Talent Knows No Age

Daytona 500 champion. Two-time K&N Pro Series Champion. Grandson of a 6-time Cup champion car owner. Greatest thing since sliced bread. 2010 NASCAR Nationwide series Rookie of the Year. Son of a NASCAR Cup Champion. Talent knows no age. 20. 18. 20. 20. 23. 23. Trevor Bayne, Ryan Truex, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Steve Wallace, among others. All of these drivers have been racing for years, despite what their age says about them. Some of them are young NASCAR champions, others young NASCAR winners.

Joey Logano, born May 21^st 1990. Sliced Bread. Youngest NASCAR Nationwide Series winner at the age of 18 years and 21 days and the youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup series winner at the age of 19 years and 35 days. Logano is now the youngest winner in two of NASCAR'S three top divisions. He is also the first NASCAR driver to be born in the 1990s to compete in NASCAR's three major divisions. Discovered by Mark Martin, Joey would become one of the biggest hypes of the sport in a while. When Logano was 15, Martin said “I am high on Joey Logano because I am absolutely, 100-percent positive, without a doubt that he can be one of the greatest that ever raced in NASCAR. I'm positive. There's no doubt in mind.” (wikipedia) Joey was signed by Joe Gibbs racing in 2008. Despite going winless in 2010, Joey Logano showed promise at the end of last season, posting 5 top-tens in the last 6 starts, crashing out of the season finale at Homestead. 2011 hasn’t gone the way Logano would have wanted, he is currently 30^th in Cup points. Logano has 8 Nationwide wins to his lone Cup win.

Trevor Bayne, born February 19^th 1991. T-Bayne. Youngest driver to win the Daytona 500, surpassing his childhood hero (most likely still his hero), Jeff Gordon by over 5 years. Trevor Bayne showed a lot of promise in his first full year in the Nationwide series, driving for Diamond-Waltrip Racing and then for Roush Fenway Racing. Trevor captured 4 poles, during of them came in the 2010 season right after each other. He was the first driver to do so since Jeff Gordon 19 years ago. His best finish in the series is third at Gateway, where he got the pole. At the age of 19, Trevor made his Sprint Cup debut at Texas Motor Speedway during the chase. Started 25^th and finished 17^th on the lead lap. Bayne is the first driver to be born in 1991 to compete in the top two NASCAR touring series. In his second Cup start, a day after his 20^th birthday, Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500, giving Ford it’s 600^th win and giving them a 1-2-3 finish. After his 5th place finish at PIR last week, Bayne sits 6^th in Nationwide points.

Ryan Truex, born March 18^th, 1992. Brother of two-time Nationwide (then Busch) Series Champion Martin Truex Jr. Two-time K&N Pro Series Champion. Developmental driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, Ryan has some big shoes to fill. His brother’s, Cup driver Martin Truex Jr. Ryan won his first K&N championship at the age of 17, only to repeat in 2010. Ryan competed in 6 Nationwide Series races in 2010. He was hoping to run for ROTY in 2011, but that was put on hold when motocross stunt performer Travis Pastrana came into the mix. He will be racing 7 races in the 99. Ryan will also share seat time with older brother Martin as well as Car owner Michael Waltrip. We all hope to see more from the youngster very soon.

Austin Dillon, born April 27^th 1990. 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck series Rookie of the Year. Grandson of Car owner Richard Childress. Dillon currently races for his grandpa’s racing team, Richard Childress Racing, which was made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt. He made his first Camping World Truck Series start at Iowa Speedway, driving the #3 truck, the first time that the number has appeared in the three major series since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the Nationwide Series back in 2002. He would finish 12th. He got his first truck will there a year later. Austin claimed his second career Truck win at Las Vegas, leading 92 of 146 laps. He finished 2010 with 2 wins, 7 top 5s, and 16 top 10s.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., born October 2^nd, 1987. 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year. He currently driver for Roush Fenway Racing. 2010 was an up and down year for Stenhouse, crashing out of 4 of the first 10 races of the season. He was replaced at Brian Ickler for 3 races and Brian Johnson at Watkins Glen. With a veteran crew chief a top of his war wagon, Stenhouse came back, posting a 3^rd place finish at Daytona. He posted 7 top tens and was locked in a tight ROTY battle with Brian Scott, which in the end Stenhouse won after a 4^th place run at Homestead. After three races into the 2011 season, Ricky Stenhouse sits 2^nd in points behind Reed Sorenson.

Steve Wallace, born August 18 1987. Son of 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace. Wallace made his first Nationwide start back in 2005, when it was the Busch series, at Memphis. For the 2006 season, Wallace raced 17 races, sharing the car with Cup driver Jamie McMurray. His first full season was in 2007, where he nab two poles, the first at Bristol and then at Nashville. His first career top five came at Richmond International Raceway on May 2, 2008. Wallace made his Cup debut at Daytona International Raceway for the Daytona 500. As of March 13^th, Steve Wallace has posted 29 top-tens and 2 poles in the Nationwide series. He is currently 14^th in Nationwide points.

Brain Scott, born January 12^th 1988. 2010 Rookie of the Year runner-up. Brian first started competing in the Camping World Truck series in 2007, posting a win (in 2009) and 20 top-tens in the series before moving to the Nationwide series in 2010 for Braun Racing. His best finish in his career is 3rd at Chicago. In September, when Turner Motorsports purchased Braun Racing, it was announced that Brian Scott would be release after the September race at Dover. On September 29, RAB Racing hired Brian to drive its #09 Ford Fusion at Kansas and eventually for the rest of the season. Despite finished 14^th in points and ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Scott lost the Rookie of the Year battle. Brian will race the #11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing full-time in 2011. He is currently 11^th in Nationwide points

As you can see, Talent knows no age. Whether you’re 18 or 40, if you have talent, it will show. Good luck to all of these drivers in the 2011 season and beyond.

(information came from www.wikipedia.org)

Why Driver/crew chief relationships are important

In NASCAR, you have to have a good relationship with your crew chief in order to be successful. We've all seen what Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knuas can do together. Steve LeTarte and Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano and Greg Zipadelli, Denny Hamlin and Mike Ford, Kasey Kahne and Kenny Francis. These are some of the more well known driver/crew chief in NASCAR. Most of the time, they get along, but some times, it doesn't go over so well. Rick Hendrick almost split Jimmie and Chad up because they kept fighting. What makes now so different than a few years ago. Jimmie and Chad still yell at each other. As a driver, you HAVE to have faith and trust in your crew chief. How are you two going to work if you don't have either of those? Everybody can say that Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knuas are the best driver/crew chief combo in NASCAR, but they are not. I know they have the 50+ wins and the 5 championships, but they don't quite mesh together as well as a certain driver/crew chief combo. Here's a hint for you. These to have ten wins together, but have recently been separated due to the fact that the driver was release early from his contract. Give up? It's Kasey Kahne and Kenny Francis. These two may not be as successful as Jimmie and Chad, but they have something they don't. Respect for each other. I'm not saying that they don't, I'm saying is that they don't that the relationship that Kasey and Kenny have. When Kasey gets angry, Kenny doesn't yell back. He tries to calm his driver down. You never seen them angry at each other. One driver/crew chief relationship that doesn't work is Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Lance McGrew. Going back to what Kyle Busch said back in 2008 about Rick making Lance Dale's crew chief, "It's always the crew chief, never the driver." In this case, it is the crew chief. From what I have heard, Lance doesn't listen to Dale. They are not meshing. What I think should happen is when Kasey goes to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012 is Kasey should bring Kenny with him as his crew chief of the 5, Alan goes to the 88, and Rick gets rid of Lance completely. Lance is not helping the situation at ALL. You see, driver/crew chief relationships are very important in this sport. (Note: I think Kenny Francis should get a twitter account.)

Cup race at Texas was pretty fucking hilarious

YES! I used an obscene word in my title. How else am I suppose to describe yesterday's race? I mena, between Denny getting the win and the points lead, a double Jeff fight on the back stretch which, my driver Kasey Kahne wanted to stop and watch them go at it, and the very obscene hadn gesture Kyle Busch gave an official, it was really fucking hilarious.
YES! Denny Hamlin has the points lead by 33 points over Jimmie Johnson. Stat: every year since the Chase started, the points leader with two races to ago has won the championship. Just food for thought there.
YES! Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton got into a fight on the back stretch after the two of them got tangled up under caution. I have to say that everytime I saw the fight, I hade to laugh. I thought it was funny! Not to play favorites here, but I would have gone with Burton.
YES! Kyle Busch gave a NASCAR official the finger while he was held for a lap for speeding on pit road. That got him two more laps. I think maybe the old Kyle Busch is back, but that's just me.
At the end of the night, Denny Hamlin came out victorious. He almost finished second to Matt Kenseth, IF Matty didn't hit the wall after passing him for the lead. Does that remind you of anybody back in 2008 at Kansas? Carl Edwards pretty much did the same thing trying to beat Jimmie Johnson for the title and the race. Can you believe it's been almost two years since we've seen Carl Edwards in Victory Lane in Cup?
YES! Trevor Bayne DID make the race! *Sings* Happy, Happy, Happy! YES! He DID finish on the lead lap! YES! He DID finish 17th, ahead of some of the chase drivers. Isn't that awesome? I think so. The kid is so amazing! (I know I shouldn't be calling him a kid cuz he's older than me, but all well!)He never went a lap down, he passed quite a few really good drivers out there. he qualified 28th but had to start in the back because of a transmission change. he dug and dug and got a great finish for his first Cup race!
He did better than Joey did in his first Cup race. Speaking of Jo-Lo, he finished 4th after leading some laps. Now, that kid is really proving himself, trying to get career win number 2. After finishing 27th the week before, Kasey Kahne finished 13th, his best finish with the new team. I predict that Kasey Kahne will break into Victory Lane before the end of the season at either Phoenix or Homstead. He is a great driver and he refuses to give up.
Now, on to Nationwide. I don't usually do this, but I think it deserves some words. Carl Edwards won the race and Brad Keselowski wrapped up the driver's Championship for Roger Penske's first NASCAR championship. They are trailing the owner's championship to Joe Gibb's #18 Toyota by 80 points, so these last two races are going to be tough ones. so congratulations to both Roger and Brad.
So what does the nest two races have in store for Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick? I don't know, so we are all going to have to find out!

Everything about me is NASCAR

When you look at someone, what do you see?
Do you see the color of their eyes?
Do you see the color of their hair, their skin?
What do you see when see me?
Everything about me is NASCAR.
The way I walk, the way I dress, the way I am.
You can look at me and roll your eyes, talk about me behind my back.
Everything about me is NASCAR.
The way I act, the way I talk, the way look at you.
You can say anything you want about me, you can just walk away.
Everything about me is NASCAR
I live, breath, drink NASCAR
All I have that won't leave is NASCAR.
I walk with it,
I talk with it,
Everything about me is NASCAR
I am who I am because of it.
I watch Kasey Kahne every week,
I watch Joey Logano every week.
I talk about it
I think about it
No matter what I do, it's there.
Circling around me
Following me around every turn
Holding my hand every step of the way
You can't take it away from me.
It is always there
Everything about me is NASCAR
What you don't see
What you don't hear
What you refused to see, hear, feel
It's what make me, me
Everything about me is NASCAR
You say it's stupid
You say there's no point
You say "all they do is go in circles"
But, you don't know
Have you ever even tried to watch?
Everything about me is NASCAR
You can't change me
You can't make me not like it.
You can't tell me it's stupid
You can't look at me and roll your eyes
Everything about me is NASCAR
I walk with the others,
the other fans
walking with the drivers
standing by our men
being excited from the drop of the green flag
to the checkered flag
no matter how dominant one driver gets
I will always watch it because
Everything about me is NASCAR

What I think of Kevin Harvick (oh yeah, I'm going there!)

Kevin, you didn't think anyone was gonna get into your Kool-Aid did you? You got in Joey's, so I'm gonna get in yours! You gotta understand that what you did to Joey at Pocono, was a dumbass thing to do. You got the young guy pissed off at you! Plus, his dad, who, I take it, is someone you don't want to mess with. After his dad, you got a lot of teenaged girls issed off at you because you took out Joey. He was racing you clean, he gave you plenty of room. So, why did you have to go and wreck him. Have you finally figured out that Joey is more respected than you or the fact that maybe you knew that he was going to beat you for that spot? Just pick one reason. No matter which one you choose we teenaged girls will still be pissed at you. Now for you Crew Chief, Gil, you're really said that it was Joey's fault that Kevin wrecked him? REALLY? you really think that? I think that i was your driver's fault, clearly. Actually I don't think it was his fault. I KNOW it was his fault. I just don't understand why you would have to say something like that. Now, back to Kevin. Do you really want another driver pissed at you? What does Joey make? Eight? Nine? Just take some advice from me. Just stop talking and just driving. Don't be so angry and mean to everyone. Who are you going to go after next? A team mate? Please just stop. Just stop or no one is going to like you anymore. The way you are acting makes me feel that what Joey said about your wife is true. You gotta start wearing the firesuit in the family, not her. She have your balls in her firesuit pocket too? Get them back and start actinng like an adult.