We're Going Racing! Finally. Live Blog Here.

10:03 AM: The engines have been started and the cars are getting ready to roll off pit row.

10:11AM: The cars are on the track. The race will start under Green/Yellow.

10:13 AM: Race starts. Sort of. Competition caution at lap 25.

10:17 AM: The Green/Yellow is due to fog, not moisture. They think they are close to green flag racing. BTW, for those of you at work, don't forget to keep that spreadsheet with your TPS report open in another window so your boss doesn't bust you.

10:22 AM: Burton, Earnhardt, Jr (the Evil Step Mom went after his transmission this week), McMurry to the back of the field.

10:25 AM: RED FLAG. They want the fog to clear a bit more so the spotters can see. The crowd is not happy. We're at lap 11.

10:36 AM: With 90 laps until the race is official, a shortened race is real bad news for Junior nation and the Chase.

10:51 AM: The drivers have been out of their cars for the last 15 minutes. ESPN is doing what they do worst: trying to vamp when there is no green flag racing.

10:54 AM: A lap at MIS takes about 40 seconds under green. There will still be a competition caution. There are two big questions here. First, how many laps will they be able to get in? Second, how many yellows? Some of these guys need to get big points here. I don't see Junior, Biffle and Newman laying back.

10:55 AM: Drivers have been called back to their cars!

10:59 AM: Cars on the track. 1 to go to Green.

11:02 AM: GREEN GREEN GREEN GREEN GO GO GO GO GO!

11:03 AM: Biffle is definitely not laying back. Biffle takes lap one.

11:04 AM: SHOCK: JPM WRECKS! Yellow flag flies. Rusty Wallace calls Montoya getting up next to the 22 a "rookie mistake". Kevin Harvick, please call your office.

11:08 AM: Green Flag.

11:10 AM: Kevin Harvick on the radio on Montoya crash: "What a damn idiot move." Spotter response: It's not a matter of if he's going to wreck, it's when."

11:15 AM: Biffle still in the lead. A Biffle win would be huge for him right now in many ways. We're on Lap 26. Competition caution will now come out on lap 30.

11:18 AM: Competition Yellow Flag. Junior has moved from his start at 43 all the way up to 24th. Junior Nation is still alive.

11:24 AM: Coming out of the pits... 1. Robby Gordon (didn't pit). 2. Jeff Gordon (2 Tires) 3. Denny Hamlin 4. Greg Biffle 5. Brian Vickers. 13. Kurt Busch. 21. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

11:27 AM: Green Flag racing. Jeff Gordon takes the lead.

11:32 AM: Lap 52 -- 1. Johnson 2. J. Gordon 3. Vickers 4. Kenseth 5. Edwards 6. Bowyer 7. Kurt Busch 8. Hamlin 9. Kyle Busch 10. Labonte 18. Earnhardt, Jr.

11:36 AM: ESPN misses Johnson passing Gordon for the lead. Gordon is back to 3, Kenseth is now 2.

11:41 AM: Junior is up to 14th. Kurt Busch is running 4th. But we now have the #83, Brian Vickers is in second. If Toyota was able to pull out it's first win in Michigan, you might possibly. see a small fan reaction. I'm not sure.

11:43 AM: Toyota leads at Michigan! Vickers is in the lead.

11:48 AM: Green Flag pit stops starting lap 72.

11:52 AM: Coming out of the pit stop cycle. Here is the top 10 on lap 77 -- 24 laps to official race. 1. Kenseth 2. Kurt Busch 3. Johnson 4. Vickers 5. Edwards 6. Hamlin 7. Bowyer 8. Kyle Busch 9. Stewart 10. Earnhardt, Jr.

12:02 PM: Lap 92 and we have Yellow. Mark Martin pumping lots of smoke out of his car.

12:07 PM: Coming out of the Yellow Flag pit stops, here is the top 10: 1. Kenseth 2. Kurt Busch 3. Vickers 4. Johnson 5. Hamlin 6. J. Gordon 7. Earnhardt, Jr 8. Kyle Busch 9. Stewart 10. Edwards .

12:08 PM: Green Flag -- Lap 92.

12:10 PM: Yellow Flag -- Lap 93 -- Michael Waltrip crashes. Nemacheck involved.

12:12 PM: Harvick and Montoya are mixing it up. They will be running 18 and 19 on the restart. This should be fun.

12:17 PM: Another Toyota is trying to add a bit more rain on the Detroit big 3 parade: Dave Blaney is running 11th.

12:18 PM: Green Flag -- Lap 100 -- just one to go until the race is official.

12:19 PM: Lap 101 -- Earnhardt, Jr. just moved up to 6th, but Kurt Busch just took the lead. RACE IS NOW OFFICIAL.

12:23 PM: Lap 107 -- Kenseth and Busch are trading the lead back and forth. Great battle up front.

12:32 PM: Lap 125 -- Busch wins the battle with Kenseth. He now has a 1 second + lead. Here is the top 10: 1. #2. 2. #24 3. #48 4. #17 5. #11 6. #83 6. 7. #5 8. #8 9. #20 10. #99

12:39 PM: Lap 130 -- Green Flag pit stops.

12:44 PM: Lap 135 -- Coming out of the pit cycle.... Junior stays out an extra lap to collect five bonus points. 1. #2 2. #24 3. #48 4. #11 5. #17 6. #83 7. #8 8. #5 9. #20 10. #99. Busch lead is 2.6 seconds.

12:54 PM: Lap 150 -- 1. #2 2. #24 3. #48 4. #11 5. #8 6. #17 7. #5 8. #20 9. #83 10. #99. Busch lead is 3.4 seconds. 25 cars on the lead lap. We're within the pit window they would need to finish the race. Any Yellow would be huge right now.

1:02 PM: Lap 162 -- The #24 (running 2nd) and the #12 have loose left side shark fins. NASCAR has told both cars they need to try and fix the fins during their next pit stop. Final Green Flag pit stops are starting now.

1:05 PM: Lap 167 -- Bad pit stop for #8 -- Junior overshoots his pit stop. Gordon's shark fin repair takes some time. Good stop for #2.

1:09PM: Lap 171-- Here is where we are at coming out of the final pit stop.... 1. #2 2. #48 3. #11 4. #17 5. #5 6. #83 7. #24 8. #8 9. #99 10. #22 (Blaney). Busch lead is 4.5 seconds.

1:13 PM: Lap 173 -- Yellow Flag for invisible debris. Some leaders are coming in for more tires. It's a shoot out to the end. Busch, Gordon and Blaney stay out. Johnson, Hamlin, Junior and the rest of the top ten come in for fresh rubber. This is going to be fun.

1:19 PM: Lap 181 -- Green Flag -- Busch, Gordon, Blaney, Truex, Hamlin, Johnson.

125 PM: Lap 187 -- #2, #1 #11, #48, #24. The #11 and #48 are coming.

1:26 PM: Lap 190 -- Yellow Flag. Very bad news for Kurt Busch. The 24 has spun and is in the grass.

1:32 PM: Lap 194 -- GREEN FLAG! At the restart, we'll have the following in the top 10... #2, #1, #48, #11, #17, #22, #20, #99, #5, #83. That's two Toyota cars running in the top 10. The #48 and #11 have to be the favorites here. A win by the #48 would actually move Johnson ahead of Gordon when The Chase starts.

1:35 PM: Lap 199 -- Two laps to go. #2 has a 1 second lead. YELLOW FLAG! Biffle Spins.

1:38 PM: We'll have a Green/White/Checkered at the restart.

1:39 PM: Green Flag.

140 PM: White Flag. Looks like Busch has it.

1:41 PM: Checkered Flag: Kurt Busch Wins!

1:43 PM: Top 10 running order: 1. #2 2. #1 3. #48 4. #17 5. #11 6. #22 7. #99 8. #83 9. # 43 10. #20. Bad day for Junior and Newman. Great day for Busch and Toyota. Truex should be happy too.

1:46 PM:  Glad I could do my part to help you all screw over your bosses and clients.  This was fun.  Hamlin has now joined Gordon in clinching a spot in The Chase. 

If You Missed Hearing CCR on the Show Live, You Can Listen Now.

The Black Flag's CCR was on a wild and rollicking LugNuts radio show Sunday night. In case you missed it, a link to an archive of the show is here.

In an incredible lapse of judgment, the team at LugNuts decided to have CCR back to do short segments on the show on a weekly basis.

So until they come to their senses, there will be more Black Flag fun to come on LugNuts every Sunday.

Click here to listen to the show from Sunday Night.

If Michigan Runs Today, Catch the Action Here.

UPDATE V (Tuesday , 10:07A.M.):  Engines have fired and cars are rolling.  You can catch the live blog of the race by clicking this link.

If the 3M Performance 400 at MIS is run today, I'll be live blogging the race for those of you who can't catch it live.

This is a great place to come hang out and pretend like you are working. Just keep the Excel worksheet with your TPS reports open in another window in case your boss tries to sneak up on you.

UPDATE: The race start has been pushed back from noon Monday. NASCAR officials will make an announcement at 11:30 A.M. as to what their plans are.

UPDATE II (12:00 P.M. EST): Jet dryers are on the track. There MAY be a window in the weather for a couple of hours to get the race in. If it doesn't happen today, 10:00 A.M. Tuesday is the next shot.

UPDATE III (1:50 P.M. EST): NASCAR is targeting 2:30 P.M. today as start time for the race. We'll see. If we do get a green flag, it will be on ESPN2. We don't want to crush the dreams of those little bastards in the LLWS.

UPDATE IV (3:00 P.M. EST): Looks like the next shot is 10:00 A.M. Tuesday. Just as the track was almost dry, the rain came back. Initial reports have a 10:00 A.M. start time would be the earliest ever.

Also, be sure to check out the entry from Klvalus over at FoxSports.com in the Miller Light Sportswriter Challenge.

Okay, so the contest is being run like FoxSports.com put NBA game fixer Tim Donaghy in charge. I realize the topics the judges have come up with topics that demonstrate they have great knowledge of press junket buffets and little knowledge of NASCAR. Granted, Florida election officials are laughing at FoxSports.com for how they are running this debacle.

But Klvalus has done some great blogs in this online version of an Iraqi election and provided some great reads. It deserves a look.

My Big Mouth and a Question from My Six-Year Old Daughter.

One of these days I'm going to learn a very important lesson:

Be careful about what I say during the race when my kids are around.

It's something that should have sunk in a year ago.

An off hand comment during the aftermath of a Tony Stewart wreck and post crash interview made it so that I can no longer bring my four year old son with me to Home Depot.

Last time I ran in there with him, it was every 30 seconds. "Look Daddy, it's The Cry Baby's logo!" Turn onto the next aisle, "Daddy, there's a picture of The Cry Baby!"

Make no mistake, the kid wasn't exactly using his inside voice either. The adventure of exploring Tony Stewart's lair was just too much for him.

We're talking about a mission behind enemy lines here.

But the one I was sure was going to result in me being on the receiving end of a Kevin Harvick moment was when he points at the big guy getting off the fork lift and says, "He's got a Cry Baby hat on."

You would have thought that this lesson would have sunk in. Something would have stuck.

But no. It didn't happen.

Towards the end of Watkins Glen last Sunday, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. blows his engine and I decided that would be a good time to do a fly over for my friends in Junior Nation that are part of the Black Helicopter crowd with this crack:

"Junior's engine just blew up again. That's two of the last three weeks that Junior's evil step mom decided to put sugar in his gas tank."

Here's the problem. My six-year old daughter is a huge Junior fan (a big fan in that she thinks he's cute, not that she runs around singing Tim Wilson songs all day or throwing Capri Suns at the TV when the #24 wins).

Here's the bigger problem: she's really smart. Just like her mother.




Especially when it comes to asking questions. She's even pretty crafty when it comes to who she is asking.

So she starts off by going to my wife and asking what happens when you put sugar in somebody's gas tank. She gets an answer about how it makes your car stop working or something.

The question is a bit disturbing, but my wife quickly puts it out of her mind.

The little braniac takes two full days to contemplate and stew over all this and waits until her mother is putting her to bed for the night.

Then she decides to hit my wife with what's really bugging her:

"Mommy, who is Dale Earnhardt, Jr's evil step mom and why does she keep putting sugar in his gas tank?"

Yes, she always refers to him by all three names.

So my wife comes down stairs and I hear her say the words every man fears:

"Honey, we need to talk."

Having been here before, the brain instantly does the calculation -- what have I done and how much evidence did I leave behind? I can't think of anything, so I'll probably be okay here, so I ask what is going on.

"What the hell were you thinking telling your daughter horror stories about evil step mothers?"

Nothing clicks on this one. Cool. I'm in the clear. Run the strong denial play.

"Not only did I do no such thing, in fact I would NEVER do any such thing."

My wife just looks at me. This is not good. Something isn't right. Think, think, think. Where could this be going?

"You wouldn't? Really? Then how come she is up there asking me why Junior's evil step mom is pouring sugar in his gas tank? Can you think of somewhere else she could have gotten that from?"

She's got me there. So that was the wrong play. Only shot now is the Hail Mary. Let's try this.

"That's great. This could have been so much worse."She just starts shaking her head. Too late now. Here it goes.

"At least she didn't ask you why the greedy, home-wrecking bitch who ruined Junior's childhood by sending him off to military school and now won't let him keep the number eight keeps blowing up his engines by putting sugar in the gas tank."

The Look I'm getting now tells me that one didn't work. Oh well. It was worth a shot. Now I'm heading upstairs to try and explain to my six-year old that I was just joking. A little. Or maybe I'll just see if she wants me to read her Cinderella.

TBF's CCR is the Guest on LugNuts Radio at 10:00 PM Eastern Tonight This from Chuck Story of LugNuts Radio:

That's right Race fans!!

CCR from Nascar Black Flag is spinning with the Lugnuts Sunday night.

He's wild! He's wacky! He's irreverent! But most of all, he knows his racin'!!

Some of the topics could include: This week in Michigan, the Cup "Chase for the Championship", and the Miller Lite Sportswriting Challenge.

Or... we may just talk about his new avatar, and why he hates Tony Stewart so much.

Either way.... It's guaranteed to be "Must hear Radio".

To listen to the broadcast, click the "Listen Live" button above or go to LugNuts Online.

Loyal Black Flag readers are more than welcome to call in at 646-478-5769-- I'd love to hear from you.

I'll also be posting a link after the show for those who don't get a chance to hear it live.