Championship recap

 This is a few days late but I can't believe any other NASCAR season is finished. It was a crazy season and unfortunate concussion and fire issues. I am hopeful the changes headed will make the necessary changes needed to keep the drivers safe. It will be sad not to see Kurt Busch all next season but I am excited to welcome Jimmie Johnson back to the cup series part time as a racer and as a owner. 

Congrats to Zane Smith on your truck championship. I didn't watch most of the truck series but knew you had been deserving of it the past couple seasons. It was an exciting end in your championship race. 

I was one of the people who was not cheering for Ty Gibbs because I didn't think it was cool how he wrecked a teammate out of the final 4 and because I was a bigger Noah Gragson fan. However with the turn of events that took place I am greatful Ty was the winner and got to have those moments with his dad before his dad Coy passed tragically to soon. My prayers spare with the whole gibbs family but especially Joe and Pat having lost both sons at 49 years old. As well as Ty having gone from the highest of highs a championship after a rough week he was put through the ringer because of his decision at martinsville to the lowest of lows in the loss of his dad that night.

It was so heartbreaking to find out of Coy's death and to get that news right before the race put a damper on the race and the cup championship no longer seemed that important. I felt so bad for Kyle watching him crying during pre race on what was already a tough weekend. You could tell it hit Bubba and Denny hard as well. It was a reminder of how fragile life is and to not take a moment for granted. I can't even imagine what Ty has been feeling since his dad's death.

However the happiest part was Joey Logano winning his 2nd cup championship.  I am so proud of Joey and the person he is. Outside of the car he has such a great personality and does so much for others with his charity work. Inside the car he is so uber competitive and so confident in his skills. He can make some controversial decisions because he is so competitive.  I am blessed to have met Joey and I am so proud of how dominant he was and the way he believed all year it was #the22in22 and he was the first person to win in the same year as his car number. It was awesome to see him and Hudson celebrating the championship and the moments with Brittany when he first got out of the car. It was only a shame that Jamison and Emillia were to little to make the trip and celebrate as the complete family of 5. It was fitting if a JGR car in Christopher couldn't win the next best was a former driver in Joey who clearly had them on his mind as well

There was a lot of change and is sure to be a lot next year however the biggest change for me is Kyle Busch leaving JGR. Like so many others I pictured he would retire there and I was sad that did not work out. It was clear how hard the goodbye was for Kyle and the loss of Coy made it that much worse. I am excited for his new beginning with RCR and I know this was not the year Kyle wanted or hoped I am sure a fire has been lit and I expect great things next year.

Can't wait for the Daytona 500 but excited to spend the Holidays with family, I hope everyone has a great off season congrats Zane, Ty and Joey once again on your titles and continued prayers up for the entire Gibbs family and everyone in the JGR family.

Kurt Busch retirement

 

Me and Kurt Busch in 2008 

The news yesterday of Kurt Busch stepping away from full time racing is extremely emotional for me. Kurt Busch is the driver who got me into NASCAR. I had always watched with my dad as a child but it was more just something I did with my dad I wasn't paying attention I am sure I ran off to play came back. That all changed in 2003-2005 when I got a Kurt Busch trading card in a box of Cherrios. In that moment I chose Kurt as my driver and I now had a driver to cheer for a reason to watch more intently. That changed my life NASCAR is my place to go each weekend to just relax. It takes me away for hours from the stresses, the things I have to do. For those hours I get to just watch NASCAR and just enjoy the race and the competition. I look forward to the races each week it is my thing that gets me through the week knowing I have that to watch and take me out of my real world issues and focus on the race. Kurt started all of that with a trading card.

Front of the Kurt Busch card in cherrio box 

Back of Kurt Busch Card in cherrio box

In addition to getting me started in NASCAR Kurt held a lot of other NASCAR first for me. I got a slate for Kurt Busch when he was in the 97 car and it was one of my first pieces of NASCAR memorabilia that I had collected. Kurt was also the first driver I ever met when he came to my local ball park for the Akron then Areos now Rubber Ducks in August 2008. That meeting is something I still remember today although the line was long and Kurt was being pressured to move the line along. He still took the time to ask how I was, take a picture with me, autograph my things and thank me for coming. He was incredibly sweet and I always treasure that experience. 

The ad in paper that lead me to meeting Kurt Busch

I knew this moment or his retirement was coming with the years Kurt had in the sport and especially once the news of Tyler Reddick going to the team in 2024 was announced but I hate that it ended this way with the concussion. I am glad Kurt seems at peace wtih his decision and that he said the garage is his home and he will still be around and involved in various ways and maybe even if he gets cleared to race is select races or I could see him as a driver they have on stand by if anyone would get injured or need baby watch to have a driver ready to step in. 

I am going to miss watching Kurt race week in and week out. I wish him nothing but the best in his future. It is great to see him putting his health first and I hope he can get back to 100%. Kurt changed my life in so many ways he doesn't even know for getting me started in and really making me fall in love with NASCAR and be a die hard race fan. Over the years I have added other drivers I loved and root for including his brother but Kurt will always be the first driver I loved and the one who got it all started. He is the first driver or mine to retire and it has been even more emotional then I thought it would be. I am glad I might still have a chance to run into him at a race or team shop and I can't wait to see him earn his worthy hall of fame status when the time comes. Kurt thank you for so many great years as a fan and for changing my life. Enjoy your next chapter I wish you nothing but the best!!!

Kurt Busch memorbillia I have collected over the years

NASCAR's Saftey Issue

 I love NASCAR it is my release after a long weeks work I don't typically like to complain or bad mouth the sport I love. In this case I tried to give NASCAR the benefit of the doubt on this car when drivers started complaining these were harder hits they were taking on hits that looked minor. I knew that a new design nothing was going to be perfect until it got on the track. I accepted Kurt Busch's concussion with minimal push back despite the fact Kurt was the first driver to truly pull me into NASCAR and the first driver I personally met. However this how now gotten way out of hand.

I watched crashes in the Gen 6 car that didn't appear like drivers should survive in Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman's crashes at Daytona and yet those drivers walked away that night or days later seeming virtually unharmed. I admit until those crashes I took saftey largely for granted however after seeing those crashes having two of my favorite drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch suffer serious injuries in crashes. Saftey has been brought to my forefront and yet NASCAR to the public eye seems more lacksidasical then ever berfore. Alex Bowman's hit at Talladega looked like barely anything more than a tap and yet Alex now has a concussion and called it the hardest hit he has ever taken in a race this coming from a man who flipped a midget so bad he almost died. You know have 2 of the stars of your sport missing races due to a concussion and possibly both loosing their chance to race for a championship. In my eyes as a fan this is absolutely unaccaptable. 

I am sure NASCAR probabaly has plans to make improvements to the new car over the off season I would be abslutely shocked if they didn't. However that doesn't change the here and now we are headed to a track that usually collects most of the field in some type of wreck. I genuinely fear for the drivers saftey this weekend head injuries are nothing to mess with and the type of wrecks that have caused the concussions seem minor looking at them. However i think that hints at the biggest issue with this car it is simply not crumpling in wrecks. I don't like to see drivers taken out but if Alex Bowman's car would have crumpled last week he might have missed that race rather then driving around we now know concussioned and missing who knows how many races. I don't know how we can say we can truly wait til the off season to fix the issues on this car how many drivers are gonna be hurt in the last 6 races of this season. I am worried that it might be worse then a concussion to a driver this week at Talladega. Yes racing is dangerous and always risky but now it seems risker then ever and more dangerous to drivers and their long term health. 

I pray everyone makes it safely through this weekened at Talladega and the next 5 weeks. I usually don't want the NASCAR season to end when it does but at this point for driver saftey I am ready for it and for the off season so NASCAR can hopefully make improvements to the cars so they can still put on good racing but become more crushable to hopefully the car takes more of the impact off the drivers. It is clear something needs to change and I hope as much as I love watching the racing that if the drivers aren't comftorable they come together as a unit to fight for change and even boycott if necessary to get the changes needed to these cars the drivers know what they are feeling I don't care what NASCAR says about not seeing the impacts as worse they clearly are and something has to change before someone gets seriously injured or killed.  

Cup race on dirt

 So I promised to try and blog more this season with all the changes. The Bristol dirt race was one of the 2 changes I was sceptical about.  I wasn't sure if it would put on a good race and I didn't know a lot about dirt racing in general. It also seemed like a waste to bring so much dirt on the track for only a couple races. However I was open minded because I have grown to love the imsa endurance races after watching the Rolex 24 these past 2 years. So with all that said here are my thoughts on the Bristol dirt race.

Early on in the race when Martin was dominating I was not to sure about it because it didn't seem like it was creating a lot of excitment. However as the race went on and I started to get more familiar with the way dirt racing looked it started to grow on me. By the time they announced that next spring would also be a dirt race I was like that would be cool. By the end of the race after the battle between Joey and Denny and seeing how Ricky was able to make moves at the end I can say I genuinely enjoyed today's race and I am super excited for next year now that I better know what to expect. 

I am excited because I feel like this past year I have grown from just liking certain races and only nascar to I have liked the imsa races and now this dirt race.  I am excited to watch Jimmie Johnson in the indy car races.  I have grown so much from the start of when I started watching NASCAR I was doing it with my dad then I thought races without wrecks were boring but I have grown to recognize the other ways there is excitment like battles for the lead. I also have witnessed how dangerous the wrecks can be and now they make me nervous. 

Great job today Nascar on prepping the track for such an amazing race and for the drivers for putting on a great race. I am genuinely excited for next years dirt race and it shows the versatility of the drivers who were successful in so many different types of tracks. It was a great race and well worth the wait.

Congrats Chase Elliott

As i said in my last post here is my championship post. Congrats Chase Elliott on your first cup series championship. Each year you have improved in leaps and bounds but this was for sure your breakout year so far. What you have done the past two weeks proved you deserved to be champion. After the early part of the race you were clearly the class of the field and it is only fitting you held on to win the title. I have enjoyed watching you since you were in the Xfinity series. You are wise beyond your years and a class act much like Jimmie. Today felt like a passing off the torch from one champion to the next. I am looking forward to seeing what you accomplish in the many years to come. 

I loved watching your celebration with your parents seeing you hug your mom the way you did as well as hugging your dad. All the post race moments with your team, Rick, and teammates. Especially the moments with Jimmie and his family seeing his daughters hug you and the moment you, Rick and Jimmie had. As well as seeing Ryan Blaney come in and celebrate with you. I can't wait to see all the pictures from that post race celebration. It was fun to see your genuine joy and the humble way you wanted this but never truly expected it. You are usually so calm, cool and collected it was a lot of fun to see this other side of your personality. I am sure your friend Judd and Grandma would be proud of you. 

You will be an amazing champion for this sport! You carry yourself incredibly well as a person and are a class act which is exactly the type of person NASCAR needs to have as their champion. You are one of the future stars of the sport and I look forward to seeing you and all you can accomplish. Congrats again on your championship you are a very deserving champion. Enjoy your celebration and off season.

To all my readers writing these posts tonight reminded me how much I have missed doing this and I will try to do a better job in 2021. 

Jimmie Johnson Retirement

 

Hey guys I am back. I wish i got to write more and I will make an effort in the future but writing has been more difficult recently with all I have going on in my life and since my mom 2's passing. With that said. How do you start to say goodbye to someone who means so much to this sport to me personally. Jimmie Johnson did not get the send off he deserved due to covid. It is hard for me to truly express how much Jimmie Johnson has meant to me. However I owe it to him and others to try so here we go.

 Jimmie is one of those guys who has been in the sport since I started watching. I never watched Richard Petty or Dale Sr race but I am proud to say I got to watch most of Jimmie Johnson's career. I instantly liked him seeing all he had been through losing Blaise the weekend of his first cup start and then winning the day of the Hendrick Plane crash and the week after. His nice guy personality drew me in and I loved watching how he was a great winner but also carried himself well on the days it didn't go so well. He was just what our sport needed for a champion. 

As the years went on I had other drivers I really grew to love and call my favorites but Jimmie always had a special spot in my heart. That only grew after I met my best friends Katie and Ashley and their family. Their mom was a die hard NASCAR fan like myself and we instantly bonded over our love for NASCAR. She became like a second mother and my favorite person to talk NASCAR with. Her favorite driver was Jimmie Johnson and we spent many years playfully teasing each other about whose driver would finish better. However it was never a loss for me even on the days Jimmie beat my drivers because I loved Jimmie as well. She and her family took me to my first NASCAR race. In 2015 she lost her battle with mental health issues. Loosing her to suicide was one of the toughest things I have dealt with. It made Jimmie that much more important to me. He was my link to her. I celebrated his successes more knowing I was celebrating for two. I lost the person I talked NASCAR with and I have missed that more than I can ever express. Jimmie's 7th championship, the first since her death, was tough. I wanted to be able to call her or text her and celebrate. Knowing I couldn't but knowing she was celebrating from the best seat in the house with Blaise and so many in the NASCAR community who had passed. I had hoped he would get a win more recently but it just shows how you never know what win will be your last. She was a die hard fan and I know she would have been a fan til the very end regardless of the success. 

Jimmie's retirement from NASCAR is incredibly tough on me. It makes me miss my mom 2 so bad and I wish we could hug each other and celebrate his career and all that he will be doing in his future. While also being sad we did not get to watch him week in and week out on NASCAR. I am happy he got to go out on top and that he is getting to do other bucket list items and spend time with his girls but I will miss Jimmie more than I could say. I plan to watch his Indy car races and I will be keeping up with him on social media. However it won't be the same out of all the retirements of the guys who were the stars of the sport when i started watching Jimmie is the one I will miss the most because I have a special emotional connection because of my mom 2. My mom 2 never got the chance to meet Jimmie before her untimely death. She got a lug nut of his car from a fellow fan at MIS during my first NASCAR race and I know how much that meant to her. We went to MIS for my second race to celebrate her life. I was supposed to go to Pocono this year with pit passes and I had hoped to meet Jimmie and watch him race one final time but covid struck and I did not get that opportunity. That has been hard to swallow because I wanted to watch him live one final time. 

Jimmie 

Thanks for being first off the person you were on and especially off the track. Being a teacher the work you have done with your foundation and for teachers and students across the country means a lot because I know how deserving those teachers and students are and what support like that means. You are the type of guy we should all strive to be. You stood up for things you felt needed addressed but you always did it in a classy and respectful way. What you wanted to do for Bubba at Talladega that created the incredible moment of unity in the sport shows the type of guy you are. You helped others and even today didn't want to take away Chase's moment. You have always carried yourself like a true champion on and off the track. The accomplishments on track are incredible and deserve to be celebrated way more then they were. However the type of person you are and all you have done off the track helping public education, cleaning up after tornados and countless other actions are what make me most proud to have been a fan of yours and wish I had the chance to meet you in person. You have changed my life more than I could ever express. I am glad you got to go out on your terms. I know you would have loved more success. I wish you had been able to win one more time. I wish you nothing but the best in all your future endeavors. Thanks for giving all us fans so many incredible moments through your career.

Sincerely,

Jessica

It is fitting that this is also Chad Knaus last race as crew chief. You did not end as driver and crew chief but in a way you still went out together. I wish you the best of luck in your new role. Congrats to Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer on incredible careers as well. Clint I cannot wait to hear your commentary in the booth I am sure you will make it amusing. Krista Voda you have always been one of my favorite reporters and I hope you find a way to stay in this sport. Thanks for all your years covering the sport and if you are not in the sport just know you will be missed. This has been a crazy year but I am proud of my sport. Stay tuned for my championship post!

Thank God

Life has gotten much busier since when I started this blog and i don't post a lot but tonight i just had to. Tonight was one of the hardest nights for me as a NASCAR fan I feared back when Austin Dillon had his wreck at Daytona I had seen a driver die but Austin got out of the car under his own power. Tonight was much more frightning to see leaving the broadcast the way they did I truly feared the worst. More and more i am starting to believe in the power of prayer and I have never prayed for a driver more than I did tonight. Watching that wreck was incredibly frighting and Ryan defenitly had a guardian angel watching over him tonight. Dale SR has saved so many drivers since his death with the saftey advancements nascar has made and continues to make and Ryan is another in that long list. I love nascar and agree with statements made tonight we take for granted the saftey of those cars and all feel invincible and nights like tonight remind us were not. I am greatful to be a part of the community I had a chance to meet Ryan a few years back and i am greatful he is still alive. He has a long road ahead of him and i continue to pray for him and his family as well as the doctors as they continue to treat him. NASCAR is one big family and i felt horrible for Ryan Blaney and Corey Lajoie to be involved in such a serious wreck and then have fans blaming them on twitter. They didn't deserve that nor did Denny Hamlin's team for getting chewed out for celebrating when they didn't know the severity. Ryan deserved all the prayers and GOD is Good the power of prayer is strong and was proven tonight. I continue to pray for Ryan and his family as well as the entire nascar community. I know that NASCAR will continue to learn and look to find out what can be done to make it even safer but tonight I am greatful. #Prayers4Ryan #Newmanstrong