WHOA HO HEY THERE GABBERS AND OTHERS!!!!!!! WOO HOOOOOOO!!!!! Welcome to the Daytona 500 that I thought was never going to end. After a 1 day rain delay and bumping it from 12pm to 7pm on a Monday we ended at 1am and FINALLY had a winner and by then I just didn't care.. Having no cable I managed to hook up my converter box and antenna before the race. I chased the signal in a 3 foot radius in my livingroom all race long. Since they went to digital the signal is so small if a tree branch moves in the wind your signal is blocked. But ANY HOW....On to Daytona.

We get started at 7pm and on lap 2 Elliot Sadler taps Jimmie Johnson in the left rear like has been happening in all the races during speed weeks and by now he should know better because there goes Jimmie hard into the wall and also gets nailed in the drivers door by David Ragan. Danica, last years winner Trevor Bayne and Kurt Busch are collected as well. Danica's car looked good to me but she went behind the wall for extensive repairs. Seems she needed a whole new rear end. New gears, trailing arms, housing and sheet metal among other things.

Lap 7 is restart. Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart are your top 3.

At Lap 13 Ryan Newman has a tire go down and around he goes. In the pits Newman's troubles continue. As he's leaving his pits the lug nuts aren't on and he loses his tire. AJ Allmendinger hits him in the rear. AJ never recovers. He's back in the 30's laps down for the rest of the race.

Lap 17 we restart. Paul Menard and Denny Hamlin didn't pit so they're out front followed by Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Regan Smith to round out the top 5. Denny quickly takes the lead.

Lap 22 Danica, Trevor and Kurt are still in the garage for repairs.

Lap 37 Trevor comes back on the track.

Lap 44 Your top 10 is Jeff Buton, Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard, Regan Smith, Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer.

Lap 54 green flag pit stops begin. Jeff Gordon is complaining his car is running wide open but has no speed. Kevin Harvick has a small vibration. Tony Stewart slows to come in the pits but is blocked by another car. Must speed up and go around. This puts him as the only one on pit road and nobody to draft with to get to the lead pack.

Lap 64 Stewart is saved. Debris caution is called. Landon Cassil is awarded the Lucky Dog Pass to the lead lap. Danica is backing out of the garage and gets back into the race at 62 laps down. Matt Kenseth is over heating. Looks like a geyser with the water spewing out. Having radio issues too. 

Lap 67 Restart. Top 10 is Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, David Ruetimann and Brad Keselowski.

Lap 70 Joe Nemechek does his Start & Park thing. He's off to the hauler.

Lap 81 Caution. Jeff Gordon's motor goes poof and up in flames. Says the gages never told him he had an issue. Tony Raines gets the Lucky Dog. Pit stops are mostlt fuel only but Kyle Busch takes right side tires too. 

Lap85 Restart. Terry "The Iceman" Labonte is out front followed by Greg Biffle, Marcos Ambrose, Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch for you top 5.

Lap 89 Caution. Marcos Ambrose bumped Terry Labonte's left rear and he goes for a spin. Great save by Terry. Look mom no walls.

Lap 92 Restart and 9 laps to the $200,000 bonus for leading at half way. Martin Truex Jr manages to get the bonus. Greg Biffle is 2nd followed by Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Aric Amirola, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne as you top 10.

Lap 101 Clint Bowyer complaining about over heating. By lap 119 it's even worse. .On lap 126 Bowyer is out of fuel. He misses pit road and brings out the caution on lap 129. A tow truck comes out to give Clint a push around the track to his pit stall. Ryan Newman gets the lucky Dog and there are 28 cars on the lead lap. 

With 68 to go It's Martin Truex Jr, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Regan Smith and Denny Hamlin in the top 5. Hey it's Mark Martin leading with 65 laps to go!!!!!

Hey!!!! Is that Sliced Bread out there leading? Sure is. Joey Logano leads a lap with 57 laps to go.

Caution with 43 laps to go David Stremme's motor goes bye bye. Pit stops begin and the Twilight Zone moves in. Juan Montoya is complaining of a vibration in every gear. He's hurrying to catch up to the pack for the restart driving down on the yellow line to stay clear of the trucks blowing debris off the track. Something snaps on Juans car and he careens into the trailer of one of the trucks. His car is destroyed and the jet helicopter engine used to blow the track is carrying 200 gallon of fuel and it's pouring down the track. Seconds later it's an inferno. Juan crawls from his wrecked car and the track worker is escorted from the burning truck. 

The red flag is out with the drivers parked on the track. All start getting out to check out the mess. The flames are quickly extinguished and clean up efforts begin with skid loaders picking up the truck, speedy oil dry followed by Tide laundry detergent washed down with water and then a coating of street bond. This was a 2 hour delay.

Brad Keselowski made the best of the situation by having his iphone with him. He now has the distinct honor of being the first to Tweet a picture during the race. He also gained 55,000 followers on Twitter. It would seem that some of the drivers had compartments built into their cars during practice and speed weeks to hold their phones. Although Kes was the only one to have his and the drivers took turns playing with it.

When some of the drivers got too close to the clean up the fun police intervened and sent them back. Carl Edwards wanted a snack. Said a sub or Cheez - its would be great about now. Dave Blaney, Landon Cassil, Tony Raines and David Guililand didn't pit and held their breaths as a threat of rain was issued during clean up. Dave was only trying to get a bonus point for leading a lap but would've been happy to take the win. But at 11:25 the drivers are directed to get in their cars. Weather threat is over, the tracks cleaned up and crew members have been bused to the back stretch to help hook up, belt up and window net the drivers. 

Around midnight the cars start moving. The front 4 that gambled have now gone to the pits for fuel and tires. Kyle Busch comes in for a splash of fuel just in case there's a green/white checker ending. He has to start as the last one on the lead lap due to pulling a tear off off his wind shield. 

It's 12:10am with 34 laps to go and we're off again. Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle lead the pack.

At around 24 laps to go the pack comes up on Casey Mears who is all by himself. He gets cycled back through the faster cars and a wreck happens. Ricky Stenhouse Jr moves down on Aric Amirola so Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose go around.

With 18 laps to go we restart. Before they go Joey Logano is sent from 6th to 18th place for not maintaining the pace car speed. Don't know why. 

15 to go...Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin and Paul Menard are your top 5.

Caution with 13 to go Jamie McMurray has a tire go down. Aric Amirola, Regan Smith, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski all caught in the mess. After watching the replay it would seem Tony Stewart has no damage even though he drove into McMurray's door. Edwards needs ride side front fender work.

Restart with 7 to go. Kenseth, Biffle, Dale Jr, Hamlin and Harvick are your top 5.

Caution with 4 to go. David Guililand pushed Ricky Stenhouse into Tony Stewart. Stewart spun but says he needs new tires even though he saved the car. McMurray is back on the track without front fender.  

We now have a green/white checker to end the race. It's Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Dale Jr, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Mark Martin, Joey Logano and Martin truex Jr for your top 10.

On the restart Kenseth, Biffle and Jr hook up and stay ahead of everyone else. Nobody seems to be able to get together and freight train by them or even to them. Kenseth is never challenged and wins at 1 am AND it's finally over.

SIDE NOTE

Some of you are probably wondering why they went to all the trouble to get Danica's car fixed and back in the race. Well being in the top 35 in the owners points gets you a guaranteed starting spot for every race. Even though she'll only be in 10 Cup races, she's sharing that # with somebody else. So every point counts even if your down 62 laps. Stewart Haas Racing bought the owners points from Tommy Baldwin Racing for 10 races. Those came from poor Dave Blaney who had to race his way into the Daytona 500 in the Duels on Thursday. Besides all that Danica needs seat time in the car. A Cup car is different from a NNW car. 

So next week is Phoenix. I hear it doesn't rain there. Maybe a few cacti will come onto the track and bully some drivers or a few buzzards with do a fly by. One things for sure it shouldn't be a 6 hour affair like Daytona. I'm beat. I need a nap. 

If any one is so inclined to do so you can bring some of the videos here. I'm not so computer talented. Typing and surfing are my only skills. I wouldn't consider 3 fingers typing either. Till next time, you have a great day and thanks for stopping by......

Thoughts from an Island Girl

​Wow!!  While not winning the Second race yesterday at Daytona,  Regan Smith took a strong second place finish and qualified in the 6th starting position for Sunday's Daytona 500!  A race won by Matt Kenseth in the last two laps.  The first race was won by a very hot Tony Stewart.  So yes,  I am very glad.

One of my other favorites is Trevor Bain.   I love the underdogs and there are so few of them these days.   At least the ones who have the potential to win.   And even some of those who have had it all,  find themselves on the outside looking in.  

Take Kurt Busch.  His virtual demotion has fostered a good sense of what team play is all about.  After acting his way out of the #22 Penske sled,  he has grown a deeper appreciation of what he had.   He is also learning what it means to have to work harder and be more conservative in his approach on and off the track.   He,  like his brother has more than enough talent to dominant but a lack of appreciation has caused them a lot of negative feedback and in the case of Kurt,  the loss of big money sponsorship.

But the NASCAR silly season is even more evident in Camping World Truck Series.  Great drivers like Todd Bodine are again struggling for sponsorships and one has to wonder what was going on at the end of last year.    Bodine and his teammate were acting out,  as were other drivers and I think that truck owners were are now are,  even more hesitant to sponsor and own drivers that like to mix paint.   Just my take on all that.     I think Bodine might find some help and have stated that he will be racing in the first race.   Let's hope he and some others get that financial boost they need to competitive and even show up for the races.

​As I mentioned in my last article on NASCAR,  there is other racing going on now.   This includes the Sprint 360s at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida.   The event know as King of the 360s kicked off last night with Shane Stewart picking up the victory.   42 cars lined up for the feature event, with five heats an A and B-Main and of course the final race of the evening,  take by the Canadian born Shane Stewart.

​East Bay will have it's second night of racing for the King of the 360s this evening,  with the final night and championship race on Saturday evening at the 1/3 mile clay track.  Down the road at Volusia Speedway in Barberville, Florida was the running of the season opener in the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars.  The racing was held on February 18th and 19th with double features on the 19th.    On opening night Danny Lasoski picked up the A-Main feature event,  while on the 19th, the first feature was taken by Donny Schatz.    For the big A-Main feature championship,  Wisconsin's own Craig Dollansky took the checkered.

​The 410 sprint series doesn't race again until the first week of March,  when they travel to 'The Dirt Track in Las Vegas" for one night of racing.  Following that on the 10th of March they travel to Perris Speedway in California.

​But the World of Outlaws have their Late Model Series.  On the opening night of late model action,the race was won by Billy Moyer of Arkansas age 54. Good for him.  One Wednesday  the track succumbed to the rain and so that action was postponed until Friday afternoon.

​One Thursday evening, 39-yr old Dennis Erb Jr. took the A-Main checkered, winning $10,000 dollars for his efforts.

​The final night of racing will be this afternoon,  so if you get this early enough you can always get out there.   Otherwise, for you at home,  simply register at Dirtvision.com and listen to the race free of charge and meet some other racing fans who share your robust love of racing, in one of the premier racing divisions in America.

Thoughts from an Island Girl

​Today I would like to discuss another Underdog, in the world of sports.   This time it is NASCAR's Regan Smith.   While certainly not a giant in racing,  he has done enough to inspire sponsorship and perhaps get more of those precious dollars, so many are struggling to obtain.

​Born September 23, 1983, this young veteran has won one Cup race, discounting the one he was stripped of.    But he is no real stranger to the sport of racing.  He began racing at age 4 in  Quarter Midget like cars.   At 12 he joined and won the World Karting Association and in 1996, at the ege of 13 won the Grand National Championship in the WKA.  The following season he won the WKA's Master Cup in 1997.   

​Following his stint in Karts,  he graduated to USAR in 2001 and the highlight was his winning three consecutive Sunoco Pole Awards,  a record to this day.  In 2003 and 2004 competed in the Truck series and during 2004,  recorded his first top ten finish (9th).

​The 2005-2006 seasons were his introduction to the Busch Series ( Now Nationwide) where he finished 20th in driver points.  

​He has been racing in the cup series since like 2007 while 2008 was his first full season racing in NASCAR's premier division.   While top 10 finishes have been relatively rare,  he has showed himself as reliable,  making a vast majority of starts over the past two or so years.

​His lone win came last year,  in a race that some experts called a fluke.  Ironically I picked him as my favorite driver just one week before his win.   And though he places towards the middle of the pack,  I have grown quite fond of him and his familiar #78.   I don't believe he has reached the upper-limits of his talent but of course a lot of this will have to do with funding and technical support.

Unlike Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks,  he hasn't busted out yet,  but there is no reason with the right logistics,  that he can't make his mark as a top competitor in the Cup Series.

​In other racing news,  Steve Francis won $10,000 in capturing Saturday's final of the Lucas Late Model program,  at East Bay in Tampa, Florida.    It was the culmination of six nights of racing in this premier class of dirt late model racing.   

​But this was not the first racing at East Bay for the 2012 season.   Each year at around the first of February,  East Bay has had it's winter fling on the clay.  Racing occurs for 4-6 weeks each year and this year the National culminate with three nights of racing,  called "The King of the 360 Sprints".     Many of Sprint Car racing 410 drivers appear at the track for this event.  A few years ago,  around 80 cars were present.   These cars come from about 4 countries and 38 states.   It,  like the Lucas Late Models are must see events and like Bowman Gray in North Carolina,  has a rich history with drivers like Steve Kinser,  Stevie Smith and many others.

​It is also a stepping stone to the bigs.    Past stars include Kenny Adams,  Gene Lasker and Sport Allen.

​The Nationals started back on February 2nd with the NE Late Models and Street Stock World Championship which culminated on February 4th.  February 8-11th were the UMP Modifieds and USA mod-lites.

East Bay is rated as one of the best clay racing surfaces in dirt racing.   The facilities are nice too.  Ownership and Management  are professional and former drivers at the track.   This is a very nice facility and if you get the chance to visit Tampa during February,  you will find you had a pretty good time.