Grandstands looking full for the duals!!

We are at the Gatorade Duals!! Racing about to begin...The grandstands are looking full...check in for more updates!

-the fashionistas..
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Happy Dual Day!

The crowds are packing in, International Speedway was a cluster this morning. We are currently getting ready to head back down to the track for the Gatorade Duals. This has always been one of our favorite races, but this year is going to be a nail biter. There are a lot of great teams that deserve to be in the show that have to race their way in today. We will know at the end of the day who is in the 51st running of the Daytona 500. Look for updates throughout the day as we will be blogging from the track. If you aren't already following us on twitter, click here for the link.

Joe Nemechek checks in on tomorrow's Gatorade Duals

Nacsar.com posted an article today on the intensity of tomorrow's Gatorade Duals.

"Well, there's a lot of unknowns," Nemechek said. "I'd much
rather be
locked-in the show in one of those top-three qualifying spots --
but
unfortunately we're not there, so you've got to deal with what you
have."

I adore Joe and admire all has given a lot to this sport. I wish him the best of luck tomorrow in qualifying...just hope his comments (which are usually taken out of context) doesn't have the karma fairy chasing him. Some of the "unknowns" racing against him tomorrow is a Rookie of the Year and several have Daytona 500 winning crew chiefs at their helm. Don't forget that I am fairly new to the sport, and if I can take a manicured finger down the list with recognition on almost all (who IS Carl Long?, googling now...) its looks like the word "unknown" might not have been the best choice. Anyone have a rabbit foot?

Lineup in the Gatorade Duals Race 1 and Race 2

Our Daytona Beach dining guide.

So if you are anything like me and you are in an unfamiliar town, you will spend weeks googling the best restaurants and bars to visit upon your trip. When I travel, I usually have a planned schedule, broken down by the clothes I am wearing and the places I am visiting. Yet, not matter how many times I have tried, when it comes to out of town races, I end up eating at the closest restaurant around or at a chain....ugh.
This is where we are coming to the rescue. Daytona is full of hidden surprises when it comes to eating out. We put a little list together of our favorite eats and drinks in town. I must say, of everything on this list, you must go to the Brickyard and get a cheeseburger; it is a Daytona legend. Please trust me on this. We kept the list pretty local so driving wouldn't be an issue. If you do get a wild hair and want to travel about 30 min North, you must check out Snack Jacks in Flagler Beach.

So, here is our dining guide. I would love to know if anyone takes our advice and what they think of our suggestions! If you have problems viewing it in full size, there should be an area to zoom, if not shoot us an email and we will send it to you.

Get your Sharpies ready....driver appearances during Speedweek!

Throughout the last week, we have been gathering driver appearances for Speedweeks and this is what I have thus far. I have to admit, that while I am very pretty impressed with the Dale Jr./Adidas promotion on February 12th at the Volusia Mall, I personally will not be within 10 miles of it, with the fear of getting trampled by rabid JR fans.

If anyone has any other driver appearances they would like to add, shoot us an email and I will gladly post it to the list.

Driver Appearances at the track

FEB. 5: Kasey Kahne on the Speed Stage, 7:30 pm.
FEB. 7: Brian Vickers will be making an appearance at the Red Bull merchandise hauler trackside. Check hauler for time.
FEB. 7: Kasey Kahne at the Budweiser Shootout Front-Stretch Pre-Party before the drop of the green flag at 5:15 (tentative) for a Q&A Session.
FEB. 8: Clint Bowyer will appear at the Jack Daniel's Experience (located outside of turn 4) from 11 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Autographs are limited and will be available on a first come, first serve basis.
FEB. 11: Martin Truex Jr. and veteran pro angler Roland Martin will be at the Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats merchandise hauler trackside from 3:45 - 4:30.
FEB. 15: Brian Vickers will be making an appearance at the Red Bull merchandise hauler trackside at Daytona International Speedway. Check hauler for time.

Driver Appearances at the Volusia Mall (across from the speedway)

FEB. 10: Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, Johnny Benson and Ron Hornaday are scheduled to appear for the live broadcast of PRN's Daytona Beach Fast Talk Radio in the Volusia Mall at 6:00pm. For more information visit the Performance Racing Network website.
FEB. 10: Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson & Tony Stewart are scheduled to appear for the live broadcast of PRN's Daytona Beach Fast Talk Radio in the Volusia Mall at 6:00pm. For more information visit the Performance Racing Network website.
FEB. 12: Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are scheduled to appear for the live broadcast of PRN's Daytona Beach Fast Talk Radio in the Volusia Mall at 6:00pm. For more information visit the Performance Racing Network website.
FEB. 12: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be at an Adidas meet-and-greet at Champs Sports. The first 88 fans to make a $150 Adidas purchase, including one Dale Jr. item between February 6-11 will receive an 'Adidas Hot Pass' to meet Jr. at the store on Thursday, Feb. 12. Each of the 88 fans also will have their photo taken with Dale and will receive a collectible picture frame.

Other Driver Appearances throughout Daytona

FEB. 6: Kasey Kahne with special guest, Dierks Bentley at the “Off the Track. Off the Record” One Night Stand event located at the Coliseum in Daytona Beach, presented by Budweiser. You can can obtain the tickets to the event via radio and/or retail promotions in and around the Daytona Beach area.
FEB. 10: Tony Stewart at the Office Depot on 560 South Nova Road (at Belville Road), Daytona Beach from 5-7 p.m. Tony will be signing autographs. Wristbands will be required and distributed to the first 600 customers beginning at 7 a.m. on the day of the event.
FEB. 10: David Ragan will be signing autographs at Discount Tire at 1051 Beville Road Daytona Beach from 4-6 p.m.
FEB. 11: Joe Logano Joey will be signing autographs at the Home Depot at 1551 Dunlawton Blvd., Port Orange. from 5-7 p.m.
FEB. 14: Ryan Newman will be signing Pet Road Pets book at the Meaty Bone Experience tent at Speedway Village at the Daytona Beach Flea and Farmer's Market at 1:45 p.m.

Drivers scheduled to race at local tracks during Race week

FEB. 6-14: Kraig Kinser will race the No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/JD Byrider Maxim in the Tony Stewart's World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL. For more details, contact Volusia Speedway Park at (386) 985-4402 or visit the official Web site of VSP.
FEB. 9-10: Ryan Newman is scheduled to participate in the NASCAR Modified Series race at New Smyrna Speedway located in New Smyrna Beach, Florida on Monday & Tuesday, February 9 & 10, 2009. Newman is scheduled to drive the #7NY Aggressive Hydraulics Chevrolet. For ticket information and start times please call 386-427-4129 or visit the New Smyrna Speedway website.

2009 NASCAR Entertainment & Fanzone schedule for Daytona

Daytona International Speedway released their entertainment & Fanzone schedule and we thought it would be helpful to post on our little website. We are huge fans of the Budweiser Bistro and as normal, we will be spending a lot of time there during Speed Weeks. If you are going to be here for the races, you must check out the Trans Ams Friday in the Fanzone. Ally and Darlynn are good friends w/ them and they are a riot.

It's hard to believe that we are 1 week away from the start of it all!!

Thursday , February 5, 2009:
12pm Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
12pm Inspection for Bud Shootout Cars Sprint - FANZONE
7pm Budweiser Draw Party Speed Stage Outside Turn 4 Tunnel

Friday, February 6, 2009:
10am Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
10am Inspection for DAYTONA 500 Cars Sprint - FANZONE

Saturday, February 7, 2009:
10am Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
10am Inspection Station Activity Sprint - FANZONE
10am-7pm Rock Wall & Power Jump Sprint - FANZONE
10am-8:10pm Live Mural Experience: David Arrigo Sprint - FANZONE
12pm-5pm DJ RERUN Main Stage
12:30pm-1:30pm ARCA Series Autograph Session Blue Garage
1pm Daytona 500 Pace Car Unveiling Sprint - FANZONE
(4:15pm ARCA Green Flag Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200)
(8:10pm Sprint Cup Green Flag Budweiser Shootout)
Post-Race Concert: Dierks Bentley Main Stage

Sunday, February 8, 2009:
12pm Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
12pm Inspection Station Activity Sprint - FANZONE
12pm-4pm Rock Wall & Power Jump Sprint - FANZONE
12-4pm Live Mural Experience: David Arrigo Goodyear Legends
12pm-4pm DJ RERUN Main Stage

Wednesday, February 11, 2009:
10am Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
10am-5:30pm Rock Wall & Power Jump Sprint - FANZONE
10am-6pm Live Mural Experience: David Arrigo Sprint - FANZONE

Thursday, February 12, 2009:
9am Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
9am Inspection Station Activity Sprint - FANZONE
9am-11am DJ RERUN Main Stage
9am-1pm Rock Wall & Power Jump Sprint - FANZONE
9am-2pm Live Mural Experience: David Arrigo Goodyear Legends
9:30am &10:30am Show Car Tech Talks Sprint Display
11:15am – 1pm Live Band: Dueling Pianos Main Stage
(2:00pm Sprint Cup Green Flag Gatorade Duel)

Friday, February 13, 2009:
1pm Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
1pm Inspection Station Activity Sprint - FANZONE
1pm-7pm Rock Wall & Power Jump Sprint - FANZONE
1pm-8pm Live Mural Experience: David Arrigo Goodyear Legends
1pm-3:30pm DJ RERUN Main Stage
3pm Show Car Tech Talk Sprint Display
3:30pm-3:45pm Appearance: Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Display
4pm-7pm Live Band: The Trans Ams Main Stage
5pm-5:30pm Joe Gibbs Main Stage
5pm-5:45pm NCWTS Autograph Session Sprint - FANZONE
5:30pm-7:00pm DJ RERUN Main Stage
6:15pm Show Car Tech Talk Sprint Display
(8:00pm Truck Series Green Flag Nextera Energey Resources 250)

Saturday, February 14, 2009:
9am Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
9am Inspection Station Activity Sprint - FANZONE
9am-1pm Live Mural Experience: David Arrigo Goodyear Legends
9am-1pm Rock Wall & Power Jump Spring - FANZONE
9:30am Show Car Tech Talk Sprint Display
9:45am-10:15am Hellman’s Fan of the Year Announcement: Main Stage Dale Jr., Mark Martin, Brad Keslowski
10am-10:20am Driver Appearance: Tony Stewart Main Stage
10:30am Show Car Tech Talk Sprint Display
11:30-1pm Live Band Main Stage
(2pm Nationwide Series Green Flag Camping World 300)

Sunday, February 15, 2009:
8am Sprint FANZONE Opens to Public
8am Inspection Station Activity Sprint - FANZONE
8am-10:00am DJ RERUN Main Stage
8am-2:30pm Rock Wall & Power Jump Sprint - FANZONE
8am-3:30pm Live Mural Experience: David Arrigo Goodyear Legends
9am Show Car Tech Talk Sprint Display
10am-1pm Live Band: Orange Avenue Main Stage
1pm-2pm DJ RERUN Main Stage
1pm Show Car Tech Talk Sprint Display
1:00pm Harley J. Earl Daytona 500 Trophy Procession Sprint - FANZONE
2pm Show Car Tech Talk Sprint Display
(3:30pm Sprint Cup Green Flag Daytona 500)
7:30pm-11:30pm Daytona 500 After Party – Mister DJ DAYTONA 500 EXPERIENCE

Speedweeks 2009

In only 10 days, the 2009 Speedweeks of Daytona will kick off with one of our favorite events, The Budweiser Shootout Drawing Party. Hopefully this year, the guys won’t find it amusing to throw the selection flags at Darlynn for “target practice”. We are blessed this year by having 2 of the hottest men in Country Music to bless the stage with their presence. Dierks Bentley is performing for the Shootout and as Darlynn previously posted, Keith Urban is performing at the Daytona 500. I for one will be stalking Dierks!

With so much going on both on and off the track during Speedweeks, I thought it would be helpful for all to post the 2009 Daytona schedule, that I graciously pulled from the DIS website. We will post an off track event schedule as soon as we can put one together!

Thursday February 5th
12:00 pm-5:00 pm ARCA Practice
7:00pm Budweiser Shootout Draw Party

Friday February 6th
12:00pm ARCA Qualifying
4:15pm-5:00pm Budweiser Shootout Practice
5:10pm-6:15pm ARCA final practice
6:30pm-7:30pm Final Budweiser Shootout Practice

Saturday February 7th
10:30am-12:30pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
1:30pm-3:00pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
3:30 ARCA Driver Introductions
4:15pm: ARCA Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 (80 laps, 175 miles)
7:50pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Introductions for Budweiser Shootout
8:10pm: Budweiser Shootout (70 laps, 175 miles)

Sunday February 8th
1:10pm Daytona 500 Qualifying

Wednesday February 11th
11:00am-11:55am: NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
12:00pm-1:50pm Camping World Truck Series Practice
2:00pm-2:50pm Final NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice for Gatorade Duals
3:00pm-4:50pm Nationwide Series Practice
5:00pm-5:50pm Camping World Truck Series Practice

Thursday February 12th
9:30am-10:50am Final Nationwide Series Practice
11:15am-1:20pm Camping World Truck Series Practice
1:40pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Introductions for Gatorade Duals
2:00pm Gatorade Duals race #1 (60 laps, 150 miles)
3:30pm Gatorade Duals race #2 (60 laps, 150 miles)
6:10pm Camping World Truck Series Qualifying

Friday February 13th
1:40pm-2:40pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
3:10pm Nationwide Series Qualifying
7:30pm Camping World Truck Series Driver Introductions
8:00pm Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 (100 laps, 250 miles)

Saturday February 14th (Happy Valentines Day!)
11:00am-12:30pm Final NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice for Daytona 500
12:45pm Driver Introductions for Nationwide Camping World 300
1:15pm Nationwide Camping World 300 (120 laps, 300 miles)

Sunday February 15th
2:30pm NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Introductions for the Daytona 500
3:30pm Daytona 500 (200 laps, 500 miles)

24 and this is in no way a reference to Jeff Gordon

Just 24 short days till we go back into full swing with the Greatest American Race The Daytona 500. For fear that you,like us will be a little overwhelmed with the massive of name/car/team/mascot....you name it.. changes since Homestead-the Gods at Jayski has simplified it here. I got as far as #5 before I screwed it up so I do implore you to print this out and start studying. We have a lot of work to do!
In other news, it is pretty awesome to see our friend for who we will not name who is allegedly from Long Island, who could possibly own a new race team that we are not blogging about...well its nice to see his name in print :) And this definitely does not remind us about him...Good Luck to Jaeger Bombs and all our peeps in new positions/cars/teams/mascot uniforms, etc.

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!