[SouthBayPhoto]

I have to throw out a congrats to Ryan Newman (Alltel #12 Dodge) for winning the 2008 50th Anniversary Daytona 500 race today. Pretty cool. Although he's not my favorite driver, I was glad to see him win over some of the other guys near the front in the field.

Nothing like locking yourself into history by winning the 50th anniversary running of the race.

[charlie]

Not really my favorite either, but you gotta feel good for Mr. Penske.
I thought it was one heck of a race, but you gotta ask yourself one question, where the heck was Kyle Busch when Tony Stewart needed him, and that is putting it lightly.

[SouthBayPhoto]

He was alllll about himself at that point. He was like that when he was with Hendrick and he's gonna be the same with Joe Gibbs Racing as well. I don't know if it's cuz he's young and thinks he's something or if he's just a pr*ck. LOL However, he really should have pushed Stewart to the win, just as his bro pushed Newman to his.

Penske definitely deserved the win. The poor guy has been around forever and does his best with his race teams. I did feel good that he won it.

I admit, I don't like either of the Busch brothers. I'm not really a fan of Tony Stewart either, buttttt....I felt he's come around a bit more the last couple of seasons and hasn't been as much of a pr*ck to everyone.

Not saying that anyone on the circuit is perfect, but some just show their "stupidness" more than others.

[charlie]

I like Stewart just for the simple fact that if something ticks him off, you know about it, at least he's honest. Some folks call it whining, I guess, I don't.

I am an Earnhardt fan, and it just about killed me when he didn't pit to get tires, I think he may have been a bigger factor with newer rubber underneath, but hindsight is always best!!!!

[Ninong]

I didn't watch the race but I did read the write-up on what happened. I was surprised that none of the Hendrick cars did well except for the 88, which would have done a lot better if Jr hadn't had that miscommunication problem on the tires.

I guess you don't get all that much NASCAR action in Montana, do you? We don't get much down here either but I really don't miss it. Had enough of it when I was in California to last a lifetime.

[charlie]

Lorie and I are big Nascar fans, and no we don't get much Nascar up here, but we have a little high banked 1/2 mile track about 10 miles from us that has racing every Sat. nite in the summer. we don't go out there much because it is such a cluster to get out of when the races are over. We try to make it to at least one race a year, and that happens to be the Vegas race. Neither of us really gamble a bunch, so we just take a week and stay at the track in one of the RV parks. We may not stay out of trouble,, but we sure have fun!!!!

[SouthBayPhoto]

I agree that Stewart does speak his mind and doesn't really sugar coat it...but I have seen him be a hypocrite at times as well. Where he complains that someone is slamming into someone else when it's not right, but then he'll go out the next week and do it. That's what bugs me. Not that other drivers don't do that, but everyone seemed to focus in on him doing it the most and I guess that's what bugged me about him. However, I find he's doing it less and less, so it's not bothering me as much. (not that Tony probably cares. )

I've always been an Earnhardt fan...was always a huge fan of Dale and then Dale Jr. when he came around in 2k. I just wish they had more time to run together on the same tracks. I'll bet Dale Sr. would probably be still running today if it weren't for the accident.

I also agree that it SUCKED that people were yammering on the radio and he couldn't get the call for tires. I believe that blew the race for him. Admittedly the 18 and 20 had some great cars and would gain positions fast, but the 88 was holding it's own most all day as well. I think he would have had a pretty damn good shot at it if he had new rubber.

I was really worried when I found out the 24 went out early with the suspension problem. That's never a good sign. Then the 48 got wrecked (well, at least spun), so that didn't help either. I felt the 88 had no one to go with him. They all know he's one of the best on the big tracks and sometimes I think that can be a hindrance to him. I don't think anyone wants to push him to win, but would love it if he would push them to win.

Oh, and what's TOTALLY awesome is I live only like 7 miles from Las Vegas Motor Speedway!!!! I'm also only about 3 miles from Nellis AFB, so I get to watch the jets fly over all the time...including the Thunderbirds at times. Pretty darn cool!

[scubadude]

Didnt get to watch it but love to see the underdogs win too But Jimmie Johnson is a great driver

[charlie]

Hey Mat, Lorie and I were at Daytona when Dale Sr. died, that was a real bummer. That was the nite I bought stock in Black Velvet.

[SouthBayPhoto]

Wow.....I would have lost it. I was watching it on TV (no, comparison, I know) and it just killed me. I definitely don't like seeing anyone get hurt, let alone die in car accidents like that. The bad thing is, it took something like that to change the sport and the safety rules of the sport.

[charlie]

Wow.....I would have lost it.

We did, for about 2 hours.