My weekend in Atlanta was a lot of fun despite a few glitches.  As usual I started my Thursday morning jumping on the train to the airport (I love the “L").  My flight wasn’t too bad considering my new distraction.  I just got an iPod and my new thing is video podcasts.  They are amazing and help people like me who are ADD and have a hard time sitting still for long periods of time.  Once in Atlanta I got to the always favorite car rental lot.  As my luck would have it I was assigned to a handicap accessible Chevy Impala...hand controls included.  Normally I wouldn’t make a big deal about it but I’m 6’ 2” and hand controls digging into my legs doesn’t appeal to me.  The friendly people at Avis took note and found me an SUV.  Thursday night I ate the the Cheesecake Factory and as luck would have it I get food poisoning.  It’s one of the worst feelings in the world.  Friday was a bust for me as I was still recovering.  On Saturday I got to see the Nationwide race which was a lot of fun.  Sunday brought warmer weather and tons of fans at our RaceDay show.  Rutledge even stopped by for a little to say hi.  Once the race started a few of us headed into the pits.  They were dead compared to the last couple of tracks.  I feel like the attendance might have been low for the race.  Overall it was pretty boring to watch.  The track did allow for drivers to use a number of different lines but the field was wide open.  Edwards was my pick to win but due to engine problems he had to retire early.  I think he would have shut Kyle Busch down.  Kyle Busch ended up taking the checkered flag and became the youngest driver to win at Atlanta and the first to win with a foreign engine (Toyota).  Good for Toyota!  After the race a lot of comments were made about the Goodyear tires that were run...most comments coming from Stewart.  Many complained that the tires were unsafe and should be pulled.  Goodyear fired back but talk is talk, lets see if changes are made.
As you all know Britol is this weekend.  I have waited to see this race in person for a long time.  When I first became a fan of NASCAR, Bristol was always my favorite track.  Every NASCAR fan talks about it, the majority of drivers love it, it always sells out, and I couldn’t be happier to finally check it out. 

Kenseth finally got his first win of the 2008 season.  Kyle Busch had the strongest car in the field and would have won but blew the right front tire and crashed hard into the wall.  Fine by me.  I would like to comment on Matt’s poor post-race celebration.  First, this is NASCAR, burn your tires until they go flat or until you can’t see because of the tire smoke.  Matt had about a 4.5 second burnout.  Sad.  He then heads to victory lane where I thought he would redeem himself.  Nope.  He gets out of the car, stands on the door and gives 1.5 arm pumps and hops down.  Weak sauce!  It made me think...maybe he was nervous, maybe he needed to hit the bathroom and get the post-race festivities concluded ASAP or he’s getting older.  Either way, there is no excuse for this.  To help prevent this from happening again I have thought of a few solutions.  With Carl Edwards as his teammate he could really learn a lot about victory celebrations.  I think NASCAR should allow the winning driver to “pass” their victory celebration on to one of their teammates.  Lets say Carl Edwards crashed on lap 20 and Matt wins.  Matt is tired and maybe Carl wants to do a few burnouts.  Let him!  He could even throw on one of Matt’s extra fire suits...no one will know.  Even better, pick a fan to help with post race celebrations.  How cool would that be.  You could make a whole television show out of a fan being able to partake in the victory celebrations.  The NFL pretty much banned it, baseball players just give high-fives, NBA players exchange light butt pats, golf...yeah right, and the rest don’t even come close.  NASCAR drivers, this is your time to shine.  Lets get weird!

This is a picture of Andy from Denver, CO.  I met him in Daytona as it was his first NASCAR race.  He is clearly a Kenseth fan.  The mustasche really pulls the outfit together.  Jesus would be proud.  Here’s to you Andy and Matt’s victory in ATL! 

Our trip to Vegas was a great time.  After coming off of three days in sunny San Diego I knew things would only get better.  The drive up from San Diego wasn’t bad...just lots of sand and little to see.  It’s amazing to think that people flock to a city that’s smack dab in the middle of the desert.  No lawns to mow, dry air, sand and dust constantly swirling.  Then again, where else can you put a $20 bill into a 5 cent slot machine and win $88.  I did!  Where else can you find an all-you-can-eat buffet with food prepared by real chefs.  White tigers in the middle of a hotel with a little baby dolphin swimming in the distance.  A bartender balancing 7 full bottles on his forehead.  Only in VEGAS! 
Although we had a lot of fun on the strip, the real fun was at the track.  The fans we met were over the top.  The amount of time they put into their signs and costumes was impressive.  Our Raceday show on Sunday morning was crazy.  We had almost 4,000 people in attendance.  The race even had a Vegas storyline.  Stewart crashed due to a blow front tire and hit the wall hard.  I was sitting right where he hit.  He clearly couldn’t walk on his own and had assistance getting into the safety car.  Once that mess was cleaned up more crashes and spins followed.  The top ten proved to be as predicted until the end of the race.  Just like Fontana, Kenseth gets bumped (by Gordon) and is taken out of the race.  That leaves both Gordon and Kenseth with two crashes to start the year.  Once that cleared up the man of the day was Carl Edwards.  As a Rousch-Fenway fan it was good to see him take another victory.  Kyle Busch still wasn’t able to claim a Sprint Cup victory....his M&M’s should keep him happy until the next race.  Junior is still impressing us all with his finishes...he must be laying off the Bud.  Johnson seems to have taken a backseat thus far and I’m sure many people are content with that.  The kid who hasn’t received much attention from all this is Kasey Khane.  He has had strong finishes all 3 races and stands fourth in points.  Give it up for the kid!  Coming into Atlanta look out for Montoya and Allmendinger’s new replacement, Mike Skinner!  (who said Red Bull was only for college kids trying to pull all-nighters....Skinner wants some too)
Bring your dance moves cuz the ATL is on deck and heating up…

I’m officially 4-4 on getting a Toyota Highlander as my rental car.  Not only do they give me the Highlander but I also seem to get the previously damanged ones.  Radical.  Try driving from San Diego to Vegas with your wheel cocked 90 degees to the left.  Lets not forget the awesome wet dog smell that sometimes creeps up and makes it presence known at 6am.  The sun hasn’t even come up and I’m smelling wet dog.  Finally, black spots on tan cloth seats can’t be safe.  It’s called mold and it’s something that I’m just not into. 

Avis...can’t we be friends like this woman below

We have a group MySpace page...check it out

http://www.myspace.com/speedstuntteam

-SPEED Stunt Team

Fontana, CA was everything but sunshine.  When we flew into LAX the weather seemed decent and then came the rain.  Too bad I didn’t bring my cute little yellow galoshes to the race, my mom would have been proud!  On Thursday a few of us spent the day in Santa Monica to do a little shopping.  Friday rolls around and it’s a total wash.  It continued until Monday when they finally got the Sprint and Nationwide races completed.  I was in the garage area right after the big crash with Sam Hornish Jr.  I’ll include a few pictures of his mangled car on my next blog. 

Just got to Vegas!  Instead of heading to Chicago after Fontana I stayed on the west coast and spent some time in San Diego.  Taco Tuesday missed me and I missed it.  I got to spend 3 days on the beach and hang out with good company.  Back to work and hopefully some good racing this weekend.

Newman pulled off a win that most didn’t think he could do.  Congrats to him!  The big loser of the weekend was me. After 12 days of pure sun exposure my body decided to hate me.  For the last 48 hours I have had hot flashes followed by the chills...over and over.  Hopefully I’m better by the time California rolls around.  Speaking of California, I just got word that Matt Kenseth will be on one of our shows.  I couldn’t be more excited.  As you may know I’m a HUGE Kenseth fan.  It’s like that feeling when you finally got to take the training wheels off your neon green Huffy Mudslinger and show off to the rest of the kids on your block.  That’s what I’m feeling right now. 
Off to LAX tomorrow morning.  The cold weather here in Chicago is horrible and I can’t wait to get out.  See you all at the track. 

Here’s to the people who work the late shifts at truck stops

I’ve been coming to Daytona Beach for the past 6 years but this was my first 500. The amount of people that packed into one place was amazing to see. Everything from full blown RVs to sleeping on the grass with a blanket, Daytona had it all. I heard a lot of different stories on how people made the trip down but one guy topped them all. A week before the Daytona 500 Kenny Wallace made a comment on-air suggesting that people living up north battling the cold weather should quit their jobs, pack their stuff and head down to Daytona to witness the greatest race in the world. He took that advice, quit his job, grabbed his three buddies and made the trip from Minnesota. Talk about a true fan. I hope he has a job lined up when he gets back home.

During the 12 days at Daytona we had a lot going on at our stage and during that time we met a lot of great people. I met a woman who went by the name of Scooby Doo. She came to almost every show we had during the first week. Every time I saw her I knew that meant a free hug. (Keep in mind that hugging at NASCAR races isn’t always as great as you might imagine. Think sauna + same shirt all day + gasoline smell = NASCAR hug). I also got to meet the famous Dale Jarret fan who always wears his hardhat and yellow Oakley sunglasses. Thanks to the woman who gave us pictures from our night on stage and Candy Adams for being our “mom” during the week.

Just a friendly reminder - beef jerky and chocolate milk go really well together