Truck Series News and Tidbits

Hey guys I'm back you get not one post today but two. So I've been watching the truck series some recently and I am so impressed with William Byron to have the success he's had in such a short amount of time and to hear that he's only been racing for a few years total is incredible. He has a lot of natural talent clearly. At this point Matt Crafton and the field better watch out because he could be a serious contender for the title and follow Erik Jones and give Kyle Busch Motorsports a second championship in a row and the team could go back to back. Kyle Busch Motorsports getting their 50'th win in the truck series after only 7 years as a team is pretty impressive as well. People may not like Kyle Busch but not only can he drive and win races and do incredible things behind the wheel but he clearly has a great business going and an incredible eye for talent. First finding Erik Jones to race for him and Now William Byron he has two incredible talents that have driven for him and Christopher Bell could be right up there with William Byron had he not suffered such bad luck early on in the season.

I was so saddened to see the news a week ago or so about the fire at Thorsport racing and to see the pictures of the damage. I was glad to hear they could save some trucks and to see the NASCAR community rally around them but you never want to hear of something like that happening to anyone but especially not a team that has been built from a small team to one of the best teams in the camping world Truck series. I've been impressive with how they have continued to run since the fire and I hope they can continue on like they have been despite all they lost in that fire.

I was sad to see Ryan Truex pulled out of his truck for a few weeks and ending the chance for him to run for a championship. I understand the team he drives for is a small team and doesn't have a lot of money and Jesse Little brought sponsorship. However I still feel that having a chance at the title could have really helped that team. It would have brought awareness to their organization and possibly been able to help them get more sponsors. In the end it wasn't my decision and i'm sure that team did what they felt they had to do. I just feel for Ryan Truex much like his brother his career has been a series or bad breaks, bad luck, in his case injuries and what could have been. Ryan is a talented driver and I feel like if he had a chance to run for a title he could have proved his talent. It tough in the sport right now though because the fact is there is a ton of talent in the young guns and yet there seems to be more young guns and talented youngsters then there are rides. Alex Bowman is another classic example of that you look at what he's done in Dale JR's car in the Xfinity series and he clearly can contend if given a ride with a top team.

That fight between John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallenger at Gateway was crazy. Watching it was just a crazy thing to watch. I have never seen a driver throw another to the ground like that and they did it twice. Rolling around on the track could have been very dangerous had NASCAR not had them under a red flag because the rest of the field would have been coming. Spencer Gallenger looked like he was just trying to hold John Wes Townley's arm after John Wes connected a couple of punches. It was crazy to watch and I will be interested to see NASCAR's take and how they handle that situation.

Finally I want to wish Mike Wallace and his family the best of luck as they continue to heal from their brutal attack. Like Mike I don't understand why someone would do that but it just shows how careful you have to be these days about who you talk to. It stinks that you have to walk around with your guard up and be so careful about who you talk to but the fact is these days you can't be to careful and you never know what will happen. I hope Mike can recover from his injuries and that the whole family can get past what happened. They didn't deserve what happened to them and I hope the men who hurt them get punished for their actions.

Thanks to everyone who reads my blog it always means a lot to me. As always feel free to comment and I'll talk to you all soon. Good luck to all the drivers this week at Daytona and I pray it's a safe race for all involved from the drivers, to the crew to the fans. If your going to the race at Daytona have fun.

Tony Stewart's win

Hey guys I'm back with another post so I hope you all enjoy. All along I've hoped that Tony got at least one more race win and the chance to go out on top. However there were moments it just didn't seem like it would happen. Yesterday everything came together and it happened Tony got his win. Watching the race at the end I had very mixed emotions Denny had never won a road course race and so naturally I really wanted him to win. The fan in me wanted to see my driver win. However the compassionate side of me wanted to see Tony win after all he's dealt with the past few years. I truly didn't know how to feel when Denny was in front I really wanted to see him win. However once Tony got past him it allowed me to reflect back on all Tony has been through and that made me want him to succeed. I called my dad to come watch the last 7 laps with me and after Tony won and I was clapping my dad said so Tony is growing on you is he. The truth is Tony grew on me a while back even before all his personal tragedy. I wrote a blog post about my transition with hating Tony Stewart to not minding him. http://nascarjgrfan.blogspot.com/2015/09/my-transition-from-casual-fan-to-die.html here is that blog post in case you want to read it. However the short version of that post is I didn't understand NASCAR when I started watching it and the fact Tony and my drivers were getting into fights I sided with my drivers and hated Tony for wrecking them (blaming him even if it wasn't his fault). I used to throw fits or run away screaming when my friends parents would try to tease me on Tony Stewart. As I continued to watch and learn the sport I realized what NASCAR was all about and once I realized that I realized I don't have to like every driver but I should respect their talent. By this point Tony and my favorite drivers had stopped tangling in wrecks and it allowed me to sort of mellow out about Tony. I was older and starting to mature as a person as well. All these things helped me to get to where I am today as a NASCAR fan. For a few years there I kept pretending I hated Tony just so my friends wouldn't tease me about my change and if I'm honest I liked the teasing. If yesterdays race ending would have happened when I first started watching NASCAR I would have been so mad at Tony for wrecking Denny. Even if Denny himself wasn't mad however I know more about the sport and I'm not mad at Tony he did what he had to do to get a race win and possibly make the chase. As Denny said All's fair in love and war. After all Tony has been through with the injuries and the sprint car accident these past few years I'm happy for him. He deserved to go out winning races and at least contending. Since I've got to read stories about Tony and the kind things he has done and I've got to see his funny personality I can say I will miss Tony racing next year. It's a change from where I started to wear I am know but I appreciate and love NASCAR so much more then when I started. So congrats Tony on your win you deserve it. I just want to say it's so cool that Fox gives out the Byrnsie award to honor Steve Byrnes and Fox I will miss your coverage your without a doubt my favorite coverage of NASCAR. Its been an incredible season so far with lots of great finishes and close finishes and I can't wait to see what else is going to happen. It is pretty funny that both Kyle and Tony missed races and needed a win to get in the chase and both got that win at the exact same track Sonoma. Congrats again Tony on not just this win but all your success in NASCAR. Thanks to anyone who reads my blog and those who try to comment I went on blogger help and you should be able to comment if your having issues it's likely third party cookies filtering issues. Here is the response I got back The Blogger / Google login status, and the ability to post comments, is sensitive to both cookie and script filters.  Your readers may need to enable (stop filtering) "third party cookies" - and possibly scripts - in their browser and on their computer. They also said if your a reader outside of the US there may be other things like this you have to enable. So I hope this helps any of you who had wanted to comment but maybe weren't sure why your comment wasn't showing up. Thanks again for reading.

Prayers for Erik Jones and his Family

Well sorry it has been a month again since I posted I have a feeling NASCAR is looking at some new first time winners based on how Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman have been running. I think if Tony Stewart is going to get a win it will be coming soon maybe even tomorrow. Now onto the reason for my post once again it's about my favorite which I apologize for but I seem to get the most motivation to write posts about them.

This post is hard for me to write and one I never wanted to have to write. I love and support Erik Jones he is one of my favorite drivers and I have always felt connected to him. He was born in a small town of Byron Michigan I was born in a small town although bigger than his small town. Being so close I have always felt a connection to him. Both our fathers are named Dave and I can't imagine loosing my father. Having lost a friend to cancer and the women who was like my second mother I may not know exactly what Erik is going through but I have a slight idea of what it is like to deal with something similar.

When Erik won the race at Bristol and reveled that his dad had cancer I was praying Erik would not have to lose his father so young and way before he should have. Sadly though Erik reveled that he did lose his father this past week. As soon as I heard that on the broadcast my heart sunk and I had tears in my eyes. As a fan I get so close to my drivers and to read Erik's note to his father on twitter just further broke my heart and brought me to tears. Unfocently I have lost a friend to cancer he was just 17 years old. I also have experience with my friends losing their mom my second mother at the ages of 17 and 20. So I've seen how they coped and made it through but I understand the knowledge of all the things in the future that Erik won't have his dad there for. More than anything I wish I could wrap my arms around Erik and give him a big hug. Cancer sucks and it sucks that he had to lose his dad. Life doesn't seem fair but I have to give Erik major props for continuing to race on this weekend despite his heavy heart. However my friends have shown me through their loss and that through losses like these comes incredible strength you didn't even know you had. I am so proud to be an Erik Jones fan and proud of the man he is which is partly in thanks to his father.

Erik I want you to know that I may not know you personally and you certainly don't know me but my heart is with you during this time of loss. It doesn't seem fair but I know that with the support of those around you that you will make it through. You are an incredible person and you have always shown so much poise and maturity well beyond your years and I know you need that now to help you more than ever. As many have said nothing I say can make any difference but I do hope you know how loved you are not just by those in the garage that you know personally but also by the nascar nation of fans who may have never met you but support you, love you and cheer for you every race. Your dad may not be here physically but you have to know he is with you wherever you go and he is so proud of you and the man you have become. I wish I could give you a hug knowing we are only a state away me in Ohio you in Michigan. However since I know I can't just know that I have you and your family in my thoughts and prayers you are in my heart.

It is moments like these that make me so proud to be a fan of the sport. The drivers and teams compete against each other and want to beat each other every race. In times of tragedy like these though you see how much they all love and care for each other. When someone is going through a hard time they are the first to step up and wrap their arms around that driver or member of the garage and their family. Alex Bowman said on twitter that "The garage is a big family and we are all here for him" That comment and the many others given in support for Erik show me that he will be okay. Although there is a huge gap now in his heart with the loss of his father Erik has the support of his garage family to help get him through this loss. I love to see how they all support each other. I know that Erik has so many people who know and love him to help him through.

His dad was taken from this world far too soon and my prayers go to Erik his sister Lindsey and his mom Carol. I hope you feel the love and support of the NASCAR community from those you know personally in the garage to the millions of fans around the world that you have never even met. You will be in my thoughts and prayers. I know from personal experience that losing someone you love at such a young age is hard but you find a strength inside you that you never knew you had and you begin to move toward your new normal while honoring and grieving the one you lost and that the support of those around you is what helps to get you through it. So I'm grateful that Erik and his family have the support of a NASCAR nation which includes me Dave you were taken far too soon and you will be missed greatly by all who knew and loved you but especially by your family. Rest in Peace Dave and Erik continue on bud I am so proud to be your fan and so sorry for your loss my thoughts and prayers go out to Erik and his family.