The Daytona 500 just got Bud Selig'd

I don't even care about NASCAR, but today I have found myself laughing at others' misfortune.

Call it reverse karma.

It's OK though, next year's winner gets homefield advantage.


So in the end, everyone's a winner.

Somewhere Matt Kenseth, his crew and the kind southern folk that follow him religiously are spraying cans of Busch Light like they just won the World Series.

Speaking of which:

Pitchers and catchers reporting > cars driving around in circles in the rain

NASCAR blog from Daytona [ESPN]

Racing Hits the Windy City

I swear I won't talk this much about NASCAR in future entries. So for those of you that dislike NASCAR for some stupid reason, this blog entry isn't for you. Come back on Tuesday to see non-NASCAR related entries from me.

To the topic at hand, this is my favorite weekend of the year. The one and only stop the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series' make to the Chicagoland area is this weekend. This is already the eighth season of racing at Chicagoland Speedway and this year there's a new twist to the excitement. Night racing makes it debut in Joliet as both the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series will be held under the lights on Friday night and Saturday night respectively. Out of the 80,000 fans that pack the speedway's grandstand each year, this will probably be the first weekend for many of those fans to experience the spectacle that is night racing. So let's preview the two big events this weekend.

Dollar General 300 - Nationwide Series: Friday night will mark the first night race to ever be held at Chicagoland Speedway as the Nationwide drivers take to the track for the 300 mile event. This race has been very condusive to first-time winners in the series. Jimmie Johnson won his first (and only) race in this series at Chicagoland in 2001. Johnny Sauter won his first Nationwide race here in 2002. Justin Labonte and Casey Mears also won their first and only races at the track in 2004 and 2006. So four of the seven winners in this event have all been first-timers. I'm not too good with math, but that's better than 50%. If it happens again tomorrow night, look for Landon Cassill to be the driver to accomplish the feat. Cassill just turned 19 years old this past week and has really improved each and every week he has run in the series. Cassill won the pole in the last race he was in at New Hampshire. He's also driving for the same team that Mark Martin won for at Las Vegas earlier this year. Las Vegas is a very similar track to Chicagoland, so that could bold well for the kid.

As expected, there are a lot of Sprint Cup drivers entered in this event. Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, and David Reutimann are all running the Nationwide Series full-time as well as the Sprint Cup Series. Names like Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers, and Kevin Harvick are just a few of the Cup regulars that will run in tomorrow night's event. My pick to click for tomorrow night will be Tony Stewart. Stewart's running in the #20 car that has absolutely dominated Nationwide competition this season. Stewart, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and 18-year old Joey Logano each have won races in the car. Stewart has had great success at Chicagoland Speedway as he has won two Sprint Cup races at the track. He'll contend for the win on Friday night.

Fuel milage and late race pit strategy always seems to figure into the outcome of this race. Jimmie Johnson used a bit of pit strategy to get him out front late in the race. Justin Labonte and Casey Mears' wins came due to fuel milage. There always seems to be a surprise contender at the end of this race and I expect that to be no different tomorrow.

Lifelock 400 - Sprint Cup Series: The action at Chicagoland Speedway culminates with the running of the Lifelock 400 on Saturday night. Last year marked the second repeat winner in the seven year history of the track as Tony Stewart cruised to an easy win. Jimmie Johnson was in hot pursuit of Stewart throughout the whole race, but a flat right rear tire sent him hard into the turn 3 wall. Other past winners include Kevin Harvick (the other repeat winner), Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Ryan Newman.

The key to winning this race is getting track position and getting in clean air. Cars always run faster and handle better out in clean air, but at Chicagoland it seems like there's an even higher demand for clean air. Tire wear isn't really bad at this track, so several drivers running mid-pack in the early stages of the race usually stay out during a caution or they use a bit of strategy to get out front. And the result always turns out well for those teams and drivers that can get out front. This is the first Sprint Cup race with the Car of Tomorrow at Chicagoland Speedway, so it will be interesting to see how that will factor into the track position game on Saturday.

Since this is the first Car of Tomorrow race at the track, it is somewhat of an unknown on who will run well and who won't. It's a safe bet to figure that Kyle Busch will run up front and he should be in position to win because he is every week. Carl Edwards has been stout at many of the 1.5 mile tracks this season. And you can never count out the two repeat winners in Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart.

My pick to win the Lifelock 400 is Jimmie Johnson. He only has one win to his credit this year, but he has run extremely well in the past few weeks. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the finishes to show for it but his performance is getting better and better every week. He ran well at Texas and Lowe's Motor Speedway, which are somewhat similar tracks to Chicagoland. Look for his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. to be right with him throughout most of the race. Junior won at Michigan and hasn't really had a bad run all season. 2006 race winner Jeff Gordon is a relative unknown for this race. He has run better lately, but he still does not have a win this season.

Enjoy the weekend, ladies and gentlemen. I'll be at the track to see these two races unfold in person and I'm pumped up about it. At least this has given me some relaxation from watching Ted Lilly and Michael Wuertz suck at pitching.

-Resident Hick

Random Thoughts on a Thursday Morning

It's just past 1 and I have ideas running around my little mind right now. There were no blockbuster trades like there have been in the past two days in the majors and there's nothing that is really standing out in the world of sports. But there are a bunch of little things to discuss and discuss we shall.

First Place Baseball: The Cubs and White Sox continued their winning ways on Wednesday night. Carlos Zambrano delivered eight majestic innings of one-hit ball and Kerry Wood worked around Carlos Marmol's 9th inning mess to preserve the win. Aramis Ramirez's solo shot off of Johnny Cueto in the bottom of the 6th propelled the Cubs to the 5-1 win.

As for the Sox, they overcame another big deficit and came from behind to defeat the Royals 7-6. Carlos Quentin hit two homers and drove in four to lead the way for the Sox. Jim Thome singled in the tying run in the top of the 8th. Royals reliever Ramon Ramirez balked in the go-ahead run and Octavio Dotel struck out the side on ten pitches to earn the save.

So what do we make of all of this? Well we learned that Lou Piniella is still a bumbling idiot. The White Dusty Baker continued overusing Carlos Marmol as he brought in the star setup man with a 4 run lead in the 9th inning. Hey Lou, you just acquired Chad Gaudin. And for some reason you decided to warm him up in the bottom half of the 8th inning, but decided against bringing him in so you could go to Marmol yet again. In a season where everything has been coming up Cubs, Piniella's managing of Marmol has been the most inexcusable thing that has happened this season. Pitching him in a game where you're up 7-1 and then when you're up 5-1 sure doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I can't wait to see Bob "The Boss" Howry come in and blow tomorrow's game in the 8th inning.

As for the Sox, Octavio Dotel needs to be the closer until Bobby Jenks comes off the disabled list. Dotel has closed in the past back when he was a member of the Royals and tonight, he showed just how electric he can be in a role such as that. 10 pitches in the inning, 9 of them being strikes. In one word: dominant. Scott Linebrink has been nothing short of a disaster since he has been in the closer's role in Jenks' absence. As a matter of fact, the only reason Dotel closed tonight was because Linebrink was unavailable. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Guillen decides to stick with Linebrink or go to the more closer-ready Dotel until Jenks has a healed left shoulder.

One more note on the Sox, but apparently Jermaine Dye didn't get the message that he could be voted into the All-Star game. In the 8th inning when the Sox took the lead, cameras caught Orlando Cabrera telling Dye to kiss his "posterior." Cabrera stole 3rd during Dye's at-bat. Dye then proceeded to strike out a pitch later. I don't know what was going on there, but it could be something to watch. Cabrera hasn't made a lot of friends (maybe Nick Swisher) during his stay in Chicago. Calling the pressbox to change a scoring decision is bush league. But I can't fault Cabrera on this. You're down by one run and you put yourself at 3rd base with only 1 out. Where's the harm in that? I don't understand Dye's beef, but if someone could help clarify that, I'd appreciate it.

Other MLB Games of Note: It sure was a great day for the Cubs today. Not only did they win their third straight, but the Cardinals and the Brewers both lost on the same night. The Brewers lost to a pitcher known as Glendon Rusch. Yes, the Glendon Rusch. They're now 1-2 since the acquisition of CC Sabathia and are now 5 games out of the lead in the division. As for the Cardinals, it looked like they were going to have another come from behind victory, but Ryan Howard and Pedro Feliz put an end to that with two solo homers in the bottom of the 8th. Brad Lidge made things interesting with some wildness in the 9th, but he struck out HGH user and former crackhead Rick Ankiel on three pitches to give the Phillies the 4-2 victory. Mark Mulder made his first start since September and could only throw 16 pitches before complaining of shoulder pain. If the Cardinals were counting on Mulder to make a contribution this season, they were foolish. He was only topping out at 86 miles per hour when he was in the bullpen. I guess that was good enough for Tony the Drunk to move him into the rotation.

Things were just as good on the American League side of things for White Sox fans as the Twins were annihilated by the Red Sox on Wednesday afternoon. The Twinkies came into the series only one game behind the Palehose, but they leave Beantown 3 1/2 back after the Red Sox were able to sweep the Twins at Fenway. An overturned triple play call in the bottom of the 7th propelled the Red Sox to seven runs in the inning. Meanwhile, the Twins continue to struggle outside of the HumpDome. The Twins travel to Detroit where they will take on the Tigers for a four game set beginning tomorrow afternoon.

NBA Free Agency: After the Clippers signing of Baron Davis, it looked like Elton Brand would have been a sure thing to return. Then the Warriors and 76ers decided to go on an all-out pursuit of the former number one draft pick. The 76ers ended up as the big winners of the Brand derby as he agreed to a five-year contract worth nearly $80 million. The Warriors ended up with another former Clipper in Corey Maggette. Golden State also made a hefty qualifying offer to backup forward/center Ronny Turiaf from the other Los Angeles team. And the Clippers? They're turning their attention to try to lure Josh Smith out of the ATL. If that fails, look for the Clippers to go after Luol Deng.

Speaking of Deng, he apparently wants $12.5 million a year from the Bulls. There's no way this guy is worth that amount of money. I realize that the market is in complete shambles right now, but Luol Deng does not deserve that kind of money. Not after he took a major step backwards last year. It appears that Ben Gordon will be back with the Bulls, but he has still not received an official offer yet from the team. However he has spent his entire offseason in Chicago and he has reiterated several times that he wants to stay with the Bulls. On Sunday during the White Sox-Athletics game, Gordon was in the White Sox television booth for an inning as he dished out several compliments to Derrick Rose, John Paxson, and Vinny Del Negro. Ultimately I believe both players will be in the white, red, and black next year. But keep an eye out on the developments that are going on with the Clippers because they will make Deng a very attractive offer if Smith decides to stay with the Hawks.

Tony Stewart Set to Leave Gibbs: Yeah I had to get a NASCAR nugget in here. As the resident NASCAR hick, I have to do my share of bringing the sport up. And since NASCAR will be in Joliet this weekend, I will post my most exciting blog of the year tomorrow to preview the Nationwide race on Friday night and the Sprint Cup race on Saturday night. But enough about that. Tony Stewart made it official today that he would be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of 2008. Stewart could drive for any team in the sport. Hendrick Motorsports had a car open for next season and beyond before Mark Martin signed a two-year deal at Daytona last week. Could you imagine a team of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Tony Stewart? Even people who don't know a thing about NASCAR know who all four of those drivers are.

In the end, Stewart chose to buy into an existing team (Haas/CNC Racing) and to merge operations. The move is perplexing because Haas is one of the worst multi-car operations in the sport. Haas does receive engines and chassis from Hendrick Motorsports, but they have never been close to running as well as any of the four Hendrick teams. Both of their cars are outside of the top 35 in the point standings and both drivers (Scott Riggs and Johnny Sauter) appear to be on their way out with the addition of Stewart coming in. An official press conference will be held tomorrow at Chicagoland Speedway as Stewart will discuss his new sponsor for his new car - Office Depot - as well as the second driver to his team, which most likely will be Ryan Newman. So the big winner in this is Haas/CNC Racing as they upgrade their driver talent from Riggs and Sauter to Stewart and Newman. It will be interesting to see how competitive they are because Stewart and Newman are two of the best drivers in the series.

That's it for tonight. Check back tomorrow when I preview the weekend races at Joliet. Hopefully Lou Piniella manages a good game tomorrow afternoon so I won't have to use the phrase, "The White Dusty Baker" again.

-Resident Hick