Hello loyal readers and other folks. Well the muchly desired trip to Indiana by all the drivers has come and gone with some unexpected results let me tell ya that one somethin’ right now. Some folks are happy and some aren’t. Nothin’ unexpected about that though if ya know what I mean.
The trucks did their mostly normal Friday appearance at the LOR. I can’t get used to this track bein’ called Lucas Oil raceway. I liked it best when it was called IRP or even ORP. Course that’s neither here nor there since this is the last race for the Trucks and Nationwide Series there but I’m just sayin’. Anyway I wrongly figured since this was a race at a newly named track Duck and I should experience new snacks for our race viewin’ pleasure. I chose carrot sticks and those broccoli floret thingies with ranch dressin’ and cold lemonade. I got it all set up on the crates, turned on the TV and told Duck to dig in. Oh my good and gracious LORD! Duck did ok with pickin’ his choice of veggie but dippin’, well that was just a disaster! When he went to dip the bowl flew off the crate spillin’ the lemonade everywhere. The dip landed on my feet, splashed up on him and he took to havin’ a ragin’ fit. Why I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears, let me tell ya that one somethin’ right now. So some 10 minutes and a less that perfect cleanup later Duck had a bowl of previously dipped veggies, I had some chips and neither one of us had lemonade.
Anyway the winemaker’s older grandson Austin (from here on out abbreviated to WOG which I guess means the younger one named Ty will have to be known as WYG) snagged the pole followed by Curly Sadler, J Coulter, Rock’em Sock’em and Handsome Hornaday. 2 pretty girlies started this race too. Johanna Long in 13th, good for her I say, and JJ Cobb in last so sad for her I say. So with sticky feet and still a bit of a mess about us we managed somewhat of a cheer and quack as the green flag flew.
This was just good short track racin’ if ya know what I mean! It really was. In no time at all the field was startin’ to get lapped. Duck and I admit to cheerin’ for Handsome Hornaday. I reckon it isn’t nice for us to say that, writin’ a race report and all, but he is just a character and racer we have come to like. You have favorites, right? So with all that said, which is neither here nor there, we felt for Hornaday. He has had a bit of a tough year. Course so has everyone else in that series. He won a race and there are 9 different winners so far this year. None of the regulars have a repeat win but Rowdy Boy has 5 wins. That affects the regulars in a big way! And as far as the points standin’s then it comes down to the number of poles and the number of top 5’s and 10’s.
This was another of those fuel mileage/pit strategy deals. No lap by lap as y’all know so in the end Timothy Peters, now to be known here as TP, got his first win. GOOD for him I say! James Buescher, Starr, Paludo and Hornaday rounded out the top 5. For those who want to know, WOG finished 8th, Rock’em Sock’em finished 23rd 4 laps down. The girlies: Johanna Long finished 17th 2 laps down and JJ Cobb finished 32nd 13 laps down. The rest you can look up.
Next up was the final race at LOR for the Nationwide Series on Saturday. No snacks today for us. Nossirree! If we needed or wanted somethin’ we had to go get it. Why my floor was still sticky which is neither here nor there. Anyway Duck was excited cause you know who was runnin’. No DNQ’s that day! All prayers this week were a more standard prayer before the race but Duck looked a bit sad for such. I smiled understandin’ly cause I liked Rev Nelms a LOT, too. Anyway, Stenhouse Jr started on the pole followed by Bad Brad, Flippin’ Carl, Allgaier and Baby Face Bayne. For those who want to know WOG started 12th, Funny Man Wallace started 11th behind his nephew (he’s has been doin’ really good of late so Good for him I say!) and Curly Sadler started dead last after an accident durin’ qualifyin’ so SAD for him I say) The rest you can look up.
This was one of those milder short track races for awhile to our way of thinkin’ except for Flippin’ Carl reachin’ 2nd around lap 26 or so, but when they woke up oh my good and gracious LORD we had ourselves a RACE. Yessirree! The first caution resulted in pitstops, of course, and when Flippin’ Carl came out 1st sticky winged Duck, and me of course, quacked and cheered! Course on that same lap Stenhouse took it away so Duck sat back down all sad like. I told him to just hold on cause there was lots of racin’ left but that didn’t do much good! That Stenhouse boy was just a rocket and had himself a right good space over Carl within 20 laps. Curly sadler was just amazin’. He was knockin’ off positions right and left. Yessirree he was awesome. By early in the 2nd half that boy was up to 4th and Bad Brad was worryin’ some folks with some mysterious rearend smoke but he was holdin’ his own in the top 10. Then it happened…a nasty wreck on lap 175 with Annett, Andrews and Rusty’s boy. They rightly red flagged the race. Took 5 minutes or so to get the field movin’ again after clearin’ away the mess so when they pitted Flippin’ Carl got a speedin’ penalty and that basically did his winnin’ bid in! Oh you can imagine the goin’s on from Duck’s end of the divan. I just ignored him. Yessirree! I was gonna enjoy myself. 3rd caution came out cause Baby Face lost an engine. Sad for him I say. The Allgaier’s car caught fire underneath. SCAREY for him I say, but he headed to pitroad, got out safely so sad and good for him I say! Then a 4th caution came out when Curly and WOG wrecked. Oh sad for them both too! A green/white/checkered resulted in his 2nd win of this season for Bad Brad. GOOD for him I say! That mystery smoke didn’t hurt that boy one iota, let me tell ya that one somethin’ right now. GOOD for him I say! I like that boy! Duck went to his room! James Buescher finished 2nd followed by Stenhouse, Jr, AA and Flippin’ Carl. For those who want to know Speedy Reedy finished 9th, Joe Nemechek finished 7th (GOOD for him I say!), Funny man finished 12th and Baby Face finished 28th. The rest you can look up!
Sunday was the Big Boys at the big track. Now I’m not demeanin’ the other series in anyway whatsoever. Just mean Cup boys at Indy. This is a place that all those drivers want to race and win at. We had snacks of chips and Coke Zero. It seemed easier and less to go through what we did on Friday. David Ragan started on the pole followed by Kutie Kahne, same champ Jimmie, Kurt Busch and Bad Brad. For those who want to know Rowdy Boy started 29th, JR. started 22nd, Flippin’ Carl started 10th and Jeffie started 8th. The rest you can look up.
It was a hot one for those boys. Course it had been that way all weekend. Anyone who says those drivers are fit athletes have their collar too tight messin’ up their thinkin’ if ya know what I mean! So with renewed hope and enthusiasm Duck quacked and I cheered as the race got underway! Kutie Kahne didn’t waste any time takin’ the lead on the first lap. Nossirree! Why those boys decided to get after stuff right away! 4 wide racin”! It was excitin’! Bad Brad was backin’ up a bit. Felt sorry for Kurt when he hit the wall early on but he seemed to be doin’ ok early. When the 1st round of pitstops began the lead was passed around between several drivers as is usual. Smoke hit the commitment cone on his entrance and had to serve a drive through. Sad for him I say! When the pitstop was over Kutie Kasey was back on top and 3 of Hendrick’s cars were in the top 10. JR had a run in with Wide smilin’ Lagano early on so that may well have kept him mired midpack. We were rootin’ for him, but Jeffie was the star of that stable all day long. He was runnin’ up front all day. Course not in the lead but still upfront. Good for him I say! JR did make it to the lead for a short spell. Oh I was yellin’ like a crazy woman, but, it didn’t last long sadly. Jeffie got the lead from him the next lap. And poor Flippin’ Carl was just fallin’ farther and farther behind to Duck’s dismay. Sad for him I say! Paul Menard took the lead after pitstops followin’ the 2nd caution but that also went away. Then the 3rd caution came out when Rowdy Boy hit the wall. Sad for him I say! Pit stops again shuffled up the lead. Oh I could go on and on but as I’ve said before the last lap is what counts most at the bank. When Menard got hold of the 1st spot he had no intentions of lettin’ Jeffie by. Oh Jeff tried, he really did and he was catchin’ Paul but he just plain ran out of time. Menard won his 1st ever Sprint Cup race! He wanted it so badly for his daddy and they all, family and crew got to kiss those bricks, Good for all of them I say. It was excitin’.
Jeffie finished 2nd followed by Smith, cutie McMurray, and Robo Kennseth. For those who want to know, Smoke came home 6th, cute smilin’ Mark finished 8th, Rowdy Boy rallied back to finish 10th. Jr finished 16th and sadly for him and Duck Flippin’ Carl finished 14th. Duck went to his room again even though I told him Flippin’ Carl still had the points lead. Sometimes he seems to get the “big picture” deal and other times he just falls short. I know he’s a duck, but he is a special race fan, died in the wool Flippin’ Carl fan duck and I guess I understand most times. Course if Carl pulls of this championship Duck will be wide smilin’ on banquet day let me tell ya that one somethin’ right now! And so will I!
As for the other stuff, I am sad for the Truck and Nationwide drivers sayin’ good bye to this week’s race track. It is fine racin’ after all. And another other stuff is the later reactions to last week’s Rev. Nelms prayer. Some called it ugly and some really liked it Duck and I bein’ among those, but, the overall majority liked it, it seems. Why I even saw ABC had 2 ministers who liked it and gave it a thumbs up so good for him and them I say!
So there ya have it. Next week is kind of a crazy schedule. Saturday has the Truck and Nationwide races. The Nationwide series heads to Iowa while the Trucks run Pocono. Then Sunday the Cup series races at Pocono. Strange arrangin’ there to my way of thinkin’. If you have some other stuff you want to discuss email, comment or don’t. It’s ok and you know why. Granny Grouch over and out!
