I don’t know if I mentioned this in a previous column and since I am too lazy to go back and look it up, I thought I would tell you that should you want attend the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in April, you won’t just be getting great racing action.
Once again, TMS President Eddie Gossage has given fans more bang for their buck by signing the legendary 80’s rock band Foreigner to play Amdro Fire Ant Bait Pre-Race Show prior to the drop of the green flag.
So, if you “Can’t Wait” for some good NASCAR action or it still “Feels Like the First Time” and you think Dale Earnhardt Jr. is your “Jukebox Hero” then it’s “Urgent” that you be at TMS on April 5.
Wow, the way I weaved all that crap together, you would think I got “Double Vision” from looking at the song titles on Foreigner’s Web page. Oh, I kill myself. I guess I’m just a “Hot Blooded” “Dirty White Boy” looking to “Rev on the Red Line” and “Just Between You and Me,” NASCAR rocks.
But seriously, I better “Break It Up” because “Ready or Not”, I am “Under the Gun” to get this column finished.
And, yes, there are still plenty of tickets available if you want to go to the races but remember, you can also win VIP access to TMS by registering to win The Examiner’s NASCAR VIP Go Fast Getaway Weekend sponsored by Market Basket and Time Warner. Eddie Gossage and the good folks at Texas Motor Speedway made sure that we would have the best NASCAR contest ever but providing us with great seats, unprecedented access and the ability to put one luck winner in a specially-designed two-seater Sprint Cup Series racecar and send them around the track at speeds in excess of 160 mph. All you have to do to win is register at any area Market Basket and wait for me to call you and tell you that you are the winner. Oh yeah, in addition to the tickets and stuff, we are throwing in $500 in cold hard cash and providing you with luxury hotel accommodations.
Now, at the races, it seems we had a little incident at Atlanta Motor Speedway whereby an overzealous crewmember (Jimmy Watts, the fuel man for Marcos Ambrose car) decided to chase a tire across pit road. I feel bad for this guy because he did what he thought was right and that was keeping a loose tire out of the racing groove. The only problem was that he put himself in danger and his misjudgment ended up causing a caution that affected a whole bunch of cars in the race.
NASCAR immediately suspended Watts for the remainder of the race to give him time to reflect on his actions and perhaps that was the right call at the time. But, on Tuesday, NASCAR levied the crewmember with a four-race suspension and probation through the end of the season. Personally, I think that was over the top. The guy feels bad enough that he made every NASCAR highlight reel shown in the past week and I am petty sure he knows not to do it again. NASCAR’s piling on just adds insult to injury.
A week ago, Kyle Busch stole the show with a come-from-behind victory at his hometown track — Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The younger of the Busch brother won the pole position and the race but was forced to start at he rear of the field after blowing an engine in practice.
This week, it was his older brother that went out at Atlanta Motor Speedway and proved that the Dodge boys can still race. Busch, driving the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger, led 234 of 325 laps at AMS and just flat dominated the show. The only time anyone really got close to overtaking him or out-motoring him was in the closing laps when Jeff Gordon powered around him and had to back out of the throttle to keep from spinning out. Busch’s Dodge was hooked up in all four turns and he was bad fast from the start.
Now, this is an off-week in NASCAR and everyone is gearing up for the action at Bristol Motor Speedway, which may be a chance for Kurt Busch to shine once again. Kurt has several win at Bristol and is a 7 to 1 favorite to win the race. By the way, last week at Atlanta, Kurt was at 100 to 1 odds. And, as luck would have it, I bet every other long shot on the day except him. Seriously, if there was a driver that was listed at 30 to 1 or higher I had him in my picks The only reason I left Busch out was because the durability of the Dodge engines were spotty and I didn’t think they would hold up to the high RPMs needed to get around AMS. Oh well, live and learn.
Not to worry, I am still ranked in fifth overall in the NASCAR writers full-season picks contest. Had Greg Biffle not crashed late in the Kobalt Tools 500, I would have been knocking on the door for first place this week.
Since this is an off-week, there is not a lot happening around the track. I spoke with Jeff Gordon’s PR guy late last week and Gordon is taking a “well-deserved vacation,” he said. The plan is for phone interview sometime next week that I will run along with Kickin’ the Tires. Gordon is currently leading the Sprint Cup Championship points and is looking for his fifth Sprint Cup title.
That’s about it for this week. Be sure to watch www.kickinthetires.net for late-breaking NASCAR news and don’t forget to register for your chance at a VIP race weekend at TMS.
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