Who among us does not like Nascar?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/0208/Revving_the_engines.html

Jimmie Johnson hanging out with Pelosi? Is he testifying or something?

oic - http://www.restrictorplatethis.com/story/2008/2/4/151714/2476

if daria does not join Junior Nation, perhaps she would enjoy rooting for the 12 car of Ryan Newman?

i don't even like nascar but lewis hamilton punched jeff gordon in a dream i had the other night

There is a hilarious youtube video of Jeff Gordon calling Wrigley Field "Wrigley Stadium" and forgetting the words to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game."

I like Gordon for having Nicorette as an associate sponsor. He is nu-NASCAR. The tobacco settlements of the '90s profoundly changed the culture and economics of the sport. It is big news that Tennessee's smoking ban applies to Bristol Motor Speedway.

NASCAR is radically pragmatic. When they change sponsors, they do a total scrub and expunge, even retroactively. This year they may talk about past season's Sprint Cup racing, as if Nextel and Winston never existed. It's like Aldous Huxley's Brave New World or the Noise Board.

Oh good heavens, yes. In what kind of a world is whatshisface's car not the green & white Kodiak chaw version?? That's some crazy changing.

This year they may talk about past season's Sprint Cup racing, as if Nextel and Winston never existed. It's like Aldous Huxley's Brave New World or the Noise Board.

haha the art of pretend forgetfulness in professional sports bankrolling!!

I probably would not have become a fan of the sport or my perfect gay champion NYC-living vineyard-owning favorite driver if not for the tobacco stuff. My GOP uncle otoh, who while not necessarily a big fan of the sport is a fan of such milieu and has actually been to a race or two, has been smoking Winstons since forever.

I look forward to the Mike Helton-JW summit

Intimidator, I looooove paint schemes.

My fave of last year was the one by Raymond Vanderlinden, winner of Kodak's "Ink Ryan's Ride" contest:

http://www.kodak.com/US/images/en/corp/1000words/jennyc/no12.jpg

You have to realize it's been like 15 years since I watched Nascar regularly...when I lived at home and my dad turned it on on Sunday afternoons. Pretending to like Nascar was a hell of a lot less annoying than helping in the kitchen, and then I sort of got...sucked in.

My friend Say got to like it because she always had races on when she did her housecleaning.

It's a totally different sport than it was 15 years ago. I only like safe NASCAR. I like reading about the history but I can't bear to watch pre-SAFER barrier tape.

right, the hanseatic league had something to do with it too

BTW, Intimidator, only the New York Times Titlecases "NASCAR." They insist on reporting NASCAR as "Nascar," similar to how they report NFL as "N.F.L."

How do you make an acronym lower-case?

And do they say, "Mr. Gordon passed Mr. Earnhardt in the final lap...."

haha

If it's good enough for the Gray Lady...no, srsly who am I fooling, I just don't care that much. :)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 4, 2008) - Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will make a return visit Tuesday to Washington D.C., for a trip highlighted by a White House meeting with President George W. Bush.

Johnson will join the President in the Oval Office for a meeting and photo, a yearly tradition for whoever wins the NASCAR Sprint Cups Series championship.

Roffle. Exactly. (Sprint replaces Nextel as series sponsor in 2008).

And do they say, "Mr. Gordon passed Mr. Earnhardt in the final lap...."

They would, if Mr. Earnhardt could get to the final lap before hatching his engine.

How do you make an acronym lower-case?

Oh jesus, you must not read much from the BBC News site. They do that to EVERY acronym, and it makes my blood fucking boil.

Okay, not every single acronym, but the ones that have wordlike pronunciations. Unesco, but not CIA.

"There's this delightful American comedy show about the Korean War called 'Mash'."

"Rofl"

I love NASCAR. My first race was a couple of years ago at Fontana, the um...SONY HD 500? I had a blast. It was loud and smelly and exactly what I thought it would be...and I loved every minute of it! We even tailgated, and the folks were very friendly, and really not much different to tailgating at the football when you get down to it.

I find though, I actually don't enjoy watching the racing on tv as much as I did when I saw it for real. And being a rookie, I seem to mainly get interested once the Chase starts...but gimme time!

My favorite driver is Jimmie Johnson...because he was driving the Spongebob Squarepants car at the Fontana race. I wish I had a better reason than that...but I stand by it!

Today I downloaded Joe Satriani's soundtrack for the Xbox NASCAR game and checked out Mario Batali's NASCAR tailgate cookbook.

My friend Say got to like it because she always had races on when she did her housecleaning.

this was sort of it for me too - it was good background noise for doing work or cleaning. you don't really miss much by not actually watching most of the time.

Johnson will join the President in the Oval Office for a meeting and photo, a yearly tradition for whoever wins the NASCAR Sprint Cups Series championship.

"Can Carl Edwards do it again, or can David Reutimann close the huge margin that left him the runner-up last year in what is now the Nationwide Series?"

that's just wrong.

Nationwide-league, even

"Jack" Villeneuve, huh? Isn't that a basketball team or something?

maybe Tony's sister could get him to cut the hair?

hey what happened to Tony Raines? I liked that guy.

Alex in NYC (this is a guess. [this is only a guess.])

I can't remember if I ever responded here, but suffice to say -- this was very accurate guess. Nascar is for morons.

http://trackbunnyfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/078-723509.JPG

Vegemitegrrl, I love Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson's crew chief. Tyra had Jimmie Johnson on her show last fall (it's hilarious - search youtube).

If Hendrick Racing were an office, Jimmie Johnson would be that guy at work who somehow sucks up to the big boss (Jeff Gordon) at every possible chance but is so deadpan about it that you just have to tip your cap.

Abbott, I also have Mario's NASCookbook.

Ryan Newman "wrote" a cute book on the dogs of NASCAR. Proceeds go to animal recue.

I was bummed "Front Row" Joe Nemechek was bounced to third in qualifying and has to race on Thursday. He's a one man team with a one man dream.

They would, if Mr. Earnhardt could get to the final lap before hatching his engine.

That happened at Daytona in the early 90's right? I seem to remember that.. as well as another year @ Daytona where he fucked up his car hitting a seagull

So since there's no more NFL I should pick a driver to root for.. but I have no idea who most of these guys are..

See above re Junior and Newman. No special reasoning re the latter, who was a semi-random pick, but he's a younger guy who's not a star, but with his fair share of top tens, and might or might not make the Chase. He's also writing a 'column' for Y! Sports this season (not that there aren't others who 'blog'). Maybe Carl Edwards would be a more interesting choice? I don't know who would be closest to home - one of these guys is from OH near PA but don't remember who.

Were you previously someone else, brownie?

I used to play play ILX fantasy baseball (lawrence_kansas)

Hello LAWRENCE_KANSAS! I found you!

Hi!

when jim thome broke my heart I fled to the Browns

daria-g there are several drivers from Virginia ... most competitive one right now is #31 Jeff Burton

I like Burton, but he's from the Southside and not the youngest guy around. Maybe Hamlin is the one for daria? The guy I was thinking of earlier was Dave Blaney, who's more Western Reserve-ish and maybe a little too low profile.

ok this picture - http://www.newsweek.com/id/109579

holy shit Kasey Kahne's middle name is Kenneth, WTF

wait until you meet Kale and Kole

I wonder if they listen to KUBE

I was just hoping they never get anything monogrammed.

How about Ryan Newman?

http://www.adrants.com/2007/02/kasey-kahne-bends-over-for-allstate.php

Ryan Newman, Dave Matthews fan? - http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/5659466/NASCAR-on-FX-preview:-10-Laps-with-Ryan-Newman-

hey guys, is our boy marcos ambrose making any waves? is the team he's running with any good? it's hard to follow nascar here if you don't have pay TV. (or a job - they play the races on a monday morning here due to the time difference.)

we had nsacar for about 10 years down here after a well-known businessman and former racer built an oval at the road circuit he owned. all the cars were basically old ones imported from the US, so the local variant (auscar) got more popular. both forms have kinda died off now; it's a shame, they were good to watch. road racing is the dominant form over here though, always has been.