Chase = over

Well if Johnson's win at Martinsville didn't end the Chase, his finish in Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 certainly did. It's too bad for Edwards, he thought he gained at least 50 points on Johnson when in reality he only gained 15 while Johnson actually padded his points lead. Jeff Burton and Greg Biffle also faltered, leaving Edwards as the only real threat to Johnson at this point. Do I think Johnson can be caught? No, not really. This Chase is effectively over no matter what Edwards or anyone else might think.

Rain rain go away

Is it just me or is anyone else really getting tired of all the rain at NASCAR events this year? For the 10th time this season qualifying was canceled Friday due to wet weather. I'm inclined to believe that there has got to be a better solution to this rain issue rather then canceling qualifying every week.

Granted, weekend schedules at NASCAR events are usually more then a little cramped but that doesn't mean NASCAR can do something to make things better under the circumstances? What about drivers like Bryan Clauson and Joey Logano? Both drivers have missed races due to rain that otherwise they probably would have made. I've heard the suggestion before and I like the idea of holding a special round of qualifying (if rain cancels the main qualifying session) just for go-or-go homers like Clauson or Logano. At least then you would give the drivers not guaranteed a spot in the race the chance to prove how good they are.

Or, NASCAR can keep doing what they are doing and continue to get disgruntled looks from drivers and fans alike. Unless of course your the points leader, in which case you don't mind qualifying getting canceled. At least then you can start from the pole.

See, there is always a positive for every negative.

How about them Craftsman Trucks?

I've spent so much time this year talking about the Sprint and Nationwide Series' that I almost totally overlooked what many would say is the most competitive series in NASCAR, the Craftsman Truck Series.

For me, when I get the chance to watch the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series it feels almost like your going back in time, back when hard racing was not only common but expected of every driver in every race. These guys beat, bang, bash and just in general race hard.

While watching the Sprint Cup race the other week a TV interviewer stopped a moment and talked with Mike Skinner after a crash during the race. She mentioned that Mike was helping the No. 84 Red Bull team that he was driving for (replacing AJ Allmendinger) work on the car after the crash. Skinner simply replied, "I'm a truck driver, that's how we do it over there."

THAT is the kinda of tenacity that I like to hear from a race car driver. The Craftsman Truck Series has created some great drivers to never see much mainstream success in the Sprint Cup Series. Skinner, Jack Sprague, Ron Hornaday, Johnny Benson, Bobby Hamilton, Dennis Setzer, Ted Musgrave and I could name countless others. All of these drivers tried their hand at running in the Sprint Cup Series but ultimately found themselves driving Truck's for a living. And believe you me, that is no insult to their abilities, they just found that the Truck Series is more suited to their driving abilities.

So if you find yourself with a chance to sit down and watch a Craftsman Truck Series race, do it. You might just be surprised at how good the racing really is.

Busy as a bee

It's been a long few week's around the newsroom and I often find myself a little overwhelmed on occasion. Yet I wanted to sit down today and write a blog about the Chase for the Sprint Cup, despite the fact that I've got work floating up to my eye balls. It's probably gonna be short, but why not.

When the chase started, things looked good for Kyle Busch. Now he finds himself more than 300 points behind current leader Jimmie Johnson and all but out of the championship hunt. What's left for him to do? The same thing he was doing before his bad luck began, win everything in site.

The truth is Kyle Busch, much like everyone about 200 points back of Johnson, has nothing to lose at this point. For Busch it's go for broke or go home. So if I am Busch and company, I start putting caution to the wind and aim at getting as many wins as possible before the end of the season at Homestead. He's already started in that direction, he won Friday's Nationwide Series race at LMS easily (FYI, that is his 20th win this year in NASCAR's top three divisions).

I wish I had time to say more, but I'm swamped. I'll touch base later with more.

Flat Rock Music Festival Videos

I shot two videos while I was at the Flat Rock Music Festival. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

The SteelDrivers - "If It Hadn't Been For Love"


Skinny Legs and All - "The Weight"

Flat Rock Music Festival

It's not often that I take time off, much less time to go do something I've been looking forward to for some time. For the last two years my parents have been pestering me to attend a music festival with them. Finally, I decided that since I have this paid vacation just collecting dust, I'd best go ahead and use it. With that, I decided I'd join my parents at this years Flat Rock Music Festival in Flat Rock, N.C. Needless to say I was so happy I attended.

The weekend started Friday with everyone waking up early and preparing my parents RV for the trip. When I say RV I mean an old old RV. I don't remember right off what year the RV is, but it's from the early 1970s, I know that much.

My transporation/bed for the weekend. Stylish huh?

We had to stop at three gas stations just to get enough gas to make it to Flat Rock. But once we got fuel and made a few other stops we hit the road to Flat Rock. Of course, once we got there, we were met with the stark realization that Friday was probably going to be a wash. Of course, for those that don't remember, much of the region was met with much needed rain on Friday. Of course, it had to rain on the first day of my mini vacation. Go figure. Oh, I best not forget that in order to get to the festival you had to go ALL THE WAY UP A MOUNTAIN. We parked in a field at the bottom of the mountain and in order to get up to the festival you had to either walk a very bad looking trail (well, it wasn't that bad once it was dryish) or take a shuttle van up to the top (which was one heck of a wild ride in the wet weather on dirt roads).

This is the view from across the pond at the top of the mountain. All the way over there is the main festival stage.

A zoomed in few of the festival grounds.

While Friday was a total wash, Saturday was NOT! I got to see all the bands I was looking forward to from the get go, including The SteelDrivers, Skinny Legs and All, Sonny Landreth and WSNB. I admit my musical taste is a bit out there, so I don't honestly expect many that read this to know who these groups are. Here are a few photos from those sets:

The SteelDrivers

Skinny Legs and All





Sonny Landreth




WSNB

Oh my its been awhile

Boy has it really been more than a week since I last posted on here? Seems like a lot less (or, depending on who you are, a lot more). I've been amazingly busy since my last post with my regular copy editing duties, including laying out the sports section a couple nights a week in addition to my regular role of news copy editor. On top of that I am also designing the syndicated NASCAR page that appears every week in The Star with content produced by Freedom Communications resident NASCAR writer, Monte Dutton.

Anyway, I apologize for not posting my regular NASCAR stories on here. With my additional duties on the copy desk in addition to my work writing the historical racing stories recently I haven't had much time to do anything, with the exception of sleep of course. But, life goes on.

I wanted to note that I've been having a blast writing my historical racing stories. The things I've heard and the stories that have been passed on to me have been amazing and I would never trade the experience for anything. I have even gotten to do a phone interview with former Daytona 500 winner Cotton Owens (he commented on Stick Elliott and the Cleveland County Fairgrounds).

With any luck the stories will keep flowing out of me in the coming weeks. I've already got the next story written and prepared. I'd tell you what it's about but I don't want to ruin the surprise.

I would like to continue to remind you, the readers of The Star, to keep submitting information to me about things you'd like to hear me write about. Want to hear about an old driver from the '60s? Let me know! Do you have old stories or old photographs floating around? Let me know! These stories will keep coming as long as I have great people here in Cleveland County who are willing to pass on their stories to me.

Also, i'm seeking information on the following for possible stories. If you or anyone you know can help me out, that would be great:
Herb Thomas and his career ending crash at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds
Doug Cooper, Gastonia native, former NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 1964

Thanks folks and keep on reading!