I gave you guys the head's up that Cali FAQs were questionable... nonetheless, you hounded me relentlessly. You know I hate to disappoint... so what we have here is an extremely abbreviated version, possibly more observation than FAQ (and no cover).
First things first, while I might be late on the FAQs, may I remind you that I did deliver promptly your request from the last Cali race, da booty.
Here are a few more pics (you'll notice I had some fun with photoshop on a couple, too):
I still have a handful more to upload.
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PROFESSIONAL PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Brian Vickers and Crew Chief Doug Richert at California Speedway (Photo: Rusty Jarrett)
Raise your hand if you wanna see Brian spit that mouthful of Red Bull at Doug in a commercial?
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OVERHEARD IN THE PITS
"Good God, that sucks."
~ PR to self, after hearing her driver's qualifying time (I'm not naming names, but she was right.)
"Hmm... He's got a lil' swagger, huh?"
~ Fan to fan, watching Jamie McMurray walk by
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"He isn't in the Holy Trinity of Earnhardt, Stewart and Gordon. He isn't among the hot kids, like Kyle and Kurt Busch. Nor is he a hunky pin-up such as Carl Edwards or Kasey Kahne. Matt Kenseth just gets results. So did the steel workers who once toiled on the site of this track ... and went nearly as unappreciated." [Paul Oberjuerge, Staff Writer, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Feb. 26, 2007]
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DRIVERS' GIRLFRIENDS DIG DIERKS
Dierks Bentley: "Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] said to me, 'The only reason my girlfriend dates me is because she says I look like you.'
I said, 'Yeah, right. It could be because you're Dale, Jr.
... Tony Stewart pointed to a woman he was with and said, 'Man, she complained for 30 minutes when she found out you cut your hair.'" [Toledo Blade, Mar. 1, 2007]
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JUNIOR'S GIRL IS THE FAQ OF THE WEEK
Q. Was Elizabeth in California?
A. Yes.
Q. Was she in the Bud pit?
A. Dunno. I did not go to the Cup race and no pics have popped up that I'm aware of. She was in the NAVY pit for the Busch race on Saturday. She was in the Bud pit in Daytona.
Q. Did you see Junior and Elizabeth together?
A. No.
Q. Are Dale Jr. and Elizabeth still together?
A. Yes.
Q. Is Dale Jr. also seeing a girl from Alabama?
A. This rumor persists. Ditto for Tony Stewart. What is it with Alabama? Last year the rumor was that Junior had been in a fatal accident there.
Q. Is Dale Jr. also seeing a brunette?
A. My goodness. You know TGOM doesn't dish on side dishes once a relationship has been established. That's what blind items are for. ;)
TGOM OBSERVATIONS
I saw Elizabeth and her friend Tamela, #14 spotter T.J. Majors' girlfriend, on pit road Friday before Cup qualifying, but they were not with Junior at the time I saw them. They hung out for awhile talking to various Bud team members, but left pit road just a couple of minutes before Junior came out. I saw them again on Saturday in and around the NAVY pit, but again, I did not see them with Junior, except sitting in the back of the pit when Junior was on top of the pit box.
Special thanks to the over the wall crew in a nearby pit who helped scout for photo ops and shall remain nameless. Most appreciated. ;)
PHOTO FAQ
Q. Are there any new pics of the couple?
A. None that I am aware of unless you count their backs above.
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LOOK GIRLS, NO HEELS
Longtime readers will recall that after the last California race I came back in awe of Athena Barber's ability to brave pit road in 4" heels. Well... it turns out she's got some sneakers in the closet, too. She graciously showed off a pair at my request--her buddy Kristin Buntain was kind enough to hoist the demonstration:
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MORE NW&GF OBSERVATIONS
Also spotted: Eva Busch, Erica Dewey, Crystal Hornish, Katie Kenseth, Meredith Lewis, Nicole Lunders, Shana Mayfield, Krissie Newman, Sherry Pollex, Tara Roquemore, Kathleen Sherman, Kim Wallace. Also the girlfriends of Paul Menard and David Starr. Oh... and Alison Leffler, who I did not previously know was pregnant. Congrats to her and Jason.
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OBSERVATIONS OF ABSENCE
Jocelyn Crafton. California is her home state, but she wasn't at Matt's race. I'm told she hasn't been at one in awhile. Word of divorce has been circulating for quite some time and a source tells TGOM that Jocelyn has been spending a lot more time in Cali but continues to go back and forth to North Carolina.
Erin Crocker. Word 'round the garage is that Ray is looking to put some distance between the two and get her hooked up with a new team--that he'll fund. Apparently, having the girlfriend too close to home isn't conducive to healthy divorce settlement negotiations.
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In case you missed this...
- " ...at this point, I had never met [Tony] Stewart... Stewart's greeting: "You're going to have to work really hard today to tick me off." Obviously, he had never met me either... Stewart said he wouldn't talk about what happened the previous week, and having no idea what happened the previous week, I said, "So what happened last week?"... It ticked him off. I explained I had never been to a race and he could educate me, and that ticked him off. Pretty much anything I said ticked him off and I wasn't really working that hard." T.J. Simers, LAT
T.J. Simers, LAT
FULL STORY - Bristol testing was this week. Check out TGOM's blog on NASCAR Fanhouse and the Freewheeling Daredevils photos:
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COMING SOON
This... is Elizabeth Peschock
This... is Amanda Prince
(If you hadn't demanded Cali FAQs I might be further along!!! Really not. I've just been busy with pics and I'm not done housecleaning. But since we have a sort-of off week...)
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NW&GF IN DEVELOPMENT?
Shane Huffman
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REMINDERS
Happy Birthday, Travis Kvapil and Bootie Barker!
