Sorry for the delay updating you all from the garage on race day in Phoenix.  As many of you know, my family resides in Phoenix and after two long days at the track I finally got to see them! 

I arrived at the track around noon on Saturday and you could tell it was going to be a hot one.   The Miller Lite water cooler was being raided frequently not only by our crew but many of the neighboring ones as well.   Today our goal was to test the quality of the small video camera and shoot some interviews with the over the wall guys.   Last year I didn’t really have the opportunity to talk to them because they only fly in on race day and are usually quite busy.   The long day before the race provided a perfect opportunity to catch them this time around.

My Miller Lite boss and I headed out to pit road where the crew was setting up the pit box.  Lots of pit tours were happening and we talked tires with some fans from the Bay Area…hope you guys enjoyed the race!   We did an on camera interview with Travis, the newest member of the Miller Lite pit crew.  He is the rear tire changer and joined the team last July.   He told us about his schedule and the try out process at Penske as well as how he preps for pit stops.  We also got some great information from Larry, the rear tire carrier on little tricks they use on the tires to help them during the pit stops.  We did another video with Dave, the front tire carrier and the senior member on the crew.  He has been on the #2 pit crew for 7 years!   He had lots of insights and gave us a tour of the pit box and is going to help us create a “name that car part/equipment” game that we want to do for the Miller Lite website.   I will be doing more in depth blogs on the pit crew when the video comes out. 

Afterwards, we headed back to the garage and caught up with the crew working on the car.  I got a few more details and they let me take some pics that I had not had before like the chassis number on the inside roll bar.   I promise to get some pics up mid week!    

I also asked a veteran employee of Penske racing who has worked in NASCAR for many MANY years about the “Move Over” flag.  This blue with yellow stripped flag came into play several weeks ago when McDowell was in the way of the leaders.  NASCAR displays this flag when they want a car to “move over” and let the cars on the lead lap through, but it is not a mandatory flag.   The Penske employee said that NASCAR racing has always been based on respect and really it is up to the drivers to respect the leaders.   He said NASCAR will display the flag as a courtesy or a suggestion to “move over” and if that flag is ignored for too long, NASCAR will throw the Black Flag and it will result in some sort of penalty.  NASCAR is already accused of controlling the outcome of the races and they do not want to police how they race, so it is unlikely that the Move Over flag will ever come with a penalty.   If that is not a good enough answer, let me know and I will ask a NASCAR official next time! 

While hanging out by the Miller Lite Hauler I also was finally formally introduced to Eva, Kurt’s wife.  She was very nice and we have a love of horses in common.  I enjoyed hearing about her riding exploits and the story of how she met Kurt.  For those of you who don’t know…Kurt’s friends, who set them up, told her he was a veterinarian. (Too funny!)  So she was telling him all about her cats and horses and he was looking at her with a blank face (and he admitted he was pretty worried about how he was going to get outta that one).  They were in a restaurant and his face came on the TV and his bluff was up.  I asked if she was mad at them for lying to her and she laughed and said she was sorta bummed he wasn’t really a vet!  

The drivers seemed to be hanging in their street clothes outside their haulers a bit more during the day.  Kasey Kahne was outside his hauler most of the day lounging with Ray Evernham and a couple of cutie girls.  I also caught Ray Evernham talking at length with Martin Truex, Jr….HMMMmmmm.  Clint Bowyer was walking around the garage and no one really even recognized him.   

The pre-race activities seemed to last forever and now I know why…I wasn’t anywhere near a TV with sound so didn’t hear about the delay from the baseball game until later.   Felt bad for the crews in the fire suits, they were sweating bullets by then.   We knew the Miller Lite team had a lot to overcome as they were first too loose and then too tight.  Seemed most of the teams were struggling with the right front suspension and tires, and the #2 was no different.   Kurt passed a ton of cars on the track and used pit strategy to get all the way up to 3rd but really had a 20-something place car all night.  Still a huge improvement from 39th!   The team is working very, very hard to figure out the car and I am confident they will soon. 

Kurt’s pit was across from the start/finish line again so I had a great view (unfortunately! LOL) of Jimmie winning AGAIN.  I have more pictures of him in Victory Lane from behind the cactus!    On my way through the garage after the race I walked with Tony Eury, Jr. and kidded with him about getting Jr into Victory Lane next week for us.  In the dark garage, there were drivers and cars everywhere! I saw Jr out of his hauler and NOT mobbed but was too slow with the camera to catch him…and for all the Tony fans (ah, that’s YOU Lori!) I spied him talking to a fan not 5 feet from me and then he walked right by me.  He looked a bit peeved so I didn’t ask him to show me his sweaty waxed back!  I promise to get all the pictures up soon. 

Hot or Not will be coming to you live this week from the pits, I will say it was much harder to write from the race but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!