Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

The drought is over finally. Yea I am talking about Dale Junior winning at Michigan, and the missing Nascar writer here at Life On The Road. Where have I been you ask, well in my job I drive a dump truck and we had a job re-paving the main highway going into the military base here. Because of the traffic on it during the day, the state made us pave it at night. So I have been on night shift for the better part of the last month.

Nothing gets done when you are on the night shift either, any business you need to deal with is only open during the daylight hours. I saw my wife for about an hour and a half each day as she got ready for work and I got ready for bed. The job is done now so I can have my life back.

NASCAR IN HIGH DEF

I recently got a high definition T.V. and have subscribed to the high definition channels that my cable company has. I was so tied up in the dang night shift at work that I forgot to DVR the race last Sunday and completely missed Dale Junior winning his first race in over two years! Not only did I miss that but one of the high def channels replays the race on Monday or Tuesday and I missed that too. But I did see Pocono in high def on that replay channel and WOW did that look great. With my surround sound turned on it was almost like you were sitting there watching it live. How did I ever watch it without High Def before?

If you have not yet gotten a high definition Television yet, save up! It is worth the extra money by far. Just think how your home time will be when you fire up Nascar in high def? Do you watch baseball? Oh My Goodness! Baseball in high def is like being there! You will be so into watching T.V. again that you will not want to get back out there on the road. A driver getting a high def. T.V. at the house is probably a dispatchers nightmare ha ha! I am not the biggest Golf fan but I watched the U.S. open on that T.V. and was glued to the set! Get out and get one of these things. Uh and yes you can get one in your truck too, just get you a satellite dish with one of the two services and you are set. I believe they both offer high def channels. Just don’t forget to deliver your load!

DALE JUNIOR

Dale Junior is still in third in the points but the win at Michigan brought him within 84 points of leader Kyle Busch. A late race caution had Dale Junior in fuel saving mode as he coasted and feathered the throttle to save fuel. For a couple of laps during the restart he was at half throttle or less on the backstretch saving fuel. Not getting passed during this effort was due to those behind him doing the very same thing. It didn’t matter that he won with fuel mileage, it is still a win and one that was needed badly for Dale Junior, his team, his sponsors and his fans. Maybe more important is that maybe this will shut up all of the nay sayers out there that said That Dale Junior’s move to Hendrick would not help him. That he just wasn’t as good as his father. Its a big win! And for a team that has been in the top five in points all season so far, this is momentum. Momentum sorely needed. Oh there are going to be people that still want to put him down, some will complain that it was fuel milage and not real racing. I don’t care, I don’t judge drivers like that, I don’t compare Dale Junior to Dale Senior either. There is no comparison there in my opinion. Dale Earnhardt will always be held up above most of the rest in my mind because he was just that, Dale Earnhardt! There was nobody like him in all of racing and I doubt that there ever will be.

Dale Earnhardt Junior has to make his own career in Nascar and last Sunday was a good start.  Here is how they finished at Michigan as we get ready for the road course out in California.

RACE FACTS

CONTINGENCY AWARDS

DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race:Kenny Francis,#9, Budweiser/LifeLock, Dodge
Dow Automotive “Strategic Call of the Race”: Dale Earnhardt Jr.,#88, AMP Energy/National Guard, Chevrolet
EA Sports Move of the Race: Dale Earnhardt Jr.,#88, AMP Energy/National Guard, Chevrolet
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch,#18, M&M’s, Toyota
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: No Driver Name,#48, Lowe’s, Chevrolet
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race: Kurt Busch,#2, Miller Lite, Dodge
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race:David Ragan,#6, AAA Insurance, Ford
Raybestos Rookie of the Race:Sam Hornish Jr.,#77, Mobil 1, Dodge
Sunoco Diamond Performance: Dale Earnhardt Jr.,#88, AMP Energy/National Guard, Chevrolet
USG Improving the Finish Award:Patrick Carpentier,#10, LifeLock, Dodge
WIX Filters Lap Leader: Jimmie Johnson,#48, Lowe’s, Chevrolet

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	STARTS	POLES	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	WINNINGS
1	–	Kyle Busch	2213	Leader	15	2	4	9	10	3,428,410
2	–	Jeff Burton	2181	-32	15	0	1	4	10	2,517,080
3	–	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	2129	-84	15	1	1	7	11	2,475,290
4	–	Carl Edwards	2007	-206	15	0	3	6	11	3,512,500
5	+1	Jimmie Johnson	1959	-254	15	1	1	4	7	2,932,510
6	-1	Denny Hamlin	1926	-287	15	1	1	5	8	2,526,820
7	+2	Kasey Kahne	1889	-324	15	1	2	3	8	3,645,050
8	-1	Greg Biffle	1884	-329	15	2	0	5	7	2,273,450
9	-1	Jeff Gordon	1876	-337	15	2	0	6	7	2,572,540
10	–	Kevin Harvick	1817	-396	15	0	0	2	5	2,337,270
11	+1	Tony Stewart	1774	-439	15	0	0	5	7	3,044,480
12	-1	Clint Bowyer	1764	-449	15	0	1	3	7	2,082,670
13	–	David Ragan	1754	-459	15	0	0	2	4	1,767,460
14	+1	Matt Kenseth	1750	-463	15	0	0	3	9	2,454,900
15	+1	Martin Truex Jr.	1670	-543	15	0	0	1	4	2,091,560
16	+1	Brian Vickers	1667	-546	15	0	0	3	4	1,701,070
17	-3	Ryan Newman	1641	-572	15	1	1	2	5	3,517,360
18	–	Travis Kvapil	1579	-634	15	0	0	0	3	1,941,170
19	+2	Kurt Busch	1537	-676	15	0	0	1	2	2,361,550
20	-1	Bobby Labonte	1525	-688	15	0	0	0	0	2,117,040
21	+1	Jamie McMurray	1507	-706	15	0	0	0	3	1,700,920
22	-2	Juan Montoya	1488	-725	15	0	0	1	1	2,048,150
23	–	David Gilliland	1443	-770	15	0	0	0	1	1,735,280
24	–	Mark Martin	1437	-776	12	0	0	2	5	1,908,660
25	+2	Paul Menard	1382	-831	15	0	0	0	0	1,578,670
26	+2	Elliott Sadler	1360	-853	15	0	0	0	3	1,997,340
27	-1	Casey Mears	1351	-862	15	0	0	0	2	1,808,920
28	-3	David Reutimann	1347	-866	15	0	0	0	1	1,519,800
29	–	Dave Blaney	1196	-1017	14	0	0	0	2	1,543,740
30	+1	Regan Smith*	1187	-1026	15	0	0	0	0	1,524,730
31	-1	Robby Gordon	1184	-1029	15	0	0	0	1	1,731,770
32	–	Reed Sorenson	1179	-1034	15	0	0	1	1	2,128,800
33	+1	Sam Hornish Jr.*	1178	-1035	15	0	0	0	0	2,173,090
34	+1	Michael Waltrip	1163	-1050	15	0	0	0	0	1,588,720
35	-2	Scott Riggs	1150	-1063	15	0	0	0	0	1,613,370
36	–	J.J. Yeley	882	-1331	13	0	0	0	0	1,375,380
37	–	Joe Nemechek	759	-1454	12	1	0	0	0	1,113,530
38	–	Patrick Carpentier*	758	-1455	12	0	0	0	0	965,724
39	–	Michael McDowell*	696	-1517	10	0	0	0	0	842,748
40	+3	A.J. Allmendinger	604	-1609	7	0	0	0	0	695,600
41	-1	Jeremy Mayfield	578	-1635	8	0	0	0	0	848,175
42	–	Dario Franchitti*	557	-1656	9	0	0	0	0	930,376
43	-2	Kyle Petty	540	-1673	9	0	0	0	0	948,637
44	–	Bill Elliott	539	-1674	8	0	0	0	0	835,233
45	–	Mike Skinner	423	-1790	6	0	0	0	0	461,900
46	–	Dale Jarrett	367	-1846	5	0	0	0	0	716,013
47	–	Ken Schrader	298	-1915	5	0	0	0	0	496,309
48	–	Aric Almirola	243	-1970	3	0	0	0	1	344,264
49	–	Sterling Marlin	228	-1985	4	0	0	0	0	349,845
50	+2	Terry Labonte	149	-2064	2	0	0	0	0	164,680
51	-1	John Andretti	149	-2064	3	0	0	0	0	422,213
52	-1	David Stremme	84	-2129	1	0	0	0	0	91,525
53	–	Jon Wood	55	-2158	1	0	0	0	0	97,620
54	–	Jason Leffler	43	-2170	1	0	0	0	0	63,025
55	–	Tony Raines	43	-2170	1	0	0	0	0	109,675
56	–	Kenny Wallace	34	-2179	1	0	0	0	0	256,735
57	–	Johnny Sauter	24	-2189	3	0	0	0	0	250,725
58	–	Jeff Green	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	34,575
59	–	Chad McCumbee	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	35,075
60	–	Stanton Barrett	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	56,638
61	–	Scott Wimmer	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	0
62	–	Burney Lamar	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	0
63	–	Johnny Benson	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	0
64	–	Boris Said	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	22,170
65	–	Eric McClure	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	22,988
66	–	Jacques Villeneuve	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	22,863
67	–	Carl Long	0	-2213	0	0	0	0	0	56,045

* Denotes Rookie

Stay safe out there!