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

(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?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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