Well, I was just looking to see who all was still around here.  Haven't been on since July, but my friend JokersWild sent a message on here yesterday so I had to log in to read it! Right?

News today is that Kyle Busch will have a new crew chief after this weekend's race at Talladega.

Dave "Magnet" Rogers.  Interesting.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Do you enjoy NASCAR truck racing?  I do.  The Camping World Truck Series offers some of the best racing in NASCAR today.  Would you like to change the way you watch truck racing by becoming involved personally?  If so, I have something amazing to tell you about.

Our Racing Dream Motorsports, or ORD Motorsports, is a non-profit race team based out of Charlotte, NC and debuted during the Speed Street Festival in Charlotte this past weekend on May 21 through May 23, 2009.  Truck series drivers Todd Bodine and Jason White made autograph session appearances at the ORD tent for the grand opening.

Sammy Lopez, President and Director of Marketing, summed up the Speed Streets grand opening weekend to me in an e-mail today.  "We had over 20 members in two days signup, and there were so many people that came to see Todd Bodine that he ran out of hero cards to sign.  Right now we are up to 28 members and we are really just looking to create a fun community of race fans and go truck racing."

How can it be your dream?  ORD Motorsports Inc. is a Registered Non-Profit 501c(3) Organization whose mission is to provide the ultimate, most unique interactive adventure of a race fans' lifetime, while acting as a primary conduit for charitable organizations by donating the paint scheme to a different charitable organization chosen by members every race weekend.  For only $25.00 your tax-deductible yearly membership fee allows you to be part of this unique racing community and donate to a great cause.

"With sponsorship struggles in NASCAR these days there couldn't be a better time to introduce a new, unique way to bring the fans closer to an ever expanding sport," says Sammy Lopez, President and Director of Marketing of ORD.  "Not only can we tap into the heartbeat of the racing fan's passion," adds Chris Graham, President / Director of Business Development, "but the team acts as a true conduit for charitable organizations brining awareness and national media attention to their cause.  It's a win win, and a great way to give back to the sport so many people enjoy."

Do you have questions about the truck team such as who will be the driver?  What paint scheme and sponsor will they run?  Who goes over the wall to pit the truck?  Watch this video from OurRacingDream.com by Speed TV personality Krista Voda for the answers:

I love what Krista Voda says in the video.  No more screaming at the TV.  Why?  When you become a member,  you become part of the team and have input on those decisions.

This effort is an out-of-the-box, forward thinking way to integrate NASCAR with social media and connect with fans on a whole different level.  Connect with members via their profile pages on OurRacingDream.com.  Besides sharing your ideas and opinions for the truck team, membership guarantees many exciting perks including the chance to win autographed memorabilia, the chance to have VIP race tickets, and much more.

If you are on Twitter, please follow Ourracingdream to connect with the members and founders of the team.  They will be glad to give you more information or answer your questions.  More importantly, you will enjoy them immensely.   Additionally, look the team up on Facebook.

I'm very excited to have introduced you to OurRacingDream.com and hope that you will take advantage of getting in on the ground floor of this one-of-a-kind experience.  We all want to be winners, so click on over to learn more and join!

My deepest appreciation goes out to Mr. Lopez for his contributions and information for this article.

In The Groove is dedicated to bring you, the all-knowing Fox Sports Bloggers, a peek at the Highs and Lows of racing randomness from Charlotte USA.  Welcome to the Washing Machine edition for the 50th anniversary of the Coca-Cola 600.  We started the endurance race on the Soak cycle on Sunday, with zero laps being run.  I've seen that referred to as the Coke Zero.  NASCAR made the call to postpone until today.  So, we continued on to the Rinse & Spin edition on Memorial Day.  The cars got rinsed, spun around for a while, got rinsed again.  You get the picture.  Rinse and repeat.

The High Groove

Running first in the High Groove is David Reutimann who brought home the 250 lb trophy.  Wow, what a call to stay out on that final rain caution/red flag.  Points of interest: The No. 00 had never been to victory until today; this was The Franchise's 75th career start; and this was The Franchise's first Cup victory, ever.  Additionally, this was the first win for Michael Waltrip as an owner.  Congrats to MWR and to David Reutimann!

Running second in the High Groove is "Rocket Man" Ryan Newman who started on the pole and chose the outside line to bring the field to the green flag.  Newman had a pit problem early in the race but came back to finish 2nd with the call to stay out at the end.  Newman continues his top 5 finishes and now sits in 7th in the points.  Good job.

Running third in the High Groove is the decision by NASCAR to throw the caution for the Memorial Day Remembrance moment of silence at 3pm EST.  Very classy.  I found it very respectful and moving.  Thanks NASCAR.
 

Honorable mentions: Robby Gordon and Brian Vickers

The Middle Groove

P1 for the Middle Groove is Dave Blaney.  What, you say?  Blaney finished this race.  He did not park it on lap 49.  He was only one lap down and even received five bonus points!  He had the same sponsor this week as the winning car, Aaron's Dream Machine.  I'm feeling tingly all over.  Will it happen again this year? 
 
P2 for the Middle Groove is Joey Logano.  Logano, after having brake issues early in the race, was running in the top five when last caution came out but cycled through pit stops for a 9th place finish.  He's looking better and better and I think the confidence will continue to grow.  Kudos. 

The Low Groove

P1 in the Low Groove is Mother Nature, of course.  I believe the jet dryers logged more laps than the cars.

P2 in the Low Groove is Mike Bliss.  Bliss was our Nationwide series winner on Saturday night due to a rain call, pretty much the same way as Reutimann won today.  However, Bliss was the first (and only) car to cut out on the Cup race today.  Dern Dodge engine.

P3 for the Low Groove is Kevin Harvick.  Harvick made contact with Sam Hornish Jr., hit the wall twice, and was black flagged for speeding.  Was DeLana on the pit box again?

Dishonorable Mentions:  Dale Jr. and Kurt Busch.

And for the checkered flag we have In The Groove's thought for the day ... What can I say, Kyle Busch probably should have won both the Nationwide and Cup race this weekend.  He was leading both races when caution came out for rain and the race was called - early.  I don't know why Kyle didn't stay out today to see if the race would have been called.  Talk about shooting yourself in the foot, twice.

Quote of the week: "Billy Bad Butt." - Tony Stewart

We should be hearing some news by late tomorrow about the mandatory meeting called by NASCAR to meet with the drivers, teams, well, everyone.  See you again after the Monster Mile.

Canada.  It has been announced that Mobile, Alabama native Cale Gale will be crossing the border to compete in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series this season. 

Cale (yes, he was named after Cale Yarborough) is still under contract, however, with Kevin Harvick Inc. and is slated to drive the #33 Nationwide car sponsored by Rheem at Nashville on June 6th.  Finally!  (Yes, Jon, it is true.)  That is the same day as the season opening race for the Canadian series. 

Cale will be driving for Farwell Racing Inc (FRI) in the # 13 Rheem Chevy Impala in the Canadian Tire Series for 2009.  However, since he can't attend the season opener, Nik Lapcevich will be piloting that entry. 

Cale's thoughts on this transition to a different series, in a different country? 

"I'm really excited to drive for FRI and Rheem in the (NASCAR) Canadian Tire Series and in front of the Canadian fans," Gale said. "From what I have been told, there are a lot of great drivers in this series and I look forward to competing with them. I grew up driving on short tracks, so it will be great to get back on them. I'm also looking forward to gaining more experience on Canada's challenging road courses."

I guess it is time for me to learn and follow another series.  Not that that is bad thing.  I'm so happy to see Cale having this opportunity and hope he finds success there this year.  It can only help to further his career in NASCAR - here in the states!

Good luck, ay.

(story credits: www.stockcarxpress.com)

Bill Elliott will be visiting Talladega Superspeedway tomorrow, May 13th, in an attempt to break his old speed record of 212 mph.  Elliott has teamed up with Brent Hajek, owner of Hajek Motorsports.

"Hajek Motorsports will embark on its next challenge, with technical support from Ford Racing, when they attempt to break the 22-year-old NASCAR speed record held by Bill Elliott.  Elliott himself will pilot Hajek's E-85 Mustang FR500C, which has been reconfigured to NASCAR specs, at Talladega in an attempt to break his 212.089 mph qualifying lap from 1987 at the same track.  FIA officials will be on site to verify the attempt and to validate the record."

Last August, Mr. Hajek took the E-85 converted Mustang FR500C to the Bonneville Salt Flats in search of the land speed record for an Ethanol powered car.  The Mustang was able to hit a top speed of 251.741 mph once, but was not able to repeat  the feat.   A mechanical failure kept the team from making the validation run, but the 252 mph run earned their car the unofficial designation by some as the 'fastest production Mustang on earth.'

The Hajek Motorsports E-85 Mustang is currently at Bill Elliott's race shop in Dawsonville, Georgia, going through final preparations.  This week the team will scrub tires and do initial testing, in anticipation of breaking the record on Wednesday afternoon at Talladega.

Quoted portions of this post are from the full article here at (fullthrottle.cranialcavity.net).  You can watch a video of the Mustang at the Bonneville Salt Flats below.  Good luck, Awesome Bill. 

 UPDATE: You can watch this attempt live tomorrow by visiting:

http://forums.bradbarnett.net/elliott/

UPDATE 2: Bill Elliott crashed during the second shakedown run yesterday afternoon after a cut tire or tire failure.  He was okay, but the car was not.  You can watch the first shakedown run by clicking the link right above this - streaming provided by The Mustang Source.