Tag Archives: Talladega

Is There a More Beautiful Sight in All of America?

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Than that of seeing Dale Jr, leading at Talladega, in the iconic #8 Budweiser Chevrolet? And in his last plate race driving for his Dad’s company? And in his last race under those circumstances with his long-time crew chief, Tony Eury Jr?

And, he just called in on the radio, asking about the Washington Redskins’ score.

There may be some post race tearing up here in tbbs-central, if this continues..

-k-
[stags]NASCAR,Talladega,DaleJr[/stags]

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UPDATE: This is tearing up as in tears of joy, not tearing up as in post-Who-concert excesses. Having done both, the former is how I live now.

DALE, the Pre Show

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The Dale the Movie pre-show is underway on CMT.  Fortunately, the country artists have yet to break out in song.  They’re instead sharing their memories of the Intimidator, interspersed with clips from the Fall, 2000 Talladega race, wherein Old Ironhead roared back from 18th with 12 or so to go, to claim his final NASCAR victory.

Good Stuff.

-k-
[tags] CMT, DaletheMovie [/tags]

Talladega Memories

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They’ve been racing NASCAR Cup cars at Talladega Speedway since 1969. And I’m plenty old enough to have seen them all. I haven’t, because consistent teevee coverage didn’t arrive until 1979. But that old 2.66 mile, high-banked monster has brought some memorable moments:

  • In the mid 70′s there was a hellacious crash on the backstretch; it took out the majority of the field. I think it was either Benny Parsons or Buddy Baker who later remarked “It looked like a 747 had crashed on the backstretch.”
  • In 1988, Bobby Allison’s car became airborne, pivoted multiple times on an axis from the roof of the car to the floorboards, and came perilously close to entering the grandstands. This ushered in restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega for the next season.
  • Somewhere in the 80′s, a “fan” who is the poster child of the “Whiskey for Breakfast Bunch”, stole the pace car, and made nearly a lap around the track, before several of Alabama’s finest took him into custody coming off turn three.
  • The late, great Dale Earnhardt won his last NASCAR race at Talladega in 2000. He came from 20th with 2 or 3 laps to go, to win the event. Today, he would have celebrated his 56th birthday. Racing still isn’t the same without him.
  • What other track could spawn such jokes as “What has 50,000 legs and 100,000 teeth?” A: The infield at Talladega.

Maybe SWMBO’s and my “Search for America Tour” should head to Alabama someday. I think that would be great.

-k-

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NASCAR HotPass Lineup

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The HotPass driver channels for this week’s running of the Aaron’s 499 from Talladega shakes out like this:

  1. 795 – Jeff Gordon (#24)
  2. 796 – Tony Stewart (#20)
  3. 797 – Kevin Harvick (#29)
  4. 798 – David Stremme (#40)
  5. 799 – Dale Earnhardt Jr (#8)

Three members of my Fantasy Race team are in there; looks like the remote’s channel changer will take a beating. And Dale Jr should change his car number to 799, it looks like. Speaking of Fantasy Racin’, I must head over there and replace one of my sluggard drivers who failed to qualify. The race gets underway about three hours from now; I wonder how much Lynyrd Skynyrd music I’ll hear between now and then? My guess is lots; glad I like the band.

-k-

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No Fantasy Joy at Talladega

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One of my Fantasy Racin’ teams worst outings of the year; big wrecks got a lot of my guys today. Fantasy Racing throws out a team’s worst four races of the year; this one is already in the dustbin, so it didn’t hurt my overall standings that much. Bad news is, I don’t have any more bad ones to throw out. I guess it’s time to sharpen my handicapping skills, or better yet, acquire some.

-k-

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Black Car – Talladega – Victory Lane

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Hats off to Martin Truex, Jr. on today’s victory in the Aarons 312 Busch Series race from Talladega. Truex drives for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and sported the same black/silver/red paint scheme that Dale had when he drove in the Busch Series. A great finish to Dale Earnhardt Day!

-k-

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Dale Earnhardt Day

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Today, April 29, is Dale Earnhardt’s birthday. Also the 5th Annual Dale Earnhardt Day, where his legion of fans celebrate his life and times. From the DEI website:

MOORESVILLE , NC – Organizers at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. have confirmed that celebrations honoring the life and legacy of Dale Earnhardt will take place at Dale Earnhardt, Inc., on Saturday, April 29, 2006 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Dale Earnhardt will be honored and inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on April 27 in Talladega, Ala. The Busch Series race will be held on Dale’s birthday, April 29th. In honor of both events, this year’s theme will highlight Dale’s incredible track record at Talladega International Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt is the winningest driver at Talladega with 10 trips to Victory Lane during his illustrious career. His 76th, and final, victory occurred at the 2.66-mile superspeedway on October 15, 2000 when he roared from 17th to first in the final laps.

One of the activities at the observance includes this:

Record Your Favorite Dale Earnhardt Memory

Recall a special Dale Earnhardt moment and what it meant to you, on video. Your memory will then be added and archived in Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s historic, multi-media library.

This is a great thing; Joe Fan’s point of view, preserved for all time. Very cool.

It doesn’t say so here, but Dale Jr, will be driving a black Budweiser Chevrolet in tomorrow’s running of the Aaron’s 499 from Talladega. That will be a lump in the throat moment for this race fan.

-k-

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Running the Table

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A mighty tip of the racin’ hat to Kevin Harvick on his winning the Subway Fresh 500 Nextel Cup Series race in Phoenix on Saturday night. After seeing him win the Busch race on Friday night, this victory was doubly sweet. It’s always great when one’s favorite driver wins; it’s also something that doesn’t happen every weekend. Pardon me whilst I savor the moment…

In other highlights, my Fantasy Cup team finished with 1118 points, good for a 104th place finish out of 8553 teams, and 175 pit bonus points, redeemable for post-season schwag. I’m not bragging, but such performances are even rarer than Harvick winning. I know first-hand how easy it is to go from penthouse to outhouse, and could very well be in the latter come next weekend. So I’ll bask in the glow as long as I can.

And, my trades were for the better; Biffle and Nemechek combined for 183 points, while my Harvick/Earnhardt combination garnered 279 points. I always like when I trade up instead of down.

It could all vanish in a heartbeat next weekend on the high banks of Talladega; I’ll be the smilin’ racer in the meantime.

-k-

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