links to other sites/blog posts that you have been reading, that your readers might find interesting or useful. The name “speedlinking” was invented several years ago by Problogger’s Darren Rowse.

Here are a couple of examples of speedlinking:
- What is Speedlinking? - by Webmaster-Source
- How Speedlinking can help you – by David Airey
- Speedlinking - Discount Deal, Jobs, Blogger Group, Free Reports and Interview – by Problogger

Speedlinking is a great way to show your readers either what you are reading or give them some useful links to visit. I would describe it a lot like retweeting on twitter. I retweet some articles that I like or retweet what another twitter user is saying about a particular subject a lot. It’s a useful way for your follows to reader what you are reading. Speedlinking is the same way.

Here at RaceDriven, I have been doing “speedlinking” since I started blogging back in 2005, but it wasn’t until today that I started using the name “speedlinking” in the post title. If you read through my archives, you will notice that I have updated those types of posts with the name speedlinking, but why would I do that?

I realize that some bloggers don’t like the idea of updating old posts, however while I understand that way of thinking and for the most part, I agree with it, I also believe that if a post is not working or is so out of date that the blogger should update it. It’s the bloggers job to make the post/article popular and if means making fresh again, but keeping the original meaning of the post, the point you were trying to make in the first place.

Please note that if you are going to update your old posts including the title, don’t change the url or your visitors may not find article especially if the search engine has already listed that posting/article. For me, RaceDriven.com’s archives are like a journal to me, it reminds me of what I was thinking back on that day that inspired me to write that article or posting.

Second, what is the Playlist and why would I do it? The playlist follows the same lines as speedlinking, but for music. The playlist is a new article/posting that I’m writing here on RaceDriven in recent weeks.

I got the idea for this posting/article after reading an interesting posting over at the CMT Blog called “Top 10 Tracks I'm Digging Right Now” about what one blogger is listening too right now. So I decided to use that same theme and detail what I’m listening too right now. Now I’m sure some of my readers are wondering why?

Music is part of my life. In a world filled with everyday drama, excitement and nightmares and in search of happiness, there are very few things in life that in one way or another relaxes me or gets me going. Writing acts as good therapy for everyday life for me and so does taking a few minutes listening to music. So going with the same principles of speedlinking from above, I have listed my favorite music tracks which are mostly country music to share with my readers.

Here is an example of Playlist:
- Top 10 Tracks I'm Digging Right Now – from the CMT Blog.

Keeping with the same principles, today I have started using the name “speedlinking” in the post title. If you read through my archives, you will notice that I have updated those types of posts with the name playlist, but why would I do that?

So today, I challenge all of my readers (if they have a blog) to create either a speedlinking or playlist post/article and have fun with it.

A sneak preview of the Jeff Dunham Show on Comedy Central.

2009-10-01T13:23:00.003-04:00

I have to admit, I posted this because I am a huge fan of Jeff Dunham and his cast of characters. I don't really have a favorite puppet, but Peanut is cool because he si so funny. Walter is internet because he tells it like it is and achmed is just achmed.

So for all of you Jeff Dunham fans, above is a sneak preview of his new show that premiere's on Thursday, October 22nd at 9/8c on Comedy Central. This should be fun to watch, I can't wait, but just to tide you over, below is a 10 minute clip of Jeff Dunham with Walter from the first DVD Arguing With Myself.

Personally I the line where Walter said "I could be a Walmart greeter" What would you say, "Welcome to Walmart, get your s*** and get out, have a nice day."

From Jeff Dunham on YouTube

Check out this DVD's on Amazon.com:
- Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself DVD.
- Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity DVD
- Jeff Dunham: Very Special Christmas Special DVD

The 2009 Targa Trophy Rally in California

2009-09-27T20:05:00.003-04:00

Over the past few months, I have been hearing and reading about a Targa Trophy rally in California. Now let’s be honest here, this is the type of event (among other automobile and NASCAR events) that I would like to attend and even though I was asked if I would like to attend as a member of the media, I just couldn’t. RaceDriven is a hobby turned part-time job that doesn’t allow me to travel, so pictures and details are next best thing.

First a little history, The Targa Trophy rally was started back in 2007 running San Diego. In 2008, the Targa Trophy rally was expanded to two events in Los Angeles and San Diego. Now in 2009, the Targa Trophy Rally has been expanded to three events in Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles.

Luckily enough for all of car guys, Jonny Lieberman from Autoblog.com not only attended the event originally in a Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 (which I will get into in a minute), but wrote up a very detailed article called "Autoblog runs the 2009 Targa Trophy Rally..." on his prospective of the event, namely being in it. In reading this article like some on the internet today, I felt like I was right there next to him in the car. He had an amazing adventure, but I do have to say, who takes a Hyundai Genesis Coupe to a rally event like this anyway.

Personally if I had access to a normal list of vehicles, my short list would include a Subaru Impreza STI, a Audi A4 or RS4, a Ford Mustang with a V8 under the hood, a Chevrolet Camaro, a Dodge Challenger R/T, you get it, something with a lot of power under the hood that could handle a wide range of areas that this course is made up of. And for the record, a Ferrari would be cool to drive in this rally, but I said normal list, not dream list.

Anyway, if this is your type of event that you enjoy, then you should take a few minutes to read the article that included a slow speed accident with a Porsche, abandoning his teammates to be the navigator in a Ferrari F430 with a guy to don’t know (by the way, if I was the third person in a car and had the opportunity to experience the event in a Ferrari or supercar, you bet you’re a** I would too) to getting the chance to once again pilot the Hyundai Genesis Coupe with an experience that was a hell of a lot better including laying a beautiful piece of rubber down and out running several cars in your own territory, what a drive.

By the way, during his leg in the Ferrari, oh my god, my heart sunk when he mentioned that a Porsche Carrera GT was totaled during the rally. I have a hard time looking at a totaled super car or muscle car damn!

Anyway continuing on in the rally, can you imagine being around a Lamborghini Gallardo, a Ferrari F430 Spyder, a BMW E39 M5, a E60 M5, a E92 M3, a Porsche Carrera GT just to name a few, damn! Congratulations to Jonny in not only completely such an event, but finishing sixth.

What an article and I have to say that I never would have thought that a Hyundai Genesis Couple would be a challenger in and among Ferrari’s, BMW’s Audi’s, Porsche’s and more, I guess I stand corrected, it’s not all about what’s under the hood, it’s how the car’s overall performance thought the entire rally that counts. So this is a rally, who won.

LA WINNERS

1. Malcolm Medina – Audi RS4
2. Valli Khan – Porche Cayanne Transsyberia
3. Adam Roth – Audi R8
4. Josh Conely – BMW M5
5. Elliott Grossman – BMW M5
6. Jeff Glucker- Hyundai Genesis
7. Wick Zimmerman – BMW M5

TRIPLE CROWN WINNERS

1. Malcolm Medina – RS4
2. Elliott Grossman BMW M5/Nissan GTR
3. Joe Callian – Subaru WRX STI
Now of course were words tell most of the story, but pictures are worth a thousand words and below you will see a gallery of photos from the event…enjoy.

(Photo Credit: The photos that are named “targatrophyla” are from Danielle Gano from Elle Communications and the photos that are named “autoblog” are from autoblog.com)

Visit http://www.targatrophy.com/ for more details.

Disclaimer: One thing, in the art of full disclosure, here at RaceDriven.com, I write on my passions and even though I received several photos and details of this event from a PR (I receive a lot of photos for articles which I love), I wrote this article because I wanted to. I am not obligated to write or post anything that I don’t want to. And I was NOT paid to write this, I will tell you if any article is a paid article. Just wanted to let my readers and others know that. Have a nice day.

There is no place in NASCAR for start and park cars.

2009-09-27T16:19:00.000-04:00

Currently in 2009, in all three NASCAR national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series), one problem that continues to upset some NASCAR fans and makes the sport look bad is “start and park cars”.

Currently in all three national series especially in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the Nationwide Series, teams are showing up to the racetrack unprepared to run the entire race. Some teams go so far as to show up without a crew, a crew chief, tires (they lease or buy their tires at the track from Goodyear), and/or equipment to run the entire race. In one Nationwide Series race I believe back at New Hampshire, a team was black flagged for not having a crew chief on top of the pit box, there was no crew chief, how does this get by.

Let me clarify something, currently in NASCAR, there are two types of start and park cars.

The first type are those teams that are attempting to run most or the entire season and while most of their schedule is filled with sponsorship there are those few races that are not filled. So in order to keep the team going (people employed), the team is forced to qualify for the race only to start the race and park the car for 43rd place money.

These are not the teams that I have a problem with. I can understand especially in this tough economy where companies are cutting back on sponsorship dollars that some teams have to do that. One team that is a perfect example is the #71 TRG team.

Take last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for example, the team originally was going to be another start and park car for the race because they just didn’t have enough money for that race. But because driver Bobby Labonte not only qualified the car 8th and a few New England companies including a Massachusetts insurance company stepped up to sponsor the car, they were able to get enough money especially for the engine lease and tires to run the entire race and they finished in the 22nd position.

In the #71’s case, they are a team running most or I believe the entire schedule and they just simply a few holes during the season where they don’t have sponsorship and in those cases, they are forced be a start and park car. The majority of time, they are running the entire race, so it is what it is.

However this brings me to the second type of “start and park” car where I do have a problem with. There is no place in NASCAR for these start and park cars and in essence are stealing from the sport, meaning they only take from the sport in the form of a pay check, and not give anything back.

These are the start and park teams that show up to the racetrack week in and week out or the majority of the time with no intension of running the entire race. They show without the necessary equipment to practice, qualify (which is taking a starting position away from a full funded team that in some cases like in the Cup Series with Scott Speed in Sonoma made a mistake during qualifying and didn’t make the field) and start the race and park the car while the other team like Morgan Shepherd (who typically runs the entire race) in the Nationwide Series goes home.

Let me put this into prospective, take two weeks ago for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Richmond, the 43rd position was worth $14,677 and the car didn’t even complete a lap. The results say out on lap 0. Four other cars came was in the bottom of the grid with around the same amount of money. The amount differs with sponsorship, but don’t ask me to explain it.

In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond, the final race to the chase race, the 43rd position team came away with $68,022 and it’s a team that normally is a start and park car.

This is an area that NASCAR really needs to look especially at in the inspection process. If a team comes to a NASCAR race, they should have to present the car, the crew chief, the crew (not pit crew because they fly in race morning), and all of the necessary to run the entire race. If you can’t present everything, you shouldn’t be allowed to practice or qualify that goes double for the crew chief and the same process before qualifying and the race, no crew chief, no race, no pay check.

Now I realize that some teams like I pointed out above the #71 isn’t going to be running ever race, but if cars are showing up without everything to run the entire race, go home.

If NASCAR does this, this might create a problem with not having enough cars (43 in the Nationwide Series and Cup Series and 36 trucks in the Track Series) on the starting grid.

Well it might create a smaller field, however 43 is just a number that NASCAR came up with years ago that can be in each race, sometimes NASCAR increases the number in some races in some series.

I personally don’t see an issue here, I would rather have a 39 cars starting field in a race (including the Daytona 500) that are there to run the entire race, are up to speed, and are giving something back to the sport, then 43+ cars where some are there to just start and park for money. There is no such thing as easy money, so enough is enough with start and parks week in and week out or in the majority of races especially when you have fully funded teams going home or teams that are there to run the entire race.

What do you think?

Who does this? 227,000 text messages, 662,258 text messages in one month?

2009-09-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

I'm sure in everybodies life, they do things that are pointless or in this case, something to break a record and this includes me too, however who does this?

Can you imagine spending an entire month doing nothing but sending and receiving text messages in order to break a record? I sure can't, but underneath the category of "I have to try this", two people online have published videos of them showing there cell phone bills including how many text messages they have done in that one month.

The first video below shows a reporter interviewing a person that has send and receive 227,000 text messages in one month. One day this guy received a big package that had thousands of pages in it and it was his T-Mobile cell phone bill that totaled over $26,000. Now of course he didn't have to pay it because he had an unlimited plan, but 227,000 text messages in one month.

The second one (click here to see the video) is even more outragious with another guy using his iPhone, send and received 662,258 text messages in one month as well. (Thanks Mashable for the tip) His cell phone from I believe AT&T came in several boxes and included over 12,000 pages. So let's do the math, if that month was 30 days, he would have to have send and received over 22,075 per day for 30 days.

I have to ask, who does this? So what does everyone think, waste of time, its a record, you got to break it?

I believe that people want to break records, but there are somethings that just shouldn't be attempted at all and this is one of them. I have a prepaid cell phone with Verizon and couldn't imagine even thinking about doing this nor want to, of course I would have an unlimited plan to even think about it. All I have to say is, this is a waste of time, a waste of the Cell Phone Companies resources and customers wonder why cell phone companies charge so much, people like these taking advantage of the system, but thats not the only reason for high prices for cell companies.

The other thing that struck me as odd, is the number pages that each person received. Did you know cell phone companies charge for a paper bill? Check your month statement/bill, it might just have a charge (under $2.00 per month).

Cell Phone companies, have you considered going paperless especially for this? According the video, the cell bill that came in had almost 13,000 pages to it. The 227,000 text message guy got over thousands of pages, do I need to go, save a tree.

Four contenders make their mark in first Chase for the Sprint Cup race in New Hampshire.

2009-09-22T21:06:00.000-04:00

In front of a sold out crowd at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race lived up to all of the hype as Sunday’s Sylvania 300 showed survival was the key to not only victory, but a much needed top 10 finish.

It’s amazing to see what a few changes can do for a race. For example, a racetrack adding some banking to the corners and NASCAR creating this ugly, yet cost effective COT car normally isn’t the recipe for a good race however for some reason while it hasn’t worked on tracks above 1.3 miles in length, it has worked for tracks like Phoenix and Darlington.

The same can be said for last Sunday’s Cup Series race at New Hampshire which for the fourth time in two years, fans saw one hell of a race. Now this isn’t Bristol nor Richmond or Martinsville, but the race ended up being exciting nonetheless and the race also showed what I have been thinking all season long, drivers are just being more aggressive on the track, partly due to economy and the sponsors, remember the old saying, “Your only as good as your last race”, well this last race for some key drivers proved to show they are here to race for it.

Sunday was two races within a race. First was for the 12 chase drivers to mount a charge to take the top spot in the points to contend for the championship. I believe that there are three, maybe five drivers that are championship contenders at this point. On Sunday, Mark Martin came out firing on all eight cylinders, leading when it counted, at the end by holding off a hard charging Denny Hamlin and a chase new comer Juan Montoya who lead the most laps Sunday to win the Sylvania 300. With the victory, Mark Martin (who is the sentimental favorite to win the championship this season) adds to his points lead with 35 points over Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.

Right now, those three drivers that I believe are real championship contenders are Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart, they all have their stuff together. For smoke, after winning the regular season and despite his 14th place finish on Sunday, he is still in this. Right below those top 3 is Denny Hamlin. Two wins on the season including last weekend at Richmond, he is almost there, a silent contender, he hasn’t made a lot of noise this season, but yet has 10 top 5’s and 15 top 10’s so far. Right below Hamlin is a wild card, meaning I have no idea what he is going to do nor can he keep it up, yeah Juan Montoya.

The rest of the top 12 hasn’t been there all season long, let along on Sunday, so it will be a surprise when someone outside of those five comes on strong.

The second race was for the rest of the field, the non-chase drivers that some call second class citizens. I don’t believe in the whole “second class citizens” phase, all 43 drivers that show up to race the entire race and not start and park are important, somebody needs to tell the media and especially ESPN/ABC that they are all here to race, including for the victory period.

Two non-chase drivers who on Sunday sent a message to the rest of the field that “hay while I’m not in the chase, I am still a contender for race wins” is Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Yeah, I can’t believe it that I have pin pointed these two drivers neither, but impressive runs and standing out among the chase contenders is big in my book and Kyle Busch’s 5th place finish and Dale Jr’s running in the top 5-10 both stood out to me.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran up in the top 5 and top 10 some of the day and was on his way to a top 5 or top 10 finish when a late-race incident (lap 283 I believe) with David Reutimann sent junior spinning into the wall and out of the race. I can understand Dale Jr’s reaction after the crash, David Reutimann over drove the corner, washed up the track into Dale Jr. and sent Dale Jr. into the wall.

However while a top 5 finish for Kyle Busch was big, his #18 car failed post race inspection, his left front was found to be too low, as a result, according to NASCAR PR, “Crew chief Steve Addington has been fined $25,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31. Driver Kyle Busch and car owner Joe Gibbs have been penalized 25 championship driver and 25 championship owner points, respectively.”
For everybody who just looked at that, that penalty isn’t a big deal, he’s not in the chase, so it doesn’t mean much and he still keeps the 5th place finish.

Of course there were two topics that caught my eye throughout the past week:

1. Last week Marty Smith wrote an article called “Is racing for free dedicated enough?” that details that the Richard Petty Motorsports driver Reed Sorenson is racing the remainder of the season for no salary. "The decision I made was to keep racing. The reason I did that is I thought it would help me find a job next year," Sorenson said. "And any race car driver that has the choice to sit at home or race is probably going to choose to race, unless they're at the end of their career.”

This is hard to read, yet imagine happening to anyone especially a driver. While I can understand why he is doing this and keep in mind he is keeping him crew working with a pay check, I can’t believe an owner would put a driver in this position. I don’t know the whole story here, but the car has sponsorship, so I don’t get it and you wonder why drivers want out of their contracts.

For drivers, crew members, owners, everybody, respect is a two-way street, you treat people with respect to get respect, this isn’t respecting somebody and yet this same team has a merger (Richard Petty Motorsports) with Yates Racing...I wonder about this organization, and remember we had the Elliott Sadler lawsuit before the season began.

2. Speaking of Richard Petty Motorsports, Kasey Kahne had a blown engine last Sunday at New Hampshire. ABC (ESPN) speculated that this was due to the merger and getting rid of the Engine shop for RPM. They should applause to the fans and to RPM for saying that, that was uncalled for.
Now is Kasey Kahne that is 161 points out, out of the championship hunt? No, no one is, yes it’s a tall order, but anything can happen in the next several races and he could be right back into this. Ask me after race 5 who is in and who is completely out.

Well next up is chase race two, Dover, what a race that should be and I would say that Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin will be the odds on favorites to win, but I wonder if Roush-Fenway Racing will be in the hunt?

(Photo Credit: Gregg Ellman/Pool-Getty Images)

I wonder what Tony Stewart, Erik Estrada and Carrott Top talking about, BK or Kevin Harvick giving the “V” sign?

2009-09-17T15:18:00.004-04:00

When I first saw these three photos below at this time last week, my first thoughts were I wonder what the conversation is between Tony Stewart, Erik Estrada and Carrott Top? The second thing is, why is Kevin Harvick standing there making a “V” sign?

Tony Stewart shares some laughs with actor, Erik Estrada and comedian/actor, Carrot Top, during a break behind the scenes of Burger King Corp.’s ad shoot, “The Tony Stewart School of Endorsements.” (Photos furnished by Matter-Edelman)

Kevin Harvick giving the “V” sign (symbolizing Shell V-Power®) and a quick note about a contest his sponsor, Shell, is running right now called The Shell V-Power "Fuel My Passion" Contest and Sweepstakes that is for those who are passionate about their ride and would be willing to share their "love stories" through a brief description of why they are passionate about their vehicle. You can visit www.shell.us/fuelmypassion for more details. (Photos furnished by Matter-Edelman)

Yeah you would think I have a little too much time on my hands, but I just like to ponder something’s for a while, whether it’s NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, why Richard Petty Motorsports is merging/acquiring Yates Racing to who is going to win the Sprint Cup Series Championship this season?

What do you think?

Best season in Big Brother history? Big Brother 11?

2009-09-16T00:11:00.003-04:00

One of the most searched phases when it comes to Big Brother is “Best season in Big Brother history”. Big Brother is in its 11 season so far and it’s been a pretty good run and I hope it continues. Some of the seasons have been so so, while others have been off the charts with twists, surprises, action, drama and more, you know the stuff that makes it memorable.

Looking back over the 11 seasons, there had been those few that have stood out, for example, season 8, that one had the father vs. daughter finale with America’s Player Eric voting the way American wanted and doing what America asked. Season 7 was All-Stars. The All-Stars had Dr. Will and Mike boogie playing everyone in the house and acting so cool about it. And of course the controversial season 9, 'Til Death Do You Part, what a winter season, so much drama just for being couples and because of everything that said on the air which saw Adam win the $500,000.

Let’s not forget some classic moments, one of the best had to be back in season 3 when Marcellas had POV and chose not to save himself, he was evicted that week. Over 11 seasons, I really couldn’t choose the best season, however season 11 would rank in the top 5 for sure. This season had so many twists and turns and yet could be followed.

CBS did a pretty good job in choosing who would be among the 12 houseguests to compete. One thing I loved is that they were complete strangers. Right from the first day, Big Brother unveiled a huge twist in that each houseguest would play the game as part of a high school clique, but also as individuals. The popular clique was Jordon, Laura and Braden. The Athletes were Natalie, Jeff and Russell, the Brains were Ronnie, Michelle and Chima and finally the off-beats were Lydia, Casey and Kevin.

One way to even the playing field could have been having the high school cliques combine into four cliques with one member from each category. So that would be a popular mixed with an Athlete, a Brain and an Off-beat. That would have made it a little more interesting, than BB fans would have seen who goes where and forms an alliance with whom.

Unfortunately unlike the high school cliques which was part of the game and was pretty good, I didn’t care for the 13th houseguest at all which out of four past houseguests, was last season’s Jessie coming back for a second try. That put an unfair advantage for the Athletes as if they are ready didn’t have that advantage.

The third twist, the Coup D’etat. The Coup D’etat power holder when the power is used can overthrow the current HOH, replacing one or both of the HOH nominations with their own nominations on the spot at the time of eviction (before the votes are cast). This was a game changing power that America voted to give one houseguest and overwhelmingly was given to Jeff. During Chima’s HOH reign, Jeff used the Coup D’etat power, removed Lydia and Russell, replaced them with Natalie and Jessie.

Amazing enough, this power ended up having some good in it, it actually saved one persons game (Jeff), set another houseguest off which lead to that HG being expelled (Chima), set the stage for the 13th houseguest to be evicted (Jessie) and started a huge power shift, so I guess it wasn’t all that bad. And I think this wasn’t the first time this power existed in Big Brother history.

One moment in this game that was so stupid, Day 40, the night after Jessie got evicted. OMG three women sitting at the dining room table tossing and crying as if he was hit by a Mac truck (thanks Kevin for the words).

I will remember each houseguest in a different way, I really didn’t get the chance to see what Braden or Laura could do in the game. Both of them got evicted because of their mouths. Everything you say in this game affects you. Braden got evicted by one vote because he said something bad to Lydia.

Ronnie, oh boy this guy played this game like Kaysar did in season 6, he played all of his cards too early, played everybody and for that he got evicted. One thing, he should have nominated Russell, the chance to get him evicted was there and he didn’t take it.

How about Casey wearing a banana suit the same week he got evicted, he actually walked out in the suit, what a guy. His strategy was to lay low, not say too much, but Natalie went to the HOH Jessie and that was that.

To me, what I call the 13th houseguest Jessie got what he deserved and evicted because Jeff used the Coup D’etat and his alliance didn’t have the votes to save him. Although I will admit, over the winter, somebody taught this guy how to play Big Brother, but left out one key point, don’t play god in the HOH room, he did that both seasons and got evicted for it.

Let’s fast forward past Chima as she walks out the door and go straight to Lydia’s game. Lydia played the game pretty good. She stayed in for a while, however if see would have not gone off on everyone including Jeff and Jordon, she would have stayed in the house for at least another week. Natalie should thank her, Lydia’s outbursts and eviction is what saved her (Natalie).

Russell played a hard game. He played a lot of people, but he looked at several past houseguests and took points from each of their games, but acting like a jerk and fighting with HG’s shouldn’t really be in the cards, what is he Mike Boogie or Dr. Will. Russell just got to too many houseguests, getting in to fights with several of them from Jeff the first week to Chima, Lydia, Ronnie, there is a good list here which put that huge target on his back including with Jeff that got him evicted.

Jeff. The Coup D’etat winner, a move that saved his game, changed the power in the house and of course made the target bigger on his back. I have to say that I wanted him to win, but something got to him and even though getting Russell evicted was a good move, it ended his game because he trusted Natalie and Kevin. I still think Jeff played a good game. America voted to give Jeff $25,000, their favorite houseguest.

I never could really figure out Michelle’s game at all. She either forgot conversations or just lied point blank to people. She had a hand in getting Russell out too. Michelle won at least 3 Power of Veto’s and one HOH, she was a strong competitor and the strongest women in the house.

Kevin, I agree with one blogger, I didn’t even know he was in house until about the final five, that shows how much work he did. He did get Jeff evicted by breaking a deal with him (Jeff), of course this is Big Brother, just about everybody including Jeff and Jordon have broken deals with another houseguest at one point or another in this game. Kevin has won HOH and a Power of Veto. In the end, Kevin made it to the final 3, but Jordon won her second HOH and evicted him.

Natalie, the 24 year old (not 18, that lie cosseted her big time with the jury) that in my eyes got carried through the game by first Jessie thanks to the clique twist and the 13th houseguest, then Chima and later by carried by Kevin. She is a lot like the guy who won Survivor season 1. She throw competitions, made deals and in the end throw the final HOH comp and basically said you have to take me to the finals. She won one HOH when it counted, but nothing else. Natalie played the dirtiest game in history, she bet Russell and Ronnie by a mile.

Jordon is America’s sweet heart she paired herself up with Jeff throughout the game. What a cute couple they make. She won one HOH (I should mention that in the final round a HOH competition, Jeff through it to give her the HOH, good strategy by Jeff, so he could play the following week) and she has won a POV (straight up). And most importantly, she won the final HOH, told Natalie to the final 2 and by a vote of 5-2 (Russell and Kevin voted for Natalie) including the 7th jury America, Jordon won Big Brother 11. Put of the final 4, she would be the one I wanted to win, if not her then Michelle or Kevin.

In the end, I have to say that having the two hour live finale is the perfect way for Big Brother to end the season finale. I like the fact that everything is live from the 3rd part of the final HOH to the jury asking the questions, although somebody should have clued Kevin in a on a few things including Natalie’s age lie.

Congratulations to Jordon for winning Big Brother 11, hats off to you, you deserve it, it wasn’t the best strategy, but you won two HOH’s, a POV, and stayed true to Jeff.

Disclaimer: As you read this, please keep this in mind, I’m not bashing anybodies personal life or life outside the house, this article strictly talks about each HG’s game play, think of it as characters in a movie or TV Series.

Past Articles on Big Brother 11:
- Big Brother 11: My Take on the first 30 days – Part One.
- Big Brother 11: My Take on the first 33 days – Part Two
- Big Brother 11: My Take on the first 33 days – Part Three
- Big Brother 11 heating up - Coup D’etat, Jessie, Chima & Lydia being evicted, what’s next?
- Jordon, Michelle, Kevin and Natalie are the final four in Big Brother 11.
- Kevin, Jordon and Natalie are the final three in Big Brother 11.

Taylor Swift wins at VMA’s and performs on The View.

2009-09-15T17:43:00.006-04:00

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, Taylor Swift and her fans including myself have a lot to celebrate from the VMA’s, the CMA nominations, her first appearance on The View to her selling more than 10 million albums and that doesn’t even include the 20 million paid song downloads, more than any artist in country music history and the re-release of “Fearless” in a platinum version CD/DVD combination.

2009 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA’s)

Last Sunday night was a rollercoaster ride for Taylor Swift and it all took place at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA’s for short). Now let me state the obvious, the VMA’s isn’t my thing, I don’t watch MTV or there award shows and with the exception of Katy Perry and a few other artists, I am a country music fan. But I did watch the VMA’s last year and this time for one reason, because I’m a Taylor Swift fan.

The night started out with her winning Best Female Video for “You Belong with Me”. What a shocker, she bet out Lady GaGa, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Katy Perry and the amazing Beyonce.

However during her acceptance speech, Kanye West came up on stage, grabbed the microphone from Swift and said “Taylor, I'm really happy for you, and I'm gonna let you finish, but,” and West then declared that Beyoncé, who had also been listed as a nominee in the category for Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), "had one of the best videos of all time." (Quotes in this paragraph from USA Today Article)

An acceptance speech is a time for the winner of the award to knowledge everyone that made that happen for him/her, not for a person who doesn’t agreed with the award winner to come up and voice his/her displeasure. For West to get on stage and say that was completely disrespectful. I watched the VMA’s on television and my first words where “WTF is wrong with him, what a jerk.”

After West’s outburst, Taylor was taken backstage after that, she didn’t get the chance to thank everyone involved including the fans.

15 minutes later, Taylor performed “You Belong with Me” starting in the subway and moving up to street level and dancing on a Taxi in the street. Cool performance, it was a little different from what she normally does, however that was the VMA’s, not the ACM’s.

The night ended with Beyonce winning Video of the Year, however instead of doing her acceptance speech, she called country music star Taylor Swift back out to have a second chance at her acceptance speech where she thanked everybody involved in the song, video and of course the fans.

I will say that besides watching Taylor Swift win big and her performance, the night had two other good points as well. First, the night started off with a tribute to Michael Jackson. Now I’m not really a Michael Jackson fan, however I respect his music, it’s interesting, cool to listen to and different from anything else. His performances were incredible years ago it’s sort of reminds me of Beyonce’s performances.

Second had to Beyonce’s performance, that was incredible to watch. I had never watched her performance before nor sing, that was a welcome treat.

Tuesday's on “The View”

Earlier today, Taylor made her first appearance on ABC’s The View, first appearance…really, where she talked about her appearance on the VMA’s including Kanye West’s interruption and after being asked about living at home, she announced that she bought a Condo. Following the short sit down interview, Taylor performed two songs, first “Fifteen" and then “You Belong with Me”.

According to an AP report from a “The View” statement, after Taylor Swift said “He has not personally reached out or anything but if he wanted to say hi (I would),” on The View”, West called her and the two spoke. After the show he spoke personally to the country music superstar via telephone and has apologized to the 19-year-old singer. She has accepted Mr. West's apology. The contents of the phone call are to remain private," it read.

When it comes to Kanye West and his outburst/interruption, West first apologized on his blog, then again on “The Jay Leno Show” which I recorded, but haven’t watched yet and then according to statement above, he apologized for a third time. I believe it to be over and done with, he’s a jerk and that’s it.

CMA Nominations

Last week, the CMA nominations were announced on Good Morning and CMT where Taylor was nominated for four awards including Entertainer of the Year. Taylor is the youngest artist history to be nominated for the award and is the first solo female artist since Faith Hill in 2000.

She has been nominated for Best Music Video for “Love Story”, Album of the Year for “Fearless”, Female Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year. Also, congratulations to Carrie Underwood for being nominated for Female Vocalist, Best Musical Event and Song of the Year for the song “I Told You So” as well as to The Raconteurs featuring Ricky Skaggs and Ashley Monroe, they are nominated for Musical Event for their song “Old Enough”.

Well I will leave you with three questions, first what’s next for Taylor? Second, will she win next month at the CMA Awards in Nashville? Three, where is the fan voted award or awards? When it comes to the fan voted awards, I’m not talking about entertainer of the year, but what about best music video?

Congratulations Taylor Swift, you earned and if anybody is wondering about her passing the 10 million mark on albums and 20 million mark on song downloads, I own 3 albums including her self-titles “Taylor Swift”, the Beautiful Eye’s CD and her latest “Fearless” CD, not to mention just about every single song she has come out that is not on an album, and I bet you I am not along. I can also say the same for Carrie Underwood.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the 2009 NASCAR Chase to the Sprint Cup contenders, but who will win?

2009-09-13T15:08:00.002-04:00

(Top photo of the 12 chase contenders was taken by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR and the bottom right photo of Brian Vickers out racing Kyle Busch to make it into the chase was taken by Chris Graythen/Getty Images via NASCAR PR, both at the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.)

Ladies and gentlemen, last night at the famous ¾ mile short track, Richmond International Raceway played host to the final race to the chase race where NASCAR fans saw Denny Hamlin dominate and win at his home racetrack and Brian Vickers “race” his way into the chase by 8 points.

In watching last night’s race, I couldn’t help but notice that Matt Kenseth just didn’t have the car to get into the chase, so it was very clear that the #12 chase spot would be between Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch. I said to one NASCAR fan last night, I can’t believe it that I am routing for Brian Vickers to get into the chase. Be honest now, I bet you that if you are not a Vickers or Kyle Busch fan, you were cheering for Vickers to get into the chase too?

At this point, I am happy to see the race to the chase over, but I am sad to see that the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season only has 10 races to go in the season before we put another season in the record books and that summer is over.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the 2009 NASCAR Chase to the Sprint Cup Contenders, 12 of the best drivers in NASCAR this season, but who will win and what would the final 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings be? Did I (Brian Vermette) pick the top 12 at the beginning of the season correctly?

Well here is my list from February of who I picked to make the chase, the ones in bold I got correct. In no particular order, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman. That’s 8 out 12 picked correctly, not bad considering Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Dale Jr. were not even contenders this season and Kyle Busch missed the chase by 8 points.

Who will win and what would the final 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings be?

1. At the beginning of the season, I picked #48-Jimmie Johnson to win his fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship and I am going to stand behind that. Jimmie Johnson, his crew chief Chad Knaus, the #48 Crew and Rick Hendrick as the owner creates the perfect storm for this team to win the 2009 championship, but he is seeded in the 3rd position.

2. #14-Tony Stewart, not too many media or fans choose Smoke to win races or for that matter be in the chase in his first year as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner, but I did. I believe Smoke will contend for the championship and after watching the first 26 races, it would surprise me to see him win the championship that would be cool to see especially for this Tony Stewart (and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan.)

However I believe that Tony Stewart has been chipped, he won the 26-race regular season (the points leader), but doesn’t receive any bonus points for doing so. Last month I asked the question Should the NASCAR Points System and the Chase for the Sprint Cup be updated?, in the article I said NASCAR should award 20 bonus points to the winner of the 26-race regular season.

3. #5-Mark “The Kid” Martin. I like Mark Martin’s chances of winning his first Cup Series championship this season. He comes into the chase as a sentimental favorite (including mine), four wins and is (as ESPN puts it) seeded first. If Martin and the #5 team can get consistent for the next 10 races, he will be a contender for sure.

4. #11-Denny Hamlin. Hamlin comes into the chase with two wins on the season and is seeded 4th in points. Hamlin is the only Joe Gibbs racing driver in the 2009 chase and I have to imagine that JGR will pull out all of the stops to get Denny Hamlin up in the points and into victory lane.

5. #24-Jeff Gordon. Sorry Gordon fans, but I don’t see a drive for five this season. Jeff Gordon comes into the chase in the 6th position, for the #24 team, survival and good finishes should be the key to victory for this team.

6. #9-Kasey Kahne. Kahne is a lot like Tony Stewart in past seasons, he is a second half driver. Kahne comes into the chase with two victories (Infineon and Atlanta), is the only RPM driver in the chase and seeded 5th coming into the chase.)

7. #99-Carl Edwards. Edwards has been starting to come on as of late in the finishes category, but has been running well all season long, however with no victories so far this season, it is going to be a tough road for him and Roush-Fenway Racing to get win the 2009 Sprint Cup Series championship.

8. #2-Kurt Busch. Kurt comes into the chase in the 7th position, however even with one victory on the season from Atlanta earlier this spring, his finishes are all over the board and finding consistency for the final 10 races is going to be a challenge. Going into the chase, it was announced that the crew chief Pat Tryson is leaving the team at the end of the season to will assume same role with Martin Truex Jr. and MWR in 2010.

9-12. When it comes to 9th position through the 12th spot, it is really a tossup. Going by the numbers in the first 26-races and comparing them to the top 8 contenders above, this is what I believe is going to happen. 9th will be #39-Ryan Newman, 10th #16-Greg Biffle, 11th #42-Juan Montoya and finally in the 12th spot will be #83-Brian Vickers. For Vickers, he got one lucky victory this season, several poles, but no consistency period.

This should be a good chase for the Sprint Cup over the next 10 weeks, but for the ESPN/ABC, NASCAR, the media and the fans, there are going to be three races going on at the same time over the next 10 weeks. One race will be for the chase contenders, the second race is for top 35 in points, but the third is going to be for victories, top 5’s and top 10’s among the non-chase drivers, remember to cover those too.

Next up is the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway live on ABC at 1PM-2PM and in this race one year ago, it was Greg Biffle coming out of nowhere to win the race. The rest of the 10 race chase is: Sept. 27 at Dover (1 mile); Oct. 4 at Kansas (1.5 miles); Oct. 11 at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California (2 miles); Oct. 17 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (1.5 miles); Oct. 25 at Martinsville (.526 mile); Nov. 1 at Talladega (2.66 miles); Nov. 8 at Texas (1.5 miles); Nov. 15 at Phoenix (1 mile); Nov. 22 at Homestead (1.5 miles).

What do you think?