Danica finishes 35th after hitting the wall...doh!

Damn. I understand Danica has been known to have what I call "Cole Trickle Disease". Like the character from the Tom Cruise film Days of Thunder, Danica can definitely drive the wheels off a race car. But ask her on the radio what could possibly be hindering her progression on a technical level, and you'll get a "What?". All she knew was that there was a "strange vibration" with the car, but couldn't really explain to Tony Eury, Jr. what it could possibly be. Then BLAMO!...the front right tire explodes and she goes into the wall at turn 4. Considering how well she did the night before, it's a shame that the race that did matter would result into something like this. It's the kind of unfortunate season she is having in her first go into NASCAR. Fortunately though, Mark Martin was there to help explain a few things to her at the end. And that is knowledge you can't buy...

Danica finishes 6th at Sunoco 150 after starting 13th.

I don't wanna say, "I told you so." But considering she never raced this track before, I knew she'd do well. Why? BECAUSE SHE HAS SKILLS, DAMMIT! I'm really looking forward to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race tomorrow since she got a good feel for both the car and the track. I'm predicting a top 15. And no, I really don't think I'm reaching here.

Danica to race NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Sunoco 150 tonight.

As a "warmup" for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Dover 200 tomorrow, Danica will be driving the JR Motorsports #83 car tonight at Dover International Speedway. Makes sense since she needs more seat time in a stock car. If anything, I think she should do pretty well tonight. It's a way for her to show all her critics that she definitely deserves to race in a stock car and compete at any level. Too bad SPEED is not televising the event until Thursday, October 7th. Still, it beats Versus.

Danica finishes 5th at Motegi Twin ring in Japan.

Danica ran a pretty good race last night in Japan's Twin Ring Motegi. I just love how Danica "questioned" Milka's inability to truly understand the situation going into pit lane on the last round of pit stops. Also, I had a good laugh on how Danica was analyzing how Will Power moved up three spots during that same round of stops. She does have a valid point. Hmmm..

Anywho, as it has been for the last three years, it was a battle between "the red cars" owned by Penske and Ganassi. Rightfully so, since the championship is on the line going into the last race at Miami in two weeks. I still don't understand how Andretti Autosport seems to just be getting mediocre performances from their cars. I honestly believe, considering how skilled Danica, Tony Kanaan, and Ryan Hunter-Reay really are, the only thing to blame for the absolute mediocrity and inconsistent placings throughout the last two seasons is the equipment. Also, ever since Kim Green left to "concentrate on the Andretti Green Promotions company", the team has literally gone to shit. Despite Danica's 2nd place at Texas (thanks to her being damn aggressive), Kanaan's win at Iowa (thanks to TK's damn good oval racing skills), and Hunter-Reay's win at Long Beach (thanks to RHR's damn good road racing skills), the AA cars seem to be all over the place in the standings all year.

I can only imagine what it would be like if Danica was behind the wheel of one of those "red cars". If there were ever a true testament about that, ask Will Power. Don't get me wrong, Power has always been a damn good driver. But would he be challenging for the championship this year if he was driving one of AA's cars? I highly doubt that.

Danica to race at NNS Dover 200.

According to Danica's website (www.danicaracing.com), Danica and JR Motorsports are planning on running in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway, the Dover 200, September 25th. Should be fun to watch Danica try to figure out and conquer "The Monster Mile".

Jillian Michaels new GoDaddy girl.

I definitely enjoy watching The Biggest Loser on NBC. And like most guys who do watch it, I watch it to see Jillian Michaels boss overweight people around. Next thing you know, Michaels gets her own "spin-off" Losing It With Jillian, of which she does more bossing around of overweight families. I always thought Jillian was a hottie. I have this "thing" for athletic women. But what makes her more attractive to me, besides her physical attributes, is the fact I like how she tells it like it is. She is never one to "pull any punches". And that is awesome! Today, she has been named as a new GoDaddy girl, along side Danica, Candice Michelle (WWE Diva), and Vanessa Russo (pro poker player).

Surprisingly enough, I have not been a huge fan of GoDaddy's marketing campaigns. I think they're pretty sad. As a GoDaddy account holder since 1997, the campaigns just confirm how founder Bob Parsons is making up for a few inadequacies. Still, they are effective in bringing awareness and traffic to GoDaddy.com since they are the most used domain registrar on the Internet. Ironic since the GoDaddy company itself is up for sale. Anybody got a cool $1 billion?

Anywho, I will be looking forward to whatever collaboration the "inventive" GoDaddy marketing team has in store for Jillian and Danica. Let me guess...potential disrobing that forces me to watch some "ever-so-clever" writing of a video that will waste 10 minutes of my time. Who cares?! All that matters is that GoDaddy continues to pay a lot of money to sponsor Danica to race.

2011 IZOD Indycar Series Schedule.

Here is the 2011 schedule for the IZOD Indycar season:

http://indycar.com/schedule/55-izod-indycar-series/139-2011-izod-indycar-series/

I will definitely be going to Long Beach, CA (April 17, 2011) and the Indy 500 at Indianapolis, IN (May 29, 2011). Hoping the finale is in Las Vegas, I could have a year chock full of "Danica-goodness". And that doesn't include the NASCAR Nationwide races I will be attending to support her. Since I missed out on the 2009 and 2010 seasons, I think it's time for me to make-up for it. Besides, I want to be there when she wins and proves all the "haters" wrong.

No more Watkins Glen.

One day ahead of the release of the 2011 IZOD Indycar Series schedule, Watkins Glen is the first confirmed track to be taken off the schedule. I always thought it was a nice circuit, but Danica never did very well there. So in turn, I have no problems with Indycar dropping this track. Besides, I never liked New York.

IZOD Indycar Series coming to Vegas?

The owner of the Kentucky Speedway, Bruton Smith, also owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway (must be nice!). Before the Kentucky race this past Saturday, he "hinted" that he was looking forward to the IZOD Indycar Season for 2011 having its finale in Las Vegas! All I can say is, "JOY!". Indy Racing League CEO Randy Bernard said they are "still in discussions" about Las Vegas, even though the 2011 season schedule will be released Friday, September 10. So despite losing my chance to see Danica in my hometown of Detroit, I will hopefully get to stalk, er...root my girl on LIVE in my new town!

Indycar needs a REAL TV partner.

First of all, I was watching the Kentucky Indy 300 on Versus and was really pissed-off on how little coverage Danica got. Especially toward the end of the race where the only thing that was mentioned about her was where she got loose and recovered real quick. She was flirting with the top 5, currently in the top 10, and although she started 17th...nothing.

Anywho, while the top 5 teams are figuring out fuel strategies, where does color commentary go with less than 20 laps left? They talk to Gil DeFerran whose car, being driven by Raphael Matos, is in 17th place. WTF?!? Versus's coverage of Indycar is pretty pathetic. What makes it worse for Indycar fans and followers is that Versus is a premium channel for most cable TV providers. On top of that, Versus gets 12 of the 17 races scheduled for the next seven seasons, the other five going to ABC/ESPN.

Does Indycar want people to watch their races on TV? Does Indycar seriously want to try to keep their very loyal fan base, or scare them away? Can you blame Danica for possibly leaving the series for NASCAR since their drivers get more "air time" on and off the track than Indycar drivers? As a lifetime member of Indy Downforce, the official fan club of the Indycar Series, I get e-mails asking to fill out online forms on my opinion as to which drivers I believe are "marketable personalities". And I usually vote in favor of most of the drivers that truly compete well and present themselves in a personable and professional manner, which is most of them. But the reality is this: if Danica decides to leave Indycar in the near future, the series would be in a "world of hurt". And this deal the series has with Versus will not help their cause at all.

Yea..that's me.

Yup...that's me getting ready to race karts in Sterling Heights, Michigan last April. And yes, that is an authentic pit crew shirt from Team Motorola 2009 before they switched to the Boost Mobile orange. Gotta love EBay! Thanks to RSBoy for the photo.

It's about staying consistent.

I know Danica is having a tough year. Who wouldn't be if they had to compete in two totally different racing series? Yes, I also know she brought it upon herself in hopes to establish her "brand" and marketability. Was it a good decision? If you want to analyze the results so far, I would say probably not. Despite how well she did in Texas at the Firestone 550K three months ago, or her incredible recovery and finish at her very first NASCAR ARCA Series race at Daytona in February, it's been "slim-pickens" in the highlights category for 2010. And right now, she's getting a lot of shit for it.

I won't go into her being the first female to lead the Indy 500 or her win at Motegi Twin Ring in Japan in 2008. What I am going to bring up is the simple fact that no matter what you read or hear about her driving performances this year, the one thing always said is that she is damn consistent. Even despite being taken out a few times by other drivers, or that her car, either stock car or Indycar, is just not handling the way she wants it, she tends to be fairly competitive and always finishes. Can you say the same thing about her female counterparts, nonetheless all of the drivers in both series? Nope.

I have my own opinions of how Andretti Autosports seems to be running their teams. All I have to say is that AA has definitely lost it's competitive edge as a whole since the mid-2009 season. And this totally effects Danica's performance in Indycar considerably. She is not the only one suffering in that organization, and it shows. As for JR Motorsports, it's still way too early in Danica's relationship with the team to form a true analysis. But so far, the equipment is there as we see the #7 Chevy Impala race every week and do pretty well under different drivers. It's just a question of can Danica truly learn how to race in the draft.

I believe Danica will win many more races. She does possess the skills to compete with the best in both stock cars and Indycars, and it shows even through this tough year. In my opinion, over the years of following her career, I think if she drove more aggressive and took a few more risks in her race car, she would definitely be a consistent winner and a championship contender.

And thus it begins...

I became a fan of Danica since I saw her host Powerblock TV at the end of 2004 on Spike TV. And, of course, the first thing that came to mind when I saw her was, "This little hottie is a race car driver?" Since then, I've been following her career. I had an inkling she would become popular within those who truly followed Indycar then. Interesting what she has now accomplished since then, huh?