That's Jimmie with an 'ie' to you!

Just some random thoughts today. I laugh when I see accomplished writers and journalists misspell Jimmie Johnson's name. I just have to laugh. But then it was pointed out to me yesterday that I misspelled the name of Dale Jr.'s club, which apparently is Whisky River, not Whiskey River. I don't know, I haven't been there, but shame on me, I've read the press and even seen some of the pictures. My apologies to all.

We're awaiting the fate of the 66 and 70 car teams penalties. I'm guessing 100 points, $100,000, and 6 weeks gone for the crew chiefs will be in order. I hate that for one of my favorite crew chiefs, Robert 'Bootie' Barker. Apparently the 66 and 70 cars were both confiscated by Nascar last week, and if what happened to Dale Jr. and Tony Jr. last year is still in effect, Bootie and Dave Skog will be absent from the track for the next several races.

I have to congratulate Kasey Kahne for his win at the Coca Cola 600, if I haven't already done so. Kasey drove a smart race, stayed out of trouble, and was the benefactor of Tony Stewart's blown tire, with less than 5 laps to go. Kasey seems like a very nice young man, and I'm glad he became one of the few to win the All Star Race and the 600 all in the span of a week or so. Kasey is serving Budweiser proudly, and I know they are proud of him. Kasey just doesn't seem as much of a Bud man as was Dale Jr., but he seems to be doing a pretty good job.

Hats off to one of my favorite drivers, Kenny Schrader, who drove the 33 Camping World Chevrolet for Richard Childress in the 600. Kenny was amazing, starting 33rd in the 33 car, and finishing 33rd as well. That's a lot of 33's there, Kenny! It's good to see you in a Childress car, but I know that won't last too long. By the way, who will be in the 33 next year? Still lots of rumors flying around about that, but supposedly we will find out by around the middle of June, according to some sources.

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day. I didn't really post much on the subject over the weekend or yesterday, but my hat's off to the men and women who serve around the world, protecting our freedoms. I did get the chance to bump into a young man in uniform yesterday at the grocery store, and I patted him on the back and shook his hand, and thanked him for his service. Memorial Day isn't the only day we should be thanking these brave men and women. We should do it every day, and every time we meet one of them, we should thank them personally. I will.

This week we're going racing at the Monster Mile at Dover, Delaware. This one mile concrete track is a challenging event for even the most experienced driver. Martin Truex Jr. won his first Cup race here last year. Dale Jr. won in the first race run after 9/11/2001/ How fitting, especially in his new National Guard colors! Hope springs eternal for our guy Dale Jr. He's a threat to win at practically every track he's on this year, and that's a nice feeling for Dale Jr. fans.

I've had a challenging week or so here. I've got a friend who is going through some horrible times. I can't go into much detail, but it has meant me being away from home quite a bit, and missing a lot of exciting racing on TV. I've caught bits and pieces here and there, but mostly I've read stories in the Internet, and have been piecing together my blogs mostly from that. If I've erred, let me know, because I am very much outside the loop right now.

Nascar is getting ready to make it's North East run now, with Dover, Pocono, and Michigan coming up in the next 3 weeks. I know, I know, Michigan isn't North East, but it's still in that general direction from Charlotte. Hopefully cooler temperatures and cooler heads will prevail at the tracks coming up.

Denny Hamlin's bizarre behavior at Charlotte in the Nationwide race is still very much in the news. I still can't figure out his comments after the race. I'm wondering why he thinks that only Cup drivers should be allowed to race in the Nationwide series. If Nascar is going to ramp up it's drug testing program, maybe they should start with Denny Hamlin. I have to admit, when he first started racing, I liked Denny. As time has gone by, I've begun to wonder just why I liked him in the first place. Arrogance is one thing, but just plain stupidity is another. Joe Gibbs and J.D. Gibbs have to be wondering what they've gotten themselves into with the Hamlin/Busch combination. They thought Tony was going to be hard to handle, but now look at what they've got!

I think it's a shame to see Joe Gibbs Racing populated by pompous, arrogant, and quite frankly, immature drivers such as Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. I keep thinking back to the old days when Joe Gibbs first became a successful team owner with drivers such as Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte. My, how times have changed.