RACING HIGHLIGHTS
Cup: Jeff Gordon won after spinning race leader Matt Kenseth out of his way. Polesitter Jeff Burton finished second. Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. complete the top 5. Todd Kleuver, who made his series debut, finished 41st.
Busch: Casey Mears won his first NASCAR race Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway in his 69th Busch Series start. He ran out of gas coming across the start/finish line to beat polesitter Carl Edwards, who came in second followed by Jeff Burton in third. Series points leader Kevin Harvick kept his tremendously consistent season going despite the suspension of his crew chief for a fourth-place finish and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 5.
NCTS: Ron Hornaday Jr. took his 29th win and extended his record for driver with most series wins.
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WINNING ELIGIBILTY FAQ
Race winners are always popular inquiries, and this week's Busch winner was no exception. But this happens to be a regularly recurring FAQ:
Q. Does Casey Mears have a girlfriend?
A. Nope. He is enjoying bachelorhood.
Quoting Casey on this...
"It would take a special person. In the sport that we're in, with as much as we travel, with the focus on what we have to do week in and week out, it would take a special type of woman who could put up with how busy we are. Even if she came to the track, we're so busy. We only have the evenings. It would take a very independent, strong-willed girl. The last thing you want as a driver is, (because) you're so focused on your job, to get pressure from someone when you come home. It's tough. I'm just looking to have fun. I'm not looking for anyone right now. One of these days I'm sure the right girl will come along. Right now, I'm just having a good time. I'm not looking for a relationship right now. If the right girl comes along, so be it." [Athens Banner-Herald, July 6, 2006]
Quoting other drivers on this...
Greg Biffle: "Finding a woman is easy in this sport; finding a good woman is hard. I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore." [Athens Banner-Herald, July 6, 2006]
Jeff Gordon: "When it comes down to it, you usually meet somebody through friends or in the workplace. To me, this workplace isn't always the best place for me to find somebody I want to spend the rest of my life with. Time only tells what their true intentions are. I've always wanted to meet somebody I had a connection with. I had a great time being single; I have a better time being in a relationship. I think [Ingrid] knows that I'm a lot smarter the second time around. I guarantee you one thing, she's got a much better guy this time around and I've got an amazing girl this time around, too." [Athens Banner-Herald, July 6, 2006]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.:(on girlfriends having to pass muster with mom Brenda Jackson and sister Kelley Elledge): "There have only been a couple they've had any kind of good impression of. But when you get down to it, they are a pretty good jury." [thatsracin.com, July 7, 2006]
Tony Stewart: "I haven't found a woman stupid enough to marry me." [Athens Banner-Herald, July 6, 2006]
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STORY OF THE WEEK
Jeremy Mayfield was outspoken on media day at Chicagoland expressing his frustration with his #19 Dodge team, which is currently 32nd in the standings, and owner Ray Evernham. Jeremy later backed off his own words on "Trackside," saying they were taken out of context. Here's the context of this...
Q. Are you happy with what Ray has given you?
A. I don't talk to Ray much. He encourages us when he's around but he hasn't been around much lately. At Daytona we ran terrible, we ran the worse than all three of us had ever run. Kasey sucked every bad as we did. He wasn't there all weekend. I seen him Sunday morning at Indy for the F1 deal and I saw him there for a few minutes but didn't say a whole lot. I didn't see him at Sears Point the week before that. So, two weeks in a row. I don't think he's here today either. I don't know if he's behind us or not. I'm sure he is, it's his team. He looks as bad as we do running around here running like we are. I'm sure he sees it like we do. I haven't talked to him today either. It's not like Ray. He used to be on stuff like this pretty hot and heavy. He's letting it take its
course I guess. I'm being honest with you.
There comes a time when you need to stand up and do what's right. If I could talk to somebody, I don't know if I would or not. It depends on what came
along. What I want to do is fix our deal here. I have a lot of time in it. I don't know what's going on. I'm sure Dr. Z isn't happy. His picture's on the hood and I'm running that bad. He said, 'You did a good job keeping my picture clean on the hood.' We did
a real good job at that because I wasn't close enough to anyone to do anything."
Ray responded with tihs...
"I don't think he's upset with me. I'm sure he's frustrated that we're not performing. The reality of it is, I have got commitments to other sponsors and things. I don't plan to be at every Cup race for the rest of my career.
"My personal life is my personal life, so I won't talk about that. But I can tell you that nothing distracts me from my purpose. This is what I do 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"There are people that do it that are married; there are people that do it that have relationships. ... I've taken on so much more that I'm almost taken aback by the fact that people think I'm distracted."
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TEAM NEWS & SILLY SEASON
UPS delivers the big brown truck to MWR
Michael Waltrip's on-track performance this season has been dismal, and he said it hurts deeply. But his work in the corporate boardrooms has been amazing.
Yesterday Waltrip said that all those Dale Jarrett TV ads for UPS aren't destined for the scrap heap, because the $36 billion package-delivery company will be following Jarrett to Waltrip's Toyota team next season, after six years with Ford's Robert Yates.
"Is it a coup for our team? I guess it's fair to say it is," Waltrip said of the new two-year UPS sponsorship, which he said now sets the stage for a three-car, Nextel Cup operation.
"We don't have it done yet, but we think we'll be able to announce in the next week or two who the driver will be," Waltrip said of Team Three, which will be jointly sponsored by Burger King and Pizza Hut.
And it could very well be Ward Burton, the 2002 Daytona 500 winner, idle this season, Waltrip said. [Winston-Salem Journal - July 8, 2006]
JRM Stays Blue
The Navy has signed on to sponsor JR Motorsports' #88 Team in the Busch Series for 2007.
CGR Signs JPM
Chip
Ganassi Racing has signed Colombian F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya to drive
the #42 Havoline/Texaco Dodge. The pair already has a winning history as owner and driver having won the CART Championship in 1999 and the 2000 Indianapolis 500.
Ladies, before you inquire, Juan is taken. He was married to Medellín, Colombia native Connie Freydell on October 26, 2002. The couple has one child, son Sebastian (b. 2005), and another one on the way.
As always, Jayski has the latest silly season news.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"I just figured you would look into your crystal milk ball and have the answer like always!"
~ Answer this... reader Sue+ + +
THE MYSPACE SAGA CONTNUES
In the comments of this week's discovery of Kasey Kahne's pretend MySpace girlfriend, Nicole Hudson, we learned that pretend Kasey thinks he and his pretend girlfriend need more pics together. Have fun with Photoshop.
Also, a shocking discovery... KK's pretend GF is a 'friend' of aimeethestalker, who this week claimed to another 'friend' that she has given birth to Tony Stewart's baby. The DOB, sex and name of the pretend Smoke baby were not provided. Shall we send her some pretend diapers?
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In case you missed this...
- Bobby Hamilton's Cancer Story in His Own Words:"It’s amazing how much one word can change your life. When you hear it, feel it, bear it, and breathe it that one word changes your entire view on the way you see every single aspect of your life. I will never be the same person I was before I found out I had cancer. I am now a better person for what I have endured just as all the millions of people in our country who feel the same way after battling cancer... Cancer changes us all. I have just learned that when you get a second chance, life becomes a different picture the next time around."
- Dale Jr.'s guiding force: Superstar driver puts career in sister's control: [Kelley] has always made sure I was doing what I was supposed to be. It would be very, very hard for me to find somebody who I feel as comfortable with."
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MORE
* Please note: Additional photos tagged 'exclusive' are available to Answer this... Flickr friends only.
REMINDERS
07/10 - Adam Petty's Birthday
07/10 - 
7 Days featuring Jimmy Elledge (7:30PM ET, Speed)
07/12 - Anniversary of Davey Allison's Fatal Crash
07/12 - Benny Parsons' Birthday
07/12 - Rick Hendrick's Birthday
07/12 - Tommy Baldwin III's Birthday
07/13 - Brad Parrot's Birthday
07/14 - Jimmy Elledge's Birthday
07/15 - New England 200 @ New Hampshire International Speedway (3:00PM ET)
07/15 - O'Reilly 200 @ Memphis Motorsports Park (9:00PM ET)
07/16 - Chandra Johnson's Birthday 
07/16 - New England 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway
tallglassofmilk's NASCAR Calendar
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