Darlington has received the nickname of "Too Tough To Tame" and "The Lady in Black" for a reason.
This Southern Lady loves to tease a suitor (driver) into thinking they are taming her. And just when that suitor (driver) thinks he has the Lady on his side, she reaches out and slaps him into the wall.
Photo by AP Photo/Virginia Postic
This lady does not care who she slaps. Whether he is the points leader, a veteran, the current champion or a young rookie. If she feels that you are getting to confident in your run. She will put you into the wall.
This year the lady has a new shiny surface. She is looking alot better than she has in years. Though she is looking alot better, she still has the same old attitude.
Granted her surface is alot kinder to the tires. But her curves (turns) are still very hard on all those suitors (drivers).
Every race there is usually one suitor (driver) who treats her like a true Southern Lady and she in returns allows him to be victorious.
Last night in the Nationwide race there was many who thought they had this savvy old Southern Lady on their side. But there is only one she had taken a shine too. (Could it be because he said on his radio show* on Tuesday, that he likes older women? lol)
She was courting him all the way to Victory Lane. She took care of any of his opponents who might try to steal away his thunder.
Some she didn't allow to even get into the show: Denny Hamlin. Others she allowed to make it. But when they got too close to her suitor, she used her turns and walls to slap them out of the race: Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin were just among of the few of the suitors she took care of.
Last night her chosen suitor was the driver of the #20 Old ####e Toyota Camry, Tony Stewart. Many times before he had tried to charm this lady. But each time she chose someone else.
But last night Smoke wooed this lady and she liked the way he treated her. And she allowed him to be the Victor of her.
But this lady is fickle, like most Southern ladies. She likes to be the center of attention. And tonight there will be 43 more suitors who will come a calling. Trying to woo her into letting them be the one who stands in Victory Lane.
Smoke will try again tonight to win her heart. Will he be able to charm her once again or will he do something to make her mad? Will someone else be the victor? Only time will tell.
But for at least one night, Tony Stewart won this lady's heart and he stood in Victory Lane. A winner at Darlington.
Update on Father in Law: Things are still pretty much the same. The swelling is becoming more of a problem. His feet are staying swollen all of the time now. His feet look like they could burst. The swelling in his stomach is becoming larger as well. His feet appeared to me today that they looked bluish. But this could have been do the swelling.
But to look at him and hear him, you would think he was doing well. He is still eating well. But we all know that any day things could change for the worse.
He told my husband last week that he was coming home next month. But the doctors are telling him, he will not be coming home again. He needs 24 hour medical care. So today when we went to see him, he was talking as if he realizes know that he is not coming home.
Thank everyone again for all the prayers, kind words and your thoughts. They really do help to get us through these trying times.
Dwindy1 Thanks for commenting. Unfortunately Smoke never got a chance to race the lady in black for the win. But at least she was kind enough to him to not have messed up his car too bad when Elliott hit him. He was able to finish 21st.
As far as the family headaches, I don't mind them so much as long as my father in law is here. But for his sake, I wish that the pain would end. I don't want him to pass on, I just want the pain to end.
Maybe Stewart should stop getting his first win at tracks in the Busch series, after he does he doesn't do well in the Cup race ('Dega, Darlington) lol
Tyler I thought the same thing. It seems every time he wins in the Nationwide series, whether it was this year or previous years. He doesn't do so well on the Cup side.
I am a southern female who grew up on NASCAR. After all growing up in the backyard of many of the old tracks run here in North Carolina it is was hard not to follow NASCAR.
My Drivers: Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, J.J. Yeley, Kevin Harvick (in that order). I will not pull for a Roush or Hendrick driver. Just because they are the competition to a 3rd championship for Smoke.