Cover photo: Robert Laberge
RACING HIGHLIGHTS
CUP - Kasey Kahne led the most laps and overcame a penalty to win the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway on Sunday and kept himself alive in the race to the chase. That makes him the ninth driver vying for one of the remaining 8 spots in the chase to the championship. All others have been mathmatically eliminated.
Headed to Richmond
In order to clinch a spot this weekend in Richmond to join Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth in the chase, the following drivers have to place or better this...
Kevin Harvick - 39th
Jeff Gordon - 24th
Kyle Busch - 22nd
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 16th
Denny Hamlin - 16th
Tony Stewart - 7th
Mark Martin - 4th
Jeff Burton - 3rd
BUSCH - Winner: Kasey Kahne
NCTS - Bye
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TGOM's Fav Shot This Weekend
A young race fan sits on the track pre-race beneath
a message for Jeff Gordon (Photo: tallglassofmilk)
View all of the tallglassofmilk's photos from the weekend at California Speedway in Flickr (still more to come):
I even got some butt shots--and not just for the female readers, but you men out there, too. Yeah, I know you're lurking even though most of you haven't "come out."
Speaking of coming out, TGOM didn't see it, but Answer this... reader Jessica Lynne witnessed Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker kissing on Kasey's pit box at California. Erin also brought her mom to the race and they were all photographed in victory lane with Kasey. I think it's now safe to say that the coming out party is over.
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TGOM's PIT OBSERVATIONS
- Hot--in more ways than one--men in uniform every time I turned around: Drivers, crew members, track officials, EMTs, etc. Did y'all know I'm a sucker for a guy in a uniform?
- Clint Bowyer's girlfriend, Athena, braving pit road in 4" heels for 2 hours during qualifying
A female Brewco Motorsports employee who shall remain nameless coming out of a ladies room stall taking time to primp but not wash her hands. To be fair, there was no "Employees must wash hands before returning to work" sign. But really? Who needs a reminder?- Buffy Waltrip on her cell phone
The Burger King- Bitter Ryan Newman fans after he didn't sign autographs
- Jimmie Johnson fighting his through over zealous stalkers blocking the exit of the mens room. He was visibly agitated when he emerged from the mob and took off running with his handlers and Sharpie-wielding fans on his heels.
Clint entering the same mens room almost immediately afterwards completely unawares.- Buffy Waltrip on her cell phone
- Clint (and Athena) hustling through the crowd without much acknowledgment of the fans 'til one cried out "I love your girlfriend's shirt!" That got a head spin and nod of agreement with a beaming smile from a proud boyfriend.
- Fans puking and passing out from heat exhaustion
TGOM NW&GF Sightings: Clint and Athena, Greg and Nicole, Kyle and Erica, Denny and Kristin, Kale and Michelle Lynn, Jason and Alison, Ashton and Meredith, Ray and Erin, Delana, Ingrid, Katie, Krissie, Whitney, Kim Wallace, Janice Goss and a very not-pregnant-looking Chandra
A bubbly, booba- and bootylicious NASCAR official. And yes, before you ask, there'll likely be more to this story, but I've not yet been able to verify this...
- and did I mention Buffy Waltrip on her cell phone?
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THE WEEKEND'S MOST FAQ
Q. Who were the girls with Kasey in victory lane after the Busch race?
A. His mom, Tammy, and an Anheuser Busch rep.
The girl you're not inquiring about is the one we saw with Kale and Michelle Lynn... probably because a clear picture of her hasn't popped up yet (they got by me when I wasn't paying attention). No idea if she was a friend of Kasey's, a friend of Michelle Lynn's or someone else entirely.
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CHARITABLE STOPS
The Jimmie Johnson Foundation
Quoting this...
Jimmie Johnson: "It's a very special day today for Chandra and myself. We've been working very hard over the off-season -- actually for the last year or two on our foundation. We haven't really had an event or done anything yet, but today we are announcing that the Jimmie Johnson Foundation is officially in action and we'll tell you about the first fund-raiser that's going to go along with that.
"We're starting off with an ebay® online auction that will be ongoing. I'm going out to my good friends and trying to find different packages and experiences that the fans can on to the site and bid for them and get deeper into the football and baseball world. We have some other things we're going to launch when this first action is over. It's a 7 - 10 day window. We'll have everything from poker tournaments and the Chicago Bolts. I don't want to give away too many secrets because I want everybody to go to www.jimmiejohnsonfoundation.org and click on the ebay® link and take a look and begin bidding on these great experiences.
"Chandra and I have been supporting a variety of other charities (like) the Victory Junction Gang Camp, Rick's (Hendrick) Marrow Foundation, the American Red Cross, the Randy Dorton Memorial Fund and also the Make A Wish Foundation. They have been very special to us. But we've been blessed with so many great things that we want to start our foundation and network around and use our friends and everybody involved and really try to raise money for a great cause. We need to do something to give back.
"I'll let my friend talk now about some of the packages that will be on the site starting tomorrow morning. The big goal for us is to really drive traffic to the site so that people can read the details and start bidding on the experiences. There will be things on there all the time. It's really a site where fans can go to get signed autographs from myself and other drivers and friend outside of the racing world. I'll stop there and let Mr. Hendrick speak."
Rick Hendrick: "I'm really excited and know that Chandra and Jimmie are going to do a great job with this foundation. The experience I want to be a part of is a sportsfishing for two days and accommodations for two rooms for one night. I'm going to go along and it'll be in Key West aboard a 67-foot sports fisherman (yacht) and hopefully we can have a lot of fun and catch a lot of fish. Jimmie has caught sailfish and so have Jeff (Gordon) and all the guys. It'll be a neat experience and we look forward to see what it will bring and raise for the foundation."
Chandra Johnson: "Several of the experiences are from our friends as well. We have friends in New York that have donated dinners, one is SushiSamba which is a very nice Sushi restaurant in New York. We have some lounges that participated. Friends of mine from the Amazing Race donated lunch in Miami. Most of them so far are friends, but we did reach out to people we didn't know as well.
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ACCIDENTS HAPPEN
Rusty Wallace was involved in a non-racing car accident with wife Patti in their Dodge Durango last week on Route 73 in Cornelius, N.C.
Quoting this...
Rusty Wallace: "I've been in a lot of crashes in my time, but that was one of the craziest things I think I've ever experienced. Patti and I were driving home from the airport, driving the speed limit, somewhere around 45 miles per hour, I believe, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I got hit directly in my door. We really got knocked around in there, and we're both really sore.
"As soon as we came to a stop and realized what happened, our thoughts turned directly to the other driver, who miraculously, was uninjured as well. She was really shaken up and very apologetic. She claimed that somehow, she just didn't see the stop sign. Luckily for both of us, there was a police officer directly following me and another coming in the opposite direction, both of whom witnessed the entire thing.
"You hear car companies talk about safety a lot, but I can tell you that Patti and I are both really thankful for the research and development that Dodge puts into the safety of their vehicles.
"That felt like a crash at Talladega, but thankfully, everyone was able to walk away."
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* Please note: Additional photos tagged 'exclusive' are available to Answer this... Flickr friends only.
REMINDERS
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