Hi Everyone,

I really never thought this past weekend would come - but it has - and it’s all over :(
I don’t really know where to start other than to say a big THANKS to everyone that made this year possible - and especially to all the SPEED fans.
We met so many great people on the road it’s pretty hard to sit here and list them all but just know I appreciate all the great times had this year! I do have to say a special hello to Max and Ryan as I am sure they are super pumped that Jimmie and the 48 team did it again!
I hope everyone enjoyed all the fun at the stage this year, and I hope all will return again next year! The fun will continue...you will just have to wait until next season!

Soo all you SPEED fanatics hang on to your be-there-booklets and you can use them again in 2009!

Hopefully I will see you all again!

Have a safe and happy holidays!

*Robyn

If you were out in Phoenix this weekend I hope you stopped by both the SPEED stage and the SPEED cantina!

It was a great weekend all around - great weather, great fans, and great food and drinks at the Cantina! The grand opening on Friday night was a great time had by all - if you weren’t able to ‘be there’ - Rutledge did a great piece on it during Raceday!

So I hate to say it but I think the 48 team is going to take the 2008 championship. I know there is a slight chance that Carl can come back and win it but I refuse to state the odds of that happening.

Miami here we come - and the last weekend of the 2008 road tour! I’m saving all my final thoughts for the final blog next week.

Come back and check it out.

See you in Miami!

Halloween at the SPEED stage was a great time for all! We saw some of the cutest kids in costumes during the tracks “Truck or Treat” event before the Truck Race on Friday night. We saw everything from chickens, to ghosts to goodyear tires - all pretty adoreable if you ask me! My costume scared a few kids here and there - but the main issue with my costume was getting people to figure out what kind of animal I was. I heard everything from cat, to bear, to sasquatch, to Bootie Barker’s guess that I was a panther?! really??
Eventually I carried around a banana so everyone knew - I was a monkey!! (and quite fitting of my character might I add) You can check out the pictures from Texas to see my cuddly self.

Another race, another win and another back-flip. Your guess is as good as mine as to the chances of Carl Edwards removing Jimmie from the top spot. I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed. I think anything can happen at this point....

Phoenix here we come!

See you at the track

Well it’s official - Both Atlanta races have now come and gone, and both weekends have been cold and wet! At least we avoided snow this time...no snowball fights at the SPEED stage this weekend :(

Rain aside we had a very interesting twist to Trackside this weekend - a special guest stopped by to suprise Carl Edwards - WWE star John Cena. If you weren’t at the track to catch the show live I hope you caught it at home! The WWE slightly haunts my past (that’s a story for another time and place) so it was interesting to see the combination of Nascar and WWE hit the SPEED stage. IF you haven’t seen the Gillette Young Guns commercial I suggest trying to so you can understand the combination of these two fan favorites.

Race 7 ended up being lucky for some - in my opinion the 48 car had a horseshoe up its...bumper - turning a misfortunate speeding penalty at the beginning of the race to finishing second. Carl Edwards still took the win and I think he had some extra luck on his side as well in the form of a necklace. For anyone who caught Nascar Raceday you know exactly what I’m talking about. A young boy named Dalton from the Aflac Cancer Center let Edwards borrow his special necklace for the race - and it must have helped! I would have loved to see the reaction on that little boys face when the 99 car grabbed the checkered flag!

Halloween next weekend in Texas...stop by the SPEED stage to see everyone in their costumes. I won’t ruin the suprise - but I will let you know that my costume takes ‘pump it up’ to a whole new level.

See you at the track!

Can you believe qualifying got rained out again?
Martinsville VA dealt us the weather we are used to this year, but yet again the fans were still out rain or shine.

Four more weeks to go! I can’t believe that either.This year has definitely gone by in a hurry - it felt like yesterday we were flying into Florida for the Daytona 500.
A lot has changed that’s for sure! Someone even managed to find some pictures of the team from our first two weeks in Daytona and they speak for themselves in regards to the changes in everyone this year. There are a lot more changes than just appearance this year - I think I’ll mention one for each one of my next four blogs for the season.

Stay tuned!

See you in Atlanta!

Can you believe qualifying got rained out again?
Martinsville VA dealt us the weather we are used to this year, but yet again the fans were still out rain or shine.

Four more weeks to go! I can’t believe that either.This year has definitely gone by in a hurry - it felt like yesterday we were flying into Florida for the Daytona 500.
A lot has changed that’s for sure! Someone even managed to find some pictures of the team from our first two weeks in Daytona and they speak for themselves in regards to the changes in everyone this year. There are a lot more changes than just appearance this year - I think I’ll mention one for each one of my next four blogs for the season.

Stay tuned!

See you in Atlanta!

It was definitely nice to be home for a race!

Familiar faces and fans from all over made the weekend fly by!

Of course if you caught Trackside on Friday you noticed we had a few special guests - Jessica Simpson being one of them. As fun as it was to have Jessica Simpson on the show, my favorite guests by far were those from the Make-A-Wish foundation! A big thank you to everyone in the audience who cheered and applauded as they made they’re SPEED stage debuts!

Though we’re not at home this weekend...we’re not too far away in Martinsville, VA!
The chase continues and my pick has not been having the best luck lately...maybe the 99 car will take a turn for the better this weekend!!

See you at the track

Yet again Talladega left me speechless.

Last time we were there I was wondering why the movie “Talladega Nights” had the word night in it. There are not any lights surrounding the huge superspeedway - therefore no night racing taking place - therefore confusing? anyone following me on this....

So I came to a conclusion after this weekend, and talking to numerous race fans that looked like they hadn’t slept...that Talladega Nights has more of a relation to the partying that occurs at night than the racing.

feel free to disagree. this was just an observation.

After a race like Sunday’s I’m beginning to understand why fans love Talladega and Teams hate it. It seemed like everyone got wrecked at least once...and some even made it back on the track. Tony Stewart finally got a win at Talladega...but clearly not without some controversy (seems to be his thing) I’ve heard a few people debate if Regan Smith should have won, but I guess Nascar said otherwise.

John Roberts said Regan Smith should be getting the rookie of the year award...and after a finish like that I definitely agree with him!

Home to Charlotte this week and I can not wait!!! It’s pretty nice to go to work in my backyard… no complaints here. At least Charlotte is an actual race under the lights…

See you at the track!

I think I just figured out what was my favorite stop fo far this year...Kansas!

The crowds were out of control this weekend...but in the best way ever! During Raceday on Sunday we were informed by displays around us that our crowds were a little too loud for them....oh well! You were all having fun and that’s all that mattered. Michael Waltrip was trying to speak right beside us at the Toyota display about the same time Nascar Raceday was going live...needless to say you could tell all he could hear was our Raceday crowd screaming “Pump it Up” - I couldn’t quite tell but I think even yelled “pump it up” a few times.

In my opinion that was the most interesting race of the chase so far. Just watching what was going on in the pits was interesting enough at times - tires flying, cars cutting eachother off, pit guys on top of cars, kicking cars, screaming at cars…
looked like fun!

Even the last lap alone was worth the watch...but apparently Carl Edwards attempting moves from video games didn’t quite work for the 99 team and yet again the 48 made it to Victory Lane.

‘Dega here we come! I heard a rumor that the driver of the 88 and 24 car just might be stopping by our stage this weekend..if your’re at the race come stop by and see if the rumors are true!
Also sign up to be a Speed Fanatic or get your book stamped again and we’ll get you a free issue of Nascar Scene!

See you at the track!

I think I just figured out what was my favorite stop fo far this year...Kansas!

The crowds were out of control this weekend...but in the best way ever! During Raceday on Sunday we were informed by displays around us that our crowds were a little too loud for them....oh well! You were all having fun and that’s all that mattered. Michael Waltrip was trying to speak right beside us at the Toyota display about the same time Nascar Raceday was going live...needless to say you could tell all he could hear was our Raceday crowd screaming “Pump it Up” - I couldn’t quite tell but I think even yelled “pump it up” a few times.

In my opinion that was the most interesting race of the chase so far. Just watching what was going on in the pits was interesting enough at times - tires flying, cars cutting eachother off, pit guys on top of cars, kicking cars, screaming at cars…
looked like fun!

Even the last lap alone was worth the watch...but apparently Carl Edwards attempting moves from video games didn’t quite work for the 99 team and yet again the 48 made it to Victory Lane.

‘Dega here we come! I heard a rumor that the driver of the 88 and 24 car just might be stopping by our stage this weekend..if your’re at the race come stop by and see if the rumors are true!
Also sign up to be a Speed Fanatic or get your book stamped again and we’ll get you a free issue of Nascar Scene!

See you at the track!

Dover!

Race 2 of the Chase is now over and who would have thought Kyle Busch would be in dead last! I’m starting to understand why some people really do not like the Chase format (since it put a driver that was in first nearly all season in last) but personally I think it makes everything a little more interesting.

Kenny Wallace said he had never seen a live audience as large and loud as it was in Dover this weekend - thanks to everyone who made it out! Also a special thanks to my favorite family from PA who made another trip to come see us at the stage - Max is my favorite Kyle Busch fan so hopefully he’ll start doing a little better!

You know when you watch any of the live shows from the Track that our talent’s hair always seems to be perfect? It can be windy, rainy and storming and yet their hair is still perfect! Well one special fan finally asked Steve Byrnes how this is so during our “sit and spin” on Friday night. Steve’s trick? He enjoys using putty from Aussie and Garnier Fructis. Fun little fact!

The Biff did it again! We’re off to Kansas City to see if he can win the third race of the Chase!

See you at the track!

Dover!

Race 2 of the Chase is now over and who would have thought Kyle Busch would be in dead last! I’m starting to understand why some people really do not like the Chase format (since it put a driver that was in first nearly all season in last) but personally I think it makes everything a little more interesting.

Kenny Wallace said he had never seen a live audience as large and loud as it was in Dover this weekend - thanks to everyone who made it out! Also a special thanks to my favorite family from PA who made another trip to come see us at the stage - Max is my favorite Kyle Busch fan so hopefully he’ll start doing a little better!

You know when you watch any of the live shows from the Track that our talent’s hair always seems to be perfect? It can be windy, rainy and storming and yet their hair is still perfect! Well one special fan finally asked Steve Byrnes how this is so during our “sit and spin” on Friday night. Steve’s trick? He enjoys using putty from Aussie and Garnier Fructis. Fun little fact!

The Biff did it again! We’re off to Kansas City to see if he can win the third race of the Chase!

See you at the track!

Hey Race Fans!

I’m just beginning to realize how important the races in the Chase really are - mostly because we watched Kyle Busch go from 1st to 6th in one race!

I think I finally found a team to cheer for going for the Championship,...Carl Edwards and the 99 team. Again there were a lot of Canadians in Loudon this weekend, and a lot of them were Carl Edwards fans - so that made my decision a little easier! Though it wasn’t Carl Edwards that took the win this weekend, but Greg Biffle (also called GFB - but im not sure why that is) First win of the season and it put him 3d place in points, I guess anything really could really happen now.

I guess we’ll have to wait in see…

Come see us at the SPEED stage in Dover! Be sure to ask about how you can become a Speed fanatic and win a chance to compete with the Gillette Young Guns!

In terms of major delays - we’ve been pretty lucky this year...that is until last weekend

After Richmond,Virginia declared a state of emergency - we knew something was going to change witht the race
A Sunday day race in Richmond was the final call - which definitely made for an interesting weekend…

Our shows still went as planned - and a huge thank you to the fans who still came out. The audience during Tradin’ Paint were by far true race fans - they stood outside in the pouring rain while even I was seeking shelter. We left the track that day more wet then I think we’ve been all year long..

Since we had a day off on Saturday we decided to explore Richmond a little bit and act like girls (we pretty much give that up from Fri-Sun)
So shopping and spa treatments filled the day - even for Daryl!

A short drive back from Richmond to Charlotte and the weekend came to an end.

Sooo the CHASE begins…

I want to pick someone to cheer for in the final 10 races - so I’m asking my favorite fans to help me out…

My favorite father/son duo really wanted Kasey Kahne to win...but sadly that doesn’t seem to be possible now since he just missed making the Chase. (Fun Fact - Anheuser Busch sent him a horseshoe from one of the Budweiser clydesdales for Good Luck! But it didn’t quite seem to help him out!)

My favorite family watched Trackside from the SPEED Tailgate stage, and they hope that Kyle Busch takes the championship. (It’s a long story involving a “Flat Stanley") So it looks like I might be pushing for Kyle unless another fan convinces me to cheer for someone else.

Feel free to convince me this weekend in New Hampshire!

In terms of major delays - we’ve been pretty lucky this year...that is until last weekend

After Richmond,Virginia declared a state of emergency - we knew something was going to change with the race
A Sunday day race in Richmond was the final call - which definitely made for an interesting weekend…

Our shows still went as planned - and a huge thank you to the fans who still came out. The audience during Tradin’ Paint were by far true race fans - they stood outside in the pouring rain while even I was seeking shelter. We left the track that day more wet then I think we’ve been all year long..

Since we had a day off on Saturday we decided to explore Richmond a little bit and act like girls (we pretty much give that up from Fri-Sun)
So shopping and spa treatments filled the day - even for Daryl!

A short drive back from Richmond to Charlotte and the weekend came to an end.

Sooo the CHASE begins…

I want to pick someone to cheer for in the final 10 races - so I’m asking my favorite fans to help me out…

My favorite father/son duo really wanted Kasey Kahne to win...but sadly that doesn’t seem to be possible now since he just missed making the Chase. (Fun Fact - Anheuser Busch sent him a horseshoe from one of the Budweiser Clydesdale for Good Luck! But it didn’t quite seem to help him out!)

My favorite family watched Trackside from the SPEED Tailgate stage, and they hope that Kyle Busch takes the championship. (It’s a long story involving a “Flat Stanley") So it looks like I might be pushing for Kyle unless another fan convinces me to cheer for someone else.

Feel free to convince me this weekend in New Hampshire!