Hello again loyal readers and other folks. Well we certainly had an excitin’ race weekend at Chicagoland. Yessirree! Duck and I were on our feet whoppin’, hollerin’ and quackin’ a plenty.
Course 1st off was the Truck race Friday. Only 2 Cup regulars competed in this race. The surprise pole winner was Steve Arpin (his first career pole), followed by Happy Man, Kligerman, 4 Wheels Now and WOG. Rowdy Boy was the other Cup regular who started an unusual 14th. For those who want to know Handsome Hornaday started 16th, Buescher started 6th, Rock’em Sock’em started 13th and the rest you can look up. So with no snacks or refreshments on the crates Duck, somewhat excited, and I quacked and cheered as the green flag flew.
I think Happy Man was the favored to win this race cause he has won the last 3 truck races and his team has won the last 4. Duck and I discussed this before the race and with Duck’s idol not competin’ in this here event his mind was free to think other ways so Happy was who we thought might be the winner. It seemed as though we were gonna hit that nail smack dab on the head, too, cause that boy was out front most of the race. He was just a rocket, let me tell ya that one somethin’ right now. But that track is as fickle as those barber shop bozos around here and gives us all some excitin’ and unexpected results sometimes. This here race was one of ’em. Yessirre it sure was. I didn’t actually count ’em so I looked it up and Happy had led 99 laps when the last round of pit stops began. But that poor boy developed a vibration so when others chose 2 tires to get track position Happy had to take 4 which sent him to 3rd place after all that stuff cycled around. WOG came out first and Rowdy Boy 2nd. Course Happy and Kyle were battlin’ each other for the spot while WOG pulled away but Happy took second, Piquet, Jr finished 3rd, Kligerman finished 4th, Rowdy finished 5th and WOG won. Good for him I say! Ya know streaks always have a beginnin’ and an end and this just happened to be Happy’s. For those who want to know Rock’em Sick’em ended 6th, Crafty Matt 7th, and Handsome Hornaday finished 10th. Buescher’s points lead dwindled to 3 points and WOG moved up to the bridesmaid position with Rock’em Sock’em in the 3rd spot just 3 points behind WOG. Now that’s a real close call there. Yessirree! The rest you can look up.
Saturday was the usual schedule for the Nationwide Series. 6 Cups boys ran in this event. Course one of ’em was Flippin’ Carl so you know who was pullin’ for, well, you know who. Brian Scott (his first ) took the pole followed by Good Bad Brad, Menard, Ryan Truex and Cutie Sadler. For those who want to know Almirola started 6th, Cutie Jamie started 23rd, Baby Face started 9th, Wide Smilin’ started 8th, Flippin’ carl started 10th and Kutie Kahne started 22nd. The rest you can look up. So again with no snacks on the crates one excited Duck and I quacked and cheered as that green flag waved. Yessirree the excitement was in the air!
Scott’s lead only lasted for the 1st lap cause Good Bad took the lead on the second lap. He was basically the one man show up front with a really good lead until lap 90 when lapped traffic gave Flippin’ Carl the lead and he had a good bit of space on Good Bad but when the other upfronters pitted Flippin’ Carl didn’t and that boy ran out of gas on lap 123. Shame on his crew chief I say! Shamey, shamey! Anyway even with a slow pit stop he managed to get in the 5th spot after all was said and done. The Good Bad ‘un was just the star of this show. He was out front and amazin’. Course Flippin’ Carl was amazin’, too. Duck and I were right proud of that boy. Anyway after 3 cautions and only 10 cars on the lead lap and a very healthy lead over Duck’s idol, Good Bad Brad won the race. Good for him I say. Duck’s idol finished 2nd followed by the pole sitter Scott, Almirola and Hornish, Jr. For those who want to know Cutie Elliott finished 6th, cutie Jamie finished 7th, Menard finished 9th and Baby Face came home 11th. Oh and I forgot to tell y’all Kutie Kahne had an accident and only finished 65 of the 200 laps and finished 33rd. Sad for him I say! Stenhouse, Jr leads Cutie Elliott in the standin’s by 14 points. 3rd spot through 5th is Speedy Reedy, Almirola and Allgaier. The rest you can look up.
So Duck was somewhat calm and collected. The only sounds I heard on any regular basis was some low duck grumblin’, thank our good and gracious LORD! I was hopin’ that was a good sign for the Cup race on Sunday, if ya know what I mean.
Sunday we had chores to do and didn’t turn the TV on until race time. Rain, rain and more rain. After a spell I decided to cook up some cabbage and onions and smothered that in bacon. Oh how tastey that was. Duck was still settled on the divan in front of the TV. I took his to him. Course it was still rainin’ so I decided to clean under the beds and do some laundry. After a long day of me cleanin’ and Duck waitin’ they called the race and rescheduled it for Monday mornin’. Actually I was fairly glad. Cabbage affects Duck and I both in certain negative ways, though we love it but you may know what I mean. It was best held on Monday. I know the Cup boys wanted to get that 1st Chase race out of the way and I’m not dismissin’ their wishes but with cabbage effects, rain and all I’m just sayin’.
Anyway Monday mornin’ I fried up some corn cakes then buttered ’em up and poured honey over the top, cut ’em up and placed them on the crates with cold, fresh milk to wash it all down. We were ready for racin’, no doubt about it. Robo took the pole position followed by Menard, Big Brother Busch, Flyin’ Ryan and Flippin’ Carl. For those who want to know Good Bad started 6th, Same Champ started 12th, Jeffie started 23rd, JR started 19th and Rowdy Boy started 9th. The rest you can look up.
So with sticky lips and duckbills we cheered and quacked as the race finally got underway. Robo held the lead until the first competition caution on lap 30. Rowdy Boy took the lead after pit stops but 11 laps later Big Brother Busch took the lead. Even after a caution for debris Kurt was still leadin’. I was glad to see that boy doin’ so well. That team has really come alive of late. Yessirree he was just pullin’ away from the rest of the field. And Smoke who started 26th was movin’ up like a man on a mission. Well come to think of it, he was of course. By lap 87 that boy took 10th spot. He was amazin’, let me tell ya that one somethin’ right now. Flippin’ Carl was in the 2nd spot so Duck was havin’ fits on his side of the divan. I was a tad bit more quiet. I was watchin’ some 3 wide racin’ at times and some wigglin’ cars that made me nervous. JR had moved up too. He would move up, fall back and move up again. I was gettin’ dizzy watchin’ that but I was cheerin’ for him. I can tell ya that one somethin’ right now. Anyway can’t do a lap by lap deal here but on lap 164 Cute Jamie’s car blew up. Sad for that darlin’ I say! After that Good Bad was the leader but Same Champ took it away from him a few laps later. There are a couple more cautions and a lead change or 2. And then on lap 237, oh my good and gracious LORD, Smoke took the lead and JR was in the top 10! There was talk about some drivers not havin’ enough gas so the end of this was gonna be excitin’. Then on the last lap all kinds of cars were runnin’ out of gas includin’ Same Champ Jimmie, Rowdy Boy and even Jeffie! Smoke won this race! From the outhouse to the penthouse…that boy won! GOOD for him I say! Happy Man finished 2nd and JR finished 3rd. Good for both of them I say. The points standin’s were all shook up at that point. Yessirree we have ourselves on hot Chase!!! Happy Man took over the points lead with Smoke trailin’ by 7. Flippin’ Carl is now 3rd 10 points down, Big Brother Busch is 4th 11 points down and JR is 13 points down in the 5th spot. The rest you can look up. Wow I was so excited to see JR jump 5 spots and Duck was excited to see his idol jump 2. Oh my good and gracious LORD I am gettin’ all excited again just reportin’ it here. GOOD for all of ’em I say!
Now for a little other stuff. Handsome Hornaday is still lookin’ for a ride for 2012. Makes no sense to me or Duck!
And how about that Caveman givin’ the command for the Cup race? That was interestin’! Those cavemen remind me of some relatives of mine…inlaws and blood. I enjoy those commercials. Course I like that little green lizard gecho too. Then of course I like the fact that Nationwide is on my side. Well they would be if I had Nationwide, but I don’t. I couldn’t decide so I just stayed with our town guy, “Gus Is A Must”. He handles all our insurance needs and those of most of this area I am told.
And finally this has nothin’ to do with racin’ but is a concern to Duck and I and maybe y’all as well. Ya know some space junk is gonna crash down here on earth somewhere on Friday. They can’t say where or exactly what time that day but said there is a 1 in 3200 chance of someone gettin’ hit. Now that concerns me. The last time somethin’ around here fell from the sky was about 10 years ago. Duck and I were havin’ breakfast one mornin’ and we heard a big crash. We ran outside and the hens were havin’ a fit and some strange ringin’ sound was to be heard. Duck and I ran out there and right smack dab in the middle of the hen house was an alarm clock goin’ off. The big hole in the roof was the tellin’ of what happened. Those poor hens were so scared they stopped layin’ eggs for a couple of weeks. Breakfast was all changed up durin’ that time, I can tell ya that one somethin’ right now. To this day we have never learned of that alarm clock’s origin. Weird happenin’ it was. “Gus Is A Must” came through for us, however.
So That’s it for now. Next week the Cup and Trucks head to Loudon. The Nationwide Series is off. Stay safe and remember to look to the skies. Granny Grump over and out.
