"I hope he chokes on that $250,000."

This week's NASCAR Busch Series race starts in about an hour, at 3:30. I've been up since 11:30 or so, when Erin left for work. I figured I would work on the game some until the race came on, but I've been unable to. I'm a huge NASCAR fan. Well, let me rephrase that. I'm a huge fan of my favorite NASCAR drivers. I grew up watching and liking Darrell Waltrip. Ironically, I never got to see him when he was truly great, instead cheering him on during the lackluster last years of his career. Actually, the race in which I decided I liked him was probably his finest moment--the 1989 Daytona 500. It was all downhill from there. Towards the end of his career I latched on to ex-World of Outlaw turned NASCAR Busch Series regular, Dave Blaney. As it turned out, his first year in (what used to be) the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 2000 was Waltrip's last. That provided a pretty great experience throughout the entire season. Waltrip pretty much sucked as he had throughout the previous 5 or so seasons (due to, in my opinion, the driving mentality of an older driver and poor equipment...mostly the latter), and Blaney went thought he usualy rookie growing pains, but did manage to notch a few top 10s nefore the year was up, while Waltrip grabbed the pole at arguably the second biggest event of the year, the Brickyard 400. When the 2000 season was over Waltrip retired and I've been cheering for Blaney ever since.

Waltrip has since raced in a few NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races since his "retirement," but I've somehow managed to miss all of them, inlcuding what was to be his last NASCAR race ever, his "One and Done" race at Martinsville last year. So that sucks pretty bad. However, earlier this year, out of nowhere, Michael Waltrip and Aaron's announced that DW was going to race in this year's Busch race at Martinsville this year, the first time that series has been there since 1995. Even though since the announcement DW has said he wouldn't rule out racing a few more races here and there as long as he feels he can "still get it done," I really have a feeling this will be it for him. And I get to watch it this time. I orginally thought Blaney was going to race in this race as well, but as it turns out the Busch car he usually drives is going to be in the race, but with a different driver. Raguardless, I'm still really, REALLY excited. So excited that I can't really pull myself to do anything productive at all. I've just been scowering the internet for any interviews with Waltrip from this week, looing for practice times, and glancing at the clock about every 5 minutes. That might sound silly, but like I said, I'm a huge fan of my drivers. Huge.

I think DW can win today, but I don't think he will. Call it the James Mountain curse, if you will. DW and Dave are both incredible drivers, but always seem to have some pretty crappy luck any time they have a good car, which I attribute to myself for some reason. Waltrip said earlier in the week the car raced really well, but wouldn't be all that great in qualifying. In the Busch Series you've got to practice, then you qualify. There's no practice after qualifying. Since the #99 car he's driving is locked into the field via owner's points, he said they would focus on the race setup during practice. It's showed, as in both practices he was in the middle of the field. If they're doing what he said, thats actually pretty good, as most of the cars ahead of him we're probably practicing with much faster qualifying setups. However, qualifying itself has be pretty worried. Waltrip only ran the 41st quickest lap. Qualifying has never really been his strong point, and I still think the car will be reasonably good during the race. If this was a 500 mile race I would feel a little bit better, but it's not, its only 250 laps and track position means alot. Personally I think they should have put more effort into qualifying the car. I just have this sinking feeling that being mired back in the field like that is going to see him involved in some kind of incident before the race is over.

One thing is sure, DW thinks he's still got what it takes. The car he's in has run well everywhere it's been. The track is one of his best. If he doesnt run strong today...then he doesn't. Personally, I don't care. It's not like he has anything left to prove. I'm just glad I get to see what is likely to be his final race.