Hello loyal readers and other folks. Another race weekend is in the rear view mirror. We had ourselves another 3 race viewin’ weekend. This time we stayed at the same track in the same state. Nice change of late it was! The Campin’ World Trucks had the weekend off so we started this race weekend with the ARCA race at Michigan on Friday early evenin’. This was the 8th race of their season for this series. This race was only 100 laps long but was just riddled with cautions. 7 of ’em totaled 39 laps for cryin’ out loud. If ya do the math that left only 71 laps of real racin’ so those drivers had to get on it and stay on it. Know what I mean?
Cale Gale lead the field followed by Ty Dillion (the wine maker’s grandson and look alike) with Hal Martin, Chris Buescher and Casey Roderick makin’ the first 5. The rest you can look up. So, Duck and I were pretty tired after a hard day’s work but we mustered some strength and excitement to cheer and quack as the green flag flew. This race was excitin’ to our way of thinkin’. Cale Gale drove for Happy Harvick in this race but hasn’t raced in this series for 4 years, so it was real excitin’ to see that boy in good equipment on his return. Seemed like he was the one to beat. Accordin’ to ARCA that boy lead 64 of those 100 laps spread out through 4 different times and there were only 4 different leaders all total. Now that’s just purely ol’ domination. Know what I mean? Course, as we all know the only one that counts at the bank is the last one and with 4 laps to go Cale blew a tire allowin’ Max Gresham to take the lead. Then on the last lap that little Ty boy passed him and won that race! Lookin’ at them in Victory Lane that sure made Wine Man a happy grandpa, let me tell ya that one somethin’ right now. And no wonder to this at all. That was Richard’s 4th win in this series this season. Good for both of them I say! And Cale, honey, you’ll get another chance to celebrate when you land a permanent ride. This granny is sure of that much! I’m just thinkin’ this was probably interestin’ conversation between Childress and Harvick what with bein’ owner and driver about driver grandson and driver. I’m not suggestin’, I’m just wonderin’. But that’s neither here nor there. Tough stuff truly does happen quite often in racin’ but good and good for y’all I say!
Next for our weekend race viewin’ pleasure was The Nationwide race. Paul Menard made Happy Man, well happy, by takin’ the pole at 182 plus miles per hour and bein’ the only one to make it to that speed! Sam Hornish, Jr landed the second spot followed by Flippin’ Carl, Almirola and Stenhoue,Jr. The rest you can look up. Duck and I settled in with our snacks and choice of refreshment on the crates and quacked and cheered as the green flag flew! We settled for Saturday’s 125 laps. Duck was oh so excited and just full of duckly hope with his idol runnin’ up front. It is always so entertainin’ to watch his messy wing flappin’ excitement. Course it many times turns to really disturbin’ disappointment and behavior, but, that’s neither here nor there this time thank our good and gracious LORD!
Menard and Hornish were battlin’ early on for the lead but by lap 7 you may know who was just havin’ a duck fit when his idol had a nice size lead on the rest of the field. There was just all kinds of jostlin’ goin’ on lap after lap. 3 cautions for one reason or another helped change up the field what with varyin’ pit strategies. There were 14 different lead changes so that kept the viewin’ interestin’, I can tell ya that much right now. That cute veteran Mark Martin was runnin’ this race too and even lead lap 100 on a restart but Rowdy Boy took it away in the same lap, but, Carl took it away from Rowdy on the next lap. I’m tellin’ ya those boys kept the action goin’ and goin’ just like that battery bunny in the commercials. Again, the last lap is the one that counts at the bank and that was Flippin’ Carl! Course he battled back and forth with his teammate Stenhouse to get the lead from him with about nine laps to go. Oh the duckly cheerin’ and yellin’ goin’ on from the divan! Carl won to our pleasure. This was his 4th Nationwide win so far this season, Duck was quick to remind me, let me tell ya that much right now. Anyway Stenhouse, Rowdy Boy, Menard and that cutie Trevor Bayne finished off the top 5. The rest you can look up. Sleep came easily for Duck and I. Course it was interrrupted some for me by some happy sounded noises comin’ from another bedroom, but it was a pleasin’ disturbance. So good for Flippin’ Carl, Duck and even me I say!
Sunday was a midday race for the Cup guys. Duck and I ate lunch early so we could just snack lightly, which we did. It was hot and humid so we chose cold buttermilk with that curious string cheese, which I wisely prerace strung, and Ritz crackers. With tastey snacks placed on the crates, we cheered and quacked as Kurt Busch lead us to the green for the 3rd time in a row so an early in this article and well deserved good for him I say! Reutie, Robo, Vickers and Smith rounded out the top 5. For those of you who are interested Dale, Jr started 15th and Rowdy Boy started an unusual 24th. The rest you can look up.
Early on it was excitin’. On lap 6 same champ Jimmie went spinnin’ and his car wasn’t worth much after that. Sad for him I say! But Jr was on the move and by lap 48 that boy had moved well into the top 10. I just can’t do a lap by lap deal here. You can look that up for yourself. I do remember that with 10 to go Duck was already pacin’ and yellin’ cause Flippin’ Carl was in the lead and just about that time JR hit the wall which brought out the caution. Later Jr blamed cute little veteran Mark Martin for pushin’ him up in the wall. Like I said earlier though, touch stuff happens so sad for him I say and I know Mark wouldn’t do that on purpose to his teammate. Anyway after that caution Denny Hamlin lead the field to the restart and just stayed out front for the win. Good for him I say! Robo Kennseth finished 2nd followed by Rowdy Boy, Menard and Flippin’ Carl. The rest you can look up. Duck was slightly upset but is beginnin’ to understand the “big picture” of racin. I explained that his idol is still the points leader by 20 points so far. That helped somewhat. Our good and gracious LORD only knows what the future holds for Carl, Duck and ultimately me!
Now for the other stuff. Seems JGR is findin’ it’s way in the news more and more these days and not only just for Rowdy Boy’s behavior. Now oil pans of all unexpected and curious things brings that stable to the news yet again. The path to glory can be a bumpy one and apparently a slippery (oil…get it?) one, to boot. I’m sure you’ve read about it. If not and you’re interested look it up. This just seems so out of the norm for that stable. More news to come out soon this granny is expectin’.
And finally the 2012 Hall Of Fame inductees have been named which includes Darrell Waltrip, Cale Yarborough, Glen Wood, Dale Inman and Richie Evans. GOOD for all of you well deserved, important and amazin’ members of NASCAR’s history. I think this was overdue for each of you but better late than nothin’ this granny always says.
So that’s all I have this Monday morning. cousin Grouch dear what have you got on your granny mind?
————————————————
Howdy Young’uns and other folks too! WHEW! What a week this has been for Cousin Grouch! I declare that this was one of the roughest weeks this OLD woman has had in her entire life, but, of course, that’s neither here nor there. Know what I mean? Let me just say that I ain’t no spring chicken anymore, my good and gracious LORD knows that’s the truth!
We had us some more good racin’ this weekend, didn’t we? I was as tickled as a pig in slop that our feathered friend won hisself another race! What, with all the back-flippin’ and visitin’ the folks in the grandstands, I think he was a purty happy feller, don’t you? I was a chucklin’ to myself, just thinkin’ how the DUCK must have been havin’ a wing flappin’ good time, probably knocked over a crate or three in the process! I just love it when there’s somethin’ to get excited about! Did anybody, besides me, notice that some of these drivers finished the race in the same spot that they started from? I was a thinkin’ on that, for a spell, this afternoon and I’m wonderin’ how they know if they got ahead or behind theirself? – – Maybe it woulda been better if they never raced at all. Hmmm? For example, there was Justin Allgaier and Steve Wallace in the Nationwide race and Landon Cassill, David Ragan (I nicknamed him “Goober” from Mayberry RFD!), Andy Lally and finally Robby Gordon in the Sprint Cup race. If you’re interested in what I’m sayin’, check it out for yerself!
The Sprint Cup race was a fairly quiet race. There for a while I thought maybe Tony “Smoke” Stewart was goin’ to have somethin’ for the boys, but he kinda slid back in the pack and was never really heard from again. How about “Mr. Five Time”? This was the fifteenth race of the 2011 season and he is winless? I’m sure Chad Knaus has a few “choice” words to say about that! Know what I mean?
In other NASCAR news of the week, what’s the deal with “John Darby & Co.” confiscatin’ the oil pans from the Joe Gibbs Racin’ teams? Apparently they were in violation of the rulebook, Sec. 20: race equipment approval – failure to submit equipment. “The parts were never submitted. It’s black and white. It’s not that it’s different than what we’re used to seeing, it’s that these parts were never submitted by the company” Well, my good and gracious LORD, what are teams supposed to do, Mr. Darby, submit every single nut and bolt for inspection prior to assemblin’ the race car? And who are these “several competitors” in the garage area that felt the heavier oil pans would “lower the center of gravity on the front of the car therefore potentially offerin’ an aerodynamic advantage”? Since when does the NASCAR hierarchy care what the folks in the garage think about anythin’? That right there is a bunch of malarkey, I say! Mr. Darby also added that there COULD be potential repercussions for use of the unapproved parts. Accordin’ to JGR they were under the impression that these oil pans would be approved in the inspection process, therefore, there was NOT any idea of tryin’ to “get away with anythin'”. But, I have a solution to all of your problems, “Mr. Darby & Co.” and that is for the “Hierarchy of NASCAR” to provide each and every driver in NASCAR with a “NASCAR–ISSUED” race car (and don’t forget about the back-up cars, too, while you are at it!). As a matter of fact, you could “seal” the entire race car with “tamper-proof” sealants, then you would be able to tell who is “cheatin'” and who is NOT! If you think this sounds ridiculous and far fetched – – – so does your actions of “knit-pickin'” every little part and piece of the race car. I’m surprised that they don’t have “rules” on which days of the week a driver can drive his race car – – but I don’t want to give them anymore STUPID ideas! LORD knows, they have enough of their own, to choke a horse! Maybe they just don’t realize just how “fed-up” the fans are gettin’ with STUPID rules and rule book violations, as petty as this! Why can’t they just let the boys “Have at it” – – – and RACE, for goodness sakes? They are killin’ the sport that I once so dearly loved!
That’s all I have for this week. Next week the Cup Boys will be at Infineon Raceway for the road course race. Do you like road course racin’? Cousin Grouch prefers the “Go fast and turn left races”, herself! The Nationwide Boys will be at Road America and our “Truckers” will be back in action July 7th at Kentucky Speedway. Have a great week everybody! See ya all right back here for more reportin’ from us grannies! I have to say “Howdy” to my Cousin Grump, hope all is well with you, dearie!
————————————–
Well my oh my there cousin dear. Ain’t you the hot under the bonnet granny in this race report? I’m thinkin’ somethin’ more may be goin’ on that we ain’t privelged to. I’m not suggestin’, I’m just wonderin’. Know what I mean? No? Well I’m not sure I know what I mean either but that sounded curiously good when I wrote it. Anyway good reportin’ as usual Grouch, honey. Hope all is well over there and give Bubba’s head a pat or two for me and put a little strength to it like I always do. He’ll appreciate it more and really know I asked you to do it for me.
So there ya have it folks. Email, comment or don’t. We don’t care cause we’r very busy women. With that said and chores awaitin’, Grump and Grouch over and out!
