I like boxing and I love De La Hoya, so when I heard he was going to fight again - well that was definitely going to be a show to watch. Especially, since Mayorga was talking smack about his wife and kids. Didn't watch it! Completely forgot about! Had to be told about it the next day! The sad reality - I wasn't even upset. All I had to know were the highlights: Knocked Mayorga down in the First, Won in the Sixth. The only thing in my mind the night before was the Richmond race - a night race. A night race changes everything. It decides whether you go out or not: usually not, and what time to put the kids to bed: early. The last time there was a night race - Phoenix - we had to tape it and that was almost a catastrophe!

We have not stepped into modern television technology with TiVo and rely on the old VCR. My husband hates the VCR. The frustration he gets when he finds out that a show didn't record is just unbearable. You never know whether you have to set it to Channel 3 or you need it on the actual Channel to record, or you set the timer for AM instead of PM, or what we've been experiencing lately - the tape running out before the end of the show finishes recording. Agony!

The night of the Phoenix race was also the night of a dear friend's wedding. Although my husband expressed his disappointment in missing the race live he knew he wasn't getting out of this one so my husband begins to studiously read the VCR instructions. He's going for it! He's going to tape it. He even did a practice test and it worked. We continue with our evening and enjoy a beautiful ceremony and reception with our friends. The adult beverages are free flowing and my husband is generously grateful. I stick with the fruit punch considering the weekend before I had partaken of too many spirits and the memory alone was still lingering. We arrive home safe and sound and begin to settle ourselves in for a night of racing. He pushes play and the tape is showing previews for Invasion on ABC. Oh that just did it - he storms off, mumbling something about how he knew it wasn't going to work. Then he comes back and plays it again - this time fast forwarding. Not on there. Finally he says to me, "I have no idea what these numbers are." I looked up and realized "those numbers" was the tape timer. "Honey, did you rewind it? I think that means 5 hours and 43 minutes." He solemnly looks at me and hits the rewind button. He had been so fixated on the idea that the entire tape would be used up and that the VCR would rewind it automatically that he never thought about rewinding it himself. Nevermind the fact that he consumed enough alcohol that would alter anybody's mind of thinking clearly.  Once fully rewound, we joyously rejoiced that the VCR had worked correctly. My husband wholeheartedly thanked me and we began to watch the race. After about 60 laps I announced going to bed, after all it was 1:30 in the morning and I had to get up early to finish watching the race before I read it in the paper.

We didn't have to tape the Richmond race but we completely forgot about De La Hoya, but when you love NASCAR so much, other sports tend to be put on the back burner. As for those Non-Jr. fan's out there: I told you!

Just one last question and thought: What was with those Crown Royal bags behind Junior's head? That was a pitiful display of camera hogging from the sponsor. I don't care about the Crown Royal girls in Victory Lane - I often wondered why Nextel got rid of Ms. Winston. They could have had a Ms. Nextel but choose not too. I just thought it was in bad taste of Crown Royal. Your thoughts?

Listening to a scanner is the best way to watch a race. Not only do you get to hear your drivers talking strategy with their crew, but you can hear the commentary when the drivers hit full throttle on that green flag. I have yet to watch a race without one and my husband and I have talked about purchasing a set for us. It's become somewhat of a plan to travel to several different tracks and we might as well invest the money for our own set.

It's odd how my husband and I have become each other's track buddy. You talk to other fans and they talk about how the "big group of guys" went to Daytona or Bristol and I would just freak out if he left without me to go to a race. He actually tried once. He mentioned that he thought him and his brother could go to the Phoenix race in 2004. I looked at him crushed, "without me?" I just had our second baby and no doubt going through postpartum. He didn't pursue it any further. Phoenix of all places. It was my first - race that is. I love Phoenix. The drive out to the track with the Estrella Mountains in the background is beautiful. The anticipation building walking up the central walkway while viewing a 3 story picture of last year's driver. Even the way the merchandise trailers are laid out -so meticulously thought out for the fans to enjoy. Then, to have your driver win at your first race is like icing on the cake. It also happened to be the first for Junior to win at PIR (2003) - one for the record books - considering he was getting so much slack at the time for not being able to win at a track other than a superspeedway. Now, even when we see Phoenix from home, just seeing the trademark baby blue barrier walls - the memories start flooding back. It was truly a great race experience that will stay with me forever.

So, we start talking about what kind of headsets are out there and comparing prices and how user friendly they are. We had borrowed my brother's police scanner once for the Texas race - never again. That thing had like 10 channels with like 20 channels within one channel and when I hit scan - it scanned through all 200 channels. Thank goodness I had the instructions with me but they were so obscure it was just ticking me off more and more. Nevermind the fact that I was setting my channels during the pre-race activities and feeling the anxiety build up within me - it felt like any moment they were going to start the National Anthem and here I was still messing with this chunky scanner. Ugh - I finally just had to close all but one channel and enter the bare essential drivers and go on. It's funny how you quickly become the "go-to" person for those people around you that don't have scanners. They look at you when the hum of the engines quiet down and without hesitation you automatically answer back "Debris." I love the scanners and will never watch a race without one. Since we get two headsets, my husband lets me select whatever drivers I want to listen to - which usually end up being his drivers also. I input all the channels and then scan who to listen to when a caution comes out. All he does is sit back, drink his brew, and enjoy the race. Anytime we needed to talk we would have to lift up our headsets so we could hear what the other one was saying, so when he suggested that we get two way headsets so we could talk to each other during the race - I knew I had become his track buddy. He didn't even say the words - that was love.

I work at a small branch of a University and any student or co-worker that comes into my office can tell I'm a NASCAR fan. It's not overwhelming with NASCAR memorabilia or anything - I still have to present a professional atmosphere, but I do have two possessions that I cherish. One, is my 1950's black and white Daytona Beach framed poster. It is a symbol of what I love more than the sport itself and that is its history. I've actually counted the cars on that poster and look at it quite often for inspiration and pleasure. Next, is my growing collection of 1:64 die-cast cars. My husband is a collector of the 1:24 die-casts and as a loving gift to his wife, bought me my first to start my collection. It is always a wonderful surprise when he comes home with a new one to add to my collection. Sometimes, I am able to line them up one, two, and three according to how they finished in the race. All except for one and at this moment I am waiting to see if I do add him to my collection - Jimmy Johnson. He's a great driver, but in the past, I just felt he didn't owe up to a lot of mistakes he made, and I really didn't particularly like him knocking off the Powerade merchandise in Winner's circle.  History has shown that drivers don't always end up with the same sponsor they started with and I just felt he started burning bridges before he crossed them.  Now my drivers aren't angels either. Hey, but Junior completely admitted he caused his accident with Kyle Petty last week, and who doesn't like a little car bashing between Edwards and Junior, especially if they don't cause each other to spin out. And yes, Tony was a little hypocritical when he said that somebody is going to get killed trying to bump draft at Daytona. Then, he went out and got Matt Kenseth sideways (and into the wall, and into the grass) the next week. But I can admit that. (And if you're wondering how I became a Stewart fan - read my other blog on Zippy) I'm holding out for Jimmy Johnson just a little more, basically for the fact that he races for such a respectable organization and it seems like every time he wins - it's somebody's birthday or anniversary from the ill-fated Hendrick organization plane crash. I believe in signs and its a little eerie, thats why I'm waiting for him to show me something a little more than just winning races - I want to see character.

So when my co-worker announced to me from her office that Jimmy Johnson, whom she's a fan of, had won, all I could do was let out a sigh in disgust. I already had seen that Junior's engine had blown and Tony's been the bridesmaid too many times - maybe today was his day. Nope- bridesmaid again. She's a Jimmy Johnson fan, and I really don't enjoy slamming another person's driver. All I could say was "Oh great - I'm going to hear it now." I have two more students that will trot their way into my office sometime this week to boast on their guy - Jimmy Johnson. All I got to say is "Bring it on." I love talking NASCAR with all my NASCAR junkies - we joke, we kid, we laugh, and it's all out of pure fun. It gives us something to talk about week to week and it makes us feel better. It's no fun when you have someone that bashes your driver out of pure hate. That's just someone that takes it too seriously. I like to hear the reasons of why someone is "their driver." It brings insight from another's perspective of NASCAR and you can learn from it. Just remember this Jimmy Johnson fans - Junior's day is coming and HELL is coming with him!

Nobody likes a rain delay; the drivers, the teams and the fans. In the stands or at home. I started my day wondering what will be my next blog. You could talk about the big one or bump drafting  but then how would I get to that point when my 5 year old daughter and 1 year old son are play wrestling and screaming during the pre-race show. Getting through the race with the kids awake is a big enough challenge.  Then a rain delay - Yipeeee! I can get my kids tuckered out and take a nap, hopefully in time for me to watch at least a couple of hours without any interruptions. So, with some time to spare - we played a little and then turned our attention to some chores around the house - and when I mean chores - I mean chores that you don't necessarily do day to day. This rain delay was a small window of opportunity. You have maybe an hour to complete something before the race starts and so you methodically weigh the choices in front of you. Clean out the junk drawer, throw out the refrigerator leftovers, iron my work clothes for the entire week. Well, since I can watch the commentary while I was still in the kitchen, I chose leftovers. My husband even got into this cherished time and started pulling dandelions in our backyard. He even spot cleaned my daughter's carpet in her room. We were really getting a lot accomplished - then they announced that the race was postponed. What?!?!? My initial reaction of joy quickly switched to annoyance. Now it was like I did all that work for nothing. No reward for cleaning out moldy macaroni and cheese. I was going to have to continue washing these dishes just for the mere satisfaction that I would have a clean refrigerator. Even though I would be able to justify sitting on my couch for a couple of hours watching telelvision this evening; its just not as enjoyable if I'm not watching a race. I would have to catch the race during my lunch hour and lap by lap updates on the internet. I went on with my boring Sunday and finished my initial chores of cleaning out the junk drawer and ironing my work clothes for the rest of the week. If I can't watch the race, I guess a clean house comes in a close second.

I called my husband and said "You know how sometimes I do crazy things...well...I've created this blog..." And not just any blog on any blog site. Its Foxsports.com where people know sports beyond sports. I'm actually going to have to back up what I say now - what have I done? I just visit foxsports.com for the Sexiest Driver Poll, and before I could think twice I created my blog site and just started typing away. I realized that night if I was going to get serious about this blog it would mean drastic measures, and that meant I had to trim my fingernails. I could not continue typing accurately with the length they were at. Seriously though, this blog is created through the eyes of a female NASCAR fan and to bring entertainment to other NASCAR fans.

And speaking of polls - who is really voting? Is it all women because if it is they have not seen the cover of the ESPN magazine a few weeks ago. You know the one - with Carl Edwards half naked in his driver's suit. Even after that publicity, he still lost to Kurt Busch. Come on - we're talking SEXIEST driver here. As of my vote today, there were 312, 083 votes between Jimmy Johnson and Tony Stewart - its a good thing that Foxsports does not ask whether you are male of female because I don't think it is all women voting on this poll.

Next blog - love means a two way headset.