We'd like Carl to grow in our garden, but in the meantime...

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 60 ScottsMiracle-Gro Ford Fusion, tops his fantastic week of PR and will be in the D.C. area tomorrow for a very cool promotion.

Carl will help plant community gardens at the Robert F. Lederer Youth Center Community Garden at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow and encourage fans to take the GroGood pledge to grow a garden for the greater good and provide fresh produce to the hungry.

Additionally, Carl will speak to fans at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) on Saturday (5/2) at 4:45 p.m. to tell them about the four GroGood edible gardens planted at RIR. The gardens are a part of the GroGood Campaign and were created in partnership with The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Plant a Row for the Hungry and Feeding America. Each garden will provide fresh produce to those at risk for hunger in the Richmond area.

To launch the GroGood pledge campaign, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company will donate 1 million pounds of produce to Feeding America and call on Americans to help double that donation by pledging to grow and donate an additional 1 million pounds of fresh produce to help feed those at risk for hunger. Fans can get involved and take the GroGood pledge by visiting the ScottsMiracle-Gro display adjacent to the hospitality pavilion during race weekend or by visit www.GroGood.com.

Carl Edwards interviews regarding Talladega Crash

On Sunday, we posted the article Shades of Ricky Bobby, after Aarons 499 at Talladega which ended with quite a scare for Carl Edwards and the NASCAR Nation. I have seen plenty of wrecks but this one immediately brought tears to my eyes.

Carl has been on a media circus tour over the past 24 hours. Last night, he appeared on Larry King Live and today he was on The Ellen Show. I have collected clips of Carl's interviews and will be adding any future ones to this post. Note, in both interviews, he mentioned he is quite the Will Ferrell fan which was his inspiration for running across the finish line. I am so happy Carl is alright and am impressed over and over again with his interview skills.

Shades of Ricky Bobby.....

The 2009 Aarons 499 at Talladega was one of the best races I have ever seen. It's been a long time since I was that excited about a race. The ending, which lead to one of the scariest wrecks since Michael McDowell in Texas, will be talked about for quite some time.

Carl Edwards was going for the win, with Dale Earnhardt Jrs protege Brad Keselowski pushing him to the finish line. Brad tried the same move that cost Regan Smith the win last year and Carl tried to block him. When Carl went for the block he became airborne, flipped and smacked into the barrier fence. He then got out of his car and ran across the start/finish line in true Ricky Bobby style. This is the first time Carl The Flipper Edwards has flipped a car.



Thank God Carl didn't run around the track like this (although I am sure many of us wouldn't mind seeing him strip down)



Now it's time to talk about the seriousness of this wreck. 8 Fans were injured. Although none were life threatening, 2 women were air lifted to Birmingham hospitals and one has a broken jaw. The reason that they were airlifted was due to the horrific traffic. We want to send some get well wishes to all that were injured.

SNEAK PREVIEW: New Kevin Harvick Commercial

Our friends at MATTER, Edelman Sports & Entertainment on behalf of Shell sent us the following Kevin Harvick Shell Nitrogen Enriched commercial. You can view it here before it airs for the first time during qualifying at Bristol on Friday March 20th.

It’s not quite the showdown you’d see in a good Western, but Kevin’s dueling skills are certainly put to the test as he and one of the Shell Passionate Experts have it out at the pump. Speaking of Kevin and showdowns, I feel the need to post the Sprint All Stars poster. I thought this was pretty genius of NASCAR & Speed since the "headline fight" is none other than Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards...and how could anyone forget this?

Carl Edwards Record Label helps provide pre-race entertainment for Atlanta Kobalt 500

Atlanta Motor Speedway has announced three performers -- Richie McDonald, Craig Campbell and Chris Hatfield -- for the Aflac Pre-Race Show prior to the running of the Kobalt Tools 500 on Sunday, March 8.

McDonald, the former lead singer for platinum-selling band Lonestar, will sing the National Anthem, while Campbell and Hatfield will perform mini-concerts as part of the Aflac Pre-Race Show.

McDonald gained national attention with Lonestar whose crossover hit "Amazed" reached number one on both the country charts and the Billboard Hot 100, the first song to do so since 1983. In 2007, the Texas native opted to leave Lonestar and pursue a solo career.

Hatfield newly signed with Carl Edwards' record label, Back40 Records, recently opened for Gavin DeGraw at a NASCAR fan event in New York City.

In addition to McDonald, Campbell and Hatfield, singer Megan Peeler will perform the National Anthem prior to Saturday's American Commercial Lines 200 and the duo The Two Timers will sing the Anthem before Friday's Georgia Power Qualifying Night.

Third time was not a charm for Roush Racing

You know those bad days when it seems like a black cloud is hovering and wont let you go? Well, Jack Roush could probably write a book on that after the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It started on lap 6 with a fan favorite Matt Kenseth who won the season-opening Daytona 500 and last week's race at Fontana. Tonight his engine blew up and killed his chance of making history by winning the first 3 races of the year, which no driver in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has ever done.

Moving onto lap 72, where David Ragan also blew an engine.

On to the the final lap while running in the 4th position, the defending champion of the race Carl Edwards also blew his engine.

What is going on with the engines here?!

Edwards wound up 17th, Ragan finished 41st and Kenseth in 42nd. Almost sounds like the results of my fantasy team after tonight's race.

The Cat in the Hats saving grace? 2 of his 5 drivers finished in the top 10. Greg Biffle crossed the checkered flag in 7th and Jamie McMurray in 9th.

Pole winner Kyle Busch became the first driver in history to win the race from the pole position. Yet is he still considered a winner from the pole position when he had to go to the back of the pack since he changed his engine prior to the race? Again, what's with the engines?

Scott Speed and Michael Annett win Cook Off in Vegas

Michael Annett and Scott Speed teamed to win the Fourth Annual Raybestos® Rookie Cooking Challenge Thursday afternoon at ESPN Zone Las Vegas. Annett and Speed prepared a tasty dish of elbow macaroni with meat sauce, garlic onion and mozzarella cheese.

Other drivers competing in the event were Max Papis, Scott Lagasse Jr., John Wes Townley and Justin Allgaier. The event was judged by members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Las Vegas.

“That was a lot of fun,” Annett said. “We love doing anything we can for kids
and something fun like that just makes it even better.”

Annett drives the No. 15 Pilot Travel Centers Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series while Speed begins his rookie year in Sprint Cup in the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota

All drivers who participated in the cooking competition were assisted by members of the ESPN Zone Culinary Team, led by chef Chris Gagen. Once the meals were prepared, each child from the Boys and Girls Clubs sampled the dishes and their applause determined the overall winner. Following the contest, drivers and kids played games in ESPN Zone’s interactive Sports Arena.

Raybestos brand Brakes has been the title sponsor of NASCAR’s rookie program since 1998.

Three things I love? Macaroni, the Boys and Girls Club and Michael Annett! These off track charity events and unique ideas continue to cultivate positive branding for the sport and raise money and awareness to many great causes.

While we are on the subject of food, one of the newer NASCAR cookbooks on the shelves is Pit Stop in a Southern Kitchen written by Martha Earnhardt and Carol Gordon Bickford. That's June Bug's grandma and Jeff's mom to me and you.

Speaking of things that are yummy...

A chance to ride along with your favorite driver in Atlanta!

Speedway Children’s Charities is auctioning off a Ride Of A Lifetime Drivers Auction. It is a chance to take a lap with your favorite NASCAR driver! Click here to visit their eBay auction site. The winning bidder will have the opportunity to ride in the passenger seat of the parade lap Corvette during driver introductions for the Kobalt 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 8, 2009. Prior to the ride along you & a guest will receive a cold pit tour and the opportunity to take photos in your driver’s pit stall. Winning bid does not include tickets, transportation or lodging.

I have been blessed experiences I have had with NASCAR over the past few years but riding in the parade car is one thing I have never done. This is a great opportunity to meet your favorite driver and do something that many people will never experience. You better hurry up if you want a chance at this since the auction ends over the weekend! And ladies....at this time, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards have not been bid on.

Should Sprint and Nationwide be so closely intertwined?

I have been thinking about this for a while. We have been talking about it on Twitter but its really hard to tell you my true thoughts in 140 characters or less. When I was growing up, the BUSCH (sorry i still call it that to this day) series was almost like a JV, a college series of sort. It was a good chance to see some up and coming drivers that would one day race in the Sprint series. There was a sprinkling of "some been there done that" drivers who-while clearly out of the chase-would race a baby carriage if you put him near it.

Fast forward to 2009: 16 of of the 43 drivers were active Sprint Cup chasers in Daytona's Camping World 300. I think this is horrible! In this economy, I feel there may be a need to make some adjustments/provisions to its Nationwide race. I know from a ticket sales point of view this may be a definitive hell to the no..but think of it from a marketing perspective. The bread and butter of any race team is through its sponsorships....especially when they are just starting out. In this economy who would give a sponsor a bigger bang for his buck? Should they put their brand on a Carl Edwards Nationwide Car or a lesser known Justin Allgaier for example?

I just don't think that this is fair to the guys that are trying to make it into the sport. Some would argue that this gives Nationwide drivers a chance to run with the big guys. But, when freaking Kyle Busch and his stupid bow are being spoken about a history making three peat, the warm and fuzzy feeling of "keep your eyes on that guy" is lost. I also feel that with no provisions soon this will take away from the notoriety of a Nationwide Champion. A Nationwide Series Champion should have the pride of being "the one to watch" when they enter the Sprint Series as a true rookie. I predict that in a couple of years, these up and comers will lose the dollars to compete and the entire field will be one Sprint Series paid practice.

Tee Riddle has made an excellent point: What if Brett Favre or Tom Brady announced they were going back to play college football, or Alex Rodriguez said he was going to play high school baseball?? It would be viewed as ridiculous. Except in NASCAR.

Back in the good ole days, Martin Truex Jr with Kevin "Bono" Manion
who won back to back Nationwide championships in 2004 and 2005
Picture from view images

Carl Edwards, enough said.

Now I can say I have seen it with my very own eyes....Carl Edwards is absolutely married. I have known this fact for 2 weeks now, but tonight, we saw him in flesh at the Nascar Fan Fest in Daytona Beach with a ring on that left hand of his....it definitely made me pout for a few minutes. So here it is ladies.....Carl and his wedding ring. Go ahead and weep with me!

The end of a really long season that went by really fast.

After the race Sunday, emotions were on a high. Things are changing. The sport is going to be different next year. The economy has everyone freaking out. Sponsorship issues are no longer a concern, they are now an absolute issue. According to Nascar.com, this past Monday was dubbed as "Black Monday" due to ongoing layoffs between the 3 series.

This brings me to something I didn't want to blog about but have received a few emails asking why it wasn't brought up yet. I am speaking of the DEI/Ganassi merger. After many thoughts and discussions over it, I've decided to have an optimistic outlook on it. This season was rough for both teams and next year brings a fresh start, a new beginning and a new team, with the experience of Chip Ganassi. I know it is hard for a lot of the NASCAR nation to swallow the fact that Dale Earnhardt Inc. is no longer "DEI". It's not the end of the legacy, it is the start of a new one. At the end of the day, mergers are awful, I saw it happen last year first hand with Ginn Racing and let me tell you, it wasn't a pleasent experience.

I learned that NASCAR is a business and businesses go through rough times like this, especially in today's times. We must remember that it is not about the past but about what the future holds. I have a feeling that next year will be a great year for Martin Truex Jr. and the whole Bass Pro team. Go Chip and Dale Racing!Our good buddy Regan Smith won Rookie of the Year!!!! Winning Rookie of the Year is the best case scenario for Reegs and hopefully all will be well and very successful next year. I can only wish him the best. He is truly a class act, something I have known for years. He has made a name for himself this year with the way he handled the Talladega conterversay. I know that no matter what happens, this is the start of a successful career for him. Now we need to find our boy a sponsor! Good luck bud!

Carl Edwards....sigh. I must state how much I hate the chase. He crushed the others with statistics and still came up short in the Series title. He had 9 wins, 19 top 5's and 27 top 10's. He was first in all 3 categories yet came up 69 points shy of the cup. As a Carl Edwards fan, I have to say, I am very proud of him. I really was hoping he won the cup but there is always next year!! Well, then again, shouldn't I be saying I want Martin Truex Jr. to win the cup in 09? I don't want to get in trouble!

So what has this year taught us? Next year, next year, there is always next year. 2008 has been a rough one for mostly everyone I know, personally, financially, emotionally and career wise. 2009 has to be more promising. Or I quit.

This may be the most depressing blog I have ever done.

Here are a few of our photos from the Homestead-Miami weekend.

Top left: Megan, Bono, Knuckles, Ally, Doodle. Top right: Ally, Doodle

Middle left: Megan and Ally @ the Bass Pro Pits. Middle right: Megan and Ally @ Jimmie Johnsons celebration. Botttom left: Megan and Ally on the track, after the race.

Bottom right: Megan and Sweet Jim.

Kevin Vs Carl

The latest drama in the saga called Nascar is Carl Edwards vs Kevin Harvick. There is nothing like a little brawl to draw attention. I don't need to go into the story being everyone that knows Nascar knows what happened on Thursday but here are the highly anticipated Kevin Harvick Carl Edwards fight pictures. My money is on Carl btw.

A 35 pound princess and a 50 pound trophy

Ok, I am having a sappy moment right now and I admit, I am a bit teary eyed. Carl Edwards is known for giving his trophy’s away. He gave his most recent Nationwide trophy to 4 year old Emma Mitchum who was born with a form of Spina Bifida, a disease that causes her spine and other organs to grow and function incorrectly. She is the typical 4 year old that loves princesses, the color pink and now Carl Edwards (hey, we share 3 things in common!). She has already endured 3 operations on her spine with an addition to another which will help her function better. Carl heard of Emma through one of his crew guys, Darren Beach, whose wife is related to her. "Darren and I grew up together. Our dads raced each other. He's been there, by my side, and we've been friends and worked together since I ran race cars out of my garage at home," said Edwards. "After I won that race, Darren has never asked me for a thing, and he said, ‘If you don't have a place for that trophy to go, I got a place for it.' He told me about Emma and how much she's gone through at a really young age, how strong she is, and I figured she deserved the trophy as much as I did and would appreciate it even more."
Lets say my adoration of Carl just went up 5 notches.

Sorry to be such a sap....hell, Darlynn cries at every National Anthem...I suppose I can be sappy on this blog one time.

Mr Ed...

OH my- Mr. Ed. How did we, the queens of coming up with some of the best nicknames - NOT come up with this one?

Rowdy Busch VS Cousin Carl?

This past Sunday, a mere 6 days ago, an article came out about a potential rivalry between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. I remember reading this and laughing to myself being the Carl lover/Kyle hater that I am. Well, I just finished watching the Bristol race and I immediately thought about this article and had to find it online. Lets pull a few paragraphs from this article...... click here to read the whole thing

In fact, NASCAR could promote the hell out of it, a good-natured war of words and an almost WWE-like showdown between Cousin Carl, the Country Bumpkin vs. Rowdy Busch, the Vegas Villain.

Imagine the poster possibilities: Edwards wearing bib overalls with a hayseed stalk sticking out of his mouth staring down Busch, the new Man In Black with the wraparound dark sunglasses and black cowboy hat.

Good vs. evil, All-American boy vs. NASCAR's bad boy. It could be just what the Chase – which has taken its lumps the last couple of years – and NASCAR need.

SO, I hate to even go here but I have to sit here and wonder if NASCAR is capable of pulling off such a great publicity stunt. Carl, who did nothing wrong by any means when he "Bristol Bumped" Kyle to get the lead, ends up getting rammed after the checkered flag by Kyle. Then Dumbo had the nerve to call Carl Mr. Ed like (I admit, I laughed my ass off).

So, with what was written, how ironic were tonights altercations? Especially with Carls post race comment: "They keep talking about rivalries," Edwards said. "We might have one now."

Since Bono is still suspended (it isn't near as fun listening to MTJ without him) I found myself listening to Carl, Kyle and Regan Smith throughout the night. Carl and Kyle were not speaking ill of one another, in fact, they were talking about each others cars and what they had to do to get/keep the lead. Something smells fishy to me. I understand both of these boys have bad tempers but this was a little unexpected.

Personally, I would love to see this "WWE showdown"

Nascar Junkies

The trials and tribulations of 3 Nascar junkies.....First I have to state that NO, we do not stalk drivers to get their photos. We know many of these guys personally. Once you have an "in" in the Nascar world, it is easy to get to know people. Then you become well known on Pit Road and it's all over from there. Just imagine walking in the garage and a crew chief stops what he is doing to scream "skanks" at you! (he's kidding) I know that sounds bad but the "MY NEW HAIRCUT" video on youtube and too much Moonshine had a lot to do with that. Or how about Darlynn and Ally who became known at Darlington '07 as "The two girls in black cowboy hats" by pretty much everyone on pit row. I got a call from a certain driver friend of mine who starts telling me about these girls who were talk of the garage. Well, go figure, they were my best friends. To boot, at this years Pepsi, scratch that Coke 400, someone came up to them and asked if they were the "two girls in black cowboy hats". It is almost ridiculous.

So below, I would like to share some of our photos with you.


Ally and Tony Stewart


Megan and Carl Edwards



Darlynn and Ally with Martin Truex Jr.


Ally and Dale Jr. at Whiskey River


Wendy and Megan with Mark Martin


Megan and Wendy with Kasey Kahne



Megan with Regan Smith and his girlfriend Megan



Wendy, Megan and Keri with Michael Waltrip


Megan and Kelly with Kurt Busch


Megan with Joe Nemechek and his son, John Hunter















Ocean Deck, July 08......Although they may not drive the car, they are the "nuts" and bolts that hold the car together. From L-R, Darlynn, Clark (Mechanic for #1 car), Ally Rocker, Megan, Tommy Baldwin (Crew Chief for #22), Kevin "Bono" Manion (Crew Chief for #1).