Rowdy People

Lexie Photo Blogs the Chicagoland Truck Race

Usually after we spend the weekend at the track, I like to post a photo recap of the highlights, but today, I’m turning the photo blogging duties over to Lexie A/K/A Checkered Flag Sneakers…

Hi! It was an exciting Friday night at Chicagoland Speedway where we joined lots of Kyle Busch fans to see if he would be able to win his fourth race in a row. While we were down behind the fence near Kyle’s pit area, I got a chance to say hi to my friend Sam Sarcinella and she invited me to join her on top of the pit box to watch the race (ok, so maybe Sam and I broke a few rules when she smuggled me in, but it was a chance I had to take so I could report back on the race for all my friends here at Rowdy LOL). I took some pics to share and stole a few of my moms to give everyone here at Rowdy a behind the scenes peek at the truck race.

It was so nice to see Sam again. She always has a big hug for me. She is so super sweet.

We got to meet Sam’s mom and dad. They were very cool. Now I know where Sam gets it from. Sam’s dad helped sneak me into the pitbox.

Sam introduced me to the crew.

O M G!!!! Is this really happening?!

Sam and I waiting for the race to begin.

Had to get a pic of these shoes for my mom.

Watching the race. Sam works hard tweeting all about whats going on for all the fans that can’t be there.

Uh oh. Truck trouble. Glad it wasn’t Kyle.

I was the official Kyle Busch Motorsports note passer. I am sure that it was a very important job LOL!

The 18 truck leads!!!!!!!

Taking pictures of the pit stop.

Kyle pulls into his box.

The 18 team does a great job just like always!

Fooling around during a caution with my phone camera. Sam took this one because she has longer arms. Maybe she should be a photographer.

Watching the last laps. We were both very nervous.

Kyle wins again!!!!!!

Slinger Speedway Photo Recap

Billed as "The World's Fastest 1/4 Mile", Slinger Speedway is an awesome little paved oval about a half-hour northwest of Milwaukee, WI. What better way to cap off a weekend of racing than to head there for the Miller Lite Nationals on the Sunday afternoon following the Chicagoland night race.

Kyle Busch hangs out pre-race with Wisconsin short track legend Dick Trickle. (Amusing side note…Trickle was the 1989 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year…he was 48 and already a grandfather)

Kyle has said his favorite racing is in the late models…it sure shows in his smile as he gets ready to race.

Miller Lite Nationals defending champ Matt Kenseth climbs into his ride, ready for qualifying.

Security? Wow, Slinger really is a small track.

Watching the last-chance qualifying race from the hospitality tent with Kyle Busch, Ross Kenseth, and Matt Kenseth.

Clean up in Turn Two

One of the funnier things I’ve ever seen…after a downpour they called out the safety trucks AND the Late Models running in the secondary event, to come out and run laps in order to dry out the track.

We’re at the track, so ice cream MUST be consumed.

Matt Kenseth in the 17 and Kyle Busch in the 51 raced hard in the early laps, but Kenseth’s night came to an early end when a steering wheel problem caused the car to catch fire (Really)

Midway through the race, the ten minute pit-stop sends all the cars back to their stalls for some fine-tuning.

I can’t be entirely sure, but I think Kyle took advantage of the 10-minute downtime to catch a quick catnap.

Heartbreak! Leading with 9 laps to go, Kyle’s tire gets cut down in the shuffle to get into position following a caution, and then something VERY bad happens underneath the car. Even though the outcome wasn't what we wanted, we still had an awesome time and can't wait to go back again next year.

Iowa Victory Lane - Photo Blog

In July we were lucky enough to catch Kyle Busch in three Nationwide races (he skipped Gateway), and much to Lexie's excitement, he won all three.(Hmm...maybe she is his good luck charm, she wasn't at the Glen and he finished fifth) Thanks to Iowa Speedway's Fan Walk, we were able to share in the excitement of Victory Lane.

Colorful chaos as victory lane erupts in a shower of confetti

The 18 crew celebrates their romp to victory

Kyle embraces a member of his team

Pizza has to taste even better in victory lane

Sam Sarcinella manages to make getting caught with a mouthful of pizza look cute

Hat Dance!

Kyle sprays crowd and crew with champagne

Kyle and the trophy

Kyle, the trophy, and co-driver Brad Coleman (Brad did all the set-up and practice for the car while Kyle was in Pocono)

Kyle, the trophy, and Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff

Kyle, the trophy, and Sam Sarcinella (I’m sensing a theme here…..)

After waking up in Pocono, practicing his Cup car, flying into Iowa, qualifying on the front row, dominating the race, and celebrating his ninth NNS win of the season....Kyle Busch finally catches a quiet moment as the victory lane celebrations wind down.

The Z-Line 18 looks quite festive all decked out in confetti as it makes it way through post-race inspection.

Lexie’s new friend! Eric Groen, rear tire carrier for the 18, could not have been nicer, chatting with Lexie throughout the race and bringing her a champagne soaked hat from Victory Lane afterwards.

Lexie shares her Kyle Busch bow, wearing her Victory Lane hat and flourishing an event flag, both courtesy of rear tire carrier Eric Groen.

Iowa Speedway US Cellular 250 Photo Recap

After a crazy month that saw us attending eight races over the course of four weekends, we wrapped up our race travels with a trip to Iowa Speedway to catch the US Cellular 250. A slight brain cloud on Throttleneck’s part left us with really bad seats (Row 7, really?), but he saved the day by suggesting we head back over to the fan walk located behind pit road about an hour prior to the race. Those passes were the best $10 we could have spent. We watched the entire race down there, and even got to head over and take in the Victory Lane festivities afterwards. Iowa can’t be given a Cup date soon enough. Here’s what we saw hanging out behind the pits….. (prerace and victory lane pics coming soon….well, eventually anyway)

Even without John Wes Chickenboy behind the wheel, the 21 managed to crash out on the very first lap.

The first of two red flags for this race.

Poor Reed Sorenson, flew all that way just to have his day cut short early in the race.

Kyle Busch races out of his box following another super speedy stop by his crew.

The 18 crew had plenty to smile about after they got their guy out in front of the rest of teams.

Lexie snagged Kyle’s windscreen tear-off following one of his stops.

Sam Sarcinella and Jason Ratcliff kept watch over Kyle from atop his box.

Brendan Gaughn helped bring out the second red flag.

Paul Menard goes for a spin on the front stretch.

Kevin Harvick races down the frontstretch through the smoke left behind in the wake of Paul Menard’s spin.

After several trips in and out of the garage and pits, the 21 finally had to call it a day.

Next, it was the 11s turn to pull into the garage.

Lexie anxiously watches the laps wind down as Kyle Busch works to reel in Kevin Harvick. The two tires on the 33 proved to be no match for the four fresh ones on the 18.

Sam Sarcinella and Jason Ratcliff exchange hugs after an exciting victory for the team.

Kyle’s crew hops on the pit road wall to help him celebrate their win.

The Z-Line crew celebrate their victory after a dominating performance in Iowa.

Time out for a little good news...

With all the negative stories floating around NASCAR lately, I thought it might be time for a little feel good news. As many of you already know, Lexie is currently collecting books to be distributed to the children’s group homes that are supported by the Kyle Busch Foundation. With the help from many of our friends here at Rowdy Nation, Lexie's 2010 book drive for the Kyle Busch Foundation is well on its way to surpassing last year’s total of 2,177! At last count, she had collected 2,007, with more donations already awaiting pick-up. Looks like she has a good shot of reaching her goal of 4000.

Besides donations from friends, family, and total strangers who have read about Lexie's efforts in the local press and various websites, we have also received donations from many authors, politicians, and NASCAR personalities. Favorites so far... Mike Helton sent NASCAR comic books, and Richard Petty sent a signed copy of "Richard Petty's Official Guide to 50 years of NASCAR". Needless to say that one will be given to the foundation on its own...that is too special to risk having it get lost in the shuffle, and hopefully it will go to the children's home right there in Concord, N.C.

For anyone who would like more information on the book drive, a local web design firm has kindly created a page for Lexie at www.webdesigngivingback.com/lexie. If you have books you would like to donate, here is the address:
Lexie Ziolkowski
P.O Box 446
Huntley, IL 60142

We couldn’t be more proud of Lexie and all her hard work so far, and cannot wait to see her reach her goal and get thousands of books into hands of children who really, really need them.

Victory at ORP... the view from the fence

Kyle Busch celebrated his eighth win of the season in the Nationwide series following an exciting two-lap shootout with Carl Edwards. Tom, Lexie and I found ourselves front and center to enjoy that celebration…great way to end our Indy race weekend before heading home to catch the main event from the comfort of our couch.

Gateway Excitement! Nationwide photo recap.

Who would have thought an off-week for Cup would leave us with so much excitement? Throttleneck and I headed down to Gateway International Raceway last weekend for the Truck and Nationwide races. Kevin Harvick dominated the Truck race, at one point clocking an 8-second lead. The Nationwide race treated us to some great action as Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, and pole-sitter Trevor Bayne traded the lead among themselves the entire race, culminating with the last lap fireworks that gave us a week’s worth of lively debate.

Happy Harvick was all smiles between races, having demolished the competition in the Truck race.

Ryan Truex, 18, made his Nationwide debut for Michael Waltrip’s 00 team at Gateway. He ran a real good race and was looking at a top 10 finish until the car got out from under him and he backed it into the wall late in the race.

Michael Waltrip looked like a proud papa as his development driver, Ryan Truex, prepared for his Nationwide debut.

Carl and Kate Edwards share a quiet moment together before the start of the race.

Apparently when temperatures soar into the upper 90s, Delana Harvick wisely lets Kevin wear the firesuit in the family.

Three wide through the corner! Pole-sitter Trevor Bayne held his own the entire race, bringing home a well-earned third place finish.

This red-flag wreck set up an exciting green-white-checker finish.

The final restart!

First contact!

Brad K goes for a Spin at Gateway - Photo Blog

Just when it looked like Carl Edwards and Brad K had kissed and made up…. turns out, they just hadn’t been racing around each other lately. Gonna be really interesting being at O’Reilly’s next week…pretty sure that their Cup responsibilities mean they are going to be starting together in the back. It the meantime, here’s what Tom and I saw at Gateway last night…

Chicagoland Cup Practice - Photo Recap

The sights from pit road at Chicagoland Speedway during Sprint Cup practice…

The Evil Genius monitors his minions from atop the hauler.

Kurt Busch looked about ready to pass out. I was blazing hot in shorts and a tank top… I can’t even begin to imagine what it felt like in those cars wearing a firesuit and helmet.

No matter who they put in the driver’s seat, Red Bull makes it clear that it is still Brian Vickers ride.

Kenseth headed to the Truck Series?

Hanging out at Slinger Superspeedway for the Miller Lite Nationals last Sunday, an intriguing little murmur reached our ears. Next May, Ross Kenseth, already making a name for himself winning in Super Late Models here in the Midwest, will turn 18, making him eligible to run in the big three NASCAR series.

The rumor floating around that small Wisconsin track was that he might be headed for the Camping World Truck Series. If he does, I would not be at all surprised to see his long-time Super Late Model sponsor, Farm & Fleet, make the jump with him (I can’t think of a more natural sponsor fit for the Truck series than Farm & Fleet).

Hmmmmmm…… I wonder if there is anyone he knows that has a truck team he could drive for? Maybe someone he has connected with on the small track circuit? Possibly someone that has referred to him as part of “the future of the sport”? Hmmmmmmmm……..