This is the fifth anniversary of NASCAR Day. The first NASCAR day was held in 2004. This day is celebrated the Friday before the All-Star race. So what is NASCAR day? This is the one-day celebration of NASCAR spirit and the fans. Of course for me every day is NASCAR day, but today is extra special. It’s kind of like Mother’s Day. We give an “extra salute” to our mom’s on that and the same can be said for NASCAR day. Fans and businesses can participate on many different levels with NASCAR day. The easiest way is purchase a NASCAR Day pin for $5.00. That’s it. How easy is that? I am proudly wearing my pin as well as my brand new Tony Stewart shirt I received in the mail yesterday.
NASCAR Day is also about giving back to the NASCAR Foundation and/or chartiable foundations of your
favorite drivers. NASCAR Day supports the NASCAR Foundation which was established in 2006. The NASCAR Foundation was created to bring together a number of charitable orgnaizations and initiatives within the NASCAR Family. Since the first NASCAR Day in 2004, NASCAR day has raied almost $5 million for charitable initiatives for the NASCAR family.
According to The NASCAR Foundation you can make a donation to The NASCAR Foundation or one of your favorite driver’s foundations during the 2008 NASCAR Day Telethon. You can either call, text, or donate via their website. You can also participate in the on-line auction to bid on some really cool NASCAR items. It really doesn’t matter how you can give, just give.
In case you missed it last night…I did sit down last night and watch the Pit Crew Challenge of Speed TV. I know to most people it would have seemed boring, but it really wasn’t. It was nice to several of the drivers there to support the pit crews last night. I did find myself rooting for Brian Vickers pit crew. I guess becuase they are the underdogs of the competition. They were having some of the best times at the challenge and it was fairly obvious they were the team of the night. In case you missed it and Tivoed…click away from the post.
As I mentioned over Bloggers FT Digest, this is one of my favorite times of the year I love being a NASCAR fan. I am, however, very excited about the Inaguaral Pennzoil Burnout Challenge. I think this will be an interesting event.
Driver’s will have to perform the following…
A full drag racing-style, tire-smoking burnout–it must be maintained from the “Start Box” to a designated transitionpoint.
At this transition point, the driver will then throw the car into a 360-dgree spin (aka donut) without crossing onto the apron fo the frontstretch or they will receive a penalty (boo)
Then the driver must maneuver out of the donut and spring into a “Victory Lane” marked on either side with traffic cones and into the “Finish box” stopping the clock.
Winner with the fastest time after penalties (if any) are accessed.
And here are the Burnout Competitors for the 2008 Inagural Challenge
1. Jimmie Johnson–no stranger to Victory celebrations, and I even have to admit, he has had some pretty good burnouts
2. Greg Biffle–has been able to celebrate much lately, but worth watching.
3. Clint Bowyer–he should be fresh and ready to go coming off a victory a couple of weeks ago at Richmond
4. Kyle Busch–he too should be fresh and ready for this competition
And finally, my personal favorite in the contest is…
5. Kevin Harvick–this boy can do a burnout like no other…he is famous for his burnout after following his 2003 victory at Indianapolis where he left his tires and his car’s back end in shreds. This clip isn’t all the long, but you definitely can tell, this was a good from the Happy Harvick.
Plus I can’t wait to see Kevin’s burnout. He says he will aim purposely to inflict damage, going for sytle points…”Just blow the tires out.”…that’s what I’m going for. Just pop the tires.” And when asked how he will get to Victory Lane? “We can walk.” Now that’s a man with a plan!
I guess they were afraid to ask Smoke because he would have wanted to climb the fence. Also why not Carl Edwards? I mean come on now…he does have a back flip in his aresenal. And who could forget the ever popular Snow Angel by Kurt Busch. Jeff Gordon was invited to participate, but declined the invitation. I guess he would lose points for trying to avoid beer cans (he he).
You can read more about the Challenge on NASCAR.com
I didn’t get to catch much of the race on Saturday night. I had to work during most of the day so by the time I got home it was about 5:30 then my brood needed to run to the grocery store to get the breakfast stuff for my Mother’s Day breakfast Sunday morning.
By the time we got home there was about 50-60 laps left. All I know is that it was a good thing I was out shopping when #19 got into Smoke. I am sure I would have been cursing at the television set despite the fact that I like the #19.
Congratulations to Kyle Busch for his 3rd win this season on the Cup side.
I have been surfing out there on all the NASCAR sites both in the media and those who are listed here in the Park. There are different camps regarding Kyle Busch. There are those who think he is a punk ass and should be taken out to the wood shed and those who think he is a great driver (yes, I have see positive posts about him). I consider myself to be right in the middle. I do think he needs to be taken out to the wood shed and have an attitude adjustment, but I really do like him as a driver. This boy can drive. I about fell out my chair last night while talking to my dad. Let me preface here…die hard Earnhardt fan (more Senior than Junior), but a fan none the less. He actually agress with me on Busch. He even mentioned how Rusty Wallace drove and behaved early on and now look at how we all view Rusty. I think the same thing can be said for Smoke and yes, even Dale Sr. I think he will come into his own as he continues on through his Cup career and yes, he might even pull it back during interviews, but hopefully not too much. I kind of like his style. That’s the reason I am a fan of Tony. He says what he feels and pretty much does what he wants. He’s a rebel.
Speaking of Smoke…I am listening to him on Sirius radio right now. He is a guest DJ on the Elvis channel tonight. Plus he will be broadcasting live from Graceland as well during his own show tonight. I wish I could listen to the show tonight, but have lots of laundry still to clean. This just gives me one more reason to like Smoke–he and I are both huge Elvis fans.
Well, the boys get a weekend off from points racing this Saturday night, but the gloves I am sure will surely come off for that $1 MILLION DOLLARS. I believe the Busch brothers took each other out last year. It’s a million dollars people. It’s every one for themselves!
I can’t wait to watch the race tomorrow night. Once again the boys are short trackin’ it. After last week’s excitement, this week should be interesting. I am definitely going to be watching how the #18 and #88 race if they get near each other.
I am also excited about the new racing surface. It will be interesting to see how it affects the race tomorrow night.
“I know the track is going to be awesome,” said two-time Darlington winner Jeff Burton. “It’s just what tire do they have to bring to match the track. I know the first tire there was just incredibly fast, and I think their next tire they pulled a lot of speed out of it and I heard it takes a while to get going. Really, it’s just the first couple laps getting a feel for the tires. That’s how I look at it. I don’t have any answers, I just feel like I have all questions.”
“We all know when the speeds pick up through the corners like that, it takes away from the racing a little bit,” Jeff Gordon said. “The cool thing is, I had a blast. That track is unreal right now. It’s smooth, it’s super-fast, but it’s the same Darlington. The track is just really black right now from the new pavement.
I hope the race is fast and there is a lot of excitement. I know there will be because, well, it’s short track racing. Short track racing…lots of cars and not enough track for all them.
HAPPY NASCAR DAY!
