(From nascar.com)
Time for true confessions.
I am a NASCAR fan.
Starting next Sunday with the kick-off Daytona 500, I will use my DVR to record every left turn of the season.
My favorite drivers, in order, are: Greg Biffle in his No. 16, Carl Edwards in the 99 and Denny Hamlin in the 10 car.
It’s been 10 years in the making, this out-of-the-blue fascination with cars that go way fast.
Well, maybe not so out-of-the-blue. When I was a teen, I used to like to take my ’69 Chevy Nova up to 100 on the back roads of Suffolk County on Long Island. Don’t try this at home, young people. It was dumb. Fun as hell, but dumb nevertheless. There’s my second confession in five paragraphs.
My dear wife Karen was a NASCAR fan before we started dating. She took me to a race, at Pocono, in Pennsylvania. I heard the growl when all 42 drivers started their engines at the same time. I was hooked. Since then, we’ve gone to NASCAR races in Dover, Del., and Watkins Glen, the famous road course race here our home upstate New York.
Confession three: For the second year in a row, I have started a league on the online racing machine that is nascar.com.
The rules are simple. Before every race, you sign in and pick four drivers you think will perform well that week. You can’t just pick all the favorites because there is a salary cap.
Karen and I share a team. We call it KarenAndMark. I’d paint that on the side of my Chevy Cruze if I had any real guts.
The league name is SyracuseFans.
But you don’t have to be from Syracuse. Or a Syracuse fan. Only somebody who thinks they’d have fun watching NASCAR and rooting for drivers they pick.
If you think you don’t have time, well, we cut hours off the watching time weekly by using the DVR, starting to watch a couple hours after the actual start time, and fast forwarding through commercials and extended cautions.
It should be a fun season. NASCAR again changed the parameters of the Chase, the 10-race playoffs that end the season. Sixteen drivers will qualify by virtue of points gained in the first 26 races. Every three races in the Chase, the bottom four racers will be eliminated. That will leave four racers in the best-take-all final race of the season.
Click the link here if you’d like to join.
If we get 25 teams, the league will be eligible for prizes offered by NASCAR.com.
Stop thinking about search engines a couple hours a week, bloggers …
Mark Bialczak 
Thinking about ambition, drive and athleticism… also, Awards! I nominated you for The Dragon’s Loyalty Award today! I had in ‘rough draft’ form and was so happy after work, to find the library open on President’s Day!
You may or may not wish to accept the award, but you are on my short list of ‘newbies’ who are worth checking out! If you want to follow the real rules of the award, you may check out the one who nominated me! Smiles and Enjoy! Robin
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Thank you so much, Robin. I am honored by your nomination.
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Mark … my oldest brother lives down south and so of course is a NASCAR fan. When my kids were born, he “assigned” them a favorite driver based on the year they were born, starting with 88 (Dale Jarrett) for my oldest. That worked out well until my second son was born in 1990. I’m guessing you remember the unfortunately-named driver who drove the 90 car back then. Tradition over. Jim
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Yeah. Mr. Trickle died last year, in fact. But Danny’s Dale Jarrett was a good start to the tradition, Jim!
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Chevy Nova, awesome! We have a ’65 ford galaxie. The neighborhood shakes when we fire it up in the spring.
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That vintage American car has guts, Sandra. I bet the neighborhood car buffs light up at the sight and sound of it come spring!
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I was into NASCAR back when Dick Trickle (RIP) was racing. I doubt I even know half the drivers now…
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My wife Karen’s favorite used to be Dale Jarrett, but now he’s up in the ESPN broadcasting booth. Bobby Labonte still does the round and round, and Mark Martin up to last season, too. Thanks ES.
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i’ve only been to one, and what a rush it was. is this like a fantasy football league?
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It is indeed. Pick four drivers and hope they go real fast. Compile points over the season. Isn’t it something to hear that roar and watch them blur by, Beth? I bet you went to MIchigan. That’s a great race, too.
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i did, it was michigan speedway. and on top of that, i have a high school memory of driving my mother’s green pinto wagon with wood on the side, on woodward avenue and racing my friend in his 442. i got pulled over and got a drag racing ticket. it did not go over well with my mother, and i now find it so funny i got the ticket while driving a pinto wagon )
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Go speed racer, go speed racer, go speed racer, go! In a wood panel Pinto. You rock, Beth. A drag racing ticket is such a badge of honor, because you lived to tell about it so well!
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Your Michigan students kicked butt in the short free dance, Beth, best score ever. A gold for Charlie and Merrell after free dance tomorrow, we hope!
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they did! and i’m hopeful for tomorrow )
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Reblogged this on Peace, Love & Great Country Music and commented:
I had a feeling all along Austin Dillon would get the pole. I think Nascar has their feel good, PR story all lined up for the year. I’m watching this season already leery of the outcome, but I’ll be watching.
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Oh if only I enjoyed the race Mark! Sounds like fun for those with the passion. Good luck!
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It does add an extra beat to the heart rate watching at home, Colleen. It’s not for all, though, definitely an acquired taste.
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I’m sure you will get a lot of takers. As for me, I don’t watch racing. Sorry. Otherwise I would. I use to take our Volkswagen beetle and go into the school yard right after it snowed and do wheelies. LOL! Thank goodness I never got caught!
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A wheelie in a car! You could be a driver out there with Danica Patrick, PJ. I’m glad you never got caught, too.
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I call it a wheelie. That is when you get momentum with your spped and tires and start sliding into circles. SO MUCH FUN!!!!
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Interesting, I didn’t realize there were NASCAR fantasy leagues.
Denny Hamlin is the local boy that everyone here loves. 🙂
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Yeah, he’s very likable Sheena. Denny can maneuver that baby.
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