Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

The 50TH running of the Daytona 500 will start with the Corvette Z06 pace car out in front. Seen in the photo are Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig, The 2007 Daytona 500 Champion Kevin Harvick, Orange county Mayor Richard Crotty, and General Motors Jeff Chew.

JUNIOR JOHNSON

Driving the 2008 Daytona Pace Car will be none other than the 1960 Daytona 500 Winner Junior Johnson. Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990 and named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, the North Carolina native claimed his Daytona 500 victory in only his second season in NASCAR competition. That memorable win was behind the wheel of the No. 27 John Masoni Daytona Kennel Club Chevrolet Impala. Junior Johnson got his start racing by running from the law with a trunk full of moonshine back in the day. He now sells the stuff legally on his website. Anthough it is not the same as what was in his trunk back in the day, it is still pretty potent. Check you local laws before you attempt to get some though.

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Pre-Season testing is over at the Daytona International Speedway and Dale Junior is at the top of the cumulative single car speed chart. A new team, a new owner, a new car, and a new sponsor, are all the ingredients for a rough start for any driver. There is a lot of stress that goes along with all that. What do you do to break the ice and get rid of the butterflies if only for a little while?

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I thought that this day would never come. In all the years that I have followed Nascar Racing, I have heard time and time again, ” Petty Enterprises is staying in Level Cross North Carolina, PERIOD!” that was always the answer anytime someone in the press asked either Richard or Kyle Petty about possibly moving the entire racing organization south to Mooresville, the home of Nascar Racing. So what is different now? Read the rest of this entry »

Lets get right to the meat of the weeks news shall we. This week was “Champions Week” in New York City. To be quite honest with you, I don’t like the awards banquet being held in New York City. When you ask anyone on the streets of New York what they think about Nascar, they generally do not like it or call it a red neck sport. The posts on some blogs have been extreme lately. I won’t post the responses here but it was ugly in more than one place. So why do we hold our awards banquet there? It really is way off base for the majority of the fans of this sport. The number of fans in The entire State of New York pales in comparison to just one area where there is a track we race at. Take for example the Kansas Speedway, I would bet my left arm that there are more Nascar fans within a hundred and fifty miles of that track than in the whole state of new York. Would it not make sense to rotate the awards banquet through area’s that actually like the sport? I think That it does.

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The scene in “victory Lane” at “The Homestead Miami Speedway” was energetic and upbeat. Matt Kenseth won the Ford 400. It was about time for the “17 crew” to post a win. On the other hand, that scene paled in comparison to the victory celebration going on a short distance away, where Jimmy Johnson was having the time of his life celebrating his second championship, and two in a row to boot. Read the rest of this entry »

This Sunday’s Ford 400 at the Homestead Miami Speedway will be the final race in the the Dale Earnhardt Jr. chapter at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. It in my opinion will also be the final race for the number eight Budweiser Chevy. No matter who drives the number eight car from here on out, it will never be the same as when Dale Jr. drove it.

I feel sorry for the driver who is the first to drive the number eight car after Jr. gets out of it this Sunday. Unless a lot of time passes between those two events, The “Junior Nation” will Hate the guy! You think that the beer can throwing was bad at Jeff Gordon? Wait till you see what happens to the poor soul who gets into the eight car next. I’m not saying that there will be stuff like that happening, just that the potential for it will be there like never before.    Read the rest of this entry »

Take that picture and replace the car with the Nextel Cup! Four wins in a row! My goodness! You talk about turning up the wick at the end of the season? Jimmy Johnson and the Lowes Chevy team didn’t turn up the wick, they broke open the lamp and dumped the oil right into the flame. Read the rest of this entry »

The Office Depot Ford Fusion is on the pole for Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500. Cousin Carl turned a 27.114 second lap at a speed of 132.773 miles an hour to take the pole for Sunday’s race at the Phoenix International Raceway. Carl’s lap was only three one thousandths faster than Martin Truex Junior who turned a 27.117 second lap. Top chasers, Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson qualified 3rd and 6th respectively. Phoenix does not hold a history of success for either Hendrick team mate as Jeff Gordon Has only recently won a race here and Jimmy Johnson has yet to see victory lane here in eight starts. It has however been a very good year for both teams so I look for them to shrug that yoke off Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »

Jimmy Johnson takes the win at Texas and the points lead from team mate Jeff Gordon. 30 points separate the two Hendrick Motorsports team mates after a nail biting finish at The Dickies 500 in Fort Worth Texas. It came down to whether or not Matt Kenseth could hold off the potentially three time in a row Johnson. Once the pass was made with only a hand full of laps to go, the Lowes Chevy pulled away and never looked back.

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