I’m writing this right now watching the Nationwide race running at Texas Motor Speedway (where we’ll be in a couple of months for the IndyCar race!!!). It’s about halfway through, so I’ll update this post with the winner in a little bit. Actually, it’s probably almost over, but I had to take a break and give the kid a bubble bath…he said he was dirty, and he was right. He has this weird thing about sock fuzz stuck between his toes. Anyone else have a kid that this bothers? He has to pick it all out of his toes before he gets in the bath.
Anyway, last weekend was Easter, but that also meant off weekend for all racing that I follow. Sitting on my couch on Sunday, I didn’t know what to do with myself. We went out and did some yard work, but other than that it was a very open day. Felt very strange. So I’m extremely happy to be sitting here on my couch on a Friday night watching race, and anticipating watching IndyCar qualifying tomorrow afternoon, Spring Cup tomorrow night and trucks and IndyCar on Sunday.
The thing that prompted me to get out my laptop and start this tonight was early on in the race the announcers said “And there’s Sam Hornish.” Yay! I thought. But then it was followed by “and watch what happened to him half a lap ago.” Of course that’s always followed with Sam slipping and sliding and saving the car from wrecking. And then there’s the time when he doesn’t save it and scrapes the wall or spins in the infield. I’m really impressed with the coverage they give Sam during the races. Last year when Marty Reid was the play-by-play guy he mentioned him a lot, but I thought it was just because of his IndyCar background. But now Allen Bestwick is the lead guy (which I’m extremely happy with) and he still makes sure to include him, whether he’s doing well or not. It shows they know he’s competing full time for Nationwide points and is doing very well in the standings. Right now in this race he’s running fourth after having the very loose race car early on.
Did I mention I don’t appreciate the media coverage of Danica during races? For example, they moved from Sam to her. Why? Because someone on their team has a low battery on their radio. No, not a low battery in the car (as they had to point out) but one of the crew members has a low battery on their radios they use to communicate with each other. They played an audio clip with the low battery beeping and everything. Really? Really? This is what we have to watch? She’s been running in the 17th position every time they do their check in with her. EVERY TIME. So this is the only thing they can think of to bring her into their conversation. A low battery – not on the car. Jeez…
…And Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wins his second Nationwide race this season. Had some problems with the lights on the back stretch going out and then Kurt Busch’s car blew up so they had a 6 lap sprint to the checkered flag. And wouldn’t you know it, Danica ended up eighth, above both Hornish and Dale Jr. Good strategy call by her crew chief is all I have to say.