Regan Smith wins the 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year

It was a tight race between Sam Hornish Jr. and Regan Smith for the rookie of the year honors entering Homestead. Hornish led by a slim margin but it was Smith who came out victorious in Homestead and brings home the honor of being named the 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year. Smith won 236 to 229 which was helped due to the fact that Hornish failed to qualify for the Ford 400.

I am sure that Smith will love taking off the yellow bumper stripes to show that he is no longer considered a rookie but will he have a ride next year with DEI? It has to be a kick in the, umm I will stay politically correct here and say it is a punch in the gut to have the feeling that you are really not sure if you will have a ride next year, it is very disheartening but Smith is staying upbeat and in hopes that he will be in the 01 next year for DEI.

Here a few highlights from his season as Rookie of the Year:

1. Smith was the top-finishing rookie 11 times in 34 races and led or shared the point lead in 26 of the 36 races.

2. Smith is the first rookie in the 52-year history of the award to be running at the finish in every race of a season, and he's also the first from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to win the award.

3. He brings the Rookie of the Year title with him wherever he goes, along with $91,500 in earnings from Raybestos along with a signature leather jacket and $5000 towards his team.

Congratulations once again Regan!!!

Dear Fellow Bloggers...Need Your Help

Good afternoon to all my fellow bloggers out there. I am in a dilemma and would really value your thoughts and opinions on the following subject. As a parent, do you feel it is right to let your teenage son/daughter have their girlfriend/boyfriend over to the house while there is not a parent present? I might sound old fashioned here but I really do not agree with the whole situation. Unfortunately I am faced with such a situation. I am recently divorced and my girls, pictured above, live with their mother. Well I have voiced my concerns over this because I found out my girls have been having their boyfriends come over while she is not at home and it is for several hours. I have put out the offer that if the girls ever want to hang out with their boyfriends at my house while I am at home, they are more then welcome to. I trust my girls and their boyfriends totally but in this whole situation, you are just setting it up for something possibly to happen.

I value your opinion.

Looking into the Crystal Ball...

Can anyone predict what is in store for the world of NASCAR in the coming years. Better yet, what will the 2009 Season hold in store for us? Sure, the economy has really gone downhill and noone can say when it will ever be able to crawl out of the hole. Heck, our country has been in a recession now for 14 months and it is no surprise that NASCAR is feeling the pain. You can read all these stories about how NASCAR is cutting back testing to save millions and you can read about teams that are laying off people but is it really any surprise to anyone to see this happening. Lets be for real here, we all saw how the attendance numbers were falling throughout the year in that people had just cut back on expenses which included extra curricular activities. There are people losing their jobs and their houses left and right. We are seeing the Big 3 auto makers about to go under unless the Federal government bails them out. We could see the worst holiday spending ever in history but Brian France seems to have a vision that NASCAR will not suffer. Oh please Brian, that is easy for you to say when you have millions of dollars in your bank account along with all the top drivers in the sport.

It is not the drivers in the sport that are in jeopardy of their jobs, it is those people that you never hear of that keep the car on the track and make it all come together, those are the people that are going to suffer the most but they should of seen it coming all season. There was an article on yahoo talking about the crews of these teams and how Jeff Burton said that these people rely on their paychecks to pay their bills, well I hate to say it but it is reality and if these people were smart, they would have a backup plan.

It gets very tiresome to hear about the money problems in NASCAR. When you tally up how much it costs to run a team it is really shocking. If a major sponsor wants to have their name on the hood of the car, they are going to pay at least $12-$15 million dollars a year. That is pretty steep just to have your name on the hood. Lets not forget about tires, gas, and all the traveling. We are just talking about the top series of the sport, what about the Nationwide and Truck series, how long will they be able to last in the declining economy?

I have been an avid fan of NASCAR for quite a few years but with all the money that this sport rakes in, I find it hard for me to find a soft spot in my heart when I hear them talking about all the problems they are experiencing. All of us are worried about where our economy is going and will we have our job when we wake up the next morning. Americans are cutting back on their spending and unfortunately NASCAR is feeling it and I can only imagine what 2009 will be like for the sport. NASCAR is in for a rude awakening but is this really a surprise to anyone?

What say you?

Happy Veterans Day

Many Americans mistakenly believe that Veterans Day is the day America sets aside to honor American military personnel who died in battle or as a result of wounds sustained from combat. That's not quite true. Memorial Day is the day set aside to honor America's war dead.

Veterans Day, on the other hand, honors ALL American veterans, both living and dead. In fact, Veterans Day is largely intended to thank LIVING veterans for dedicated and loyal service to their country. November 11 of each year is the day that we ensure veterans know that we deeply appreciate the sacrifices they have made in the lives to keep our country free.

Being a veteran myself of the Navy, I can appreciate all of the men and women that are serving and have served our country. Once again, Happy Veterans Day.

Yippee Kayay says Cousin Carl. The Streak To The Finish from the Dickies 500 at Texas

What everyone thought would be a clinching of the Championship for Jimmie Johnson turned south. Johnson was saying prior to the race that their car was really good and fast and that they were not going to hold back, well as luck would have it, the #48 team struggled with an ill handling car all day and just could not get it done. Jack Roush has to be buying some new hats especially when his teams all finish in the Top 10 with the exception of David Ragan but heck he finished 11th. Did anyone else notice the lack of attendance in the stands at Texas? Isn’t this one of those tracks that sells out all the time? Yet just another sign of how tough the economy is on the sport and I am sure it will not get any better in the future.

Here are some of my random thoughts on the race;

1. I’ll be your Huckleberry! I can just imagine hearing Carl say that as he won on Sunday at Texas as he closes in on Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Championship. Carl did not waste anytime moving up front and stayed up front for pretty much the entire race until the late pit stop where some teams opted for 2 tires vice 4. Despite being back in 7th place, Carl slowly but surely made his way back up to the front and there was no looking back. Hats off to the #99 Team, especially the gas mileage engineer, do you think he will be getting a bonus check from Jack?

2. An Eye for An Eye? Okay so Montoya fesses up that he was being a bit aggressive towards David Gilliland and giving him a shove here and a bump there but lets put this in perspective in that Montoya had a Top 10 car and the #38 was holding him up along with being a few laps down so do you really blame Montoya but when the #38 came rocketing down on the track and slammed into the #42 at over 185mph, that is just lunacy. I was happy to see NASCAR park the #38 and I wouldn’t be surprised if hefty fines along with points coupled with perhaps sitting out a race is not handed out. Drivers that do those types of things should be banned from the sport because both of them along with other drivers could have been seriously hurt if not killed. If you want to settle your differences, do it behind the haulers and NOT on the track.

3. The Beak was flying. David Reutimann showed that he belongs in the Cup series and may be the only glimmer of light over at MWR. David ran up in the Top 10 most of the day and finished 10th.

4. Crown Royal is Proud. Jamie McMurray looked like he was going to take home the victory but alas he could not close the deal but he has really come on strong since Dover and has been showing signs of improvement. He may not have had the most stellar season out of all the Roush drivers but he NEVER gave up and I am sure he will race his butt off in the last two races.

5. Ding Dong, the witch is not dead. Lets not give up on AJ Allmendinger, he could have had a Top 15 finish if not for his speeding penalty and still shows that he is one of those drivers that deserve to be driving in the Cup series.

6. Are Fords that good? Carl did mention about his fuel mileage from his Fusion and even teammate Greg Biffle was wondering how Carl lasted 8 laps more then he did. Okay Greg, did you see how Carl was racing the last 5 laps and it does matter on how heavy your right foot is on that gas pedal. The way Greg stated it in his post race interview almost sounded like he was accusing his teammate of cheating. Tip of the day Greg, make sure you clear those comments with your team owner first, he does write your paycheck.

7. Magic 8-ball. Does anyone else realize that with Carl’s win at Texas on Sunday, that ties him with Shrub? Both of them have 8 wins each this season but Kyle has come up short and is out of contention for the Championship. Consistency is the key.

Carl is only 106 points away from Jimmie Johnson and has made the Chase a bit more exciting to say the least. Next up is Phoenix where Jimmie does have a better record but lets not count out our Cousin Carl, he is going for broke. Watch that rear view mirror Jimmie, if you are not careful, you just may get passed.