The State of Andrew

Well fellow Rowdidians, it's been a fast-paced two 6 weeks since I graduated from The Citadel. I moved into my apartment, started working over 50 hours a week, and paying bills!

Everything has been going great, but I do not have internet just because I want to save money. Yes, that means I haven't heard the vocies of Buck, Bass, and Cutler in over 6 weeks.

I have to admit that I miss all of you and your blogs more than our heroic broadcasters...

I just wanted to say that I hope all is well with everyone and that everyone is enjoying the racing season.

I could go without seeing Kyle Busch win four races already, but Clint Bowyer already has a win on the year and I'm excited to see what happens over the summer months.

I am already going to the Charlotte Cup race in October for my bachelor party and I just bought tickets for me and my dad to the Martinsville race on Oct. 19th. The tickets are a father's day gift, so I know he will enjoy that gift alot! We are 16 rows up RIGHT BEHIND THE FLAG STAND!

Take care Rowdy Nation!

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• Long Gray Line, The picture is of me, my fiancee Laura, and one of my best buddies Joe. It was taken at the parade. The last parade that a Citadel cadet is in and it is the day before graduation.

Great Darlington Racing

Although Kyle Busch was the winner and my driver, Clint Bowyer never showed anything to compete for a top-10 finish, I still thoroughly enjoyed the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington. I fealt that the racing was awesome and the track looked great. I cannot wait for SMI to throw over more money for Darlington to get rennovations and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the next big thing they are rennovating will be the garage area? Totally tear it down and build a state of the art facility.

Hearing things like that and having all the drivers boast about how great the Lady in Black is are great things to hear and it looks like NASCAR will keep this track for a long long time, which they should.

Also I'd like to just congratulate Clint Bowyer and his team for making the car better, getting back on the lead lap, and finishing 15th. Not a bad points day and they'll be hungry for another top-5 at Lowes.

Also, congrats to Travis Kvapil and Dave Blaney! Hopefully Kvapil can land a full-time sponsorship b/c he deserves it. That team and his drivings is awesome and he is a great, underappreciated, underated driver.

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Aggravated Race Fan

Soi I just got some free tickets to the All Star race and I'm really excited, but there is one thing I'm not too happy about.

The buddy that has the tickets is an awesome guy, but he only cares about certain parts of the all star races. An example is the last time I had a race excursion with him..it was to the all star race as well. First, it was more important to hangout outside the track and MISS the All Star open, then get into the track right before the first segment of the All Star.

WHAT?!!??! This race is short enough...and RACING is RACING. I don't care if all the drivers in the All Star Open were truck series drivers, I still want to go because its still racing.

Oh well...just venting...atleaste I get to go and see part of it.

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All Star or Carquest?

Rowdy Nation,

If you had the choice, and you could only pay $30 a ticket...would you rather go to the Carquest 300 Nationwide Race at Lowe's or the All Star Race??

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EXAMS

Rowdy Nation,

I am taking my last college exams of my college career...and they aren't easy. This has been the hardest semester I've ever had and right now, I still have 3 exams and one Strategic Management Simulation Module (yuck) to complete by Monday. As long as everything goes well, I will graduate from The Citadel on Saturday, May 3rd.

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New NASCAR schedule

Ok, here is my revised schedule for the Chase that NASCAR SHOULD start in 2009...

Richmond will be cutoff to chase still...

RACE 1: New Hampshire
RACE 2: Dover
RACE 3: Kansas
RACE 4: Talladega
RACE 5: Watkins Glen (Lowe's take the place of where the Glen is...Lowes's is also a night race and would help with the August heat)
RACE 6: Martinsville
RACE 7: Bristol Night race (Atlanta will slide into Labor Day slot, replacing California and dropping Cali to 1 race a year)
RACE 8: Texas
RACE 9: Phoenix
RACE 10: Homestead

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UPS and Carl Edwards

Jayski is reporting that if Office Depot can't dish up a contract that will satisfy Roush, then UPS is the front runner to take their spot and sponsor Carl Edwards and the #99 Ford. I think this would be a great thing to happen. I'd hate it for Reutimann, but UPS NEEDS a superstart driver to compete with Fed Ex having Denny Hamlin and Gibbs. Edwards is a great ambassador with the Office supply company and he has a personality that would be very popular to a business, fast-paced company like UPS.

UPS signed with Jarrett when he was kicking butt and Carl will still look good in white and brown, I'm sure of that! Also, I just think it would be cool to see Ford/UPS vs. Toyota/Fed Ex

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David Stremme

Ok, I know my last blog was about Stremme, but it has now officially been announced that he will indeed be Penske Racing's test driver. Also making this more interesting is that it sounds like its almost a done deal that Same Hornish will get out of the car for the 600 and run the Indy 500....

ok, ok...The Coca Cola 600 is one of the biggest and most prestigious races in all of Stock Car racing. If Hornish gets out of the car for Indy, his heart is truly not in NASCAR and he will probably not come back for a long term investment.

I'd love to see Stremme get another chance in a Cup ride, and the #77 Mobil 1 car is a sweet ride to have. It will take time to develop that team into a mature stable, but I really think Stremme has what it takes to be a great racer and looking at it, did he really have a good chance in the #40 at Gannassi?

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Stremme with Penske

Jayski is reporting that David Stremme will probably sign on to be a test driver for Penske Racing. It also said that Same Hornish may run the Indy 500 and if he does, that may give a chance for Stremme to drive the #77 in the Coke 600. At the end, it said Stremme has turned down at least 2 Cup rides.

I want to know what Cup rides he turned down. Obviously they must be low-level teams and I'm sure he doesnt' want to go down that road.

This test driving for Penske will be a good move. Hopefully he can try to do what Scott Wimmer is doing and eventually get a full-time Nationwide Ride and compete for the championship.

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NASCAR review so far

Rowdidians,

This year has started out with as much hype as ever in NASCAR. I feel that the racing and competition, along with the COT and Toyota has been awesome. To look at the drivers in the top 15 in points is really impressing.

I LOVE the COT. I have liked it since it was introduced. I know that some of the races seem boring, but NASCAR is NEVER boring. I took my best friend to the Atlanta race this year, and while alot of people said that the race was boring (all who watched it on tv I guess), myself and my best friend, a NASCAR virgin, LOVED it.

He couldn't get over the loudness of the engines, the speeds, the cars, the burnout by Kyle Busch at the end. The only thing he said he wished he could have seen was a good wreck. There were no good wrecks during the whole race except for Elliott Sadler wrecking out on his own.

Also, I want to talk about Jeremy Mayfield. I started my NASCAR fanhood as a diehard Jeremy Mayfield #12 Mobil 1 fan. I followed him over to Evernham and endured those horrible 2002 and 2003 seasons. Finally 2004 and '05 came and he had great seasons, but then the drama and turmoil began. I grew very tired of it all and decided I wanted a NEW driver to support...someone who was young, respectable, aggressive yet more conservative than the average rookie...enter Clint Bowyer.

All I want to say is I hate it for Mayfield, but I'm glad at the same time. He shouldn't be driving in Cup right now. Something about his driving style doesnt' fit major league NASCAR anymore I think. I hope that he can find something else that he will find much success in, because I still love his personality, but I can't bear to see him get in another Cup car and do bad.

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