Still Here...

Back in October, I posted about a Strange House Guest. Well, John (if you read the other post you may remember that Audrey has named him "John", I'm not sure why) is still here and making a a"mansion" in between our kitchen window and screen.

Isn't that weird? Look at all those layers! 

All those little dark speck are tiny bugs he has stored.

And....

there's John. 

Oh boy, since my horrible ordeal with my

 spider bite, I really don't like spiders.

51st Running of the Daytona 500

Ok NASCAR fans, today is the day! The start of the 2009 race season (well, the first official race). As usual, we start the season with the running of the Daytona 500!

The Daytona 500 is steeped in great history! Here's a brief rundown of the very 1st Daytona 500:

The First Daytona 500
On February 22, 1959, Daytona International
Speedway hosted the first Daytona 500. The posted awards for the “500-Mile
International Sweepstakes” totaled $67,760. A field of 59 cars took the green
flag for the start of the 200-lap race. A crowd of 41,000 was on hand to witness
the beginning of another chapter in the history of racing in Daytona.
The
finish of the race also went into the history books. The finish was too close to
call, but Johnny Beauchamp went to Victory Lane and savored the celebration
although the results were posted as “unofficial.”
Sixty-one hours later, Lee
Petty was the winner in what appeared to be a dead heat between Petty and
Beauchamp – with the lapped car of Joe Weatherly making it a three-wide finish
at the checkered flag. A clip of newsreel footage proved that Petty was the
winner by a few feet. (Taken from Daytona500.com "Brief History of the 500" read more about Daytona 500 history here).

Also make sure to take a walk down memory lane and check out the 50 previous winners!

The race starts at 2:00 pm EST, but of course the Daytona 500 warrants huge pre-race festivities! So, grab your snacks and get ready to cheer on your favorite driver!

My cheers will be focused on car #88, driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. He will be starting in row 7, 14th position in his chevy Amp Energy/National Guard car!


Go Junebug!
So..."Gentlemen start your engines!" We're ready!

Grillin'

Today we had a wonderful relaxing afternoon. Hubby worked the grill. We watched the Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Junior didn't win, but he's not very fond of road courses).

Oh, and while waiting on the burgers, hubby picked on his little girl (actually trying to make her look up at the camera)! Always adds up to a wonderful day!

Hope you enjoyed your day as well!

Junior Wins!

It's a great day for Junior (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) fans! Junior won the LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn MI.

Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. went against his normal game plan and gambled that Dale could save on gas and make it to the checkered flag. It turned out to be the perfect gamble that allowed Dale to drive coast to victory in the LifeLock 400.

It had been a long drought of 76 Sprint Cup Series points races since Earnhardt had gone to Victory Lane, and he couldn't have made it without his teammates. Literally, his teammates pushed his No. 88 Chevrolet, which ran out of gas just after Dale took the checkered flag, into Victory Lane. "The engine might have cranked," said Earnhardt, smiling. "I thought it would be a better story to be out of gas and get pushed." (Check out all the details at nascar.com)

photo from nascar.com

Nascar Update ~ After 3 of 36 Races

50th Running of the Daytona 500

Today we watched Nascar's running of the 50th Daytona 500! It race fun and the pre-race activites were very interesting. All the history the stories.

They had clips of past races, interviews with past greats like Richard Petty, winner of 7 Daytona's (1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979 & 1981), Cale Yarbrough with 4 (1968, 1977, 1983 & 1984) plus so many others (you can check here for the complete list of past winners). They also included interviews with recent winners such as Jeff Gordon with 3 who still holds the title of youngest winner at 25 (1997, 1999 & 2005), Dale Earnhardt Jr. the 2004 winner (and personally my favorite driver) and Jimmie Johnson the 2006 winner. Seeing the currents "stars" of the sport looking at their heroes, getting to sit and talk with them. You could see the excitement in every one's eyes old & young alike.

This years race was filled with excitement. Many lead changes, great strategy and a first time winner with Ryan Newman. A great kick-off for the Nascar season.

I have to get in my "Go Junior"! After his stressful 2007 season, with the difficult decision to change race teams from that of his fathers company (DEI) to Hendrick Motors, changing his sponsors and a change in his number (from 8 to 88), there seems to be a weight lifted off his shoulders! He's confidant and already has the Bud "Shoot-out" win & the winner of his duel heat. So I'm anxious to see him go for the championship (88 in 08)!