Real Name: Shari Prenzler Gender: female Member Since: September 28, 2007 Last Signed In: June 12, 2008 Profile Views: 1717 Blog Views: 1754 Is Tony right about Goodyear's tires? TOYOTA BRINGING IT HOME Valentine's Day Heartbreak The wait is over - live racing is back FULL THROTTLE: MISSING NASCAR FULL THROTTLE: Green-white-checkered? Give me a break FULL THROTTLE: Toyota and the Car of Tomorrow FULL THROTTLE: No. 8 should belong to Dale Junior FULL THROTTLE: Jeff Gordon deserves some respect FULLTHROTTLE: Montoya: Rookie or ego-maniac? October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 
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Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch rock in their Toyota's! I don't want to get too ahead of myself. After all, its just been a couple of races, but the Joe Gibbs boys in their Toyota's are showing they will be a force to be reckoned with. Denny Hamlin won the 2nd Gatorade Dual Friday and Smoke took first with Kyle Busch right behind him this afternoon in the Nationwide (formerly Busch) series race at Daytona. I know, I know, tomorrow will show - and tell - a whole lot more. But at the end of 2007 season, I did predict that Gibbs and Toyota would dominate. Let's hope I'm right. I would hate to run around town with egg on my face. Speaking of running around town, I have a new column in the Advocate called FULL THROTTLE, which runs the first and third Tuesday of each month. Our goal is to bring lots of info on local motor sports to our readers - dirt, asphalt, mud, whatever. I'd like to hear from riders, drivers, pit crew members, fans and anyone who wants to talk racing. E-mail me at sprenzler@vicad.com or call me at 361-580-6518.
Have you ever had your heart broken on Valentine’s Day? I have. This year, in fact. But it had nothing to with Cupid, or me choosing the wrong guy or anything like that. My heart was actually breaking for someone else – NASCAR’s independent driver, Stanton Barrett.
Barrett is both the owner and driver of the No. 50 Chevrolet, and is best known for being the Hollywood stuntman that operates on a bare-bones budget and who is always in the pool of go-or-go-home drivers.
Although he has no corporate giants behind him, SKI Motorsports and NOS Energy Drink have decided to bet on Barrett to qualify for four of the biggest races of the season, the first being this Sunday’s Daytona 500.
During a recent interview on NASCAR.com, Barrett was very optimistic as he spoke of his 18 years of drafting experience, getting set ups together and coming up with combinations. “We fully intend to race our way in,” he said.
Six previous attempts to make the 500 have eluded Barrett, but as his lap times continued to improve during time trials, it seemed that maybe, this would be the year he would make it.
Now for the heartbreak part.
During the second Gatorade Duel 150 qualifying race (on Valentine’s Day), Jacques Villeneuve lost control of his Toyota in turn 4 on lap 15. Sadly, for Barrett, he was in the line of fire with nowhere to go in a wreck that also thrashed the cars of Dario Franchitti and Jamie McMurray.
Why can’t Stanton Barrett seem to catch a break? Just once. With NASCAR’s money, money, money, attitude, what will become of the small team guys like Barrett and Robbie Gordon? And where will Barrett be tomorrow?
Unfortunately, not running in the Daytona 500.
It’s been nearly three months – almost 90 long and agonizing days – since we saw the last NASCAR race. Sure, there have been highlights from past seasons on Speed and ESPN, and there are endless NASCAR DVDs available. I’ve even attempted to play a few racing games on my PlayStation 2 out of sheer desperation. But it’s just not the same. The wait is finally over. The Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway starts Saturday at 7 p.m. and you can check it out live on the Fox network. I had to laugh when I saw Michael Waltrip had the no. 3 starting position (since he normally can’t even finish a race), but then I remembered that the 23 drivers participating had attended a draw party where they selected a Budweiser bottle that contained a numbered flag. That’s how starting positions were determined. Here’s how eligibility was determined (from NASCAR.com): The 23-driver field for the Shootout will be the record for the largest field in the history of the event. (The previous high was 22 in 2002.) There were 18 drivers who gained eligibility by winning a pole in 2007, while five others are eligible because they are past winners of the Shootout (and finished in the top 50 in final series point standings). Four drivers will be competing in the event for the first time. Here’s the top 10 line up (a complete list can be seen at NASCAR.com): 1. Kurt Busch (2); 2. Mark Martin (8); 3. Michael Waltrip (55); 4. Jamie McMurray (26); 5. David Gilliland (38); 6. Reed Sorenson (41); 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88); 8. Kasey Kahne (9); 9. Martin Truex Jr. (1); 10. Tony Stewart (20). Although the season opener is still another week away, I think it will speak volumes about what we can expect in the upcoming months. Who do you think will be in the winner’s circle tomorrow night? Jimmie Johnson (who could have been called “Dominator” Johnson last season)? What about Earnhardt Jr.? He’s certainly got a lot to prove and all eyes will be on NASCAR’s favorite driver. Maybe Carl Edwards, who, I’m sure, will be a force to reckoned with this season. Or my personal favorite, NASCAR bad boy Tony Stewart, the 2001, 2002 and 2007 Shootout champion, who seemed to have something other than racing on his mind as the 2007 season wound down.
Email me at sprenzler@vicad.com with your predictions by 1 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday). I’ll post them in tomorrow’s blog and we’ll see who knows their stuff. |