Hello loyal readers and other folks too! In case you missed us last week, Granny Grump and Duck are on a much needed vacation this week. I surely hope that they are having a good time and getting some much needed rest. My cousin works like a darn fool, for a woman of her “tender years” and I worry about her, know what I mean? Granny Grouch, dear, I hope you and Bernice are behavin’ this week, Lord knows we’ve had enough fussin’ and feudin’ in our NASCAR family to choke a horse, but that’s neither here nor there. I guess I better go on and git to the job at hand, reportin’ on the Dover racin’ results, before I git fussed at! hehehe
The Truck Series boys were back in action this week in the Lucas Oil 200 race. Justin Marks was your pole sitter, with Kevin Harvick (Rocky Balboa) and Kyle Busch (Manny Pacquiao Jr.) in the second and third starting positions with handsome Ron Hornaday Jr. and Joey Coulter rounding out your top five starters. Of course, that “extremely tall drink of water”, known as Michael Waltrip, was up in the Broadcast Booth referrin’ to all the drivers as “Cats”! I just love Rick Allen, Phil Parsons and Mikey brinin’ us the blow by blow, I mean play by play or what ever we call it in racin’. HaHa! There were nine caution flags in the race, the biggest wreck of the race happened when Ricky Carmichael hit the outside wall, head on, completely destroyin’ his race truck. There was a HUGE shower of debris and the radiator was completely out of the truck, laying on the race track! Thankfully, Ricky was not injured. Kevin Harvick was busted for speeding on Pit Road, had to restart in the back of the field in his Bad Boy Buggies, sponsored Chevrolet, which I personally thought was fittin’, in light of this weeks feudin’. Don’t misunderstand this granny now, I am thankful for Bad Boy Buggies bein’ a sponsor and all and I say thank you to them for that, without sponsors we would not have the sport that I dearly love. As you might imagine, “Rowdy” Busch wins the race, what a surprise that was, huh? I was beginnin’ to think that Cole Whitt just might be one of the surprise “first time winners” but I believe he gave it his best effort, I have to give a shout out to him for a job well done! Anybody that can run up in the front and challenge Kyle Busch and the boys, and coming home second, is doing a fantastic job, in my book, good for you young’un, I say! And finally, there was not a mention of “The Onion” (Todd Bodine) during this race, which I found unusual. I reckon he was havin’ an off night but I just wanted to mention that I did notice, go git ’em at Charlotte next week, Todd!
The Nationwide Series, 5-Hour Energy 200, race began with pole sitter Carl Edwards with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Clint Bowyer, Justin Allgaier and Keven Swindell (fillin’ in for Trevor Bayne) rounding out the top five starters. The qualifying for this race was rained out, compliments of Mother Nature (apparently she doesn’t take too kindly to our beloved sport). There were a total of nine caution flags in this race, one bein’ a competition yellow at Lap 40 because of the rain. The first HUGE caution came when the #23 of Alex Kennedy spun out and hit the outside wall, then spun around and hit the inside wall, at that point he plowed into the #16 car of Kevin Swindell and threw him into the inside wall. How was that for a “Welcome” to the Nationwide Series on your first race, Kevin? By the way, Kevin is the son of Sammy Swindell who races in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, but that’s neither here nor there regardin’ this race! Needless to say the driver, crew chief and spotter were invited to the Oval Office after the race, which I must say has been a busy place of late, what with all the feudin’ and such that has taken place the last couple of weeks, have mercy! The final caution of the race came when a multi-car wreck was RED FLAGGED, taking out at least six cars including Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Aric Almirola, Joey Logano and Steven Wallace (there could have been more, I lost count). Thankfully, all drivers were checked out at the Infield Care Center and released. However, one of the Pit Crew members was injured in the leg from flying debris. Kudos to all Pit Crew members for providing services to the race cars and drivers under hazardous conditions. Carl Edwards won the race under a Green, White, Checkered, while the caution was still happenin’ on the track! I’m sure that the duck feathers were flyin’ behind the #99 on that one! Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and David Reutimann rounded out the top five finishing order. David had to start the race at the back of the field because he was late to the Drivers Meeting – – someone forgot to tell him he was racin’ in the Nationwide Series race Saturday! They have a communication problem there, at Rusty Wallace Racing, I’d say! Kudos for comin’ home with a Top 5 after all that, “Reuti”!
The Sprint Cup, FedEx 400, race began with “Mr. Five-Time” on the pole, (due to qualifying bein’ rained out – – he was the fastest car in practice). A.J. Allmendinger was ridin’ shotgun with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano your top five starters. Joey Logano was the first caution, when he spun and hit the inside wall. There was a Competition caution, again, due to weather in the area. Carl Edwards beat Jimmie Johnson off of Pit Road. The third caution was for a rain threat, however, the race continued under Green. The next caution was for debris on the track. At this point in the race Carl Edwards passes Jimmie Johnson for the lead. Was that really duck droppings I thought I saw on Johnson’s windshield, as the duck went flyin’ by the #48? I don’t imagine Johnson could see so good after that. Lord, have mercy, I’d say! Apparently there was a huge concern in the Broadcast Booth about the track surface continuin’ to “darken up”, it was mentioned so many times that they were testin’ this granny’s patience, I can tell you that right now! If the drivers were havin’ “a problem” with it, they could have pulled off the track, it is just that simple, Racefans! Some of them boys in the Booth (not mentionin’ any names) worry about every little thing, more than the little old ladies in my sewing circle at Church! My good and gracious Lord! Anyway, gittin’ back on track, literally, the fifth caution of the race came when Kasey Kahne stopped on the track, resultin’ from an engine problem with his Toyota, he returned to the Garage Area and retired for the day. The final caution of the race was “Juantoya” (I love that, Granny Grump!) spinning out in turn 4, hittin’ the wall, causin’ minor damage to his car, at least it looked minor to this old woman! With only 11 laps to go, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin and Marcos Ambrose were your Top 3, Matt Kenseth wins the FedEx 400, while this granny got to hootin’ and a hollerin’ because Matt hasn’t won in a while and any one of the three deserved to win one, (or any of the other drivers that haven’t won yet this season, for that matter) to my way of thinkin’. Good for Matt and his team, I say! (Oh yeah, Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers rounded out the rest of the Top 5 finishing order, by the way!).
Now on to the other stuff, I have to say that I got a BIG chuckle out of Clint Bowyer, durin’ one of these races, I can’t even remember which one (I’m old!), tellin’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr., over the radio, to watch the way he was racin’ his car so he didn’t “use it all up” before the end of the race. My thought was, why would he (Clint) care? Was he racin’ for a win or just out there runnin’ laps with one of the “Young Guns” and havin’ a drivers clinic? Just sayin’! And finally, I wanted to give a shout out to Kyle Petty’s Annual Charity Ride that took place this week and thank ALL the Drivers and Racefans for all they do for those in need, that is one of the things that makes me so proud, to be a part of the NASCAR Family! Now you have the full racin’ report from “The Monster Mile” in Dover. I hope I didn’t forget anythin’ real important that I wanted to mention. Our next stop is Charlotte Motor Speedway, home to most of the drivers and crews. It looks like the Nationwide Series is taking a detour to Iowa Speedway next week, I wish them all good luck there! The rest of us will be waitin’ for their return the followin’ week while we will all still be at Charlotte! Remember, you can email, comment or don’t. We don’t care cause we are very busy women. Know what I’m sayin’? For Granny Grump, and me, Granny Grouch, have a great week everybody, over and out ! ! !
