Racedriven.com

From David Pearson and Darrell Waltrip to Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Darlington is still Darlington.

2008-05-14T16:25:00.002-04:00

There’s a reason why Darlington is known as the track “too tough to tame” and the “Lady in Black”, because Darlington is one of the toughest tracks on the NASCAR schedule for both the Nationwide Series and the Cup Series.

Going into this past weekend’s only Cup Series Darlington race on the schedule this year, there was so much happen, both on and off the track, first from seeing the 8-time Darlington winner David Pearson in his #21 Wood Brother’s Mercury leading Edwards in his #99 Roush-Fenway Ford on a couple of pace laps around Darlington on the new surface, that is a perfect sight considering I had never gotten the chance to see David Pearson race during his historic career (keep in mind I am only 28 years old), to second seeing Darrell Waltrip’s #11 Mountain Dew Chevy sitting side-by-side with Dale Earnhardt Jr’s new #88 Mountain Dew Chevrolet Impala SS and you know DW is right in away, with the exception the frontend’s and no rear wind, DW’s #11 Chevy is very similar to Dale Jr’s new car today and in some cases, they most likely drive the same too.

What got to me even more in some aspect was the speculation that with the new pavement on the track, the racing and the legend of the racetrack was going to change, Darlington wouldn’t live up to its name and there wouldn’t be good racing, not to mention that the Nationwide Series race the previous night turned out to be a wreckers just to get to the checkers…

However while the Nationwide Series was what it was, the same couldn’t be said for the Cup Series race and even despite the fact that the Toyota’s, Dodge’s and Ford’s were all looking like they were driving sideways down the straightaway’s considering they were (trick in the rear end I guess), the combination of the new surface, the yet again sold out crowd and the new COT produced in my opinion one hell of a good race and I can safety say that Darlington at least in my eye’s is safe on the schedule.

Passing was and will always be at premium at this track and nothing changed there, but the higher speeds and the tougher car made it really interesting to watch, during the race, time and time again, the Darlington strip count which was very generous was climbing even on the lap 1 and throughout the night, I saw several drivers including Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, oh damn the list is shorter of who didn’t hit the wall with their right side a ton, bounce off and keep going… and yes the biggest surprise to me was just how hard (NASCAR’s version of wreck anyone to win) Kyle Busch bounced off the wall and kept going, I thought he was done a couple of times, but amazingly enough, his JGR Toyota kept going and going on to victory.

But in my eyes, there were three things to keep in mind when you ponder this race, first Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues his top 5, top 10 finish runs with another fourth place finish and he’s 3rd in points, staying with that, Jeff Gordon finished 3rd, a good finish for him. Second, I felt bad for Greg Biffle, he had a good car last Saturday night and as a matter of fact, for the last couple of seasons and he should have more victories, but he has no luck, at Darlington, he suffered a transmission issue, that’s just the tip of it. Third, Carl Edwards, he’s coming for the championship and for that matter, so is Dale Jr., watch these two.

To me, I know that NASCAR is in the business of making money, yeah I get that, but to me it’s history too, keeping your history and just like Martinsville, Bristol, and Richmond, Darlington is part of NASCAR’s history and that’s huge to fans including me, we need to keep these racetracks on the NASCAR Cup Series Schedule and not let them fall like Rockingham “The Rock” and North Wilkesboro, two great tracks, with that said, while it’s nice under the lights on Mother’s Day weekend at Darlington, I will ask this question, Is it time for the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend at Darlington to return?

One word YES, that’s all I am going to say and while I know that that would be tough to do, I would still love to see that happen.

By the way: I didn’t get the chance to say thank you to Andy Hillenburg for not only buying Rockingham Speedway “The Rock”, but bring back racing to the Rock, starting with the ARCA Series for the Inaugural Carolina 500 and even though the race turned out to be dominated and won by Joey Logano (who if Tony Stewart leaves JGR for a Chevrolet team, will be the new driver of the #20 in 2010), it was still great to see a race start just after noon time and with 50 cars, Good Job and NASCAR should look too.

David Pearson drives the famous No. 21 Wood Brothers Mercury ahead of Carl Edwards in his No. 99 Office Depot Ford during Darlington Raceway's media day in advance of the Dodge Challenger 500 (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images via NASCARmedia.com)

- Racedriven

What do I think of the unification of the Champ Car/IndyCar Series and what does the future hold for the unified IndyCar Series?

2008-05-10T17:42:00.003-04:00

So, with last year’s IRL IndyCar Series Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti departing for NASCAR along with former series champion Sam Hornish Jr., and series champion and star Scott Sharp driving over in the American LeMans Series… so I ask this question to everyone, what do I think of the unification of the Champ Car/IndyCar Series and what does the future hold for the unified IndyCar Series?

When I first heard that of the Champ Car World Series and the IRL IndyCar Series was going to become one under the IndyCar Series banner, I had mixed thoughts on the unification, on one hand I was thinking that finally the IndyCar Series will have more competition not only more drivers going for the victory week in and week out, but larger fields and a better television package, one can only hope.

But on the flip side, first, the media kept making the mistake of calling this a merger, this was no merger, this was survival for the Champ Car Series and a buyout with Tony George and Tony getting exactly what he wants, he nearly destroyed open wheel racing in America which included the departure of a lot of good indy car drivers and now he gets his vision and basically complete control while the Champ Car World Series formerly known as CART is history after around 27 years.

Leading up to the Indianapolis 500 were I believe most of the teams will be on somewhat equal footing was an interesting blend, basically you had a big learning curve for the old Champ car drivers on the ovals and the opposite somewhat for the street circuit in St. Pete, plus you had the final showdown between the IRL IndyCar Series racing separately in Motegi, Japan, while the Champ Car teams where racing at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Like I said, while Homestead and Kansas where really no contest for the Champ Car drivers as they have little experience on ovals, however the street circuit at St. Pete was a good race all the way around and you know it was the perfect showcase for the old Champ Car drivers as the rising star Graham Rahal made history by capturing his first IRL IndyCar Series victory and in great style. If that wasn’t enough for a good showing for open wheel racing, the split weekend showed even more excitement for the rising stars as first at the IRL IndyCar Series series finale (before the series would become one again) in Motegi, Japan, as Danica Patrick (who I have been watching since she raced years ago in the Toyota Atlantic Series) made history by capturing her first victory in the Indy Car Series and becoming the first female to win a IndyCar series event.

Specking of Champ Car World Series (formerly CART) series finale, the Long beach Grand Prix, which was a good one, you had a full 20 car field that was exciting as an open wheel race could be with one of the series raising stars winning the race after going from starting fourth to leading the race by turn 1, Will Power. Fans also say what could as well be the final appearance of some of the open wheels great drivers including one of my favorite’s Paul Tracy, who reminds me of Tony Stewart, it was also cool to see Jimmy Vaser racing one more time in couch tour, so in the end, goodbye Champ Car/CART, you had a good run.

With that said, So what about the future of the IndyCar Series? Now that the two series has become one, this is where the series history will begin and it’s only fitting that this will happen at the biggest spectacular in Motorsports today, the famous Indianapolis 500.

When it comes to the future of the IndyCar Series, I see success depending upon what the series does next starting with who are the drivers? Well I am glad to see that at least 9 drivers have made the trip from the Champ Car World Series over to the unified series including Oriol Servia, Will Power, Bruno Junquiera, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal to name a few, however one driver I don’t see on the list is Paul Tracy, who in my opinion is key to the success of the series especially at the Canadian races, not to mention his character is unmatched by most drivers. Fans either love him or hate him and that’s huge, it’s headline news and he’s one of my favorite drivers. Tracy is not afraid to get into someone’s face, nor race hard for any position. Looking on down the line, what about Alex Tagliani or Kathrene Legge, where do they stand? Like I said drivers are key and more American drivers will help the series grow in America, Paul Tracy is key in Canada.

Where does the schedule go from the current one? Adding races like Portland International Raceway, Exhibition Place in Toronto, Road America, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico to name a few would make for a good combination, while removing Richmond would be good, it’s just not exciting.

How about the next generation indy car - turbo, supercharger or normally aspirated engines, this is the drivers and teams area, I’m staying clear this one. Well that’s it for now as I turn my attention to the 92th running of the Indianapolis 500, the rest of the 2008 season and a better 2009 season. Comments. (Photo Credit: Motorsport.com)

- Racedriven

Emotions, Emotions, Emotions – Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin as Clint Bowyer wins the 400 at Richmond.

2008-05-04T01:06:00.001-04:00

(Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

So here’s the question of the day (the next day)…What do you consider as a good race and would you consider the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond last night a good race?

Racing under the light’s in Richmond is always exciting, a ¾ mile racetrack, a sellout crowd, 43 good drivers and 400 laps makes for an interesting night and race fans, that’s exactly what we got in Richmond regardless of what your personal feelings are after a late race battle turns to a wreck.

Like the title says, emotions, emotions, emotions, now let me state the obvious from the start, I am a huge Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan and I’ve been an Earnhardt fan for years now and for anyone who reads my blog regularly, you most likely already know this. As I sit here following the Crown Royal 400 at Richmond blogging on this short track event, I sit with emotions as to what to say about the entire thing.

While a good race to me would consist of multi-lead changes, that is not the only requirement, the others would include side-by-side racing throughout the entire field (oh I love a good short track action with beating and banging), passing which is a big key to any racing, pit strategy, action on and off the track, drama, excitement in the air, you get the picture as well as something that doesn’t look like a parade, now would Richmond qualify, oh yeah, despite the fact that Denny Hamlin lead 381 of 400 laps of the race (track record I never want to see again), this was one of the best races all season long, not as high up as Phoenix does or Bristol, but it’s up there.

Shocking enough, there was “The Big One”, one minute we are racing in Richmond and the next we are racing back in Talladega, how that happen and so fast, it was just a huge chain reaction that took out 10 cars, yeah and it was avoidable too… you can’t go three wide at Richmond, at least not for very long, boy this new car enables these drivers to really get it on at short tracks, now I just wish they could fix the intermediate tracks, we would have a real good, yet ugly car, but a real good car.

I had a feeling drivers were saving up there equipment for the end of this one, but boy I feel bad for Denny Hamlin, he wanted it so badly and yet welcome to Cup Series racing, don’t anyone give that line to me in a minute...

Now, just like so many times this year, like Phoenix, the final pit stops and final 50 miles of the race always seems to where business picks up – with Hamlin following back due to a slow air leak and a three wide pass, if you wert interested before, you are now…

With 15 laps to go, my heart was pumping a mile a minute with Dale Jr. leading, Jr. Nation on there feet and yet to go from seeing your favorite driver leading the race one minute and the next minute or several laps later, get wrecked by another driver (cough…Kyle Busch) is very tough to watch, I understand it is racing and while I should be angry, surprisingly enough I am very silent (someone hand me some headphone and a music player with Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift to calm me down, believe me it works), why, I really don’t know, at this point I am thinking about what Dale Jr. must be thinking as I watched his interview, what a drive not only in this race, but this entire season for Junior and yet, I am already off thinking about next weekend’s race in Darlington, plus believe it or not Denny Hamlin as well.

Denny wanted that victory so bad and for either of them not to win, that hurts. I can’t even imagine what other Dale Jr. fans were thinking and are thinking now, well maybe one, my father is already sleeping, that can’t be easy neither. As for Kyle Busch, well, good luck with… like I said emotions and for all that read this saying why are you not mad, who said I wasn’t, I just handle it my own way, sort of like you if I had a child in front of you (I don’t, no kids) or breathing… Well, congratulations to Clint Bowyer, he had a top 5, top 10 racecar, all night long and just like so many races in general, right place, right time wins races too.

I remember seeing Clint Bowyers first Cup Series victory at New Hampshire last season, I was there in his teammates Kevin Harvick’s pit (my first race too, thanks to Shell), good win for him and RCR and yeah a Chevy wins. Photo on the right taken by me.

So to answer the question, was this a good race, yes, so was Phoenix, Bristol, The Daytona 500 and even Las Vegas, for Martinsville, it was the weather – mist and cold, nothing against NASCAR, the drivers & teams, nor the track, so leave those two dates alone. Well (remembering I am a Boston Red Sox fan as well as New England Patriots fan, you can figure out the connect if there is one…), it’s off to Darlington, a Mountain Dew retro-look for Dale Junior that growing on me and another night race, and oh yeah, the ARCA race at “The Rock” later today, yeah, I'm Brian Vermette, See Yeah next time. Comments.

- Racedriven

What is this Speed Racer the Next Generation: The Beginning DVD?

2008-05-01T18:35:00.003-04:00

This movie is a complete 180 from what I am normally a custom to watching, I have never watched an episode of Speed Racer before today, the only animated series that I can compare it to would be The Transformers which I watched regularly years ago, is very simpler to this Speed Racer. The Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning on DVD focusing on Speed's orphaned son as he juggles school life at the Racing Academy which includes the pursuit of building a car with a gasless engine, while uncovering secrets behind his father's disappearance. The movie features Peter Fernandez (as Headmaster Spritle) which is the voice of Speed Racer in the classic TV series and the man responsible for the lyrics of original Speed Racer theme song.

The DVD which is released on Tuesday, May 6th, the bonus’s include The Making of Speed Racer: The Next Generation, The Virtual Track Racing Game, Trailer Gallery and more. Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning sets up and launches the new animated half-hour TV series which airs Fridays at 7pm ET on Nicktoons Network and also coincides with the Warner Bros. live-action feature film which hits theatres on May 9th.

This Speed Racer movie is a good one for kids and even though the movie is only 66 minutes long, this would entertain just about any kid.

Now only if automakers could build a car like the Mach 6 in styling and that runs on alternative fuels, we would be all set, I know I would with today’s gas prices, I would like to thank Torr Leonard of M80 and Lionsgate Home Entertainment for providing me with this preview.

The Mach 5, looks like a Chevrolet Corvette to me... Comments.

- Racedriven

Should consumers be researching Cheap Gas Prices online before leaving the house?

2008-04-30T16:41:00.006-04:00

Right now in the United States, not to mention in Canada, consumers are see the raising costs of just about everything that helps us live from the raising prices in food (cost to fuel our bodies), the raising cost of energy for heating and cooling our homes, but the biggest hit has to come from the record high gas prices and diesel prices at the pumps and with no end in sight, what are we all to do.

I’ve been looking up gas prices online for months now, just seeing what the differences are from day to day and month to month, with the help of my father who has given up the use of his Jeep Liberty for my more fuel friendly Nissan Altima to go to work, he wrote a piece back on April 11th about one station here in Massachusetts that he had to fill up at, back on April 10th, for regular gas at a station, the price was $3.11, the next day, the gas price jumped 8 cents to $3.19 a gallon for the same gas. Now when you fast forward to yesterday (April 29th) at that very same gas station, the new price was $3.54 for a gallon of gas. What a jump, that’s 43 cent jump in 19 days, like I said, what are consumers to do?

Well besides buying a more fuel friendly vehicle, the normal maintenance, checking your tire pressures, removing junk from your car’s trunk, the only thing consumers can do is shop around for cheap gas prices. Before you leave the house, chances are you know exactly where you are going, work comes to mind and whether your commute is 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour or more one way from your house, you are going to pass several gas stations along the way to your destination. Now it’s your job to find that next price just like you do when you shop for food with weekly circulars, if you know that you are going to have to fill up, checking the gas prices online can save you money, (just be aware they change not only daily, but change from area to area) it could save or cost you 8 cents a gallon, 10 cents a gallon if you are not careful. So where do you go:

First try Gas Price on MapQuest, they have prices all over the United States for all 3 grades of Gasoline, Diesel, E85, Bio-Diesel and more, just type in you city, state or zip code and find the best price, chances are they have it. This is the site I used to find yesterday’s gas price for the station listed above. Another one to try is GasBuddy.com (since it is broken up by area, mine is WorcesterGasPrices.com), keep in mind this is done by Gasbuddy and spotters which in my area includes my father.

Do keep in mind that not only gas prices change daily, but they are also different from area to area, for example, gas prices in the center of my town is $3.56 a gallon, chances are it is higher than the stations a quarter mile away, taken one station as the next town over which is $3.54 a gallon, each different towns, so check that out, you’ll be surprised.

Promotion: Check out the Kevin Harvick Shell Bobblehead at your local Shell Stations now. Comments.

- Racedriven

What did you think about Big Brother 9: Til Death Do You Part and Adam being crowned the winner?

2008-04-30T14:51:00.001-04:00

Well that’s it for Big Brother 9, what a good season this was. I read on a couple of blogs where fans were asking if this was the worst season of Big Brother ever and my response is simply this, no way, Like I said, this was a good season, Big Brother had a good group of characters, the twist of having the 16 houseguests compete as couples was a first in BB history and it was good for a little while.

Now the couples were: Ryan & Allison, Shelia & Adam, James & Chelsia, Matt & Natalie, Amanda & Alex, Parker & Jen and here’s where it got tricky, Jacob and Sharon were the first evicted couple and Neil left due to personal issues, so Joshuah choose Sharon as his partner, so the final couple was Joshuah & Sharon. The couple’s twist which had them play as couples, compete in challenges as couples, vote as couples and interestedly enough, be evicted as couples that gave an interesting element, it forced the houseguests to work together with their partners and if they couldn’t or one of the two in the couples couldn’t get along with the other houseguests, then they were evicted.

I would say there was a huge turning point in the game and boy most houseguests were thrilled to see this come with the once ‘til death do you part twist was no more and each one was on their own, playing as individuals. This new twist would not only save Ryan from being evicted, but in turn he would win him Head of Household, what a power. However with Ryan being saved and Allison being evicted, this would be the week were I believe Ryan made the biggest mistake in the game, Ryan knowing that the POV would be played had to put up another houseguest and some wanted Matt up to backdoor him and Ryan decided to lie to Joshuah, Sharon, Chelisa and I think James instead of just saying he wanted to keep Matt, at the POV meeting, Ryan made his choose to say Matt… in turn I think it cost Ryan with those very jury members.

The other turning point in the game was for Adam came when Chelisa was evicted, in her exit piece, she called out Adam, I believe that Adam by this point was playing a strategy game only, but after this, it set Adam off with winning HOH’s and POV, you know really playing the game.
One move by Big Brother set me off and my headline “Big Brother 9: America’s vote denied by house as James is evicted and voted back in?” says it all. The america’s vote is a way to get the fans involved and for this season it was bring an evicted houseguest back into the house and America choose Alex… well Big Brother decided to let the house decide that and that move was the biggest disappointment in the game, which would lead to the evictions of many. The house voted James back in instead of Big Brother just having Alex return, what a mistake. James wins HOH and promises not to put up Natalie and Matt, but at the POV meeting, puts up Matt and backdoors him. That move put most against James, once James kept winning POV, that’s were Natalie set out to get everyone in that alliance out, James wins POV and Chelisa, Joshuah and then James get evicted one by one.

Finally I look at the jury questions after Natalie, Sharon, and Shelia were evicted, nobody should be judged on what they plan of doing with the $500,000 if they win. Most likely the winner will pay down debt, buy a new vehicle, help their parents, maybe a charity or whatever, they shouldn’t be judged on that period.

During the jury questioning, I wasn’t surprised with Joshuah at all after his display in the house, as far as Shelia goes, she won one HOH that was handed to her (stupid move by Natalie, never give away an HOH, it’s safety in the game), I believe Adam got her as far as he could period, she did nothing and shouldn’t be bitter about anything. As for Sharon and Chelisa, I expected that. I was surprised with James, Matt and Natalie, no real hard feelings.

In the end, I’m happy to see Adam win Big Brother 9, he earned it and you can’t say he didn’t play or win, two HOH’s and at least one POV, plus good strategy. Well, for full details of what I through throughout the season, check out my previous pieces on Big Brother 9 which includes: Big Brother 9: ‘Til Death Do You Part – My Take on the first 18 days and what might happen next., Revealed: Big Brother 9 ‘til death do you part turns to individuals as Allison is evicted?, Big Brother 9: America’s vote denied by house as James is evicted and voted back in?, Payback for Matt’s backdoor eviction continues with evicting Chelsia in Big Brother 9, who’s next for Natalie?, And the award for best dramatic moment goes to Joshuah in Big Brother 9 as the final six is determined. And finally what I thought before the finale Who will win Big Brother 9 - Ryan or Adam?.

In closing, good season of Big Brother, but: 1) no couples twist next season, 2) when the fans vote to put an evicted HOH in, put them in and 3) a four hour Big brother after dark from 11PM to 3am would work better. I can’t wait until Big Brother 10 on July 13. Comments.

- Racedriven

Third time’s a charm for Ashley Force as she grabs her first career NHRA Funny Car victory.

2008-04-28T01:32:00.001-04:00

A picture is worth a thousand words and for this Motorsports fan who is also a John Force Racing fan that has been watching John Force for years, this picture of Ashley Force beating her father John Force (who was going for his 1000 career round win on Sunday) on Sunday to grab her first career NHRA Funny Car victory in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals is amazing. What a great job by Ashley Force who had been to the finals two previous times already this season back at Gainesville and last time out in Houston, now finds herself as the points leader by -59 points, what a victory.

(Photo Credit: Auto Imagery)

- Racedriven

What do you think about restrictor plate racing at Talladega and Daytona in NASCAR?

2008-04-27T23:48:00.007-04:00

Let me state the obvious, I am not a restrictor plate racing fan and while I don’t hate it, I don't like it too much neither. The good news is that it is only run four times a year, I would describe it as a giant chess match and with the giant chess match, there is always the fear of "The Big One" that is caused half the time by aggressive driving or just that one stupid move. I do enjoy watching both the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400, you have to have a handling racecar to win Daytona and there is more control there. So far in 2008, I would rate the Daytona 500 in the top 3 best races of the season, along with Phoenix and Bristol.

However as for Talladega, that's a completely different story, at times it’s hard to watch a race at Talladega whether it’s the Nationwide Series or Cup Series. There’s really no control and if you have red my blog before, the headline most likely says "Demotion Derby at Talladega.... for NASCAR", its survival, period. That’s it, that’s not like watching a race at Richmond, Bristol Martinsville or Atlanta, but it is the art of restrictor plate racing.

Caption: Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AMP Energy 500 I have to admit with the COT was one exciting race, however with that excitement the also received "The Big One" twice, the first time is pictured above with a simple case of four-five wide in the corners and no where to go and the second wreck happened on the last lap that had the race end under caution with another victory for Kyle Busch. Like I said, I did enjoy this race, it's a start and it wasn't boring. (Photo Credit: Motorsport.com)

- Racedriven

MLB: Ortiz "Yankees Curse" Jersey sells for $175,100 dollars on eBay to benefit the Jimmy Fund.

2008-04-24T12:31:00.000-04:00

From this Boston Red Sox fan, 4 days ago when I originally wrote this article on this David Ortiz “Yankees Curse” Jersey, I had a hard time trying to understand three things:

1) Why anyone including a Boston Red Sox fan would want to throw a jersey into wet concrete under the new Yankees stadium, I mean, what would we have to gain from do that?

2) What would you pay on eBay for a torn Ortiz Jersey that comes in a glass case that keep in mind 100% of the final sale price will support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund that 4 days ago was at $64K+?

3) If you had the money, would you bid on this auction and if you won this Ortiz "Yankees Curse" Jersey, what would you do with it?

Personally I really don’t know if I would bid on this with the exception of the fact that the money goes to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, let along what I would do with it if I won it. Maybe I would display it in a glass case, unknown what it would say below it. Well I guess I got answer as one eBay bidder paid $175,100.00, however I would still love to know what they are planning on doing with it?

Never the less, congratulations to the winner and to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund.Oh yeah, check out this ESPN Article on this event.

- Racedriven

Who will win Big Brother 9 - Ryan or Adam?

2008-04-23T21:16:00.003-04:00

Well it all come down to this, Big Brother 9 started off back in February with the first ever winter edition of Big Brother with 16 houseguests by pairing them off into couples and it started with two by two they were nominated together, completed in challenges as couples, voted as couples and finally evicted as couples.

What a way to go out and then to see the game suddenly change in a heartbeat from couples to individual was heaven, but during all this time of seeing each one of the houseguests being evicted, if you were to ask me who the final two would be, I would have never guessed these two would be the final 2 and completing for the $500,000 grand prize.

From this point on, this is one of the best parts of the game namely watching the jury members question each of these two houseguests for all of their dirty deeds in the game and to listen to each of them in why they should win. When you look at the route that each of these two houseguests has taken from the very beginning and who they have had a hand in evicting, what a comparison, but who should win?

First things first, when it came down to the final four, if Sharon would have made it to the final two, I have no doubt that the jury would have voted for Sharon hands down, she really didn’t screw with anyone in the house, she played a non-win game and friends with just about everyone. So it was only fitting that Ryan didn’t change the nominations and Adam voted to evict Sharon. That’s a little sad to see.

However you know that would only leave us with the final three and after seeing Adam threw the first HOH comp and then win the second HOH comp, I knew that the final HOH comp wouldn’t really make that much difference, but it was more of who would chose to evict who and when Ryan won the final HOH, I wasn’t surprises none the least that he chose to take Adam to the final two as they promised each other, in turn finally evicting Shelia, thank you.
So who will win Big Brother 9: ‘Til Death Do You Part, Ryan or Adam?

Personally predicting who the jury will choose to award the grand prize to is completely up in the air for me, on one hand you Ryan, who up till he was saved when the surprise eviction changed from a couple going home to just one individual going home, that was the turning for him. From there, Ryan won a couple of HOH’s, but also made a couple of HG’s mad at him including James, Joshuah, and Chelia and they are on the jury, that could spell trouble, also how will Sharon vote since see knows that Ryan was in an alliance with Adam. One thing Ryan has going for him is a lot of HOH wins and POV victories, he played the game period.

And on the other side you have Adam who finally came alive in this game just after Chelia left by winning a 2 HOH’s and a couple of POV’s, but who in the jury house might vote for him, there’s your question as Adam a lot of the time never really did anything early on.

Yet believe it or not I am picking Adam to win Big Brother 9, why??? Simply put he has pissed off less jury members and the ones that Ryan had pissed off, might just choose the lesser of the two evels and award Adam as the winner. Good Luck to both, let the best man win, personally I could care less which one wins, however one thing to consider and I know this is a long shot, the house didn’t like Ryan’s girlfriend Jen that could go against Ryan too. Comments.

- Racedriven

Did NASCAR just hand #44 Peyton Sellers and Andy Santerre Motorsports the stiffest penalty in NASCAR’s modern era?

2008-04-23T17:36:00.002-04:00

Earlier today, NASCAR stripped #44 Peyton Sellers of his victory from last weekend’s NASCAR Camping World East Series race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, dropping him to 30th place in the official race finishing order, suspended the crew chief for the next three races and putting the crew chief on probation until the end of the year for:

Sellers’ car was determined to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20C-12.3 C(7) (Shock absorber base valves will not be permitted: Right rear shock absorber had a base valve installed) of the 2008 NASCAR rule book. As a result, the original runner-up Austin Dillon, has been declared the race winner. (Credit: NASCARmedia.com Press Release)

This penalty doesn’t even begin to compare to any of the other penalties that NASCAR has handed down in any of their series whether it’s in the NASCAR touring series or in their top three series (Truck Series, Nationwide Series and Cup Series) as a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time NASCAR had stripped a driver of their victory before in the modern era, at least not in their top three series.

When you consider the other penalties that NASCAR has handed down this year alone to mainly it’s NASCAR Cup Series drivers and teams, there’s only been one penalty which happens to be one of the stiffest in the last several years this season after the Las Vegas Cup Series race when NASCAR found the oil lid cover off of the #99 Carl Edwards Roush-Fenway Racing Ford during post-race inspection where he got docked 100 driver points, 100 owner points, the crew chief was fined $100k, suspended for 6 races and probation, plus the twist, if the #99 makes the chase, they will not get the 10 bonus points for winning Las Vegas…

So when you compare Carl Edwards penalty to #44 Peyton Sellers Andy Santerre Motorsports penalty of stripping Sellers of his victory in turn putting him in 30th position with 30th points (-107 points difference) and money ($3k instead of over $8800), plus suspending his crew chief for three races and putting him on probation, basically I found Sellers penalty worse than Edwards penalty hands down, why???

While Edwards was docked points and lost his crew chief for six races and also lost the 10 bonus points in the chase, to me, that still doesn’t even compare to Sellers penalty because despite everything handed to Edwards, he still kept the victory and victories are huge to any driver, plus Sellers was docked 107 points and fined several thousand dollars and that is huge to an Touring Series team.

If you blow the penalty up to the NASCAR Cup Series level using Edwards, Johnson, Newman for example, he would have been docked 159 points and fined at least $100k+, plus stripped of his victory, yeah like I said, stiffest penalty in NASCAR’s Modern Era.

Just one question, what does a shock absorber base value do on a racecar and what advantages does it give a racecar against others who don’t have it?

And I will leave it at that… Comments.

- Racedriven

From the Boston Red Sox at Fenway to NASCAR in Phoenix – what happened last Saturday Night on FOX?

2008-04-16T09:46:00.000-04:00

Now let me state the obvious, as you may have noticed, I am a huge NASCAR fan and I blog about it regularly, the word diehard can be used to describe me and when there is a NASCAR (Cup Series mainly) race on, chances are I am either watching it live or at least recording it on my DVR, however what you may not know about me is that I live up here in New England, to be more specific, Massachusetts and I am also a sports fan who enjoys not only watching Football and my favorite team the New England Patriots, but baseball as well and my favorite team just so happens to be the Boston Red Sox which my friend and family got me into watching since I was in high school and granted I don’t watch every game nor do I know the roster or stats by heart, but nonetheless I am a sports fan who enjoys it.

Now I was excited when these two sports came together a couple years ago, first with Dale Jr. running the MLB paint schemes and then with Roush and the Fenway Group joining forces, it was cool see.

With that said, I never would have imagined that the two would come together in such a way as it did last Saturday Night. Basically, the Boston Red Sox vs. there huge rivals the New York Yankees game which is also good to watch went into a rain delay for a couple of hours, the game was televised on FOX and once the game was ready to resume, it was already into the pre-race coverage for the NASCAR Race in Phoenix. At this point, I didn’t care if FOX televised the preshow or not, it was the timing that would become the issue, more importantly when FOX made the switch.

I mean, there it is with the game being televised on both FOX and FX and while NASCAR fans were waiting for the NASCAR coverage, the baseball fans were watching the Red Sox lead the Yankees by 4-3 in the top of the 9th inning with one out at Fenway, the pitch was thrown and… damn the pictures gone and all of the viewers and fans find themselves in Phoenix looking at Ryan Newman let the pack of 42 other drivers coming at you into turn 3, so what happened, did the Sox win… I turned over to the Red Sox game on FX just in time to see the manager and players celebrating the victory over the Yankees.

So what’s the big deal, it’s the way FOX switched from the baseball game to the NASCAR race in Phoenix and keep in mind that NASCAR had pushed back the race 15 minutes to around 8:53pm to help FOX, in the end, the baseball fans didn’t get to see the last two pitches thrown and the Red sox win, nor did the NASCAR fans see the green flag being waved at Phoenix for the Subway 500. So no one got what they want to see, so now the question is, what’s with the last second switch?

At this point, I will say that I have to give it to FOX for at least trying to show the entire game and show the entire race, however there is two better ways to make the switch, first since FOX has to show the entire race, tell the baseball fans that due to the 2hr+ delay, the game has been moved to FX and now we join the Cup Series race in Phoenix 2 minutes before the start or second, if all else fails, show it in a split screen or side-by-side view of the last pitches and the start of the race.

Bottom Line, there’s not really to much to say here, no fans likes to be shut out like that, this shouldn’t have happened this way with a last second switch from the baseball game to the NASCAR, however while I give credit to FOX for trying to get the entire game in and the start of the race in at the same time, one group of fans were going to get hurt and yes I wanted to see if the Red Sox was going to win, nonetheless, the switch some have been made a minute or two before the green flag and that’s it.

So now that the Red Sox game was over and the Red Sox had beating the Yankees 4-3, the Cup Series race in Phoenix was on and what an exciting race it was, it was worth the wait, I don’t know about the races at the 1.5 mile tracks right now, but the Phoenix race was great, lots of passing, side-by-side racing and no lack of contenders going for the victory. At times during the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was leading with his past in the rear view mirror to say the least with the #8 Mark Martin stocking him every which way. I had mixed feelings about this if the #8 won, on one hand any times Mark Martin wins is huge, however it’s the #8 DEI winning and this Junior fan still hasn’t forgotten, would I have been cool with it, yeah I would have, past is the past.

But you know, in the late stages of the race, Jimmie Johnson was coming in a hurry, he was one if not the fastest car on track and then the splash for gas for most of the field. Normally a fuel mileage race wouldn’t be interesting, however this was at Phoenix and you could hear Chad Knaus on the radio saying back it way down, give me two seconds a lap, give three seconds a lap, back it way down and in turn three and four, just put it in neutral and coast and what a victory it was for Jimmie Johnson and the #48 Hendrick Motorsports team.

It was a good ending to the race, on one hand you had Jimmie Johnson going for his first victory of the season and in this day in age, victories are hard to come by in the Cup Series and on the other hand you had Clint bowyer saving gas in second, but at the same time the drivers who had stopped were charging hard, you had a race on your hands period. Would it be Johnson, Bowyer or Hamlin winning, good to see it was Johnson this time in victory lane. Comments.

- Racedriven

What a performance of Picture to Burn by Taylor Swift as she takes top honors at the 2008 CMT Music Awards.

2008-04-16T08:26:00.004-04:00

A picture is worth a thousand words and for this country music fan who enjoys listening to music from Reba and Carrie Underwood to Sugarland, Trace Atkins and the newest star Taylor Swift, last Monday night’s CMT Music Awards was one of the best shows yet. I really didn’t know how the whole two host father daughter team of Bill Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus would work, but I have to say combined with the comedy and there duet performance during the show was entertaining.

I could believe just how many country music stars came out for one event and yet Snoop Dog doesn’t come to mind and yet he was a presenter. Really this show is all about the performances and the awards that are voted on by the fans and while I loved seeing Carrie Underwood close the show with All-American Girl along with Sugarland come away with Duo Video of the Year for “Stay”, Rascal Flatts winning Group video of the Year with “Take me there” and Trace Atkins win in Male Video of the Year category for “I Got my Game on” I like that song, but the highlight of the night had to be Taylor Swift.

I noticed in the voting process a couple weeks before the show that Taylor Swift was up for a good number of categories, but after last year with Taylor winning breakthough video of the year which see passed on to her friend Kelly Pickler this year, I wasn’t surprised to see her video “Our Song” win for Female Video of the Year, however I was stunted by Taylor Swift’s performance of “Picture to Burn”, she has a killer video and in her the performance, she really brought that that video of picture to Burn to life, and then to see her win for Video of the year was incredible boy, she was speckles, great job.

Like I said in the beginning, a picture is worth a thousand words and this picture taken during her performance describes it all, congrats to Taylor Swift, now I can’t wait to buy her next CD and to see something about Taylor and Carrie Underwood co-writing a song together, that will be big.

Photo Credit: Scott Gries/Getty Images

- Racedriven

A dose of photography - Could a Nomad be in Chevrolet’s future too, but what should it look like?

2008-04-14T01:42:00.000-04:00

For the past four years, I have been seeing this Chevrolet Nomad Concept Car on the auto show circuit at both the Boston show and the Providence show and while the vehicle has gotten my father’s attention, meaning he likes it, personally it’s not a real Nomad to me. A Chevrolet Nomad would be a good added edition to the Chevrolet lineup as a modern version of the famous car from 1955-1957, a two-door station wagon which would include a large bench backseat with lots of room behind the backseat for whatever you buy or haul around.

This version pictured below reminds me of a Pontiac Solstice Coupe or its sister version the Saturn Sky. Personally if Chevrolet really wanted to make the Chevy Nomad as a throwback to the classic 1955 version, then they could use the new Pontiac G8 rear wheel drive platform to produce this car and while that might sell, I’m not much for a rear wheel drive car as I live in New England where five months out of the year it’s winter. Maybe it’s possible for an all-wheel drive v6 version Chevy Nomad??? How about an all-wheel-drive v6 version of the Pontiac G8??? Comments.

Image was taken by me with a Kodak EasyShare DX6490.

- Racedriven

Oh yeah! Disney/Pixar announces Toy Story 3 in 2010 and Cars 2 in 2012.

2008-04-12T21:22:00.001-04:00

This is big news for me as I love animated movies and while there is no official word on when or if there will be sequels for the Incredibles or Monsters Inc., however Disney/Pixars have announced in a press release that two of my favorite movies will each have another installment…

Credit: Disney/Pixar

First up is Toy Story 3 that is slated for June 2010, it is rumored that the store line might be that Buzz lightyear is recalled. This should be a good edition to my DVD collection as I already own the first two DVD’s.

Credit: Disney/Pixar

The second one, Cars 2, I love this movie, I purchased the Cars DVD the day it was released. There is word on who will be back or what the story line will be, I’m interested in seeing if the King Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip, along with Paul Newman will all be in this movie… Darrell Cartrip, cool. Comments.

Credit: Cinematical and PRNewswire.com

- Racedriven

Should the NASCAR All-Star Race be moved to a non-Cup racetrack like Iowa Speedway?

2008-04-08T22:02:00.000-04:00

So here we are again, 38 days away from the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and if SPEED counting down every weekend starting in Daytona saying x number of days before the all-star race wasn’t enough, now Lowe’s Motor Speedway has announced that they will be painting the walls (formerly Nextel yellow), now Sprint yellow, oh brother.

While I don’t really care about the walls, the do think about the All-Star location and date, where should this race really be? In my opinion, the all-star really does count as a Cup Series race, it packs in fans from all over, so guess what, it’s a Sprint Cup Series race.

With that said, I do believe that in an age where Cup dates are already at a premium, the idea of rotating this race around should be an option, however that’s not what I had in mind. I would like to see NASCAR move the All-Star race from Lowe’s Motor Speedway to either another racetrack that only has one date or possibly one that has no cup date. The non-cup series date tracks is the best idea, it gives another racetrack that’s not on the Cup Series schedule a Cup date without adding another date to an already busy schedule instead of having the All-Star race where it is which in gives Lowe’s Motor Speedway 3 Cup Series dates.

So then, where should the All-Star race be?
I thought about so many different racetracks, however the location should be limited to either the mid-West or East Coast as this is a short race and we don’t want to add even more distance to the schedule.

So first, this would be my choice and the weekend should include a Nationwide or Truck Series race the night before… I’m think the state of art short-track in the mid-west, yes I am talking about Iowa Speedway, Rusty Wallace’s signature track… why not, they don’t have a cup series date, its short track racing at its finest under the lights, what could be better.

Second wouldn’t be my first choose and I wouldn’t know how fans would accept it as the race is for the fans, Kentucky Speedway. It would be a long shot there. Now why didn’t I choose some of the other notables like Las Vegas (It’s too far away) or Richmond (Already has two races on the schedule).

When should the All-Star race be?
This is an option here, I mean, the May date is nice, however it’s during a prime part of the season and another racetrack track like Atlanta, Bristol, Martinsville would benefit more in the middle of May, so what about putting it in the middle of the Chase for the Cup championship. It would be a break for the drivers and yet the fans would still get a cool race.

The second date that comes to mind is Labor day weekend, now I got your attention, I’m sorry but Labor Day weekend would be cool, racing at California Speedway sucks on Labor Day Weekend, so this weekend would be perfect for either the Southern 500 at Darlington (There only race of the season) or the All-Star race. I would also accept the Atlanta 500 in this spot if it means we still would race twice at Atlanta.

Oh by the way:
A couple of comments, subjects I’ve read about centering around Texas… First Ganassi Racing, hearing Chip speck like that is outragious, just do it Chip, talk is cheap, make real changes in your teams. Right now, your teams are not running good, maybe it’s time to put Dario in the Truck series or Nationwide Series for the rest of year to get more track time and more experience, he has none. Look at where each of your three teams performances, where are they lagging???

Edwards vs. Johnson??? That’s the best people can come up, yes Edward’s has won three races, but docked 100 points and 10 bonus points in the chase, there is also several other contenders in play, talk to me about championship after Indianapolis in late July, not before, don’t count out Gordon, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth, Biffle, Burton, Stewart, the entire top 12, do I really need to go on, next subject.

With NASCAR continuing to make an example out of those teams who fall outside the rule book, it should be no surprise that NASCAR has handed down a penalty for the #12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Dodge that I have to admit is dead on after his car failed post-race inspection from this past Sunday’s Texas 500 race, the penalty was 25 driver points, 25 owner points and crew chief was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until Dec 31st., like I said dead on, NASCAR is consistent. Comments.

- Racedriven

Who does America want to be in The Biggest Loser finale - Roger or Mark.

2008-04-08T22:00:00.004-04:00

This is something a little bit different, here I’m usually blogging on Big Brother, American Chopper or even a little bit on Survivor, however since I’ve been watching the biggest loser for years now and I like the Couples twist this season in the game, this caught my eye, this season has been a season of first's, it’s all about one pound, the extras, like trips that included going down under Australia and one team going to Las Vegas, one player having a second chance by winning their way back in to the game by losing the most weight which for the guys was Mark and for the girls was Ali, but you know, I love it when all of these shows ask for America to get involved by voting something, whether its voting a favorite player back in or voting for a challenge, it’s cool to see just what America thinks, I mean where the one’s watching the show.

Well this season, now America has a vote and it’s big, America gets to choose either Roger or Mark into the finale at a chance to complete for a $250,000 prise. Personally, I had been voting for Dan or Roger to win the entire game and while Dan will be at the finale hopefully like in seasons past completing for the voted off prise, I want to see Roger, who has lost the most weight in The Biggest Loser history – 144 pounds.

Vote at NBC.com - America's Vote. This should be interesting, the finale will have Ali, Kelly and ??? (My vote is for Roger), who will win and be The Biggest Loser. Comments.

Update after last night's Biggest Loser Finale: American voted Roger in as Ali became the first woman to win The Biggest Loser at last night's season finale.

- Racedriven

One year later for NASCAR's COT – Safety put to the test in Jeff Gordon’s and Michael McDowell’s wrecks.

2008-04-05T02:34:00.004-04:00

In NASCAR’s eye’s, safety is #1 and for years now, if something happens on track, NASCAR, drivers and the teams are the first to respond with how to fix it and make it safer if it were to happen again. One of the reasons why NASCAR created the COT was to address the ever growing problems with safety, they wanted a new car that put safety at the forefront of the sport and after the two crashes that happened so far this season, the COT has held up well.

When it comes to the safety of the Car of (Tomorrow) Today being put to the test, two wrecks come to mind, the first one happened towards the late stages of the Las Vegas 400, Jeff Gordon came off of turn 2 and lost the car due to a wreck and slowing car in front of him and in turn hit the inside wall that didn’t have a SAFER Barrier on it and the wreck tore apart the front end, however Gordon did walk away. That crash sparked more in safety with why wasn’t there a safer barrier there, but the car did its job.

The second wreck came yesterday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway when during qualifying, Michael McDowell in the #00 on his second qualifying lap went into turn 1 and lost the rear end and the car went head on in to the outside wall with SAFER Barrier and sent his car flipping down the track and once the car finally came to rest, moments later Michael McDowell climbed out and walked to away. Safety, both wrecks showed the front end and/or the rear end completely destroyed, but the drivers cockpit was fully in tacked (together) and for all that, I have to give credit to NASCAR and the smart people involved in creating a safer COT Cup car and the SAFER Barrier. Something to note, in both cases, both of these cars including Jeff Gordon's Las Vegas wrecked car and Michael McDowell's Texas wreck cars were taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center in N.C.. Not surprising at all, it would surprise more if they didn't. It is standard practice.

The photo on right is Michael McDowell's #00 Cup car following his vicoius crash, what's left. (Photo Credit: Foxsports.com/Larry Papke - Associated Press )

With that said, David Poole has writen on Michael McDowell's wreck and had something very interesting to say including this quote: "Let's be clear about this. Dale Earnhardt saved Michael McDowell's life Friday." Do I agree with Poole's comments, yes, one thing that struck me about McDowell's wreck, it reminded me alot of Dale Earnhardt's wreck at the 2001 Daytona 500 that killed him, however thankfully this time, it had different results.

Now as the seventh race of the 2008 Cup Series season sets to go green in Texas, three safety issues should be addressed by NASCAR, first, one issue that crew chiefs have noticed is that during a pit stop, when a crew member goes to clean the front grill opening below the bumper, their hands while cleaning can get stunk between the cables that adjust the front splitter height anywhere from 4-6 inches. The solution could be to remove the cables and move the front grill out like on the Chevrolet Corvette pictured below or like on the old cup cars and adjust through springs and shocks.

Image was taken by me with a Kodak EasyShare DX6490

The second issue is at the racetracks themselves, tracks need to line the inside walls with safer barriers even where they think a car can’t go and adjust the openings for the safety vehicles, because more than likely, the cars will find a way to get in those spots.

And the third issue, the tires. This isn’t me bashing Goodyear, I could, but that would solve nothing, instead, I would like to hear and see what Goodyear plans to do about the tire issues. I noticed that during the 12 hours of Sebring, Michelin, who supplies tires to Audi, Peugeot, Acura, Porsche, Corvette and Ferrari, brought 5 different compounds (including one rain tire) to the track for the race for their teams… maybe Goodyear should supply a soft compound and a hard compound for teams to use during the race, that would make for an interesting race.

What about adding small groves to the tires to add more grip, Formula One uses them and their faster than a Cup car. Basically above are suggestions from this racing fan, not a tire specialized. Now I will leave you with this:

(From my previous post called “What is the biggest story to start the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season?”: The COT isn’t anything like the Nationwide car nor last year’s Cup Series car, it needs a totally different tire, nothing like what we have now, I like Ray Evernham’s suggestion on NASCAR Now, he said maybe it’s time for the COT to have a wider right side tire or a different size tire… Think about this, the Modified Tour Car that run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway among other tracks, run a wider right side tire and it looks like it works.

The Ray Evernham suggestion, the drivers, the teams, and the owners, they know what they are talking about, NASCAR and Goodyear need to listen to them. Comments.

If you enjoyed part two of One year later for NASCAR's COT, be sure to check out part one called “One year later for NASCAR's COT – Is it any better and what is the future?”

- Racedriven

First NBC is creating the American version of Top Gear and now the remake of Knight Rider?

2008-04-03T00:36:00.000-04:00

Wait a minute, right now I am having a hard time trying to imagine just what the American version of Top Gear is going to look like, I mean I am a huge fan of the UK Top Gear that is airs weekly on BBC America, the show has three hosts and it works, but its more comedy than anything else. These three guys are not afraid to tell you what they really think of the vehicles they are test driving and that would including test driving the Chevrolet Corvette that in their minds is a good track car, but not a daily driver and the Shelby GT500 which didn’t impress them much because of the Suspension, it just wasn’t there. In the end they pointed out that the Roush Mustang that Jeremy Clarkson test drove, he would rather purchase that as it was better overall. The point is, NBC isn’t going to be able to duplicate this, I mean they are not going to be able to really voice their opinions on these cars, it would be interesting to watch, however I don’t see it.

Like I said, I am having a hard time trying to imagine just what Top Gear is going to look like when it is premiered and now they announce in there (month early) Upfront that a remake of Knight Rider in a weekly series is on the fall schedule. Wow, I mean I a huge fan of Knight rider and while I loved the look of the car in the remake movie let along the original KITT and the Knight Rider 2000 KITT, the movie wasn’t all that bad, but not good neither and here I thought that after a pair of KITT’s where auctioned off this past weekend at the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction in Palm Beach for $300,000 and I might add that that price includes the rights to the last 2009 Shelby GT500KR #1576, that was the end. Needless to say, I will check it out, at least they seem to be using the same cast as the movie and a bold Mustang, could make that perfect combination…

Staying with NBC’s upfront announcement, they not only introduced there fall schedule, but a look at the 52 week schedule which showed that a couple of my favorites were renewed after all including American Gladiators, The Biggest Loser, Lipstick Jungle, and The Celebrity Apprentice (which was good, however I would have rather seen Trace Atkins win last season then Piers Morgan, at least his charity the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund received $250,000 and that’s what it’s all about.) (Read more of the Upfront…)

Well I like the 52 week schedule, it tells me or gives me an idea of just what to expect not only next Fall, but both next Winter and Summer. Comments.

- Racedriven

And the award for best dramatic moment goes to Joshuah in Big Brother 9 as the final six is determined.

2008-04-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

Well another week down in the Big Brother house and yet another evicted houseguest, what can you say as the outgoing HOH Natalie continues her payback against those who had a hand in Matt’s backdoor eviction and for Natalie, last week she had a hand in getting Chelsia evicted while Adam was HOH and this week, she had to settle for Joshuah being evicted after James for the third straight time won the POV even with the entire house against him and it will most likely continue to be that way until he losses both HOH and POV in the same week.

However you have to give it to Joshuah, he tried just about everything to get another week in the house including, well he won the award for most dramatic moments as he attempted to sway Adam’s vote as he on cue cried in to Adam, what a moment, but it backfired and Adam along with Ryan and Shelia all voted to evict Joshuah, leaving James as the sole vote to evict Sharon.
With Joshuah finally out of the house and now on the jury, the game once again shifts towards another Head of household and I couldn’t believe it as for the second time, Adam is HOH, the bigger question here that is almost asked every week, who will he nominate for eviction? Thinking of course James and maybe either Shelia or Sharon…

Looking past all of what has happened so far, let’s now look at the remaining houseguests, who are the players and who are not…

Adam: This guy, who needs to learn manners, is the spoiler in this game, the other HGs are under estimating what Adam can do, and his game play is good. He is the current HOH for second time and he hasn’t really mad anyone mad, however that will change this week. Don’t count him out, final three.

Sharon: Knows the game, but now doesn’t have her partner Josh who she somewhat carried throughout the game, however she is a target this week and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her on the block. Survival is possible, because she has girl power behind her, yes there is a girl’s alliance.

Shelia: At this point, I am really surprised she is still in the house, she has pissed off just about everyone in the house and would be very surprised to see her in the final four, unless others can win against her, jury votes, in that case, maybe one HG could bring her to the finals, she would be so lucky as she has no game.

James: The strongest player in the house with the second chance, the other HGs shouldn’t have voted him back in and now they are regretting it. He can and will win challenges, this week, since he isn’t HOH, he will be up on the block and wouldn’t be surprised if he wins POV, however if he doesn’t, he will go home. I could see him as a possible final two player.

Ryan: Very surprised to see still in the house next to Shelia, he has aligned himself with Natalie as it seems to be. Currently not a target and not a gambler neither. Where’s the game play?
Natalie: You could be very well looking at a final two player, the second strongest player in the house, most of time is think game play, she plays everything out in her head, but her downfall is she talks to much, she tells all and something’s she shouldn’t. I wouldn’t predict victory her for anyone including Natalie because I really don’t know what the Jury will do… bottom line, she is a combination of Sharon and James, Strategy in one hand and strong player in challenges in the other hand.

Well it’s still too early to predict the final two and I am convinced that there is one more twist in this game still to come, just one question for Big Brother, can you show the sequester house and the three jury members… Matt, Chelsia, and now Joshuah, there has to be something there including a DVD each week. Comments.

- Racedriven

A pair of KITT’s and the rights to the last 2009 KR gets $300,000 at the 2008 Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Car Auction.

2008-03-29T20:05:00.000-04:00

A pair of KITT's from NBC’s Knight Rider Movie.

(Credit: Both Photos from Barrett-Jackson.com Website.)

This could have well been the final chapter in NBC’s Knight Rider Movie that premiered with high ratings and mix reviews. The movie left some Knight Rider fans including me asking why did you create this movie, the first time I heard that NBC was recreating one of my favorite television shows, I thought alright a Knight Rider rebirth television series, but the whole thing of just a two hours movie really didn’t interest me, if you are going to go recreate it, at least make it into a six one hours mini-series, that would have been better, however for what it was worth, the movie wasn’t bad at all, it was a nice touch to have the next driver be Michael Knight’s son.

As for the rebirth of KITT, keep in mind that there was already a Knight Rider Movie called Knight Rider 2000 and in it had a red Knight Industry Three Thousand (KITT) car in it, so it was a little weird seeing the next-generation KITT, however I loved the look of the new KITT, making the new next-generation KITT from a 2008 Ford Mustang GT was a little bit of a streight for me considering the original KITT was a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am and the second version for the Knight Rider 2000 movie was a Pontiac Banshee prototype, so in reality the third version and beyond would be from Pontiac or at least General Motors, however the only version I heard of was a 2008 Pontiac Solstice wouldn’t have worked, however a new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro with some custom work would have worked for me, but considering this car isn’t out yet, so the 2008 Ford Mustang GT made to look like a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 KR worked for the part for me.

With that said, today’s auction as a little bit of a surprise to me for this pair of movie cars that only got a total of $300,000 with a couple of extras thrown in for a higher bid including rights to the last 2009 GT500 KR #1576, the first super KITT was built off of a 2008 Ford Mustang GT with a 4.6L V8 Automatic that was upfitted with a Ford Racing Whipple Super-charger to make 400 horsepower, GT500 KR fiberglass hood with KITT heartbeat light installed, and a lot more. The second KITT was the attack mode KITT car that that really looked the part with all Proceeds to benefit Salute To Education.

I would have expected $500,000 considering they are movie cars and proceeds go to charity, anyway good looking pony car that has that presence to it and this from a Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette fan. I wonder if NBC will make a Knight Rider Television series, that’s would count on it. Comments.

- Racedriven

Payback for Matt’s backdoor eviction continues with evicting Chelsia in Big Brother 9, who’s next for Natalie?

2008-03-26T22:43:00.001-04:00

The past couple of weeks have been interesting to watch to say the least, two weeks ago, the house voted for James to re-enter the house by a vote of 5-3 as America’s Vote was denied and what a stupid mistake that has turned out to be as James started his comeback with winning HOH and in the process, striking a deal with Natalie to not put her or Matt up for eviction. Like I said, a stupid mistake, I even voted for Alex to return, everyone knows that whoever the returning houseguest would be, would be at a disadvantage in the game.

With that said, as Big Brother fans know already that James as HOH in fact put up Ryan and Shelia on the block, however James winning the POV, not only removed Shelia, but put up Matt on the block and in the process going back on his word. At the live eviction, the house voted 3-3, putting the eviction in the hands of James which evicted Matt. Now why do I bring this up, well two reasons, one, I don’t speck last week and two, more importantly it serves as a back drop in the story before I get to the happens in the house now.

Since Matt’s eviction, one thing is for sure, Natalie is out for payback and in my eyes, its working, to a point. You can never get rid of all threads in a very short period of time, however she is off to a good start, first with one in her alliance winning HOH this past week, yeah, its Adam getting HOH and with Natalie’s help, he made the right calls in who to put up. One thing, what’s with the baby food, I mean normally what each HOH gets in there room wouldn’t even draw any attention, I mean it’s normally normal items, CD, chips, cereal, you know general snacks, but baby food, what????

Anyway, Adam as HOH went as expected, he put up James and Chelsia on the block, they are a power couple and also not in their alliance. Of course the POV proved to be interesting, not for who won the POV (he’s a hint, James), but for guest, the man himself that played a nasty, but effective game, Evil Dick returned at day break and in style (Entertaining guy, but don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Dick, but he just played a nasty game), I liked what he said, the exact same pots, as he banged them together in the first bedroom to get everyone up for the POV competition in 10 minutes which was similar to what he did last season in BB8 to some houseguests during the night or early morning.

At the POV meeting, I thought it was a nice touch to put up Sharon against Chelsia, that basically sealed the deal that Chelsia was going home and if that didn’t do it, Chelsia loosing it a couple of times sure did. At the live eviction, in a way I can understand why no one voted against Sharon, I mean if anyone did, they would have been targeted, however, aren’t they already targeted now anyway…

Anyway, Chelsia evicted… nice, and the new HOH in an interesting HOH competition, congrats to Natalie, the payback continues…

I will leave you with this thought, Natalie only has three choices to put up, so a safe bet is that she will put James and Josh or maybe a little change, Josh and Sharon and if the POV is won, James will be backdoored. If Natalie doesn’t get James out, she must get Josh out. Now, I can’t wait for the final 6. Comments.

- Racedriven

The success, the top 35 battle and the struggles after five races in NASCAR’s Cup Series.

2008-03-22T02:40:00.001-04:00

With a much needed off weekend for the drivers and teams that falls just after the five races of the 2008 season, NASCAR fans have already begun to see the top contenders emerge for not only the race victories, but also for the Chase for Sprint Cup and at least in my opinion, the results are surprising in some ways, remember it’s not about where you start the race, but were you finish and some drivers just can’t seem to endore the entire race for whatever reason.

So far the top contenders, the successful one’s seems to be with all four manufacturers, starting first would be Toyota, I know that some fans didn’t want to see that, but it is what it is and Toyota’s Motorsports program at least in NASCAR is paying off. The Gibbs drivers (Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin) don’t really surprise me at all even with Kyle Busch getting Toyota’s first Cup Series victory at Atlanta, however hats off to Michael Waltrip Racing, all three cars are in the top 35 in owners points, plus one Red Bull is in the top 35 as well, that’s huge.

Besides Toyota, Dodge has had one race or two that they have shined and of course with Penske Racing and Ryan Newman including Newman’s impressive victory in the Daytona 500, plus Kurt Busch has returned to the top 10 in owners points after that fun points swap.

When you look at Ford’s success, one team comes to mind, Roush-Fenway racing and the first thoughts that come to my mind is victories, however you wouldn’t know it by looking at Carl Edwards points standings, that Las Vegas penalty has already been felt and will be felt again once the chase begins, I expect to see two Roush cars in the chase including Edwards… Watch for Kenseth and Biffle to move up.

However, for this racing fan, over the past couple of years, I seem to have become a Chevrolet fan more and more and not just in NASCAR, but in general including ALMS to name another and yes, even with Tony Stewart switching to Toyotas. So I am a little surprise, but not concerned with the start of Hendrick Motorsports with the exception of Dale Earnhardt Jr., which is my favorite driver, yes I know, I’m trying not to play favorites, but hay, this is cool so far for Junior, he is having his best start this season in years and despite the California finish, his results are great, 3 top 5 finishes and a top 9 finish at Daytona, plus he is the one who is carrying the Hendrick banner right now. For those who are concerned about Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, don’t be, never count either of them out, they’ll be there in, in the chase.

Staying with Chevy, the RCR guys are slowing moving in, watch these three, there silent, but fast and if Bristol was anything with a 1-2-3 finish with Burton in victory lane which it is, there here.

Oh yeah, that covered top 35… NASCAR has seemed to have created a new drama show to watch somewhat, the top 35 bubble, that 35th spot that the fight is on weekly with Sam Hornish Jr. in it and Jamie McMurray, Dave Blaney and others want it.

I have never been a huge supporter of the top 35 rule, it’s a golden pass and whoever has it can start the weekend working on race setup while the driver’s outside, are pure qualifying setup and on wondering if they will be in or out. I know NASCAR isn’t going to give the top 35 rule up, however here’s three suggestions:
1) Change the top 35 to top 22 or top 25, the fight would have more drama on pole day, that’s 10 to 13 more cars, think about that...
2) Once the season starts, no owner’s points swap, NASCAR can’t stop it in the off season, however during the season, no way, now that effecting the sponsor, drivers and the teams, one minute your in and the next your out. When you start the season, you have what you have until the end of the season, no exceptions.
3) Qualifying for the go or go home drivers must if possible take place even if no qualifying for the top 35 drivers can, there’s a huge difference, the top 35 drivers are already in the race and are just simply qualifying for a starting position and a better pit selection, while the go or go home drivers are fighting for survival to just make the race, put them out back, at least they have a shot this way.

Well, so far for the owner’s points swap, there isn’t any from Roush-Fenway nor Petty Enterprise, however what if Hornish Jr. goes out after Martinsville, there’s a queston mark. However when it comes to the points swap for the #00 and the #44, I am expecting to see David Reutimann take his owner’s points that he earned with him to the #44, it’s a 94 point difference, that’s huge and it’s not really a points swap because he earned them.

The struggles, this will not include Johnson and Gordon, nor for Edwards, there not even close, however with that said, I am surprised to see Casey Mears down here, he can drive, I know he can. As for Kyle Petty, all I got to say is, he’s in his normal spot, however I’m waiting for two open wheel invaders make there mark, first Dario Franchitti, who is still searching and getting experience, second, Patrick Carpentier, who is getting stronger. I’ll leave this part with one comment, as much as I respect these two drivers, it’s still too early to be in the Cup Series for A.J. Allmendinger and Dario Franchitti, run these two in the Truck series or at least in the Nationwide Series, they need seat time period.

Now I will leave you with two thoughts: First, if drivers want more seat time for the Cup Series COT, drive in the Truck Series, not the Nationwide Series, these Cup Series COT’s handle little a Truck, the trucks have the splitter and are a handful and that’s the description of the COT.

Second, When I look at the first five races, it’s all four manufacturers in, it’s about as even as it’s going to get, they all have at least one team or owner in it competing for victories on a weekly basis, they all have at least one victory, isn’t that was NASCAR wanted? I only wish it was the same way when it comes to the Goodyear tire tests... Comments.

- Racedriven