Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

The biggest question coming into this race was whether or not Jimmie Johnson could avoid calamities or catastrophes that would relegate him to a finish in the back, allowing Matt Kenseth to overtake him for the championship. The sun was shining, the temperatures were warm, and the nerves of NASCAR fans everywhere were standing on end.

HeartRacers:

• Did Wally Dallenbach enjoy the company? He accompanied himself on Sunday’s ‘Wally’s World’. While it was humorous, it inspires us to say that if Wally needs passengers for this segment, Joshua and I would be more willing than willing to ride along. Just give us a call, Wally!

• How about a HeartRacers cheer for a long run of green flag racing? From lap 50 to 115 there was nary a caution, even a debris caution, which was quite refreshing.

• Scott Wimmer, driving the No. 33 Chevy for a one-race deal, started 24th and finished 12th. That’s a good way to impress the management.

• David Stremme (No. 40 Dodge) eluded bad luck, finishing 11th after starting 23rd. We also throw some HeartBreaker ‘Heys!’ out to Tony Raines (No. 96 Chevy) who started 40th and finished 20th; and to Bill Elliott (No. 00 Chevy), who started 43rd and finished 25th.

• Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Chevy) had to start in the back of the field, but by races end he found himself starting in the spot he qualified in (tenth). Good job for a driver who has found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time several times this year.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Ford 400 edition ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

NASCAR did not make it rain in the desert, as it has on occasion. The big questions coming in to this race were which Chasers would avoid bad luck and car troubles to stay far enough inside the points to not be eliminated, and whether or not Tony Stewart would continue showing them up.

HeartRacers:

• When your favorite musical group releases their greatest hits collections you know they’ve reached the big time. Apparently, so has Wally Dallenbach and his ‘Wally’s World’, because today we were treated to a video collage of previous rides. You’ve made them scream and squirm, Wally. Thanks a lot. We have enjoyed it.

• Taylor Swift did a terrific rendition of the National Anthem. We see why she’s an up and coming country music star.

• Tony Raines (No. 96 Chevy) started 41st and finished 21st; and Scott Riggs (No. 10 Dodge) started 42nd and finished 22nd. That makes them the big ‘movers and shakers’ of the race, both having moved up 20 spots during the race.

• Kyle Petty (No. 45 Dodge) started 34th, finished 25th, and managed to stay in the top 35 in points for another week. Fans of Petty Enterprises have to be pleased.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Checker 500 edition ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

The rain stopped just in time for the race to begin, and didn’t start up again until the race was over. It seems even the Heavens above were excited about a big race in a big state.

HeartRacers:

• We give credit to Minka Kelly, Wally Dallenbach’s guest passenger on ‘Wally’s World’. Despite being at the mercy of Dallenbach during the ride, she still had enough mettle to tease him about the ‘scratches’ on the side of his car. This just encouraged him, though, to state that there weren’t any yet; and then scared her with a close call to the wall. Good fun.

• Anyone who has been a NASCAR fan for any length of time had to experience feelings of sadness as ‘Texas Terry’ Labonte took his seat in his No. 44 Chevy for the last time. The ‘Thank You Terry’ signs on the grass and above the stands, and the special paint scheme honoring this racing legend were all terrific. Hearting Labonte’s daughter, Kristen, call out, “Dad, for the last time, start your engine”, was very special. You will be missed, Terry Labonte.

• Kyle Petty (No. 45 Dodge) started in 35th place. However, the end of the race found him in 11th position. That moved him up a spot in the standings to 32nd, keeping both of the Petty Enterprises cars in the top 35 in the standings. That’s great news for the Petty fans.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Dickies 500 edition ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

NASCAR fans everywhere were glad to see the sun shining in Atlanta, after the downpour that canceled qualifying. The ones in attendance at Atlanta Motor Speedway had their jackets on-hand, though, as temperatures were chilly.

HeartRacers:

• DecembeRadio did a nice job with the National Anthem.

• ‘Wally’s World’ had no Wally this week. Instead, Bobby Labonte took pit reporter Dave Burns around the Atlanta track. Both were cool as cucumbers as they zipped around at high speeds, while conversing about why Atlanta has always been a good track for Labonte.

• The Bass Pro Shops guys that gave the call to the drivers to start their engines jazzed it up a bit by adding a duck call to the pre-race ritual. We are betting that’s a first for that.

• Dave Gilliland (No. 38 Ford) started 25th and finished 15th, his best finish so far in his Cup career.

• We are thinking Greg Biffle (No. 16 Ford) didn’t throw any hoagies around after Sunday’s race. He started 13th, avoided the bad luck that’s been biting him lately, and finished a respectable fifth.

• We would like to hand out two ‘how-did-they-do-that?’ awards: Dale Jarrett (No. 88 Ford) started 23rd, was involved in the bad wreck on lap 309, but ended up finishing in 11th and moving up two spots in the standings to 22nd. And how about Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Chevy)? On lap 169 he had a tire going down and was clobbered by Jamie McMurray (No. 26 Ford), then hit pit road numerous times to get things straightened out. He got penalized for pitting early, and for speeding on pit road. Yet he still finished sixth, and moved up two spots in the standings to seventh.

• Despite reports that he wasn’t enjoying the performance of his car throughout the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Chevy) finished in third place, and moved up two spots in the Chase standings to fourth.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Bass Pro Shops 500 edition ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

Usually Martinsville equals rain, but the precipitation came to a halt prior to the race, and the sun actually ended up peeking through to shine on the fans. ‘Sunshine Yellow’ seemed to be the color of the day, as there ended up being 18 cautions. The day definitely didn’t end sunny side-up for all of the Chase contenders, but a few of them left the track beaming like super novas.

HeartRacers:

• Benny Parsons is not only back in the booth and sounding strong, but he’s writing inspiring words about his experience with cancer (‘Glad to Be Back at the Track’). We’re glad to have you back, Benny, and in such fine form.

• Jared Fogle, Subway spokesperson, gave the command to start the engines with a vitality not always shown by those given the task. Must be all that low-fat eatin’ that he does.

• The guest passenger on ‘Wally’s World’ was Dale Earnhardt Jr., so there were obviously none of the usual squeals or hollers of fright. Earnhardt did a good job of acting like he needed some of Wally’s advice about racing around Martinsville, and Dallenbach feigned superiority well as he offered his pointers.

• Three cheers for the Martinsville High School Marching Band and their rendition of the National Anthem.

• The stats about Ward Burton’s (No. 4 Chevy) return to racing weren’t entirely spectacular (he started 35th and finished 26th), but he was the last car on the lead lap at race’s end. Frankly we are so happy about having him back in racing that he could have crashed out and we still would have listed him under the ‘HeartRacers’. Welcome back, Ward!

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Subway 500 edition ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

It was a chilly night in Concord, North Carolina, but the fans were ready for some exciting racing. Would tires be an issue? Would Jimmie Johnson reclaim his crown as ‘King of the Lowe’s House’? Lots of sub-plots were leading into this race.

HeartRacers:

• Wasn’t it cool to see all of those racing legends together at the track during the pre-race ceremonies? Ernie Irvan, Bobby and Donnie Allison, Darrell Waltrip, Buddy Baker, and Richard Petty were among the illustrious drivers being honored prior to the race for being past winners at the track. That’s a whole lot of racing history hanging out together.

• Wally Dallenbach lined up another NFL player as a guest passenger in his car for ‘Wally’s World’. Steve Smith, wide-receiver for the Carolina Panthers, seemed to have a great time during the ride.

• Country music singer and former ‘American Idol’ contestant Kellie Pickler delivered a rousing version of the National Anthem.

• The biggest HeartRacer this week was seeing Benny Parsons in the booth and hearing that he’s been told by his doctors that he is cancer-free. That was great news!

• Some HeartRacers ‘Hey, great jobs!’ go out to three drivers wearing Chevy bow ties: Tony Raines (No. 96 Chevy) for finishing seventh; Joe Nemechek (No. 01 Chevy) for finishing ninth; and Sterling Marlin (No. 14 Chevy) for finishing 11th.

• Terry Labonte (No. 44 Chevy), the Iron Man from Texas, started at the back of the pack in 43rd, but finished 21st. His brother, Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Dodge) started 21st, but finished fifth. Three cheers for good performances from two of NASCAR’s favorite brothers.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Bank of America 500 edition ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

The sun was out in Alabama, Benny was back in the booth, and Mark Martin finally announced his plans so the media and his fans could finally begin to settle down. The only thing spoiling the racing soup was the issuance of a smaller restrictor plate, which some teams were rumored to be quite peeved about. Ah well. As long as we know what Mark Martin is up to, then we can all embrace serenity.

HeartRacers:

• It was refreshing to have a guest passenger on ‘Wally’s World’ who is also a NASCAR fan. Sterling Sharpe knew what restrictor plates are, said he understood the devotion to Dale Jr., and knew how to correctly say ‘Talladega’ like a real NASCAR fan would (“Talla… DEGA”).

• A traditional rendition of the National Anthem was given by the 151st Army Band, followed by a flyover formation of F-15 Eagles. Very stirring.

• Dave Gilliland (No. 38 Ford) led the field around to the checkers. It might have been only a fleeting moment in time, but he still managed to finish 15th. Not too shabby, Dave.

• Despite Mark Martin (No. 6 Ford) anticipating the consumption of him and his car by the Talladega track (as has happened to him many times before), he finished in the top ten.

• Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Dodge) keeps digging in and hanging on. Another top ten for one of the grittiest teams on the track.

• After all of the chaos, Carl Edwards (No. 99 Ford) finished in the top ten, and is now back to being a contender for the 11th place in the standings. We’re sure the Edwards fans are happy about that.

• Whether you are happy or not about how Brian Vickers (No. 25 Chevy) got to Victory Lane and his first Cup win, he did get the trophy, and he dedicated the victory to Rick Hendrick. Despite Jimmy Spencer’s declarations that NASCAR will be taking away the win, it appears as of this writing that he will remain the victor. Vickers fans must be thrilled.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: UAW-Ford 500 edition ...

For those of you NASCAR fans that like stats and love to hate commercials, here is the breakdown from the CTS race on Saturday afternoon.

We normally just do the Cup races, but I felt like it might be interesting to monitor a truck race as well.

I started recording the times as the green flag waved at 3:57 PM, and stopped at the waving of the checkered flag at 5:46 PM (all times are EST). I did not keep records for the pre- and post-race coverage.

John Deere 250 CTS Race and Commercial Breakdown 10-7-06

Total number of commercials: 65

Total number of companies or entities advertised: 39

Total number of brief promos of products/services during the race broadcast: 5

Total number of companies or entities advertised in brief promos: 5 (companies: Dodge, ‘NASCAR RaceDay’, ‘Shooting Cars’, ‘Speed Report’, Suzuki)

Total amount of time these brief promos take during broadcast: app. 30 seconds

Also, there is the following race statistics during the broadcast, sponsored by companies:

Fastenal ‘Flashback’
Craftsman ‘Tools of the Trade’
Ford ‘Bold Moves’

Restarts missed due to being away at commercial: 0

Start time to record race/commercial periods: 3:57 P.M.
End time to record race/commercial periods: 5:46 P.M.

Total minutes: 109

Minutes of race broadcast: 76
Minutes of commercials: 33

Read more Commercial breakdown for the CTS ‘John Deere 250’ Race ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

It was another gorgeous race day for the drivers and fans, this time in America’s heartland. The race didn’t leave all of the drivers with a sunny disposition, though, as bad luck befell some big names in the Chase.

HeartRacers:

• On ‘NASCAR RaceDay’, there was a clip of Rutledge Wood visiting a local Haunted House. Carl Edwards showed up and joined in the fun. It was a kick to see Edwards jump at one point at an unexpected sound. So those guys do flinch now and then, huh?

• Jackie Joyner-Kersee was Wally’s guest passenger on ‘Wally’s World’. At one point she called him a good driver, but it was obvious she was just buttering him up because she wanted out of the car.

• Clint Bowyer’s (No. 07 Chevy) fans may have felt like they needed to imbibe in some of their favorite driver’s sponsor on lap 173. After leading or being near the front for the beginning of the race, he spun out. Despite damage to his car, though, he still finished in ninth place. It was a good performance by a driver in an injured racecar.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods edition ...

Joshua and Cheryl have been offering up their own personal sets of HeartRacers~HeartBreakers for each race. The moments that stirred them for whatever reason will fall in the HeartRacers category, and anything that makes them wince, cry, or throw stuff will be HeartBreakers. All cawsnjaws readers are invited to add on their own to share with everyone.

While ‘Miles the Monster’ stepped on some teams on Sunday, others escaped that fate and enjoyed varying degrees of success. No matter which drivers the fans in attendance followed, however, they all must have left knowing they saw an exciting race with a blood-stirring finish.

HeartRacers:

• The rain was holding off and Benny was in the booth. What a wonderful way to start off the day.

• Happy Birthday, Allen Bestwick. Are you sure we can’t start a fan club for you? There’s a lot of ‘Besties’ out there, we just know it.

• Figure skating star Kimmie Meissner was Wally’s guest passenger on ‘Wally’s World’. Her screams were cute, not shrill and irritating. Has anyone else noticed how much Wally enjoys scaring his passengers? The more frantic they get, the wider he smiles.

• It was cool to hear Hulk Hogan give the call to the drivers, “Start your engines, brothers!”

• Fans of Carl Edwards (No. 99 Ford) had to enjoy the race a little more today than in recent weeks. He started sixth, and finished second. Despite at one point forgetting which race he was in and nearly passing up his pit box (thinking he was still racing yesterday’s Busch race), he had a good day.

• The happy story of the day was undeniably Jeff Burton’s (No. 31 Chevy) victory. It had been a long time in coming (since 2001), and he battled Kenseth (No. 17 Ford) hard for it. Lots of drivers stopped in Victory Lane to congratulate him, and his fans could finally let out the breaths they have been holding for a long, long time. Thank you, TNT broadcasters, for not focusing on Kim’s face for any longer than you did. Jeff Burton deserved the spotlight, and we are sure Kim appreciated most of the attention going his way, too.

Read more HeartRacers~HeartBreakers: Dover 400 edition ...