The beginning of the end of an era

I knew that fateful day in February 2001, was the beginning of the end of an era. The last of a dying breed had passed and what was left to carry on was another class of souls.

This other class of souls became infatuated with fame and fortune instead of dust and grease. Gone were the mighty soldiers that worked hard day and night; blood, sweat, and tears mixed with oil and steel.

Gone were the giants of loyalty and values, where their word was enough and their handshake said it all. In its place are people selling out to the highest bidder and seeking headlines versus trophies.

No longer can you count on your heroes of the asphalt, for they will turn their back on who made them who they are for the right price. They flip flop their "loyalties" faster then they can change a tire and change their minds.

I have been a loyal fan; better yet they were family; coming into my living room, me going to their haunts. I never shopped the competitor's sponsors, I never crossed the lines, and I and my family were loyal, now we are left asking why.

I knew when things started becoming so PC that you were afraid to blow your nose without being fined, that this was another step toward the grave, such as the change of the main sponsor, because it might offend or lead others astray.

Then came race name changes, only so many allowed in their elite field, venues shutting down, grandfather clauses and silly seasons. Then there was the Chase. All they are chasing is dollar signs and points not wins. What happened to our sport?

Since when is Japanese part of any American sport?

It breaks my heart to watch them cater to a crowd of flash-in-the-pan stars and would-be celebrities. Where are you roots planted now, certainly not where they started.

So go on swapping teams, driver, sponsors and words. Time will move on and as the wave of the fame crashes down, watch around to who is there to clean up. Not many if you keep on your path, only the die-hards if that.

If He were still around it wouldn't be this way. And I know he is turning over in his grave.

So to you money hungry, power happy, Hollywood ass kissing, back-stabbing phonies heed this warning, keep this up and not only will your stands continue to stay empty and your ratings drop, but we will take joy in watching you flop.

I am sticking by my man, for with his bowtie he shall stand strong and fierce, a knight of His army of steel and asphalt. Black or yellow I will stay true.

So as He looks down from above at this disappointing sight one wonders if it is even worth the fight.

I hope that one day it will go back to the way it once was: steel, sweat, oil, asphalt, and burnouts, true celebrations and winning at all cost. But for now I just watch and weep as the loss of an era sinks in deep.

Poor Kid! Steve Wallace OK After Attempted Mugging

Steve Wallace OK After Attempted Mugging

NASCAR Busch Series Driver Attacked in Indianapolis; Will Race in Canada Round.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

MOORESVILLE, NC —19 year-old RWI Racing NASCAR Busch Series driver, Steve Wallace, is OK following being attacked in an attempted mugging Sunday evening in Indianapolis. Wallace suffered only minor cuts and abrasions in the attack and will compete as scheduled in this weekend's NASCAR Busch Series event at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada.
Wallace was attacked by a group of at least three men upon exiting a convenience store in Indianapolis Sunday night, where he stayed to watch the running of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Wallace participated in the NASCAR Busch Series event at O'Reilly Raceway Park the previous evening.

Upon entering the convenience store, the men commented on Wallace's watch, a gift given to him by a sponsor after he earned his second career pole position at Nashville Superspeedway in June. After exiting the convenience store, Wallace was jumped and attacked by the group of men, who were attempting to rob him of his watch.

The men later fled the scene after being unsuccessful in robbing Wallace. A suspect was apprehended later that evening and is being held in an Indianapolis jail.

A New Low for Women in NASCAR

As a writer with a NASCAR romance in the works...I couldn't have imagined something this crazy...

A former stripper-turned-NASCAR-owner who has been sought by U.S. authorities
for three years was arrested in New York on Sunday after agreeing to
surrender.

Angela Harkness surrenders to authorities in New York
By By Joshunda Sanders

Fatemeh Angela Harkness was taken into custody as soon as her flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, touched down at JFK International Airport in New York, said Timothy Hughes, a spokesman for the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force.

Authorities accused Harkness and Gary Jones, a former Wells Fargo business banker, of using about $1 million obtained through fraudulent bank loans to start a NASCAR team called Angela's Motorsports, which they ran out of Harkness' Round Rock home. The racing team entered cars in the Busch Grand National Series starting in 2002. It disappeared in 2003 after the team's checks started bouncing.

Jones prepared about 12 loans using several people's names and kept the money for himself, according to court documents. He was sentenced to just less than four years in prison in August 2004 after he pleaded guilty to fraud, theft and embezzlement charges.

The Iranian-born Harkness admitted in January 2004 that she conspired with Jones to embezzle the money from his bank between 2000 and 2003. She was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in 2004 and awaiting sentencing when she fled the country while free on bond.

Officials in the United Arab Emirates arrested her in May 2005, then released her. She has been in legal limbo ever since because the United States and the United Arab Emirates do not have an extradition treaty. Officials there seized her passportand would not let her leave the country, but they would not send her back to the United States against her will either.

Hughes said Harkness finally decided to come back voluntarily. "She called U.S. Marshals and said, 'I'm tired of this, I'm sick of being over here. If you can get me back there, I'll serve my time,' " Hughes said.

Hector Gomez, a spokesman for the Lone Star Task Force, said Harkness called him 10 days ago. "Unless she returned to her native Iran, she would've been landlocked."He said Harkness flew back with her 6-year-old daughter, who will be cared for by relatives. Harkness will likely face charges for violating her bond and
fleeing the country, Hughes said.

According to Gomez, U.S. Marshals arranged to have Harkness flownto New York. She was met by Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents and U.S. Marshals.
Harkness will have to go before a judge in New York before she is extradited to Austin.

Find this article at: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/10/10fugitive.html

Just do It!

Ok...face it folks, Toyota is going to run with their tails between their legs here pretty soon. With the fact that Mikey can't make a race and the ol' UPS Camry is nearly last every race he gets in on his provisionals (and he is almost out of them)
So I have come to one major conclusion
Dale just race the damn truck...
Its gonna be the ONLY way you will be competitive...and besides, it drives better...

The coolest thing happened!!!

Ok I have a great job and a great family...but tonight when I came home the coolest thing happened....

Let me back story a bit...

I am a HUGE Kevin Harvick fan and am a memebr of his fan club (duh of course I am ) and there was a package on my porch. I was tired today after fighting a nasty cold the last 3 days, so I ignored it until about ten minutes ago.

Well, I could't remember buying anything on ebay (my usual reason for packages) and saw the return label was from "Happy's EShop" In Kernesville, NC. I figured it was this years fan club stuff since I ordered it when my income tax refund came in last month.

I open it up and its a 1:24 scale 2007 Reeses #21 car!! At first I though it was a mistake, that they messed up my order and sent me the car instead of my memebrship pack. There was no packing slip in the box. I thought maybe it was a fan's car they wanted autographed, but no packing slip. I looked on the label gain and it read: Fan Club Winner 3/5 1 Car packed.
A winner me?? So I ran to the computer and looked it up...I indeed was the winner of the March Fan Club drawing!!! I am soooooo excited!!!

The only thing better would have been Kevin in the box covered in Reeses..but wait that is another story...
.

Hamilton, 49, dies after battle with neck cancer

Hamilton, 49, dies after battle with neck cancer By Ryan Smithson, NASCAR.COMJanuary 7, 200710:11 PM EST (03:11 GMT)

Bobby Hamilton, the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series champion and a four-time winner in the Cup Series, died Sunday. He was 49.

Hamilton, a native of Nashville, Tenn., had been battling cancer for nearly a year. He announced in March 2006 that he was undergoing treatment for neck cancer. He immediately turned over his driving duties in the Craftsman Truck Series to his son, Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Liz Allison, a family friend who co-hosted a radio show with Hamilton, said he was at home with his family in Mount Juliet, Tenn., when he died.

Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president for communications, saw first-hand the unlikely procession of Hamilton’s career from Nashville short track champion to multiple winner in NASCAR’s top series.

“He meant an awful lot. He was old school and one of those guys that did it his way,” Hunter said. “He was very popular in the garage area and in the industry because he worked real hard. He didn’t believe anyone was owed anything.”

Hunter said the news hit the sanctioning body especially hard.

“It came as a real shock. We knew [the cancer] was serious, and we knew he was fighting it, but you just never know these things,” Hunter said. “He will be missed. He was a tough, tough guy.”
Truck Series driver Brendan Gaughan recalled a day last fall when Hamilton took him aside and asked him to drive for his team.

“It floored me,” said Gaughan, who eventually decided to turn down the offer. “He asked me to drive for his team, and it was quite an honor. That day will always sit in my head.

“He was a great driver and a great owner. My heart goes out to the BHR organization.”

Hamilton was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in February after a malignant growth was found when swelling from dental surgery did not go down.

He raced in the season’s first three events, with a best finish of 14th at Atlanta Motor Speedway, before turning over the wheel to his son.

“I love what I do; I love this business,” Hamilton said when he disclosed that he had cancer. “NASCAR has been good to me, and I just don’t feel comfortable when I am not around it.”

Hamilton quit driving in the Cup Series after the 2002 season to focus on his thriving Craftsman Truck Series team. He went on to win the Truck Series title in ‘04.

“It is a terrible loss to us,” said Larry McClure, Hamilton’s team owner from 1998-2000. “I will miss him. I always thought of him as my friend.”

McClure said he had talked to Hamilton just a few weeks ago.

“I asked him how he was dong and he said, ‘Pretty good,’ ” McClure said. “Just amazing how it can turn like that.”

Jeff Purvis, a fellow Tennessean and a close friend of Hamilton’s, was shocked at the news of Hamilton’s death. A longtime Busch Series regular whose career was curtailed by a 2002 crash, Purvis visited with Ken Schrader on Friday and they had discussed Hamilton’s progress.

“We went to lunch and talked about Bobby,” Purvis said. “[Schrader] had just left Bobby’s shop and came from there to my house.

“[Hamilton] was kind of what racing was supposed to be about. He was a racer’s racer. You could talk to him about chassis. He understood racing and the racecars, the event. He really understood racing itself.”

Though he made his Cup debut in 1989 — a one-race deal at Phoenix on Nov. 5 — Hamilton probably is best known for the unusual way he broke into NASCAR’s top series. He served as a stunt driver for the 1990 movie Days of Thunder, performing so well that he was soon hired to run the Cup Series full-time. He went on become rookie of the year in 1991.

His big break, however, came in 1995 when Hamilton was hired to drive the No. 43 of Petty Enterprises. He resurrected the ailing team with 10 top-10 finishes in 1995, and in ‘96, he won at Phoenix, which helped him finish a career-best ninth in points.

After winning at Rockingham in 1997, Hamilton moved to Morgan-McClure Motorsports for the 1998-2000 seasons. His only win during that time came in ‘98 at Martinsville.

“He was a good driver and a good businessman,” McClure said. “We spent three years with him and it was great. He got us our last win. It was probably the last time the team was competitive, and he kept getting better and better.”

Hamilton wrapped up his Cup career with a two-year stint driving for Andy Petree. Hamilton won at Talladega in 2001 — a thrilling race that went green the entire way — for Petree’s first victory as a car owner, and Petree celebrated by diving across the hood as Hamilton drove into Victory Lane.

“He definitely raced hard,” Gaughan said of Hamilton. “I remember that race when he won at Talladega when everyone was falling out of the seat [from the oppressive heat]. That was a testament to how tough he was.”

Allison, the widow of former NASCAR star Davey Allison, said, “The thing I loved about Bobby Sr. so much is that he treated everybody the same. It didn’t matter if you were one of the drivers he competed against or a fan he’d never laid eyes on before.

“He didn’t have a pretentious bone in his body. I think that’s why people were drawn to him. He was just very real and had a way of relating to everyone.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

End of the Talledega Race...

Ok just my 2 cents here so take it as you will... I am a Jr fan, but....How many times over the years 1982 - 2001 did we see Sr do exactly the same thing to win a race? He is considered the greatest driver of all time yet when someone pulls a Dale they get chastised....frankly it was nice to see someone fight for a win and not be all kissa*& to do it. The races are becoming so vanilla that I know Dale is turning over in his grave. This is why I am sure Jr. blew the whole thing off and chalked it up to "that's racing" ….if the weenies can't take the heat go drive F1 or Indy...putting soap box away for now.....