Joe Gibbs' Drivers

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is a very talented 23 year old driver who started racing at the age of 13. You've probably heard of Kyle Busch by now and winning is not new to him. From the time Kyle was introduced to cars his parents instilled in him 2 very valuable lessons: School work always came first and Kyle was responsible for working on, repairing, and paying for his own cars. He quickly learned that he had to be careful on the track or otherwise he might wreck and not race the next weekend. From 1999 to 2001, Kyle Busch racked up more than 65 (!) wins in legends cars and won two championships. He moved on to Late Models and won 10 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 2002 he graduated high school a year early with honors. At 16, he ran his first NASCAR race in the Craftsman truck series for Roush Racing. He ran well but had to stop racing after six starts, because NASCAR put a rule into place that said you have to be 18 years of age to race in any of the top three NASCAR series. As soon as he was 18, he immediately started racing in NASCAR again, but this time up one level, in the Nationwide Series. He won 5 races which is the most any rookie has won. In 2005 he moved up to the Sprint Cup Series driving for Rick Hendrick. He set two records for youngest pole winner and youngest race winner. In 2007, he won the first ever Car Of Tomorrow race at Bristol. For 2008, Kyle signed with Joe Gibbs Racing. He replaced J.J. Yeley in the #18 car. Kyle has won 7 times this year in NASCAR Sprint cup Series, 6 times in Nationwide Series, and twice in the Craftsman Truck Series. He currently leads the Sprint Cup Series in points with a 176 point lead. Because Kyle is so well known he has many nicknames such as, Rowdy Busch, Wild Thang, and Shrub. People often compare him to the late Dale Earnhardt.

Joey Logano

Joey Logano is another driver that Joe Gibbs has successfully chosen to possibly be the face of their organization. He is only 18 years old but people say he acts way older. Joey got his start in quarter midgets at only 6 years old! He won championships is almost every thing he raced. At 13 He and his family moved to Georgia where he raced in the GA Late Models. He raced many places in Georgia including Albany and won several races. In 2005, Joey signed a development deal with Joe Gibbs Racing. He then started racing the Hooters Pro Cup Series at just 15. In just his second start in that series, he won! In 2007, he raced in the Nascar Busch East Series, where he won seven races and rookie of the year. In 2008 he moved to the Nationwide series racing the #20. He had to wait until after his birthday, May 24, so he would be 18. He moved into a highly successful car that has now won with 4 different drivers. Joey got great hype coming in. In his first start, he finished sixth. In a post race interview he said, “Well, sixth ain’t nothing in my book.” That shows how competitive he is. He won his first Nationwide race at Kentucky Speedway in just his 3^rd start! He runs a limited schedule in Nationwide. He continues to be successful in the Nationwide Series, running a limited schedule. Team owner, Joe Gibbs has even said that he might race a few races in Sprint Cup later on this year. Since Tony Stewart announced he was leaving JGR, there has been much speculation that Joey could move up to Sprint Cup replacing Tony in the #20. Joey has been called “The Real Deal” by Mark Martin and his famous nickname is “Sliced Bread” because he is the next best thing since sliced bread. Joey has an incredible career ahead of him, and I hope he does get the #20 ride next year!

tag: Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Nascar, Toyota, Nascar Nationwide Series, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Tony Stewart, Joey Logano

My Trip to the Coke Zero 400

Getting There

This past 4th of July weekend my dad took me down to Daytona to see the Coke Zero 400, formerly known as the Pepsi 400. We had a great time. We woke up early Saturday and left about 5 AM. that whole week i was busy getting information and maps and the schedule of events that would be taking place so we would know when and where to be.

Sprint Fanzone

In addition to tickets for the race, my dad bought us Sprint Fanzone Tickets, which were amazing. Gates for grandstands opened at 2, while the Sprint Fanzone opened at 1. We were pushed for time. For some odd reason, they had us park on the Backstretch, so once we got to the stands we had to take a tram to the Frontstretch, then go through the line for the Sprint Fanzone, and go into the "Turn 4 Tunnel." It's cool going down in there, knowing the race track is above you.

The Interviews

We walked all through the infield and finally got to the Sprint Fanzone just as they they did the interview was, only a few fans got to ask questions. There was a guy up on the stage with Kasey that was mainly asking the questions. And of course it was mostly questions the media asks him 24/7. One of the questions that was asked by a fan was did Kasey have a Dodge Challenger (Those are my favorite cars. I want one when I turn 16!!) Kasey said there was one at the shop that they gave him to drive and he liked them. Another fan asked him what some of his hobbies were. He said that during the season he likes to stay at home and go to the lake that he lives very close t were announcing, "Welcome Budweiser Racing driver Kasey Kahne!!!" If we had stopped to buy a t- shirt or something like that, we would have missed my favorite driver! It was amazing though. And yes, he is just as cute in person as he is on tv! There were alot more people in the Fanzone than I thought there would be. The wayo, and in the off season, he likes to be in the cold and go skiing and ride the snow mobile. Another fan asked Kasey if he had any heroes or favorite drivers. Everybody started yelling out names for him to pick ( Bill Elliott and others) and one guy up front yells, "YOURSELF!" Everybody started laughing and Kasey said, "No, I'm long from my favorite driver, but I would say... I grew up you know, Sprint cars and Indy Cars and Nascar, I watched every one of em and you know I kinda had my favorite driver in each one and it's tough to say, I mean the guy...ugh I don't know I don't wanna say him but...let me think...maybe Mario Andretti. Mario Andretti is probably my favorite all-time driver. What he's done and what he did and how he raced everything in dirt, pavement, Indy cars, Nascars, Sprint cars. He raced everything he could and he won in every single car he could. To me that was a great driver and probably my favorite." I'm pretty sure the driver he was referring to first, that he didn't want to say, was Jeff Gordon. I've heard him say many times that that is his favorite driver. He probably just didn't want to lose any fans. The interview didn't last very long, only about 10 minutes. He was quickly whisked away to an engineers meeting. He rode off in a golf cart and was on the opposite side, so I didn't get to touch his hand. We also saw interviews with Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya, and David Ragan.

Garage and Inspection

After Kasey's interview, we toured the garage. Of course, since it was an impound race, nothing was going on. When we got to Kasey's, there were girls everywhere. I had to squeeze in to get a picture. Fortunately, Kasey's garage window slot was open, so I got to take a good picture without the glare from the window, even though the car cover was on the car. There was Sharpie writing all over the window. "Kasey, will you marry me?, We love you, Kasey!", was cleverly written backwards, so when he was in the garage and viewing the window from the opposite side, he could read it. Those were just two of the hundreds of messages. I didn't sign it, though now I'm wishing I did. We rested a while. (It was incredibly hot!)and then went to inspection. That was one of my favorite things. one of the Nascar Officials came over and was talking to the guy next to me. He talked about his schedule, how often he was gone, what it was like to be an official, and the rules about the height and weight of the car. It was cool to get an "insider's" view on their job. Before, I had viewed officials as just handing down penalties and not really caring about the teams, but after hearing what he said, my opinion changed 100%. He was really nice. He was easy to talk to and seemed easy to get along with.

The Track

After inspection, we went to Gatorade Victory lane. I got my picture taken at the entrance to that. Then, we went to the track. We got to walk in the grass and actually go out on the track. It was indescribable. Words can't explain it. All the history that track has...to think about all the drivers who have raced there...it's just incredible. the track is so steep. VERY STEEP! The tv shows nothing. It looks flat, but it was a climb. We went to the Start/Finish line. I brought my Sharpie, so I could sign it. There were alot of people signing. It was hard to find room, but finally we did. We signed two blocks from the wall. It was cool. Knowing your signature is on the Start/Finish line at Daytona?! That's awesome! I got to see the SAFER Barrier walls. That's pretty cool seeing today's technology up close.

After that we just sat and watched the pre-race activities. Lady Antebellum performed a concert. They sounded great. I love them. Speaking of concerts, Kevin Costner performed a concert. He was pretty good. It was cool seeing an actor there. With Nascar, you get a little bit of everything, and that's what I love!

The Race

It was finally time for the race to start, and we found our seats. The racing was great. Kasey started 41st, but came back to finish 7th. Dale Jr. led for a while, and of course, most people were cheering when he took the lead. There at the end though, Kasey had some choice words for Jr. as did Kenny, Kasey's crew chief. Overall, it was a great race. Even though I would have preferred Carl Edwards to win over Kyle Busch, it was still cool to see Kyle win his 6th race of the season. This was Kyle's first Daytona win, so it was good to be a part of that history.

Even though I didn't get to meet Kasey, I did get very close to him, and I got to see him live and in person. Visiting Victory Lane, walking the track, and seeing a great race were only a few of the fun things I got to experience. It was incredible! It was definitely the best highlight of my summer!!


tag: Kasey Kahne, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Daytona, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Coke Zero 400, Lady Antebellum, Kevin Costner, Carl Edwards, Victory Lane, Inspection, Nascar, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Ragan, Jeff Burton, Sprint Fanzone,

Kasey Kahne in Victory Lane!! (part 2)

Winning the Coca-Cola 600 is such a hard task. But it proved to be quite easy for Kasey Kahne, who won the race with more than a 5 second lead over second place Greg Biffle. The Coke 600 is the longest race of the year, 400 laps or 600 miles. Kyle Busch won the pole with Kasey Kahne starting 2nd. Kasey is still riding a huge wave of momentum from last weekend's win in the All-Star Race. when the Green flag fell, Kasey Kahne started losing positions quickly, dropping back to about 8th or 9th place. I started to get worried that this might be a long night, but then remembered that this is 600 miles, and you have to go through the transition from day to night. The race starts at 5 and ends at 10, so the track cools down alot. When you first start out, you want your car to be a bit loose, so that when it does get night time it will tighten up.

The Endurance Race

The first hundred laps looked like it was shaping up to be somewhat like the All-Star Race, but then we started to see the cautions we predicted. We saw several guys who led that looked like they could end up competing for the win. Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all looked like they could win.

Bad Luck Strikes the Leaders

I was hoping that Brian Vickers would have a good run. He is a pretty good driver. They are just one of those teams that needs some luck on their side. He led for a while, and then was running 2nd when all of a sudden, the left rear tire just flew off. It was pretty funny the way the tire went. It rolled and bounced. I thought it was gonna hit an ambulance, but it narrowly missed it and bounced over the fence into an infield camping ground. I wonder what those people thought. Security came and took the tire to look at it to see exactly what happened.
Dale Jr. was another guy that looked very competitive. He likes to run right up against the wall every lap. He had a flat tire go down and smacked the wall. Then J.J. Yeley ran right into the back of him. Dale Jr. and his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. were smart about it though. They did not want to go a lap down, so they came onto pit road and fixed part of it. They went back on the track (this is still under caution), so they would not lose a lap. Then when they came back around, they sped on pit road in order to make sure they would have enough time to fix the car. They figured if they sped, the only penalty they would get would be to start at the back of the pack, which they were already gonna have to do. It almost came back to bite them though. NASCAR almost penalized him for endangering public safety crews, but after further review NASCAR rescinded the penalty stating that Jr. gave plenty of room. Jr. ended up finishing 5th, so it wasn't that bad.
Kurt Busch led for a while, but he also hit the wall. Kyle Busch was another guy that was having problems. Something was wrong with his battery, but they fixed that, and he was a contender there at the end. Jimmie Johnson also ran very well, but he blew an engine, so that ended his night.
At one of the restarts, Tony Stewart was 1st with Kasey Kahne 2nd. Tony for some reason slowed down a little bit, and that caused a chain reaction. When they replayed it, you could clearly see the accordion effect. They stacked up and about mid pack, they started crashing. That brought out the caution and some of the guys in the back went on to pit road to top off with fuel. The leaders stayed out though, because they had just had a caution and didn't want to give up track position. That left us to wonder if maybe some of the guys in the back would try stretch it out and make it on fuel. These would be guys like Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards, who hadn't run well all night but might end up winning this thing. Alot of the guys who were good at some point in the race, had trouble.

The Finish

When they finally did get back going, it was somewhere around 60 laps to go. We knew the leaders would have make a green flag pit stop. They would only need about 3 seconds of fuel. This made me worried. On the last green flag stop, the pit crew cannot make any mistakes. This pit stop determines whether you win the race or not. Kasey was one of the first to hit pit road. He got 6 seconds of fuel. Tony Stewart, who was still leading, got about 3 seconds, so at that point, everyone figured Kasey's night was over. I was praying for a caution or for something to happen to Tony. Kasey was about 5 seconds behind Tony. Then with two laps to go, our miracle came. They started screaming, "Tony's got problems! Tony's got problems!!" That's when I knew Kasey was gonna win. Kasey did win with a huge lead. Tony had a flat tire. As for those guys who topped off with fuel on the last lap, Carl Edwards was the only one to risk it. He ran out of fuel, but ended up 9th. This is Kasey's first points race win in 52 races. He joins a list of greats, because he is only the 6th driver ever to win both the All-Star Race and the Coke 600. This list includes Darrell Waltrip, Davey Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson. Kasey's comment on this: "That's probably the coolest thing I've ever done if I'm on that same list as those guys." If this is any indication of Kasey's potential, he has a bright future ahead of him!



tag: Kasey Kahne, Gillett Evernham Motorsport, Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nascar, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson, Coca-Cola 600, 2008 Sprint All-Star Race, Tony Stewart, Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch

NASCAR Changes in 2008

Changes for 2008

There are a lot of changes coming up for the 2008 season. I thought I'd make a list of some of the changes, since Daytona is only a couple of weeks away.

1) Both of the top 2 Nascar series got name changes. The Nascar Nextel Cup Series is now the Nascar Sprint Cup series. The Busch series is now the Nationwide series.

2) There are A LOT of team changes! Definitely the biggest change is Dale Jr. leaving DEI, the company his father started, going to Hendrick Motorsports. With him going to HMS, that meant somebody had to go. Unfortunately that person was Kyle Busch, which I think was a major mistake on Rick Hendricks part.

3) Of course there are just as many or more sponsor changes. The biggest one would be Budweiser leaving Dale Earnhardt Jr. They chose to sponsor my boy, Kasey Kahne! Elliot Sadler, Kasey's teammate also has a new sponsor deal going on. Instead of just one primary sponsor, he will have what is called a tri-mary sponsor, with Best Buy, Stanley Tools, and McDonald's on the hood at different races. Amp Energy Drink will sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the most part. Now of course there are others, but I won't go into detail about that.

4) Joe Gibbs Racing is changing to Toyota! This was a big shocker when it was first announced. Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and now Kyle Busch are all apart of this team. At first the question was, how will they do? Toyotas didn't do too hot last year, but after the first couple of test sessions, it was clear that changing to Toyota wouldn't be a problem for their team. Kyle Busch is at the top of the speed charts. This guy is so talented. He is driving a Toyota for the first time, and this is his first year with JGR. I think he is out to tell the world that Rick Hendrick made a mistake by firing him!

5) One rule that Nascar announced this year is that all the cars outside the top 35 (aka Go or Go Home Cars) will qualify together at the end of qualifying. It used to be where you drew a number, and if you were lucky you got to go last, meaning that if you were outside the top 35, and you drew to go 1st, you were basically guaranteed a ticket headed home. I personally don't like this rule. The folks outside the top 35 now have a better chance at getting the pole, and I don't think that's right. But I did agree that something needed to be done for them. For the drivers inside the top 35, they will continue to do the draw thing. Now some of you may be asking why you would want to go last. Well when you go last (later in the day), the track has cooled down. Sometimes not very much, sometimes significantly, depending on the weather and when qualifying is. So to put it simply: the cooler the track is, the more grip you have, the faster you go.

Now those are basically the only changes in Nascar. If I think of any more I will put them on here.


tag: Kasey Kahne, Nascar, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Rick Hendricks, Toyota, Elliott Sadler, Sponsor, Daytona, Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Nascar Nationwide Series

Hendrick Domination

Hendrick the Invincible Team

Hendrick Motorsports has dominated Nascar all season. It is plain to see they know a lot more about the Car Of Tomorrow, or the COT, than the other teams. There are 36 races this season and we have completed 35. The last race is at Homestead. Of the 35 races, the Hendrick group has won 18 of the races...almost half of the races. Kyle Busch, who leaves Hendrick next year, won the first COT race, which tells us the Hendrick guys have done their homework on this new car. Of those 18 wins, Jimmie Johnson has won 10 of them. He has amazing talent. Jeff Gordon has only won 6 this year. Jeff Gordon, however, has won the most poles this season with 10 poles. He was very good early on, but lately, it has been Jimmie who has been impressing us. Jimmie has won the last four races. It seems like nothing they do could possibly go wrong. It is not surprising who is leading the championship points. Jimmie Johnson is leading with Jeff Gordon in second. It is pretty clear, though the Chase is still not over, who will win the Championship. Jimmie is ahead by 86 points. And guess who won the championship last year? Yep, you guessed it Jimmie Johnson. It is no surprise who the last driver to win back-to-back titles was...Jeff Gordon. There is a pattern here. Maybe we should go back and see how they got so good.

The Beginning

When Jimmie Johnson was first starting out in Nascar, he struggled like any rookie today does. He was driving in the Busch Series. One day he got up the nerve to walk over to Jeff Gordon and plain out asked him for advice. Gordon kept in touch with him and later offered him a driver development deal.

They are still close friends today. As we have seen many times this year, often teammates aren't close at all, so it is strange to see them both friends on and off the track. Because they are teammates and they do share information, I think that is what makes them unbeatable. They get the same cars from the same place. The difference is just that the drivers like different setups. A lot of the members on the teams work for both Jimmie and Jeff. For instance the other day on NascarNow, they said a guy works for Jeff all through the practices and everything, but when it comes Sunday, he changes tires for Jimmie. It shows they don't keep a lot of secrets from each other. They come into every race knowing what the other driver has.

The Key to Success

At a recent test in Atlanta, both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson decided to skip it because they were in the middle of the chase, and they wanted their team to rest up. At last weekends race in Phoenix, after Jimmie Johnson won, Jeff Gordon came over and praised him and basically said that it's over. He wasn't saying that he was giving up just that Jimmie's team is so good, and it is plain to see that they, Jeff and his team, aren't keeping up. That right there is what I think makes that team so successful. They have a lot of respect for one another. They are professionals. they are mature, and this shows that this is what makes them so successful.

Jimmie had never won at Phoenix, but he did get his first win there this past weekend. He also has never won at Homestead, but in an interview this week, he said he truly feels like he can win Sunday. If he does win Sunday, that will be his 5th win in a row. He has already joined a list of greats who have the most wins in a row. His career is not yet at its peak though. He will continue to be an amazing driver along with his teammates. I feel sorry for the guys competing against him.

tag: NASCAR, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Teammates, Hendrick Motorsports