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Saturday, May 20, 2006

Drivers ground Peppers

11:35 PM

I can't help but wonder what the drivers are thinking as they ease around the racetrack to a serenade from the Chili Peppers. Heck, I wonder if they can even hear them.

MARTY

Peppers, but no spray ... yet

11:30 PM

Front and center at the Chili Peppers. Flea has on a lycra body suit. They dominate. Women are frothing. Dudes are rocking. Heads bob. Flash bulbs pop. Shirts are removed. Beer flows.

A gentleman beside me is drinking from a cookie jar that reads "Lenny likes water." Lenny's hat is Richard Pettyish, feathers and all. Flea just announced that they'd make up new songs. Lenny is stoked. His beer gut is phenomenal, as round and white as the jollyest of snowmen.

MARTY

Tired and true?

11:06 PM

Tire wear: Nil. Looks like many teams are planning to re-install the first set of tires again later.

Side note: Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Mike Rucker says a great debate has arisen in the team locker room - are NASCAR drivers athletes? There are certainly viable arguments on both sides of the debate. Are golfers athletes or merely skilled tradesmen? Hmmm.

MARTY

8 Comments

Victory for Petty, Juction Gang Camp

10:05 PM

Kyle Petty wins the fan vote, brought a little dude up on stage with him. Little man is living it up! He's high-fiving fans, low-fiving Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers -- coolest thing I've witnessed this season by a considerable margin.

8 Comments

MARTY

Is that all your life's worth?

10:03 PM

I just saved Geoffrey Bodine's life. The No. 19 crew threw Vitamin Water into the crowd -- full, unopened Vitamin Water -- and one such bottle, headed straight for Bodine's dome, came screaming out of the night sky. I managed to stick my arm out and snag it. Bodine offered thanks.

MARTY

Watch it, Marty!

9:50 PM

Just got yelled at by a security guard for nearly stumbling onto the infield All-Star logo. He was afraid I'd get blasted with a firecracker.

MARTY

Awaiting the victor

9:49 PM

Standing in Victory Lane waiting on Scott Riggs. Rain. Again. His trophy is silver, maybe a foot tall. It has some glass tubes on it, and a fancy Nextel All-Star sign. It sort of resembles one of those change holders from my youth, the ones that had three different change holders, all of different heights. At worst, maybe he can store some nickles in it.

MARTY

Money talks

9:12 PM

My financial advisor is currently attending his first Nextel Cup Series event. He is seated high above Turn 2 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He is giddy, to the tune of some 21 text messages to inform me just how "(expletive) awesome!" it is.

We are seven laps into the Nextel Open. By the time we get to the final segment of the All-Star Challenge, his phone bill will be more expensive than my portfolio's net worth.

MARTY

Fit to a Tee

8:52 PM

I'm standing on pit road, in the No. 18 pit stall, right behind some cat whose shirt reads: Cross The Line, Your Ass Is Mine. There is a bull, standing alongside a barbed wire fence, with what appears to be snot hanging from his nose. Kick ass!!

MARTY

Looks like we're a go

8:45 PM

After a 70-minute rain delay drivers are called to their cars. People are happy. Order is restored.

MARTY

Hanging out with the 29 crew

7:50 PM

Rain. This sucks. I was just hanging out over at the No. 29 truck with Harvick's crew -- some of my favorite people in the business. They refuse to divulge whether or not RCR is planning a fourth Cup team. A source in the garage did tell me today, though, that the rumored offer to Dale Jarrett to drive a fourth car is, indeed, valid.

MARTY

Good to see ya, bud

6:49 PM

The garage is crazy. Everybody and and their grandmomma is in here. That's another thing about Charlotte, it's like Daytona -- the whole industry shows up. You see people you haven't seen in an eternity.

Big Timer roundup thus far -- Brian France, who was engaged in conversation with driver Mike Wallace in Victory Lane, and Braves pitcher Mike Hampton, who was strolling out of the drivers' meeting with Jimmie Johnson.

More later. Maybe.

MARTY

13 Comments

What works for one ...

5:45 PM

While interviewing Jeff Gordon at an appearance, I raised to him a question that's been raised to me a lot lately: "Why don't you just take Chad Knaus? You're the boss, after all." His response? He's uncertain he would prosper under Knaus' leadership style and doesn't want to break up the chemistry between Knaus and Jimmie Johnson.

13 Comments

MARTY

Doing the Humpy Dance

4:03 PM

Well, I'm about to host an event featuring Humpy Wheeler and Adrian Fernandez. That'll be one helluva conversation. Stay tuned...

MARTY

Hoping for an audition

3:08 PM

Wandering through the campground I stumbled upon Lowe's Zone. I'll be danged -- country megaband Lonestar is playing. I'm a huge fan, parked square in the front row! I sing them in karaoke, maybe they'll pity me and let me get up here and kick some butt.

MARTY

And the winner is ...

2:58 PM

Track Smack Live is over. It was quite fun, quite humorous. Huge thanks to J.J. Yeley -- he was insightful and hilarious. Well, what I could hear, anyway. Not the best accoustics we've ever experienced. We predicted our All-Star Challenge winners. J.J. Yeley and Mark Spoor said Kasey Kahne. Ryan Smithson says Dale Earnhardt Jr. David Newton went with Greg Biffle and I say Mark Martin. No money was wagered. Maybe we should bet on it!

MARTY

Getting ready to Smack

1:50 PM

Just entered the Nextel Experience for the second-ever live Track Smack. The initial effort was at Daytona USA during Speedweeks. Twelve people showed up. The crowd is quite sparse this time as well, but we're T-Minus 15 minutes. Maybe a few more folks will show. Maybe not. We're not Trackside Live, after all. Stay tuned.

MARTY

The waiting game

1:31 PM

Well, folks, it's 1:20 p.m. ET, and the crewmen are bored stiff. As I meandered toward to the media area several crew members were leaned against a motor home to avoid the sunshine. That's one of the biggest problems about night racing -- the schedule. In order to avoid traffic, these guys must show up hours before the garage opens and sit around. Hurry up and wait. It's a considerable pain in the butt for these guys. But a million bones would erase any lingering frustration in a heartbeat.

MARTY

Thursday, May 18, 2006

The inside track from the pits

2:12 PM

Is there a more electric atmosphere than All-Star Weekend? Check back Saturday as I will blog from pitroad throughout the Nextel Open and All-Star Challenge. Until then, watch out for the flying lug nuts.