Dale Jr.'s contract is on hold, yet again. This time, however, the reason was one nobody could have thought of. Kelly Earnhardt Elledge, Jr.'s sister had to be taken to the hospital. According to reports they wanted to admit her for 2-3 days.

The contract signing is not on hold for personal reasons alone. Kelly is officially Vice president and General Manager of JR Motorsports. She handles all of Jr.'s business affairs, and is representing Jr. in the contract negotiations. I have followed Kelly over the years; I caught as many of her races as I could. Not only does she have brains, she also showed she had the racing blood in her. Before she decided to get out of the car, and focus on family, I had hoped she would get to Cup racing. (Jr. and Kerry fans, sorry, she's my favorite of the siblings.)

So, until Kelly gets better there won't be a signed contract. Get well soon!

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I Only Eat the Orange One's

            Rituals and superstition are not new to racing. I guess the biggest superstition I remember from childhood would be the number 13. Qualifying 13th was bad luck, no one drove a #13 car, Friday the 13th was even considered a bad night to race. Some tracks went so far as to exclude the number 13 from pit road and garage areas. The color green was avoided, for reasons I never understood. I was from an Irish family, so to me green was good luck. As a child I was obsessed with the rituals these grown men had. I always asked what they found lucky or why they were so lucky. Richard Petty informed me that, yes, he was a very lucky man, but when it came to a race, luck had nothing to do with it. Some drivers did believe in luck, though, for some it was a simple as a lucky charm, for some it meant doing everything in the exact same order before each race, each was different.

            For us pit brats, the lucky penny was the ultimate. A good luck penny had to be found heads up. You would call the penny, state who the luck was for, or you would claim the luck for yourself. I had a lucky penny for every race, I don't remember everyone I gave them to, but a few stick out in my mind. I was around Dick Trickle a lot and I gave him one and he won! I also remember giving Neil Bonnett a penny before he won a race. I don't know if they even kept my penny, but it was cool to me. Another penny that brought a win was given to the love of my life, Davey Allison. (When you're 5 or 6 love is a serious matter.) The one I remember most is Mark Martin. The first time I saw Mark I knew that it was real, true, love. (At 7 or 8 love was really a serious matter.) I gave him pennies and he went on to win the Short Track Championship. Through the next few years I was true to Mark. I remember crying the last time I saw him in Rockford, realizing we would never be. Mark was moving on, I would never get that close to him again.

            Then it was pennies, now it's a penny and 3 quarters per race. Each week I put a penny from the current season, a 1971 quarter, an Indiana quarter, and a quarter from the state where the race is held in my pocket. I have to wear either orange or Dale Sr. I have my dog tags, my Dale Sr. credential clip, my Tony Stewart key chain and cap, and my orange M&Ms. Everyone saves the orange one's for me, which I eat 3 at a time. Before qualifying and the race I light a cigar with an orange lighter decorated with Tony Stewart graffiti, the lighter is only used for this purpose. I am crazy, but I love it. I never cared one way or the other for orange and now it dominates my life. (Well, at least my office. Dale Sr. still dominates the main rooms, with Kevin Harvick being represented in the snake area.)

            Darrell Waltrip comes to mind as I think of the color green; he seemed to pull it off very well. Can "Front Row Joe" get lucky in the #13?  A long time ago a driver in Wisconsin told me," Before every race I walk around the car 13 times, I ain't won, but I'm always there at the end. Good luck? Bad luck? Depends on how ya look at it." So, if Nemechek can do better than 27th in driver points, is it good luck? I think it may be Joe that will bring luck to the #13.

            A new ritual has emerged, at least for Americans. Blessing a car before a race with holy water is one of the oldest rituals in racing. Although most rituals are a private thing, religious rituals tend to be more out in the open. Prayer before races is a very sacred thing, as is the blessing of a car. It is a way to ask for protection and safety, and shows the depth of faith in a higher power. No matter what you believe, belief can be a very powerful motivator.

            So, is your ritual lucky or unlucky? "Depends on how ya look at it."

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Can You Say "Monopoly"? 

On Thursday, Robby Gordon pulled into the track, probably hoping that that there would be no problems. NASCAR quickly caught up with him, proving it was not to be so. NASCAR informed Robby that he would have to remove all Motorola "wireless" decals from it. They also made it clear that, until he complied, he would not be allowed to take the car out on the track. NASCAR claimed sponsor conflict, as they have with AT&T. Those who paid attention Saturday, discovered that a small Motorola decal still remained on the car. I didn't know if this was overlooked, or a concession. By Sunday a deal was made to allow Motorola to feature an audio player scheme. (NASCAR approved the audio player scheme for the rest of the season.)

For those who haven't followed the Richard Childress Racing/AT&T story, NASCAR informed RCR that he would not be allowed to replace the Cingular scheme on their #31 Chevrolet with AT&T, claiming sponsor conflict. The conflict stems from NASCAR's contract with Sprint Nextel. One of the conditions of the deal was that rival "wireless" companies could not be allowed to sponsor cars in the Cup Series. At the time, this caused an uproar. Teams realized that their sponsors could, potentially, be banned. Sponsors realized that it could be them next. Before the contract was signed, a concession by Sprint Nextel led to a "grandfather clause", allowing companies already sponsoring cars to remain. They weren't dummies, though, the clause meant that new rival companies would not be allowed to sponsor. (note: the clause only pertains to the Nextel Cup Series, thus Motorola's freedom to sponsor Robby Gordon's Busch ride.)

When AT&T purchased Cingular Wireless, they decided to phase out the Cingular brand, little by little. Thus AT&T's problem, thus Richard Childress' problem. AT&T would be a new "wireless" sponsor, and that would be against Sprint Nextel's "non-compete" clause. If you ask me it's poor form. Are they afraid of a little competition? The very foundation of racing is competition. Sprint Nextel already had a strike against it with a lot of fans; some still refer to Cup racing in Winston terms, so they don't need to look greedy.

For now, the Cingular brand remains on RCR's #31, but that could change at any time. AT&T took it to court, and the rumors are a decision could come at any time. If you ask me, I think anyone interested in sponsoring, with the exception of illicit material, should be allowed to do so. (I won't go into the Winston thing, because that was a forced situation.) With teams closing, due to lack of funds, why would you exclude anyone?

Nextel is a really good phone, but it will always be Winston Cup to me. Hey, maybe AT&T should go WFO on 'em and try their hand at IROC. The IROC Series sponsored by AT&T. Hmm...

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Right now, it's not much to look at, but it will grow. We need all the help we can get, though, so spread the word and visit the site. If you have any tips to make the site better, let us know.

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            Although Jeff Burton was unable to emerge with the 3rd weekend sweep in a row, Jimmie Johnson proved a 3-peat was still in the cards. When Jeff Burton took the lead, the whole nation took a breath and knew another weekend sweep was coming, but it wasn't meant to be. (It will come again.) Jimmie Johnson reminded us, once again, that it doesn't matter how any laps you lead, the only lap that counts is the last lap. (And when you lead that one, it really counts.)

            Through the week, a lot of the discussion about the track was negative, but, after this weeks racing, I believe many drivers may change their opinion. Tony Stewart was as outspoken against this track as he was for the Car of Tomorrow, yet he had no problem finishing 2nd for The Boss (Delana Harvick) in the Busch race with the Old Spice #33 Chevy and finishing 7th for Joe Gibbs and the Home Depot #20 Chevy. Teammate Denny Hamlin was able to score a 3rd place finish, which seems to support my prediction that he will not fall victim to a "sophomore slump".

            Of course, all eyes were on the "home boyz", as well they should have been. Both brothers did well through the first half, but little bro shined in this meeting. Kyle has continued to show that he has what it takes, and, from my view, big brother's shadow hasn't been a problem. I will not drop names, but from the age of 6 or so, I realized that talent doesn't necessarily follow a name, the Busch brothers are one of those few exceptions.  (I mean no disrespect, being good enough to be here, to me, is having "it", but you in the know- know, it's easier when you've been there a while to admit who is better.) Personally, I really never cared for Kurt, but I respected him as a driver, because he was that damn good. Recently, I have found respect for Kurt as a man, his belief  that he screwed up, although false, proved, without a doubt that he has grown as a person, and a driver.  Kyle, on the other hand, has been in my top 10 since he started. During Kyle's rookie year he proved only one thing; he really has nothing to prove. Kyle has continued to show that a shadow doesn't have to become a cloud that will rain on your parade. Both of these brothers give NASCAR everything they have, and both deserve respect.

            I guess the biggest story going into the track was speed, and the track did not disappoint. During qualifying the track record was beat by everyone who made the race. In the end, though, the record would remain with its defender. Kasey Kahne would take back his record, and beat it by .04 of a second less than 10mph. Kasey beat his previous record of 174.90 mph with a breath taking 184.86mph. The race also exceeded previous speeds and expectations. This is only a good sign for the future; this track will mature, as drivers do, watch out next year!

            (Before I make my toast, I have to say to Jimmie, this is no disrespect, you will know, but I don't want to make your fans mad.)

            This week I toast only two. First, I toast a true gentleman, who pushed for the win. Then, I toast a young man, who truly understands what it means to be "just racing". When the race ended, it became evident that Jeff was trying to get to Kyle. When Burton found an empty car, what followed was an unprecedented effort by Jeff Burton. After finding Kyle Busch was no longer in his car, Burton drove further down pit road, hoping to catch the younger Busch brother, and he did. No burn out worries, no rush to the winners circle, just make sure he knows it was "just racing". On Kyle's side, just let him know it's okay; it was "just racing". The effort put forth by Burton to find Busch after the race, and Kyle's response, show true sportsmanship.

            P.S. Kurt, not everyone can be the good guy, so remember what Dale Sr. told you about the one's that get the most noise, you will be remembered. On a personal note, you have my respect; you brought it when it counted, as did your brother. You know I didn't care for you, and you were right, you proved me wrong, it just took a few years. (Remember the punk kid a-h--- remark? You said I had you wrong, well, you were right, you were playing the game; and you were better at it than I thought. Much respect.)