With nothing but admiration and respect for Gonger we will borrow his format this week.

I think karma is a great equalizer. Ask Kyle Busch. With a shout out to a friend for suggesting this could be the reason he lost the NNS race and a JR Motorsports car won.

I think Tony Eury Jr wore a Steve Letarte disguise at Dover and Steve went fishing.  

I think Jeff Gordon has worse back problems than he's letting on.

I think Richard Childress deserves better finsihes.

I think if they held a going away party for Digger and friends I'd be busy that day.

I think it's awesome Tony Stewart is leading the points.

I think Tony would rather put PBR in the FOX cup than a bottle of Coke.

I think Jimmie Johnson showed some real talent changing his line because he knew he would have to adapt to what he would be given to pass Tony.

I think Chad Knaus keeps the best notes on race tracks

I think Ingrid Vander-Bosch Gordon looked better with long hair.( dad's thought)

I think Kristen had a good time watching Dover for awhile.

I think I won't miss the FOX telecasts.

I think Mark Martin is where he belongs in the standings now. How about you Hanahan?

I think Kyle Busch should learn to self filter.

I think Dale Earnhardt Junior needs a writer for his comebacks to insults.

I think Ryan Newman has trouble finding shirts that fit

I think Matt Kenseth and his wifes idea of decorating the nursery and not knowing the sex of their child is cool.  

I think Matt and his wife can do that because they have alot more zeroes at the end of their checking account than I do.

I think Greg Biffle is brave to have braces at his age.

I think Pedigree dog food tastes better than cats.

I think sleeping in the garage is unfair

I think the mail man is the devil

I think I said too much.

I think that's all my thoughts this week. Well,,,,,, all I better share

A thoughtful yet confused canine

Sadie    

After a few weeks of hand wringing, stress, and coercion from family members on the board of directors at the City of Hope I am happy and relieved to announce that my two legged sister is cancer free. I sent a brief email to KLValus about not going to Infineon saying we had a slight set back. But after further testing no new cancer was found. In fact my sister does not need any further  radiation either. Final answer. YIPPEEE

Dad and I settled in Sunday morning to watch 1100 miles of racing. What we ended up watching was quite different. The Indianapolis 500 was a decent race but mostly because I watch very few IRL races and don't expect much. Dad was pulling for the puffy Canadian Paul Tracy to win again. And it looked good for him  for a short time.  But the only passing was on restarts or in the pits. Poor Marco has the Andretti curse it seems. Maybe he can take Moraes to 7/11 for a big gulp. Just don't ask Tony Kanaan to drive them his car is messed up. Happy for Helio but enough with the waterworks already. We get it man you're happy not to be in federal prison. But man up and say something like. " Thank God the jury wasn't a bunch of idiots and recognized innocence when they saw the evidence" Stop saying you're lucky. It makes it sound like you were guilty and got off because of celebrity. Can someone say jury nullification................ Nahhhhhhhhhhh he's not OJ...............nevermind

The cup race that wasn't going to race on Sunday was an exercise to see how long Fox could keep the audience watching the commercials in between the nonsense. I'm not suggesting the nonsensense wasn't necessary because I'm sure my dad wouldn't make sense for that long either. I did find out that I like the family guy and it's been a long time since we watched the Simpsons. Who knew that baby never grows up. They should get her checked.  It should be Little people big Simpsons   

I can't add anything that hasn't been said to Mondays "race" The 3:00 pm tribute was cool.. Everyone knew that they were racing to halfway. Reuitimann's CC just knew it better. He's a good guy. He got his win. Good for him. I liked his answers when asked what Tony said. He really showed professionlism. But it could have been real funny if he said something about Tony being fat and then we could have had a cage fight. Billy Bad Butt versus The Michelin Man. The marketing would be awesome. The two + hour delay to end the misery was too long I thought but Dad had a few more Miller Lites and made Mom a Martini during it. Which is good because he forgot I was inside and I chased the cat away while they weren't looking.  Looking forward to Dover. At least we won't have racing overload with the funny looking cars first.

A happy and grateful dog 

Sadie

To say Dad and I enjoyed the race would sound a little odd being that our favorite was out practically before he got started. Not much more can be said about who, what or why. The common taters and the FOX bloggers who are much more informed than the guys in the booth have spoken. It was just  one of them racin deals.  So Dad told me I guess we'll just root for the 88 now. Dad knows usually the bearded uni-brow doesn't need our help. Usually that's true but Sunday it didn't quite work out for him either.   As everyone knows now and I'm stating the obvious, the 88 team had a good day. They stayed out of trouble on the track and in the pits. Maybe the Wallaces gave them some 5 hour energy supplement. That hopefully will give them some momentum to continue doing well. The Nation is much easier to be around when they are happy. We have all heard the expression "the natives are restless" . It applies. Tony Stewart seemed to have something for the field until he went down a cylinder. That was too bad but his team mate did well. Almost to the end. More on that later. It was a good race from the stand point that it was not boring. You had a contender who went 3 laps down to getting a little tired of being blocked. Speaking of which, I guess Kyle thought his car was wider. I sure did like seeing the Pedigree car out front. I thought about chasing it and then remembered they were in Alabama and I'm in California and old.  Darn it. A lot was said about Montoya and winning the pole but don't forget, when you start first. There is only one direction to go. It seems EGR is a snake bit team lately.  Too bad too. Robby Gordon tested the COT and the inside soft walls and reportedly gave them both high honors. Big hit for him and he walked away. Good. But scary.

Everyone here knows that the race was exciting. A lot of stuff was happening. That's plate racing. We knew it would be different than say,  the follow the leader races at Fontana and other places. But this race was exciting for some reasons nobody expected. I know I sure didn't. I didn't expect the 18 car to block as much as he did. When he did. Even if he was passed by Burton as good a car as he had he could have easily came came back. I didn't expect that Keselowski would be the one to push Carl past the leaders. I didn't expect Jr to stay behind Ryan as long as he did. And I sure didn't expect the ending of the race to turn out the way it did.  When Dad saw the 99 car go airborn into the catch fence he let out with an unexpected loud "OH NO" enough so that the human sister came over and asked what happened. Which of course we showed her by replaying the event. My Dad was very grateful the catch fence caught most of what it was supposed to.  Some cuts and bruises, a broken jaw and no doubt some pain was all that was reported. Easy for me to say since it's not my pain. But it could have been much, much worse. Carl was awesome running to the finish line. He said in his interview that he needed to tell his wife and Mom he was OK. I think they already knew when they saw him running.  We were worried about Ryan Newman too because it looke dlike he took a hit in one of the more vulnerable areas of the car. He  was OK too.  

A final thought from a canine observer: We watch the races for many reasons, some like the speed, the give and take of competition, the strategy, we all have favorites, we have some drivers that we feel it's good day as long as my guy finished ahead of. And we all know that whether we admit it or not the wrecks are interesting, exciting and in some ways fun to watch. But what really scared me on Sunday was when I saw that 99 car go airborn into a fence and realized that the driver and the fans were in peril and I realized that it could have been very tragic. Everyone involved is real and loved and has ambitions and feelings and so on and so on. It kind of bothered me in a profound way I cannot explain.  Maybe it's some of the events that have happened in my life recently that has made me look at things differently. I don't know. But thank you for reading and allowing a forum where I could express my thoughts.

A very happy and grateful dog.

Sadie

ps: Avatar changed to honor a good friend and his dream car        

After a brief break to pay attention to some needs of the two legged sister Dad has agreed to push the buttons on the keyboard for me again. The human sis is doing well and adapting to her new diet. I offered kibble and bits but she declined. I thought that was very short sighted of her.

Dad started watching the race late again.  Not as late as some of you on the East coast or mid west.  What was NASCAR thinking? OH wait Dad always says they don't. The race was good from the beginning with the elder statesman at HMS winning the pole and taking off to lead right away. It was obvious right from the start he was going to be good. The race was a little boring at first but like alot of races the action heats up towards the end. Kristens favorite was in front after pit stops and Dad looked down and said " I bet she's so happy right now" I thought he meant scratch behind left ear so I did. I get so confused in my old age. But with dog years comes some knowledge and I told Dad whoever was in front sure looked unbeatable. He agreed. Sometimes he's so smart. The candy kid was making it interesting, he seems to do that every week.   The Michael Waltrip fan club had a few words to say about Mikeys ability and the future of the 55 NAPA car. Say what you will about Robby Gordon and his talent. He's good for a quote and you never have to wonder where you stand with him.  I wonder if Danica Patrick is ready for that car. Would that make Robby happy? Would she have to have weight added to the car?  Poor AJ he gets a contract extension and then a less that stellar performance. Our favorite Jeff Gordons' pit crew had an uncharacteristic mistake and missed a lug nut. I hope Kristen got that for Dad. But it's OK. They got their one mistake for the year out of the way. Casey and Junior mixed it up a little and that was cool to watch. Maybe not if you're a Jr fan but at least he showed some emotions and let Casey know. Dad thinks Jr was at a disadvantage anyway with the pit strategy. What worked Friday didn't work Saturday.  The HMS fifth car is looking good and should win soon. Good for Tony and when he does look for the PBR to be poured late into the night.  Good showing for Ambrose and The Franchise too. All in all a good race to watch. Saturday night races are fun because they are different. And he falls asleep and I get free access to the chips and boneless buffalo wings. Does anyone know if rolaids works for dogs?.We are very happy to see Mark Martin win a race. He is the nicest most humble guy in racing, says Dad.  But then Dad made me watch the Long Beach Grand Prix on Sunday. Please someone tell him there is only so much an old dog can take.  

We are looking forward to the plate race  at Talladega  because the tension is high and anything can happen at any time. The Miller Lites go down quickly during those races. And you know what that means. Dads judgement is shot. More snacks for me.  

A happy and grateful dog

Sadie

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers for my two legged sister. She has recovered well from her second surgery and will complete radiation therapy later this month. Her lymph node that was removed and biopsied came back normal. No more cancer is present. The radiation will be used as precaution to be sure.

Dad watched the entire race around eight o'clock Sunday night. We watched it very fast. The whole thing in about an hour. Dad said he didn't think he missed much and said that the cars got spread out too quickly. We both felt bad about Carl Edwards getting beat by a bad pit stop. We were hoping Jeff Gordon would be able to challenge on the track. But we are very happy that the 24 team won. It was just a matter of time. I got a special Scooby snack just before bed time because Dad was in a good mood.

As we head into the off weekend for Easter. I hope you all get to spend time with your loved ones  and special friends. Dad says he plans on spending more time watching the race in Phoenix and plans on letting me share my thoughts.

A grateful and happy dog

Sadie.

RA6AN: Thanks for the update you posted. I talked with my brother. It looks good for Sonoma.