Nascar Nextel Dodge/Save-Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on Fox , Sunday , 6/26 , 230pm ET

Nascar.com ^ | 6/23/05

[NormsRevenge]

Prayers for our troops in the field , their families and our nation and allies as we wage war against Terrorism locally and globally and our enemies, both foreign and domestic, including those serving in this nation's own highest institutions.

[steveegg]

Thanks. The shots got a bit blurry as night fell (something must've fouled up the autofocus). Those are shrunk to 15% original size; the originals would kill the screen, your download speed, and my throughput limits (I got a Fuji S3100 4MP camera with 6x optical zoom).

[steveegg]

No motorcycles as far as I know, but they had ChampCar/CART (and its precedents) the week after Indy forever. They even scored the IRL (though not in the traditional CART spot, which they still hold) starting last year. It is the oldest auto racecourse in America (going on its 102nd year).

It's back into the breech tomorrow; hopefully what rain we're getting comes tonight. Speaking of which, we were treated to a light show off to the north for much of the race, and there was a drop here and there between lap 75 and 120 (nothing to throw a yellow over, though).

[SouthTexas]

Do you think it could have been the "auto" picking up the fence?

I have just about talked wife into going digital. She doesn't want to give up her old one, even though it will not take "moving" photos anymore.

[steveegg]

Possibly. More likely, operator error :-)

[SouthTexas]

LOL, have fun tomorrow!

[NYTexan]

All I can hope for is that we both (actually 4 or 5 of us! LOL) advance in the standings!

[tubebender]

Our local forecast, north of Sears Point, is now saying no rain today even though the satellite is showing water vapor from Cape Mendocino northeast toward Alturas...

[WestCoastGal]

Great pics Steve!!

That oval office looks pretty low to the ground in the back. I wonder if Brain France was visiting and his big head was weighing it down? Ha ha

Suncreen is in order today. I didn't realize it got that hot up there this early.

[WestCoastGal]

Luv the Chance 2 pics!!

I don't know if you saw it up thread, but the Braun team had an engine explode in their plane somewhere over Cincinnatti. (they made an emergency landing and everyone is ok) The Chance boys helped get their car prepared since they were obviously gonna be late.

[WestCoastGal]

Verrrry kewl pics Pete. Luv the candyapple paint job!!

I saw one of those cruisers sitting by the highway the other day waiting for a sucker to come along. Only thing is he had his parking lights on so it was a dead giveaway he was there between the trees!! lol

[SouthTexas]

I noticed the number of identical teams after my post to you. Ringers for all!!!

[SouthTexas]

TB, send it over here please, we could use the water.

[WestCoastGal]

It's not easy being 17th
Struggling Earnhardt Jr. wants to drive No. 3 car

Jun 25, 2005


By Ed Hinton | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 25, 2005


Sometimes Dale Earnhardt Jr., mired in the worst slump of his career, thinks of leaving his troubled No. 8 team and heading off to drive his father's No. 3 for owner Richard Childress.

Sometimes he wants to reunite with Tony Eury Jr., who went over to work for Michael Waltrip's branch of Dale Earnhardt Inc. in the now-notorious swap of crews and cars.

Then his voice cracks with emotion as he says he thinks the world of his current crewmen and wants to stick with them. He promises they'll be taken care of, whatever happens with him.

"Who knows?" he said. "I don't know if any of us right now, even me, can guess where we'll be in six months, as far as who's driving for whom, and who's crew chief for whom."

Few get inside the plush office/lounge deep inside the No. 8 Budweiser team's big transporter -- and nobody gets inside Earnhardt's head -- unless he wants them there.

Come on in.

Meet Dale Earnhardt Jr., not the pop-culture icon but the human being, age 30, eyes watery with flu, stretched out on a huge L-shaped leather sofa, looking you in the eye.

One thing about Dale Earnhardt Jr. is he always looks you in the eye.

He'll do his best to explain what happened, what is happening and what might.

"[Just understand that] I have to be careful about what my feelings are, and conveying those feelings to people . . . because of this team right now," he said. "I want to keep them focused and motivated."

So his sentences may be as torn and mixed as his emotions.

snip~

Does "Little E" ever wonder if it might be better if he had moved on out of the DEI team his father founded and went to the Childress team his father drove for?

"Yeah!" he says, cheer suddenly rising in his hoarse voice, his eyes brightening. "And I think about that. And that's still -- that's always an option."

As the only man alive who could carry "3" on his door panels with public approval and indeed celebration, and with his Bud sponsorship willing to follow him wherever he goes, it would seem he could pick up the phone and virtually be there.

Right," he confirmed. "Yeah. Richard and I haven't really sat down at a desk to talk about it, but he owns the number '3' and I want to drive the No. 3 race car before I retire.

"I've told Richard I want to finish my career in his race car, or in a No. 3 car if he and Teresa [Earnhardt] can come to some agreement or whatever."

He means a transfer of ownership of the number. His stepmother, Dale's widow Teresa, owns Dale Earnhardt Inc. and has the ultimate say, although Richie Gilmore runs the company for her. She rarely comes to races or appears in public and doesn't speak with the media.

Earnhardt Jr. is under contract to her through 2007. But could something be worked out? And how long would it take?

"Oh, if everybody was for it, less than 24 hours, I would assume," Earnhardt said. "But I don't see that happening. I mean, not everybody's going to be cool about it. I don't think Teresa would want me to leave, in the first place."

Is there any way he and Childress and Bud could work it out themselves, or would the entire decision rest ultimately with Teresa?

Earnhardt pauses, ponders.

"I don't know if I want to be hypothetical with that."


More at LINK

[steveegg]

Meanwhile, I've got all sorts of clouds here, a high of 83, and an 80% chance of rain tonight.

[steveegg]

Didn't see Brainless, bujt that's a distinct possibility. It definitely wouldn't pass tech :-) (seriesly, it's designed to be that low).

We just missed the record at the airport, while the track set a record. It used to get this hot this quickly, but with all that "global warming", this is the first time in years it's done so. I sure could've used the sunscreen yesterday (my neck and arms got the worst of it). That won't be a problem today (clouds, about 10-15 degrees cooler, rain seems to be about 3 hours out, so they'll finish up the practices).

I was back to the Truck side before the Braun car got to the ROD, and I didn't notice what shirts the guys working there were wearing. Speaking of which, I've got pics tracking the #88 truck through pre-qualifying inspection (where not only NASCAR officials do all the checking - the ride heights in the initial Busch ROD were done by the teams), but they broke out the templates beforehand. I didn't want to kill the thread, though :-)

Speaking of practice, it's about time I leave for practice #2 (was debating whether I should go because there's nothing happening between the end of practice at 12:30 and qualifying at 5. I missed practice 1 (too tired after last night, practice #1 ends at 11, takes about 15 minutes to get there and another 5-10 minutes to walk in from the parking areas, a bit more if I try to save the $5 and find street parking). Ah, the benefits of a city track (State Fair Park extends west from the track, and railroad tracks, more State Fair parking, and the freeway protects the northern neighbors, but the houses start just beyond Turns 1-2 and the backstretch) - I was able to walk a few blocks to grab fresh batteries from Walgreen's and a quick bite to eat from McDonald's right after qualifying.

[AGreatPer]

Nice reports and very good pictures Steve. Have fun.

Cali, interisting info on Jr.

[WestCoastGal]

BUSCH QUALIFYING LINEUP.

Cup HH on Trackpass now, will be televised on FX at 6:30pm ET.

Order	Car	Driver	Make	Sponsor
1	41	Reed Sorenson*	Dodge	Home123 Corp.
2	40	Scott Lagasse Jr.	Dodge	Goulds Pumps
3	56	Tim Sauter	Chevrolet	Lester Buildings
4	194	Chad Beahr	Ford	Fidelity Printing
5	21	Brandon Miller*	Chevrolet	Reese's
6	8	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker
7	52	Eric McClure	Ford	Means Racing
8	58	Regan Smith	Dodge	Glynn Motorsports
9	66	Aaron Fike	Ford	Scott Extra Soft/Copps/Pick&Save
10	34	Randy LaJoie	Chevrolet	Dollar General
11	14	David Stremme	Dodge	Navy "Accelerate Your Life"
12	72	Wade Day	Chevrolet	Denver Mattress Company
13	7	Jeff Fuller	Chevrolet	Big Boar Customs
14	35	Jason Keller	Ford	McDonald's
15	44	Justin Labonte	Chevrolet	U.S. Coast Guard
16	47	Jon Wood*	Ford	Clorox/Wisk
17	23	Mark Green	Chevrolet	Vassarette
18	5	Kyle Krisiloff	Chevrolet	Lowe's/Briggs & Stratton
19	1	Johnny Sauter	Dodge	Yellow Transportation
20	64	Bill Elliott	Dodge	Miller High Life Light
21	191	Todd Shafer	Ford	TBA
22	28	Derrike Cope	Ford	Trans Global Waste Svcs
23	59	Stacy Compton	Ford	Kingsford/Bush's Beans
24	32	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	Win Fuel
25	0	Kertus Davis*	Chevrolet	RaceGirl
26	167	Bryan Reffner	Dodge	Panasonic
27	11	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards
28	12	Tim Fedewa	Dodge	Supercuts
29	33	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	Outdoor Channel
30	18	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	Vigoro/The Home Depot
31	36	Stanton Barrett	Chevrolet	DCT Motorsports
32	6	Tracy Hines	Dodge	Country Crock Spread
33	2	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	ACDelco
34	143	A J Fike*	Dodge	Curb Agajanian Motorsports
35	4	Ryan Hemphill*	Dodge	GEICO
36	24	Brad Teague	Chevrolet	eaglejet.com
37	38	Tyler Walker*	Dodge	Great Clips
38	60	Carl Edwards*	Ford	Charter Communications
39	49	Steve Grissom	Ford	Advil Liqui-Gels
40	20	Denny Hamlin*	Chevrolet	Rockwell Automation
41	10	Michel Jourdain Jr.*	Ford	ppc Racing
42	25	Ashton Lewis	Ford	U.S. Marines
43	22	Kenny Wallace	Ford	Stacker 2
44	16	David Ragan	Chevrolet	31-W Insulation
45	27	David Green	Ford	Kleenex

* Denotes Rookie

[countrydummy]

Thank you! Bobby! (yaaaaa) :)

[WestCoastGal]

Stop the presses!!!

Jr is 4th in Happy Hour!!

[countrydummy]

Hahaahha! Me and Mike is an anniversary! June 25th!!!!
Mike's is fishing pole and reel! heheheehhe