Mike Skinner Round Up is tonight!!

With no race this week, we found ourselves a little saddened and not sure of what to do with ourselves. Fortunately for us, we live in Daytona Beach and the Toyota Skinner Round Up is tonight in the FanZone at Daytona International Speedway.

We will be surrounded by many celebrities, including jazz & blues superstar Stacy Mitchhart, NFL star Randy Moss, NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, award-winning singer/songwriter Edwin McCain, daredevil Robby Knievel, Betty Jane France, and NASCAR drivers A. J. Allmendinger, Boris Said, Rick Crawford, Ron Hornaday and Steve Park.

Amazingly enough, admission is only $10, children 12 and under are free. It includes “A Taste of Daytona,” a food extravaganza presented by area restaurants and there is a auction.

We will blog about our experience and post pictures tomorrow so come back and visit us!

If you find yourself in the Daytona area tonight, here is the schedule & tickets are available at Gate 40.
6:00-7:30 PM - Gatorade Victory Lane Photos With Mike and the #5 Exide Toyota Tundra
7:00-9:00 PM - Silent Auction
9:00 PM - Celebrity Introductions and Live Auction!
7:30 – 11:00 PM - Live Concert With Jazz/Blues Entertainer Stacy Mitchhart

All proceeds benefit the Council on Aging, Greyhound Pets of America, Halifax Health Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank and Concerned Citizens for Animal Welfare.)

A Fast Lap with Regan Smith

Today's Fast Lap features NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, Regan Smith.

Q. What music have you recently put on your iPod?
A. Anything by Avenged Sevenfold

Q. What was the last movie you saw in a movie theatre?
A. Haven’t been to a theater in forever, watched Batman the Dark Knight in my house the other
night though....it kicks A!

Q. What are your favorite TV shows, or something you must have in your DVR/Tivo recorder to watch when you return home from the track?
A. 24, Fringe, and Carolina Hurricanes games

Q. What other sporting teams/events do you follow?
A. Carolina Hurricanes Hockey!

Q. What is one personal item you can not live without?
A. iPhone, I sent these answers on it

Q. What are your favorite places to visit?
A. Colorado Mountains to snowboard

Q. What is your favorite clothing brand?
A. I love True Religion Jeans

Q. What is your favorite book or publication?
A. Playboy...for the articles of course ;)

Q. What is your favorite activity to do in your off time?
A. Snowboard, watch hockey and be at home

Q. What is your favorite cuisine?
A. Can't beat a great steak.

Next week we will feature Crew Cheif Richard Slugger Labbe

The Busch Series and I don't mean Anheuser

AP Photo / Isacc Brekken

We may as well call it The Busch Series. The Busch Brothers have been on fire for the 2009 season. Every track that NASCAR has visited has resulted with one or both of the Busch brothers being in Victory Lane. In Daytona, Kyle won the 2nd Gatorade Dual - In Fontana, Kyle won the Nationwide race - In Las Vegas, Kyle won the Sprint Cup race & the Truck race - In Atlanta, Kurt won the Sprint Cup race and Kyle won the Truck Race. That's right...Kyle has won at every track that they have visited this year.

• Kurt Busch is currently 2nd in points, with 1 win, 1 top 5 and 1 top 10.
• Kyle Busch is currently 5th in points with 1 win and 1 top 5 (his Dual win doesn't count). Kyle is also 3rd in the Nationwide Series with 1 win and 1st in the Truck Series with 2 wins.

The Busch brothers aren't exactly fan favorites. I personally like Kurt and Kyle's talent is starting to grow on me. No matter what way you look at it, both of these brothers are extremely talented. How long do you think it will take for sibling rivalry to get in the way? That will make for an interesting season!

Here's your chance to be a Grand Marshall!

Photo rights of The Jimmie Johnson Foundation

What is that one thing that you have always dreamed of doing? The first thing that comes to my mind is to do the coin toss at the start of a Florida Gators game. As long as I have known Darlynn, to deliver the most famous words in racing is on her bucket list. She is certain that one day she will get to be the Grand Marshall at a NASCAR race.

For a pretty penny, she can have that opportunity. We were checking out The Jimmie Johnson Foundation and came across an auction on eBay which ends in 2 days.

If you win this auction, you have the opportunity to deliver the most famous words in racing, “Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!” at The Jimmie Johnson Foundation 150 on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at Phoenix International Raceway. Wait, that's not all. Once you deliver the command, you will get into the Pace Car, driven by Jimmie Johnson and lead the field to the start of the race. This auction is quite the package and worth bidding on, click here for all of the details.

The Jimmie Johnson Foundation is dedicated to assisting children, families and communities throughout the United States. By donating to needy and worthy causes, the foundation will strive to help everyone, particularly children, to pursue their dreams.

What you thought about Digger

We promise this will be the last thing you will see us post about Digger. I am equally as annoyed hearing people complain about him as I am looking at him dig across my TV screen. As much as I do not prefer the little rodent, I must admit when I saw him dancing yesterday (doing the moon walk and the robot amongst other dance moves) I laughed.

Here are the results of our Digger poll, which 139 people voted on.

Diggers gotta die!	81 (58%)
Awww he's cute!	32 (23%)
I could care less!	26 (18%)

For those of you that didn't get a chance to vote, tell us what you think of Digger? Darlynn loves him.

Runway Monday

What we are drooling over (Megan has a pair & LOVES them)

True Religion Brand 'Candice' Dark Drifter

Being Cost Concious

Gap Wide Leg Trousers (and they are on sale!)

In honor of Bike Week, heres your chance to win a Kasey Kahne Orange County Chopper

Here is your chance to win a custom built Orange County Chopper (built for Kasey Kahne) for only $9! The Kasey Kahne Foundation and the Sonoma chapter of Speedway Children's Charities will hold a "Kasey Kahne Custom Chopper Raffle" at this years Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on June 21. One lucky fan will win the custom built red & white OCC bike.

Tickets can be purchased for only $9 each, by calling 800-870-RACE and proceeds from the raffle will be distributed to qualified youth groups in Sonoma County.

Something almost as good as Will Ferrell happening in Talladega...

Even Talladega is sensitive to this economy. Talladega Superspeedway announced it is rolling out a monthly payment plan for customers, when tickets to the November AMP Energy 500 race went on sale to the general public on Saturday. The payment plan can be used for race tickets, including specially priced $40 AMP Energy 500 tickets, hospitality packages and overnight parking spaces.

The monthly payment plan allows race fans to make automatic payments for their ticket purchases with a debit or credit card, until August 1, 2009. The earlier race fans make their purchases, the more time they have to spread their payments out at lower monthly installments. After the first initial payment, each monthly installment will be automatically charged to the customer’s debit or credit card on the first of the month until August 1.

To begin a payment plan, guests should call 1-877-Go2-DEGA. As a reminder, this race is three weeks later than normal, for race number seven in the chase. Tickets to the AMP Energy 500 and the upcoming Aaron’s Dream Weekend, April 24 -26, are available at www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or by calling 1-877-Go2-DEGA.(TSS PR)(3-7-2009)

There is room for great jokes here, but seriously congrats to the Speedway for paying attention to the needs of its fans. If you missed our experiences at the Talladega race in October please take a visit down memory lane with us here or here.

Bass Pro Shops founder supports Childress Institute

Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, is supporting the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma. Wake Forrest Baptist Medical Center announced a $1 million commitment from Morris.

The Childress Institute’s mission is to significantly improve survival rates of children nationwide who suffer serious injuries and reduce the lifelong impact of traumatic injuries in children. Richard Childress and his family have provided $5 million to the Medical Center to initiate the project. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the Childress family are working with corporations and individuals to raise awareness and an additional $20 million to establish the Institute’s endowment fund.

Bass Pro is the main sponsor for the #1 Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex, Jr in the Sprint Cup Series.

Fashionistas Feasting Frugally

It's the final Saturday of Bikeweek in Daytona. Forget trying to go out to dinner unless you want to wait until Monday to get a table. We wanted to have a nice girls night but we knew that would be impossible. We decided to have a Fashionista style Saturday dinner, but cooking it ourselves instead of going out.

What was on our menu this evening?
2 Bottles of cabernet
Baked Brie
Homemade Caesar Salad (dressing recipe courtesy of Beth Baldwin)
Filet Mignon
Shrimp
Mashed Potatoes
Sauteed Mushrooms
Strawberries and Cream (Tastefully Simple)

Our dinner turned out fab and if we had gone out to dinner to Stonewood Grill and Tavern, our bill would have been a whopping $160 after tip between the 2 of us. Want to know what we spent? $58!!! I love being frugal. See we can survive the economy and not give up our luxuries!

On NASCAR related news, Martin Truex Jr. was hospitalized tonight after practice for Kidney Stones. Word has it that they passed and he will be ok to drive tomorrow. Hopefully that is the only thing that passes him in Atlanta. :)

Happy Happy Hour!

Zing Zang has the best Bloody Mary mix you will ever purchase. All three of us used to be bartenders and consider ourselves Bloody Mary connoisseurs. I refused to buy a premade mix until I tried Zing Zang. Most grocery stores carry it so do yourself a treat and pick up a bottle next time you are shopping. Enjoy this cocktail while following along with Happy Hour here!

The best thing about Bloody Marys is that you can put anything you like in them. I personally like to put a pickle in mine. Darlynn likes shrimp in hers...it is like an alcoholics shrimp cocktail.

Fashionista Bloody Mary
Grey Goose or Kettle One
Zing Zang
Celery Stalk and whatever else your heart desires

Place a celery stalk in a highball glass fill with ice. Combine 1/2 vodka and 1/2 mix.

Cheers!

Atlanta Kobalt Tools 500 cheat sheet / lineup

We are a little late posting this, thanks to Bike Week in Daytona Beach. This is the first time I haven't made it to an Atlanta race in the last 6 races. Last year I woke up to snow at the track!

Mark Martin, who was fastest in practice 1, won his first pole since Richmond in May 2001. This is a good thing for Mark being he is currently 34th in points. Will he finally break his loosing streak or will he blow another engine?

So far this year has been all about the engine problems. Last year it was all about the tires. Tony Stewart had his famous rant about Goodyear by calling them the most pathetic racing tire he has ever been on in his entire racing career and that they can’t build a tire worth a crap. Hopefully Goodyear got it together because last years Atlanta race was ridiculous.

Kolbalt Tools 500 lineup

1. #5 Mark Martin Chevrolet, Kellogg's / Carquest (fastest in practice 1)

2. #2 Kurt Busch Dodge, Miller Lite

3. #26 Jamie McMurray Ford, Irwin Industrial Tools

4. #42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet, Target

5. #16 Greg Biffle Ford, 3M

6. #11 Denny Hamlin Toyota, FedEx Ground

7. #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet, Lowe's / Kobalt Tools

8. #87 Joe Nemechek Toyota, NEMCO Motorsports

9. #18 Kyle Busch Toyota, M&M's

10. #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet, Reese's

11. #14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet, Office Depot / Old Spice

12. #39Ryan Newman Chevrolet, Haas Automation

13. #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge, Budweiser

14. #19 Elliott Sadler Dodge, Best Buy

15. #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet, Caterpillar

16. #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet, National Guard Youth Challenge / DuPont

17. #83 Brian Vickers Toyota, Red Bull

18. #00 David Reutimann Toyota, Aaron's Dream Machine

19. #7 Robby Gordon Toyota, Jim Beam

20. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet, Amp Energy / National Guard

21. #33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet, BB&T

22. #28 Travis Kvapil Ford, Golden Corral

23. #1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet, Bass Pro Shops / Tracker

24. #55 Michael Waltrip Toyota, NAPA

25. #07 Casey Mears Chevrolet, DirecTV

26. #82 Scott Speed Toyota, Red Bull

27. #66 Dave Blaney Toyota, Prism Motorsports

28. #12 David Stremme Dodge, Penske Racing

29. #99 Carl Edwards Ford, Aflac

30. #17 Matt Kenseth Ford, Dewalt

31. #71 David Gilliland Chevrolet, Capital Window

32. #43 Reed Sorenson Dodge, Super 8

33. #98 Paul Menard Ford, Pittsburgh Paints / Menards

34. #47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota, Kingsford / Clorox / Little Debbie

35. #21 Bill Elliott Ford, Motorcraft

36. #77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge, Mobil

37. #8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet, Cub Cadet

38. #44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge, Charter Comm.

39. #6 David Ragan Ford, UPS

40. #96 Bobby Labonte Ford, Ask.com

41. #34 John Andretti Chevrolet, WindowWorld.com

42. #20 Joey Logano Toyota, The Home Depot

43. #09 Mike Bliss Dodge, Phoenix Racing

The 4 drivers who didn’t make it in were all Toyotas:

#35 Todd Bodine Toyota

#36 Scott Riggs Toyota, Red Bank Outfitters

#41 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota, All Sport

#64 Geoff Bodine Toyota, Gunselman Motorsports

In case you missed Tony’s Goodyear ranting:

Camera Ready

We will premiere a new feature on our blog this week, which will soon be initiating on our "in the works" website. Do you have a picture of you and your favorite driver? Send it to us and we will post it on our page! Send us a caption and link back to your blog if you have one! Email all pictures to nascarfashionistas@gmail.com and stay tuned to see your cute mug on our site! Oh some legal mumbo jumbo....by sending us your picture electronically you are giving us permission to post it!

We expect your pictures to be THIS fabulous!!

Tommy Baldwin Racing gives small businesses the chance to get involved with NASCAR

Have you ever dreamed of seeing your businesses name appear on a NASCAR Sprint Cup car? Now is your chance! Tommy Baldwin Racing announces a unique and rewarding opportunity to help small businesses gain national attention. This is a fantastic way to promote your business on a very well respected, up and coming race team. Check out their press release below.

Mooresville, N.C. (March 5, 2009) – With the recession affecting many Americans and small businesses throughout the United States, Tommy Baldwin Racing has developed a creative way where small businesses and Americans can show their support for one another.

For a nominal fee of $8,000, small businesses throughout the United States will get the opportunity to place their company logo on the c-post of the No. 36 Red Bank Outfitters Toyota. Along with the sponsorship, the company will receive two VIP credentials that will grant them access into the NASCAR Sprint Cup garage and pit road during practice and the race.

Additionally, a link from their website will give businesses the chance to place coupons on the website that offer struggling Americans discounts on services, goods and other common needs. The monetary values of the coupons are intended to steer consumers to participating small businesses that provide quality merchandise and services to hard-working Americans.

“This program shows how small business can support one another during some tough economic times,” said Baldwin, owner of Tommy Baldwin Racing. “With a small investment these businesses can show their support of TBR and give Americans some relief with discounts on services and merchandise while driving traffic to their businesses.”

To become part of this program, or for more information, contact Everest Marketing Group at (704) 688-0765.

A Fast Lap with Michael Annett

If you had the opportunity to ask your favorite driver a question about their life, what would you want to know? What music they were listening to? What their favorite food was? Or maybe their favorite clothing designer?

We are starting a brand new feature (which we hope to publish weekly) called A Fast Lap. We are asking drivers, crew chiefs and NASCAR media personalities 10 questions to get an insight on their personal lives.

We are kicking off with Michael Annett.
Q. What music have you recently put on your iPod?
A. I actually don’t have an iPod, but lately I’ve been listening to Brad Paisley, Sunny Ledfurd, and Kenny Chesney.

Q. What was the last movie you saw in a movie theatre?
A. Marley and Me

Q. What are your favorite TV shows, or something you must have in your DVR/Tivo?
A. House, Two and a Half Men, and Nitro Circus

Q. What other sporting teams/events do you follow?
A. Dallas Cowboys, Iowa Hawkeyes and the Carolina Hurricanes

Q. What is one personal item you can not live without?
A. My dog Paisley

Q. What are your favorite places to visit?
A. My favorite track to visit is Phoenix. As for vacation spots, my favorites are Vail, Colorado and the Ozarks.

Q. What is your favorite clothing brand?
A. Express

Q. What is your favorite book or publication?
A. Maxim and NASCAR Illustrated

Q. What is your favorite activity to do in your off time?
A. Going to the lake

Q. What is your favorite cuisine?
A. Chinese

Become a fan of Michaels Facebook Page here.

Stay tuned next week for A Fast Lap with Regan Smith!

Whats in the water in Atlanta??

As we head to Atlanta for this week, I wonder why this race doesnt get more notoriety? Acording to its Speedway's website, their city hosts the second highest number of hometown drivers, next to California. This really surprised me! There seems to be a brand new batch of up and coming drivers and a crop of them are coming from the Dirty South. Reed Sorrenson and David Ragan call Atlanta their home. Even Joey Lagano who was born in Connecicut, moved to Georgia (not for racing mind you, but to further his sister's figure skating career!) and began to race in the Southern racing divisions. If any of these boys need some inspiration, they should look to Mr. Atlanta himself, Mr. Bill Elliott. Awesome Bill has spent three decades shaping the future for these boys. He will be using provisional points to race this weekend in his hometown. Atlanta may not have the hype of a Daytona or a Talladega but Atlanta holds its own if nothing more than to see some of these drivers on the track that started their career.
In case you were looking for a inexpensive way to see this weekends race in person check out Kobalt Tools Buy 1 Ticket Get 1 Free: According to the Atlanta Motor Speedway, when you make a purchase of $25 or more at Lowe's, customers get a FREE ticket with the purchase of a regular ticket to Sunday's race. Tickets are good for seats in the Petty Grandstand, up to a $95 value.(While supplies last.)

If dating Dale Jr is the best thing you can put on your resume....mazel tov!!

Dale Jr's ex to compete in America's Next Top Model newest season.

photo courtesy of ciastockphoto.com

No, no it isn't me; Kortnie Coles a 24 year old "non profit" organizer from Houston TX will be one of the contestants on the America's Next Top Model. This "Cycle 12" premires tonight on the CW network. True Dale Jr fans may remember her as one of the 17,000 supermodels that he has dated in the past. Its frightening when you google both their names the angst and uproar that is out there still over this pairing. Good luck to her and all the contestants on tonights show, sigh.

Greg Biffle Interview from Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Greg Biffle NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion Interview – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The following is a transcript of the Q&A with Greg Biffle following his victory Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway provided by Nationwide Insurance, title sponsor of the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Greg Biffle had an interesting afternoon in Las Vegas during the third 2009 Nationwide series race, the Sam’s Town 300. First he had a cold, was caught speeding before running out of gas and then fought for the lead with two laps to go against Carl Edwards.

Greg Biffle: You know he was uh he had a pretty good run on me coming off turn two and uh I tried to keep him behind me but he snuck inside me about half way down the backstretch and so then I just figured I’d run the top down the three and four because I knew um my car would run across the top but I felt like I could beat him being on the top side so I arced a way out and kept it flat and then uh pulled down a little on his door in the middle of the corner. There not a lot of run when you’re too wide anyway but he got loose underneath me and then I moved up to the edge of the black because I wasn’t sure if he was gonna get in the side of me. Uh I don’t know how loose he was uh I just heard him coming out of the gas.

Biffle cruised through the final lap to grab his 19th career Nationwide series victory. Edwards says that he did not cut Biffle any slack just because they were teammates.

Carl Edwards: For a win we all race really hard, uh Greg would race me extremely hard and I did the same with him and you know you just want to race as hard as you and try not to cause a problem because you know right now we’re 1 and 2 and we coulda been backed in the wall and that woulda been really bad so uh I guess in a way you race your teammate maybe a little bit differently more than that you’re able to swallow it if he beats you a little more you know what I mean it’s not that you don’t race him differently it’s just that you can accept it if he beats you.
It was a wild race with 12 cautions and two red flags from multi-car may legs. Top drivers spun also spun wrecking all by themselves.

Brian Vickers talks about why so many drivers lost control of their Nationwide series machines.

Brian Vickers: These cars you’re sitting your trying to run wide open uh around this track uh with these car with no power no horse power not a ton of down force and uh you know it’s all about momentum. You know and you gotta keep it free, gotta keep it on the right rear and you gotta keep it turning’ to run wide open and uh I think everyone was just pushing’ that to the limit and uh a couple guys didn’t hold on to it and and you saw a lot of crashes.

Brendan Gaughan is one point ahead of Bush while this is Biffle’s first Nationwide series victory since California in 2006.

Biffle: You know you race 15, 20, 18 races a year. It’s hard to catch up to those guys that you know. Whether they run 15 to 18 races, if they’re better than you it makes it difficult to close in on them, you know and there have been some teams that have been a little bit better than us. You know we’re starting to close that gap a little bit.

The Nationwide Series will take a couple weeks off before heading to Bristol, TN.

To see the video race review of the Las Vegas race, go to www.nationwide.com/series and click On Your Side Race Review. To hear the audio, go to www.nationwide.com/series and click On Your Side Race Review and follow to "Listen to post-race interview."

Finally, a valid reason to drink A LOT of wine

From the The Greg Biffle Foundation:
During March through June of 2009 Benny Parsons's Rendezvous Ridge Vineyard will be donating $5.00 from the price of every bottle of wine sold at their Tasting Room and on their website to The Greg Biffle Foundation.

Benny Parsons and Greg were great friends and Greg participates in many events honoring Benny’s life. The Parsons are long-time animal lovers and big supporters of animal welfare efforts in their community. The Vineyard wanted to find some way to thank Greg and help animals in need and came up with the idea of donating a portion of proceeds to the Foundation.

Located in Western North Carolina between Boone and Wilkesboro in the foothills of both the Blue Ridge Mountains and Brushy Mountains, Rendezvous Ridge Vineyard offers several wine varieties in their Tasting Room and via their webpage. Wines range in price from $14.99 - $24.99. Please consider supporting this Vineyard and The Greg Biffle Foundation with your purchase today! Click here for the link to their on-line store.

The Greg Biffle Foundation was founded in 2005 by Greg and Nicole Biffle to create awareness and serve as an advocate to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motor sports industry. Financial support for the foundation comes from a variety of sources including individual contributions, NASCAR Pets Calendars, and the sale of various racing and other sports memorabilia. Since its creation, The Greg Biffle Foundation has awarded grants to humane societies and animal shelters from coast to coast. Representing the best interests of the animals and using the full potential of each participant's involvement is the purpose for the Greg Biffle Foundation. Greg and Nicole have three dogs – Foster and his daughter Gracie, a pair of Boxers who are very familiar to race fans across the country. Foster even graced the front of a Milk Bones box in 2004. The latest addition is Savannah, who was rescued from a Georgia shelter.

Kasey Kahne and Direks Bentley team up again

The Kasey Kahne Foundation is presenting Sound Check 9 benefit concert featuring Dierks Bentley tomorrow night at Wild Bill’s in Duluth Georgia.

“I’ve been friends with Dierks for a while now and I’m excited that we are putting together an event to benefit charity” – Kasey Kahne

Well Kasey, we are excited you and Dierks are teaming up again! Anytime you can go to one venue and look at Kasey Kahne and Dierks Bentley…great music, cute boys, well need I say more? We saw Dierks concert after the Budweiser Shootout and it was a fantastic show.

Tickets are available through ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets. General Admission is $32 the day of the show ($27 if you get them in advance). Reserved seating is $50 and for $150, you get a VIP Meet and Greet with Kasey and Dierks and one reserved seat.

The show starts at 8:00pm and doors open at 6:30.

Other driver appearances throughout the weekend are up at Jayski.com. There aren't many posted yet so check the souvenir haulers for autograph schedules.