NASCAR Withdrawal

Hey all my fellow NASCAR fans I'm sure like me your waiting and ready for the season to begin. I know I am my Sundays just aren't the same without a race to sit down and watch a chance to go through the highs and lows with my favorite drivers. I've found that liking NASCAR isn't something that can simply be explained. NASCAR is so much more complex then just driving in circles. My family doesn't always understand my passion for the sport. To me NASCAR is what gives me a chance to look foreword to Sunday it's what gets me through the week when I'm having a tough week. It's where everything else in my life goes away and it's just the race I'm focused on. Anyone who follows a athlete or team regardless of the sport knows what it's like to almost feel like it's your goal just because you want it so bad for your athlete or team. Their wins and losses definitely become yours. I felt the pain of Denny and Joey when they didn't win the championship but I also felt joy with Joey's wedding knowing that he was happy and that makes me happy. My younger sister is a Trevor Bayne fan and before him she didn't care about NASCAR much at all. Now she's getting in to it asking me where he's running in the races and feeling his highs and lows. When he kept getting crashed last year by Dylan Kwasniewski she was just as mad as Trevor if not more. When she found out he was moving to sprint cup this season she felt his joy. I'm excited to share that part of my life with her. I don't think she'll ever be the same type of fan I am but I've seen her get more excited now that Trevor is her favorite. NASCAR I've found you either love it or don't really understand it in most cases. There are those casual fans like my dad or even in some ways my sister however most fall on one end of the NASCAR spectrum. One of the things I love about NASCAR besides the adrenaline rush I feel when watching it is how the whole garage pulls together. They truly are a family supporting each other through the lows and the highs. There their to support those in a time of need and to celebrate the weddings or the births of children. I love watching other sports but for me there is nothing quite like NASCAR I enjoy basketball and football but NASCAR is the best. I'm currently going through NASCAR withdrawal and am so ready for it to start up again.

 I wanted to congratulate Ty and Haley Dillon and Joey and Brittany Logano on their weddings and wish both couples the best of luck this season and in every day of their life regardless what they are going through. I hope that all my readers have had a happy holidays regardless of the holiday you celebrate. However now that the holidays are over it's 55 days until the Daytona 500 and I am so ready for another season. Another shot for my 3 favorites to get a shot to not only win races but to possibly win the big ones (Daytona 500, Brickyard 400) being the 2 biggest that my favorites all 3 have yet to win and another shot to go for the championship again. I came o so close to celebrating a NASCAR title with my driver with Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano in the final 4 and being competitive. So with that said I can't wait for Daytona Good luck this season to my 3 favorites Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog feel free to leave a comment about your feelings waiting for Daytona thanks again everyone and enjoy the blog.

Congrats to the Champions and a Season wrap up post

Well another season is complete and there were a lot of high's and low's for me personally but even with all that I cannot wait for February and the Daytona 500 and I know that all my race fans feel the same way. The drivers need their off time to recharge but as a fan the off season always feels longer then it truly is. For me NASCAR is the thing I can count on if I've had a bad week that I get to cheer my favorite drivers on that weekend. NASCAR does such a good job of keeping the fans involved.

I wanted to congratulate Matt Crafton on his championship while I personally was cheering for Ryan Blaney no one was more consistent all year then Matt and he did a great job all season. Congratulations to Chase Elliott on your championship your maturity and poise you showed all season was amazing. You will no doubt be a great champion and I have no doubt this is your 1'st NASCAR championship but it will not be your last. I loved watching you all season and your definitely one of the up and coming drivers that has caught my eye and made me smile while watching you. On the sprint cup side I was cheering Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on like crazy and I was very upset that they couldn't close the deal. Joey you had a heck of a season and deserved to be the champion but I have no doubt that your day will come. Denny you've come close to winning a championship twice and it's only a matter of time before you finally claim your own. I'm not personally a Kevin Harvick fan far from it but I wouldn't be being fair if I didn't congratulate him so congrats Kevin.

There are many young drivers with uncertain futures that I personally enjoy watching Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Ryan Truex and James Buescher I hope you get your rides you deserve. Chase is a perfect example of never giving up and hopefully something will work out.

Congrats to Ty Dillon and Haley Carey and Joey Logano and Brittany Baca enjoy your wedding this off season and I wish both couples all the best in your futures.

Well there is so much more that could be said about the season like all the highlights but frankly there were to many to mention however I have to mention 1 what Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) did this season in the truck series was nothing short of amazing. Winning 14 out of 22 races with 3 different drivers is a dominating season. As a Kyle Busch fan nothing makes me happier. Kyle, Samantha, Erik Jones, and Bubba Wallace congrats on all your success this year. I hope all my fellow race fans have a amazing Thanksgiving, Christmas or any holidays you celebrate. Enjoy your off season (I will still try to blog but with no races it will be a bit more difficult). Just in case I don't get to blog again enjoy your off season and will all count down the days until Daytona. Thank you for reading my blog and congrats again to the champions this season.

A Tribute to Ten

Ten years ago to this day Hendrick motorsports suffered a horrific tragedy. Now on this day I'm doing my part to remember the people lost on that fateful day. I was not watching NASCAR very closely back in 2004 when the tragedy occurred. I have since learned about it and I have looked up articles and videos on the crash to learn more about it and the people lost. My best friend's family are big Hendrick motorsports fans and so I know this post will mean a lot not only to them but all Hendrick fans. The more I dig deeper into the stories the more my heartbreaks. I probably have read the most stories on Ricky, Jennifer and Kimberly Hendrick just because they were the youngest and the ones I found the most heartbreaking. They showed so much promise and had not got to live their lives as long as the others had. That's just who I read the most about Ricky's little girl also nick named Ricki in his honor is such a adorable little girl. I can't imagine being in her shoes and never getting to meet your father. I have a lot of respect for her mother Emily Maynard I know with the bachelorette recently and all a lot has been said and who knows how much of that is truth and what not so everyone might not agree. However to lose your fiancé and then find out your pregnant with his child and have to be a single mom at 18 years old. I can't imagine doing that I know at 18 I wouldn't have wanted to raise a child let along as a grieving mother. I feel so bad for John Hendrick's wife and oldest daughter Alesha to lose your sisters and dad or daughters and husband depending on the view point. I have 1 biological sister and 2 best friends that are really my sisters in every way except biologically and I can't imagine losing 2 of them and my dad. It had to be the worst time. Those are just the ones I know best that's not to take away the loss that Joe Jackson, Randy Dorton, Jeff Turner, Scott Lathram, Elizabeth Morrison and Richard Tracy's families feel. My heart breaks for them as well I just haven't read up as much on them so I don't have any stories so to say about them. I have so much respect for Rick Hendrick to move on after losing your son, your brother, and your nieces as well as valuable employees. Everyone lost out on that day but rick lost probably the most. I've never been a Hendrick motor sports fan when I really got into racing Kyle Busch was getting ready to head over to Joe Gibbs Racing. However even as someone who isn't a fan of theirs I respect what they have all overcome and I can't imagine getting through that. The last people I feel for when I think about this tragedy are obviously all of the drivers that were driving for Hendrick motorsports but especially  Jimmie Johnson and Brian Vickers. Jimmie was the one that has his win from that day forever tainted because of the tragedy. He has no idea what had been happening while he was driving and now he's told not to celebrate. I can't imagine what he must have gone through finding out and I'm going to tune in on the raceday show Sunday at 10 on FS1 because Jimmie is suppose to be doing a story on it. I also gained a little more respect for Jimmie when I learned that he went out and won the race the next week. I don't know how he could move on and do it so he really gained some respect through that. Brian I can't even imagine losing your best friend on your birthday. I lost a friend about a week after my birthday and it's changed how I see my birthday because I know in the back of my mind that my friend's anniversary of her death is coming up. Trying to move forward and celebrate your birthday with such sad memories also on that day. I don't know how you would do that your birthday is suppose to be a happy time but he can never celebrate it the same way knowing he also lost his best friend. The Hendrick plane crash was a terrible tragedy that forever changed the lives of so many. On this day especially but for their families every day we remember those lost. Rest in Peace  Ricky Hendrick, Jennifer Hendrick, Kimberly Hendrick, John Hendrick, Joe Jackson, Randy Dorton, Jeff Turner, Scott Lathram, Elizabeth Morrison and Richard Tracy. You were taken from this world far too soon my thoughts and prayers go out to all of the NASCAR community, Hendrick Motorsports and all of the families and friends of those lost. Please feel free to join me in remembering the people lost 10 years ago today in the comment section below.

RIP to all you are greatly missed

Chase Drama and other current NASCAR tidbits

So I have purposely avoided writing my predictions or thoughts about who is going to win the championship or who was getting eliminated. I didn't want anyone's fans saying I jinxed their driver. However there has been a lot of drama in the chase that I felt was worthy of a post. I was amazed during round 1 how many mistakes the drivers kept making. For the most part it didn't hurt a lot of them to much because everyone was making them. Now that were onto round 2 a lot of those pit road mistakes and driver mistakes seem to have settled down at least that I've seen. The drama last night after the Charlotte race was insane. I wasn't to surprised when I saw Denny and Brad going at it as if any of you remember they have had issues before but man oh man did Denny want to get to Brad. I was surprised however to see Matt go after Brad Matt is usually pretty calm that I've seen through my years watching NASCAR. However that just proved that any driver will go after it if they feel passionate about the situation. I do feel that Matt had a right to be mad as he was put in more danger with belts undone. However I refuse to pick sides as there are so many things that I'm sure we all don't know. It was a crazy amount of drama and I can't wait to see where it will go from here. Will there be any retaliations and what will happen at Talladega. The Talladega race is always crazy but now with four big stars needing a win to avoid getting cut and no one a full race above in points and the tempers from Charlotte race flowing it should be crazy. I think there is going to be a lot of the big wrecks at Talladega and I agree with the announcers I don't think we will know until after the race who made it in and who got cut.

 I felt bad for Tony last night getting hit by Brad when as far as I know he wasn't involved at all. I debated many times about writing a blog post on Tony's situation but felt it was such a controversial issue I wasn't sure that as a new blogger I wanted to take that on. However if there are people who want to see that I would consider making a blog post on that if I got your opinions. It would depend on a lot of things and I would have to take careful time so not to offend anyone. I would also have to consider the fact that the situation legally has been delt with. So does it really need to be talked about again or would it be better to let it go and let those involved continue to move on. However I will not even consider writing a post on Tony's situation unless I get some comments by people asking me to.

What are you guys thoughts on the new chase format I know there are a lot of people who feel they should just do a points all season which is how the nationwide series does that. I'm not sure how I feel the eliminations do add excitement and like Denny Hamlin pointed out if your consistent you would go on in either chase last years or this years. Joey and Dale last year proved 1 bad race and you were out so that hasn't changed to much either. So I guess I like this format but I can also understand how people want a season long champion which this isn't.

Speaking of the Nationwide series what do you guys think about Chase Elliot's rookie season. That kid has impressed me so much. I know a lot of people feel that Kyle Larson has been impressive in the Sprint cup series. However my personal opinion is that Chase Elliot has been even more impressive. He has won 3 times in a rookie season where he didn't even have a ride until late in the off season. He has a pretty good shot to become the first rookie champion. You can see his passion when the last two weeks he has not been pleased with himself although they were very decent runs.

Speaking on Chase leads me to my next part of this post the new young guns of NASCAR. The drivers in this group are all right around my age and so I like quite a few of them. They don't top my favorites but I enjoy watching them. Chase Elliot is one and I like how he has won and yet he hasn't had to ruffle feathers the way he did winning the first truck race. Ryan Reed impresses me for driving and continuing to live his dream and not letting diabetes stop him. He is such a inspiration and not a bad driver either. Bubba Wallace he always catches my eye because he is a good driver he drives for one of my fav's Kyle Busch and he has a fun personality. Ryan Blaney is always seeming to run with the cup guys and in the top ten when he's in the nationwide series and was in contention for the truck series title for a while. He really deserves a full nationwide ride soon. Erik Jones who also drives for Kyle Busch he has done so amazing 3 wins in just two part time seasons. I hope he gets his full time ride soon. He's also come into the nationwide series and not ruffled feathers just been clean and consistent with 2 top tens in his 2 races. Cale Conley is another who deserves a full time ride he comes in and seems to run top ten in a lot of the nationwide races he's in and also does it clean. There are so many other young guns some of my other personal favorites are Alex Bowman, Ryan Truex, Austin and Ty Dillon, Trevor Bayne, James Buescher and then obviously Joey Logano although he's always forgotten in the young gun talk since he has so much experience. There are so many other who i could post about who are just as deserving but these are my fav young guns.

Well that's enough for this post if you guys are reading my posts which I know some of you are I gave you a lot of material that you could comment about I would love to hear your thoughts on any of this. I do believe that you are able to comment by clicking the no comment button if your the first and then adding your comment but to my friends reading this you know who you are let me know if you can't comment so I can get that fixed.

In Honor of Zahra Clare Baker




Zahra Baker
 

Hey guys sorry school has been crazy and I wasn't sure what my next post would be about however I found time in my schedule today and I knew exactly what my post would be. My post today is in honor of a sweet little girl who was taken from this world far too soon four years ago today. For those of you who don't know here is a summary of her story. Zahra Baker was born in Australia and had survived bone and lung cancer losing her one leg below the knee and her hearing to the cancer.  Zahra's mother had given custody to her father after she was born due to postpartum depression. Zahra's father met a women from North Carolina and they got married. In 2008 Zahra moved to the United States with her father and new step mother. Unfortunately for Zahra this is where her story take a tragic turn. Zahra started out in public school but was pulled from it soon to be homeschooled after stories of abuse started appearing. The neighbor's claimed Zahra was being abused physically and mentally. Child services visited Zahra's house twice before they moved to Hickory North Carolina. Zahra's stepmom had been investigated for abusive behavior toward her own biological children. Zahra's stepmom killed Zahra and then dismantled her body spreading it around. She waited until October 9 to report her missing. However investigators learned she had killed Zahra and dismantled her on September 24. If you want to read more about her story or the case just Google Zahra Baker. Zahra was just 10 years old. The sweet little girl who had already survived so much in her short life did not deserve the ending she got. I'm sure some of you are probably wondering why I posted this story on here Zahra had a connection to NASCAR. Zahra got her hearing aids from a event called Get In Gear to Help Children Hear at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch Motorsports participated in that event and had the opportunity to meet Zahra. It wasn't too long after this event that Zahra was brutally murdered. Kyle Busch and children's charity released purple balloons in her honor a year later at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kyle had her picture on the passenger side of his truck and drove to victory. Posted below is the link to the clip of that win (unfortunately I couldn't get it to link the way the other video did) I strongly encourage you to watch it even if your not a Kyle Busch fan it's sweet the way he honored Zahra's memory. Kyle's interview starts at 2:25 and you see him tap and kiss Zahra's picture on his truck at 3:20. People may not like Kyle or dislike him running in the truck that's your opinion but you can't take away from the fact that Kyle was a class act in what he did for Zahra. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M2-s3ojoQM
Zahra was taken from this world far too soon. I look at her sweet little face and knowing that she was so young and disabled I wonder how anyone could ever hurt her. I wonder how her father could not have known something was wrong and that she was being abused and if he did know then why didn't he speak up. It makes you question and I'm sure my readers that are parents will have even more emotions about this then I do. I never had a chance to meet Zahra but she has touched my life and I will never forget her. It may be to late to save Zahra but it's not to late for other children I urge all my readers if you suspect that a child is being abused speak up. I'm posting the following link that tells how you can report suspected abuse. Don't assume that someone else is going to do it a issue as serious as this requires us all to do our part. https://www.childwelfare.gov/responding/reporting.cfm We owe it to Zahra to do our part in honor of her to make sure no child has to have the terrible ending she had. RIP Zahra you were taken from this world far to soon and in such a tragic way but your memory will live on forever. You overcame so much and fought so hard but you're in a better place now.



Are NASCAR driver's athletes

In today's blog we look at one of the age old arguments between NASCAR fans and those outside of the sport. That argument is are NASCAR driver's really athletes. Most of the people that think NASCAR drivers aren't athletes argue that they just sit in a car and turn left how hard is that. However what those people don't realize is that it is more complex then that. Imagine sitting in your personal car driving for four hours only going left with the heat on high and the windows up and 42 other drivers around you. ESPN sports science did a really nice piece on this topic showing just how difficult it is for these drivers. It examines, their heart rate, the heat inside the car among other things. I saw this clip a few years ago and every time I watch it I gain a new respect for these drivers. So here are a couple of questions to think about before and as your watching the video. Do you believe that NASCAR drivers are athletes? Did this video change your mindset you had before you watched the video and if so why? Some one mentioned to me they couldn't post a comment I viewed my own blog and if you click where it currently says no comments you then should be able to comment. For all my NASCAR fans enjoy the race today.

What is NASCAR?

So for those of you that may have come across my blog but don't know what NASCAR is this post is for you. NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. NASCAR was founded back in 1947-1948 by Bill France SR. There are three major series of NASCAR the Camping World Truck Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. The cup series as it is often shortened to is the top level of NASCAR and where all NASCAR drivers aspire to race one day. A NASCAR cup field is almost always 43 drivers occasionally a few less but never more then 43. A NASCAR rookie is signified by yellow tape on the bottom of their bumper which tells the others drivers there still new to this and are still learning. The season is 36 weeks long with just a couple off weekends. The season starts with their super bowl of racing their biggest race of the year the Daytona 500. They race the first 26 races which are called the regular season. Then 16 drivers who have qualified by winning one of the first 26 races or if there are not 16 winners the highest in points compete to be the champion in the last ten races of the season. All the 43 drivers still race those last ten weeks but only those 16 have a shot to win the championship. In 2010 NASCAR got their very own hall of fame this hall is located in Charlotte, North Carolina which is where most of the race teams are located and where most of the drivers live. The hall of fame inducts a class of 5 people important to the sport every year since it's opening in 2010. The hall of fame has a very nice website that tells more about the hall and gives you a place to look at all the people inducted into the hall and who they beat out of their group of nominees. The NASCAR hall of fame website is http://www.nascarhall.com/ if you are interested in learning more about the hall. So know you all hopefully know a little more about NASCAR then when you clicked on my blog post and if your a NASCAR rookie fan your closer to loosing your yellow tape. Have a great day and for all my race fans enjoy the race this weekend.

This is the logo you generally see for the NASCAR sprint cup series another common logo to be see is just the colorful NASCAR bar.
 

My NASCAR story how i got started in the sport

Hi everyone my name is Jessica McMillen I have been a NASCAR fan for about 8 years now but my dad has been watching it for as long as I can remember. I started watching NASCAR with my dad as just something to spend time with him. However I quickly became hooked and these days I'm a die hard NASCAR fan I watch the race every weekend and I have surpassed my dad in NASCAR fan status. My first memories of NASCAR are laying on the family room floor with my dad eating hot pockets and watching the race. The first driver I ever liked was Kurt Busch because I found his card in a cheerios box so I started watching him and when I found out he had a little brother Kyle I quickly became a Kyle fan. These days my favorite drivers are Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. I still like Kurt Busch and a lot of the younger up and coming drivers are my age so I relate with them and enjoy watching them but Kyle, Denny and Joey are my top 3. My first and so far only race I ever attended live was the Michigan race in June of 2010 with my two best friends, my younger sister and their parents. I got lucky enough that my first race one of my favorite drivers Denny Hamlin won. I have gotten to meet Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano at various places through out the years and I hope to get the chance to meet many other drivers. I plan to use this blog just to discuses my thoughts and views on certain races, or events happening in the sport. I understand we may not like the same drivers in fact it's likely and that is fine we can all have conversations in the comments and have different view points. Even within my own family and close friends we have different favorites. My dad was a big Mark Martin fan but since his retirement has shifted recently to Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon. My younger sister loves Trevor Bayne. My best friends who are like sisters love Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon and their parents who are like 2'nd parents to me love Jimmie Johnson. However comments must be done in good taste as the author of this blog I reserve the right to not post certain comments or to remove any comments. Comments that will be removed or not posted are any that are mean or nasty toward or about a certain driver and their fans, and any comments that have bad language in them. I want this blog to be a place where NASCAR fans or even NASCAR rookie fans can talk about and discuses this sport but I don't want it to be hurtful and ruin it for the good fans. Thank you and I hope you all enjoy my blog.