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After an exciting finish, CLINT BOWYER wins at Talladega, with KEVIN HARVICK coming in 2nd. After a strong push by DAVID REUTIMANN, Harvick took his damaged car to the front leading the start of the final lap. Harvick was placed in the 2nd position after a front straight crash (AJ ALMENIDINGER flips) following Nascar scoring loop and video review.
My Pick for the Win, Joe Nemechek, led the first lap of the race, then fell backward. Although he did not run up front, Nemechek ran a solid race until a late race tire failure sent him to the back of the field. He did finish, in 27th.
Today’s race tightened an already tight three-way race between Johnson, who now leads Hamlin by 14 and Harvick by 38. Jeff Gordon, now 207 points back, has a steep hill to climb in order to stay in contention.
The past couple of weeks have been very hectic for myself and my family. We just moved into a new house, so the move, along with my day job has prevented me from devoting the time needed to post new articles to the site. Thankfully, I am now some what set up in my new office space and can get back to racing. After a whale of a race in California, the Sprint Cup Series heads home to the hub of the NASCAR world in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Bank of America 500 is the first night race of the 2010 Chase and is set to be a wild one. Before we jump into this weekend’s action, let’s take a look back at some of the action from the past two weekends.
In his usual style and in spite of a pit road speeding penalty, Kyle Busch powered his way to his twelfth race win in the CampingWorld.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
Busch, who started from the pole position, brought his No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota to the checkered flag, taking his traditional victory bow to the delight and omnipresent booing of the Cali race crowd.
Busch put it simply in Victory Lane. “To get No. 12,” Busch said. “It’s awesome.”
With the early part of the race being relatively caution-free, several late race cautions and restarts challenged Busch and the rest of the field. One of the biggest wrecks involved Danica Patrick, fresh off her good IndyCar run and now focused fully on her NASCAR career in her No. 7 Tissot/Go Daddy.com Chevrolet.
Patrick was running well and was on the cusp of achieving her goal of a top-15 finish when James Buescher got into her from behind, spinning her and sending her car almost airborne before collecting Ricky Carmichael, who just seems to keep ending up on the short end of the luck stick.
Because of the accident, Patrick ended the race in the 30th position. But she was most upbeat even after the wreck, talking with the media and explaining her run just like a NASCAR pro.
“I think we’re getting closer. I really do,” Patrick said after the race. “We’re going to have a lot of confidence going into Charlotte, I think.” [More at Speedwaymedia.com]
CUP: Stewart Revives Chase Hopes With Victory
Tony Stewart held off Clint Bowyer in a two-lap shootout and won Sunday’s Pepsi MAX 400 atAuto Club Speedway, returning his name to the Chase conversation.
Stewart’s win, coupled with numerous problems experienced by other Chasers, boosted him five positions in the standings to fifth.
Standings leader Jimmie Johnson stayed in front with a third-place run, boosting his point lead over second-place Denny Hamlin to 36 with six races remaining. Kevin Harvick stayed in third place with a seventh-place finish.
Jeff Gordon rallied from a late-race pit-road speeding penalty to finish ninth and jumped a position in points to fourth, 85 points behind Johnson. [More at SpeedTV.com]
Why NASCAR Fans Like Harvick
If lots of NASCAR fans have their way, Kevin Harvick will be the man who kicks Jimmie Johnson off the Sprint Cup pedestal.
Harvick, who is currently third in points, trails Johnson by just 54 ticks – mere peanuts.
And while the current Sprint Cup champ has been dubbed “vanilla,” there’s little chance that Harvick would garner such a moniker.
Rocky road? Maybe. Vanilla? Never.
Harvick can be a punch-throwing good ol’ boy one minute and a strategic-thinking team owner the next. He has been known to cuss out the media on a bad day, but he has a rep for being always gracious with fans.
He’s a winning driver and a successful businessman. And, thanks in large part to his presence on Twitter, fans know he’s one of the funniest NASCAR drivers around. [More at NASCAR-ista.com]
Jimmy Joe’s NASCAR Update Bank of America 500 Preview
I remember back in 2001. I was a sophomore in high school, and was just getting in the groove of Nascar. 2001 was the first season that I can remember being fully engaged in from start to finish. It was the year we lost Dale Earnhardt. It was the first year of a new TV package with FOX and TNT. The first year of Boogity, Boogity, Boogity. The rookie season of one Kevin Harvick, who was thrust into the spotlight after climbing into Dale Senior’s car one week after the Intimidator’s tragic death.
Already a force in the Busch Series, Harvick continued his success early, by winning the memorable race at Atlanta, in just his second Cup Series start. “Happy” Harvick would continue an impressive year by running hard in every race he was entered into. At Martinsville, Kevin would be held a lap for aggressive driving after spinning Bobby Hamilton Sr. In what Harvick described as, “repaying the favor”, Hamilton would comment in post race that, “You got a kid here with a lot of talent, trying to fill Dale Earnhardt’s shoes, and thinks he is Dale Earnhardt,but he wouldn’t make a scab on Dale Earnhardt’s butt right now. He needs a little more time.”
Harvick has 3 wins going into the 2010 Chase.
Time has passed. Since that first year, Kevin Harvick has claimed a Busch and Nationwide Series Championships, and a Truck Series Championship as a car owner. He has amassed 14 Cup Series wins, 37 Nationwide Series victories and 9 Truck Series wins. Among those wins he holds trophies for the Brickyard 400 and Daytona 500. All that remains now, is the coveted Sprint Cup.
Going into 2010, Harvick and his Richard Childress Racing teammates were in the process of regaining the momentum lost in a less than productive 2009. Mike Joy, FOX commentator, coined the nickname, Mr. “Where did he come from?” as Harvick throughout the season has made it a trend to qualify poorly and be in contention for a win late in the race. That consistency payed off, as Harvick won races at Talledega, Daytona and Michigan. The wins, and consistency made he and his RCR #29 team the points standings leader for the majority of the season leading into The Chase. With his three wins, he as been seeded 3rd, behind Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.
I think that all the hard work Harvick has but into his racing over the last 10+ years, the resources he has to work with at Richard Childress Racing, and he and his team’s shear commitment to excellence with result in Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Pennzoil Chevy, winning the 2010 Sprint Cup. Consistency is key.
Meeting this mark will be tough. He has to overcome a strong stable of drivers all wanting the same thing, the championship. Denny Hamlin leads the points for the first time in his career. He has overcame an invasive ACL surgery in mid-season to earn six wins. Jimmie Johnson is going for history yet again, attempting to win an unprecedented fifth Sprint Cup in a row. Jeff Gordon is on his own drive for five, as the future Hall of Fame driver works to regain glory. Roush Racing drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards want to put a Ford logo in the championship victory lane for the first time since 2004. Tony Stewart is trying to become the first owner/driver champion since Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat in 1992. Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch are all gunning for the championship as well.
The stiff competition will provide drama and excitement over the next ten weeks, but in the end, the cream will rise. The cream this year is Kevin Harvick.
This weekend, Kevin Harvick will race the Camping World Truck Series Race in Loudon at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. His KHI Chevy will be adorned in the colors of racing parts supplier JEGS. The yellow and black scheme is prominent on the track and as Harvick is one of the favorites to win, Jegs is sure to get plenty of TV time.
Kevin Harvick won Friday night’s Nationwide Series race at Richmond in dominate fashion. His KHI Chevy was adorned in Armour livery and had a big can of Vienna Sausages on the hood. This reminded me of a blog post I posted on my personal website last year at DanielVining.com
From DanielVining.com August 2009:
They are small, tasty, fattening little treats that are commonly seen as appetizers at parties or in the lunch boxes of construction workers. I love the little burgers. I know they are not healthy, and sometimes they do make me sick to my stomach. They are cheap and easy to combine into thousands of recipes (The search terms “vienna sausage recipes” produces over 81,000 results.). They are vienna sausages. What are they? What are they? Why are they the red-headed step child of the luncheon meat category?
In many European countries any pre-cooked and sometimes smoked wieners bought fresh from supermarkets,delicatessens and butcher shops are calledvienna sausage. Wieners sold as vienna sausage in Europe have a taste and texture very much like North Americanhot dogs or frankfurters but are usually longer and somewhat thinner, with a very light, edible casing. European vienna sausage served hot in a long bun with condiments is often called a hot dog, harking not to the wiener itself, but to the long sandwich as a whole.
In North America the term vienna sausage has most often come to mean only smaller and much shorter smoked and canned wieners, rather thanhot dogs. North American vienna sausage is made from meat such aschicken, beef, turkey and pork (or blends thereof) finely ground to a paste consistency and mixed with salt and spices, notably mustard, then stuffed into a long casing, sometimes smoked and always thoroughly cooked, after which the casings are removed as with hot dogs. The sausages are then cut into short segments for canning and further cooked.
As with any sausage, the ingredients, preparation, size and taste can vary widely by both manufacturer and region of sale.
Anyone that knows me also knows that the classic American Hot Dog is my favorite food. Behind that, comes another cheap, low class junk food… Top Ramen. I have eaten ramen noodles in hundreds of ways, but my favorite combination is the addition of a can of vienna sausages and maybe a smidge of mustard completed with a glass of Mountain Dew or chocolate milk. Mmmm good.
Why is it that this food is the the bastard of the other luncheon meats? Probably because unlike some meats, like salami for example, vienna sausages are not meticulously blended with the best cuts of meat and seasoning before being aged to perfection. No, not vienna sausages. They are a hodge podge of chicken, beef and pork. Smashed together and pressed into a sausage shape. Add the gelatin and the small fact that they perhaps one of the most unhealthy meats to choose from, and you get the outcast of the group. Still, blue collar workers, the lower class, and phony socialites all embrace this little treat as a part of their lunches and appetizers for their parties. I too, will continue to enjoy these tasty morsels; now at a more educated, select occasional pace.
Since I first posted this article, I have tried and failed several times to stop eating these things. I’m currently turned off of the bastards and I hope to stay that way. I know this isn’t a racing story, but Harvick’s car brought it to my mind, so I chose to share it. Why can’t I ever be addicted to things that are good for me? Like exercise.
