MuskyBill

Ahhh, the Truck Series will be on soon.....

I'm gonna hope Kevin Harvick pulls it off, but I'm not liking his new car colours. Where's all the black?? Who's your pick?

Nascar-Part 3 Inside the shop, you could eat off of the floors... This is the Atlanta car they were working on to race that coming weekend... The building next to the shop, was the RCR Museum. What a place! I could put up 100 pictures from that visit, but I'll just include two. The first is the right front tire from the car Dale was leading with at the 1990 Daytone 500. Going into turn 3 on the final lap, it blew & 4 guys drove by on the inside... Do you remember the barrel-roll Dale took at Talladega in '96? He broke his collar bone & sternum & still walked away & even gave a 'thumbs up' on his way to the ambulance...here's what was left of his ride... After that, I went to the North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame & Museum. It was well worth it to stand beside Dale's 1979 Rookie of the Year car... On the way to Atlanta Motor Speedway, I stopped in nearby Newton, NC at Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet... Out Back was this kinda neat tribute... We finally made it to Atlanta... We had great seats, row 50 at just about the Start/Finish line! I snapped this as Jerry Nadeau, Bobby Labonte & Dale Earnhardt were about to put Jeramy Mayfield a lap down. Mayfield blowing up... With the checkered flag flyin', Dale comes home 2nd. Shortly after the race, the 2000 Champion was crowned...Bobby Labonte. I went to Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2003 for my 14th Cup race... Because it was a night race, the pictures came out kinda crappy, so I'll just include one... I think that's it for now. I'm tired....SO, enjoy the race on Sunday. I'm still pullin' for Happy Harvick as he's bound to take Dale's old car to Victory Lane in Daytona sooner or later. I prefer sooner.... I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did reminiscing...

Part 2... There's a hobby shop in Hamilton that I used to visit a lot when I was collecting Nascar diecast & building 1/24 scale models. Twice a year, they'd bring up various race cars to attract fans... Fans who've been around since '87 will remember this car very well. During the annual All-Star race, Dale Earnhardt & Bill Elliott were battling for the lead late in the race. Elliott threw a block pushing Earnhardt down off the apron & into the grass. Mere mortals would've spun out, but Dale stayed in the gas passing Elliott for the lead & eventually, the win. Since that night, this exact car has been known as the car from "The pass in the grass". Perhaps my favorite car... I used to go there so much, I became good friends with the owners. So much so, that during one of these showings, I was asked if I was interested in sitting in Dale's 2000 Taz car.... Crawlin' in... Once inside, I was numb. Dale sat very low in the car, almost made me feel like my butt was draggin'... The feel of the wheel, the shifter...the smell of the high-octane racing fuel, the smell of the rubber....wow!! I got to drive it onto the hauler... Once inside the hauler, I went to climb out & forgot where I was & whacked my head on the roof of the trailer... Still numb... Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to meet a ton of these guys. I only scanned a few of my favorites. No, I never met Dale, but I got this close once... 'Gentleman' Ned Jarrett... Kerry Earnhardt...see the resemblance?? Darrell Waltrip... Nascar's newest bad-boy, Michael Waltrip... Other's include Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin, Harry Gant, Dave Marcis, Kenny Schrader, Joe Nemecheck, Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott & the list goes on. I took a trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway in November 2000, when the Napa 500 was the last race of the year. On the way down, I stayed in Kannapolis, North Carolina for the first few days of the week. Kannapolis is Earnhardt's hometown. During my stay, I toured a few of the areas race shops. One of them was Hendrick Motorsports... Inside the Museum, some cool cars were on display, like Tim Richmond's '88 Monte Carlo... Some will remember the Talladega race where Gordon took out his teamate, Kenny Schrader. When Schrader's car finally stopped tumbling down the backstretch, here's what was left... They also had some butt-ugly cars on display too... The highlight of Hendrick Motorsports was the Terry Labonte shop. They let us go right on in! We toured the hauler, the drivers lounge, the works! Here's the Grinch car... But the best shop of all was.... To see the rest, you'll have to click here....Part 3...http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3529

Well, like I mentioned last week, Mike has fixed my scanner! So, now I can share some of my many Nascar adventures south of the border, & even some from right here in Ontario. Every year around this time (just before Daytona) I browse through my pictures, & relive them all. Now, I don't really know where to start, so this may come out at random. You'll find the pics are mostly revolvong around Dale Earnhardt, AKA "The Intimidator", or AKA "The Man". I guess I'll start with my first race, the Goodwrench 400 at Michigan International Speeday, in August 1994. We got our tickets really late, & got stuck with row 1. These are great seats for getting covered in rubber, but not so good for seeing the whole 2 mile track. The pace lap... I was hooked on Nascar since '86, but after my first 'live' experience, I knew I had to get back to the track. I didn't get back to a race until July '96, the Miller 500 at Pocono Raceway. Here's a couple of pics... In 1997 and 1998, I did the August double-header, Watkin's Glen followed by Michigan. Man, what a tiring 2 weeks, not to mention expensive... Here's some random pics from The Bud at The Glen... The Man... While I wish this one was the #3 car, I'm still really proud that it came out so well. Jimmy 'Mr. Excitement' Spencer was also the first Nascar autograph I ever got... I also made a day trip down to The Glen for the Craftsman Truck Series. Here's Mike Skinner in a familiar looking ride... Some pics from Michigan... For Joey... Poor Uncle Mikey.... Dale passing Victory Lane during qualifying... For Mike (eh)... Different year... We always had a great view. I had the same seats for 5 years before I gave them up... Dale comin' in... Dale goin' out..... It's common knowledge that Nascar boasts the most loyal of all sports fans. They'd show up at the tracks driving awesome vehicles... This will be continued in Part 2. Click here....http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3528 Part 3/3, click here...http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3529

The bigwigs at Toyota won't be liking this news, especially because of the ethics involved...shame on Uncle Mikey's team!

I've wanted to go to an OHL game for the longest time, it seems. I always say I'm going to go, but never seem to for some reason. Same goes for the AHL... This year, I've found a few different ways to enjoy hockey again. I've been working on my McDonald's set. You can tell too, just look at my waist.... I've eaten 10 sausage McMuffin's for 2.5 months now! I still need 3 damn cards too. Anyways, since I'm watching any hockey on TV I can find this season, I watched an Oshawa Generals/Peterborough Pete's game on Sportsnet earlier this season. The game ended 8-7!! And the other thing I remember, is this kid John Tavares. Drafted by the Gens at 14, he was compared to another former General, some guy named Orr from Parry Sound. He had a 4 point night that night. Anyways, something told me to finally go to a game. Turns out, I've even been following the Gens & Tavares for a while now. The kids already got 100 goals in less then 2 seasons! I even paid to watch a live webcasts on the computer of the 2 road losses last week. If I wasn't already hooked, I am now. I got 4 tickets last week for tonights game. Brother Mike, myself, Graham & his son John were goin' to a game! The Bulls beat Oshawa last Wednesday night 5-1, in Belleville. Tyler Donati leads the league in points, & the Bulls are first in the division, with the Gens not too far behind, but last weeks loss hurt a bit. Donati factored in ALL 5 goals. So, needless to say, tonights game meant a lot, to both teams with the playoffs not far off. Plus, Sportsnet was covering it nationally. Here's the Gens cruiser outside the brand new facilty, General Motors Centre... Getting ready to drop the puck... The place was rammed! Almost 6000, sold right out, even SRO! Mike found 2 'Standing Room Only' tickets on top of a ledge. Some of the action... Ain't it the truth... Gens took a 2-0 lead into the third period... Man, both goalies were outstanding. I might even say Lalonde for Belleville was better, because at times, Oshawa was really applying the pressure. The fans really get involved, with giveaways, contests, trivia prizes & such. This was a group of 12-15 or so 7-10 year olds, who took off their shirts & waved them over their heads the whole game, & believe it or not, they didn't win "the wildest fan" award.... We got our seats in this end knowing this was the end the Gens were shooting at 1st & 3rd periods, but go figure, they score twice in the second.... The action got s little fiesty in the third though... More action... The Gens added an empty netter with a minute to go, to seal a 3-0 victory. Man, the GM Centre gets loud... Check out the Mills Pontiac sign..."the greatest wheels since that kid named Orr"... Finally, the postgame interview with John Tavares... I still can't believe this cost a whole $15.50. What a great way to spend a few hours, & I can hardly wait to get to another game. You want action? SOG ended 46-34, for a total of 80 shots on goal!! I just have to check my free Generals schedule/fridge magnet for the next game... If you're in the same boat I was, on the fence about attending a game, I'm telling you now, GO, you won't regret it. OHL hockey rocks!

I saw it too. We all saw it. What good for the goose, I guess. We'll see how Tony likes it when it happens to him next week... Mike just fixed my scanner, so I'm going to do up a special Nascar thread, from when I used to go to the races, mid-late '90's. Here's a tease... Kinda neat deal, the car on the left side of the screen, is this car here... The first was from the RCR shop in Welcome, NC and that was the Atlanta car used on the weekend. Sadly, it was the last time Dale took the checkered flag in a Winston Cup race. The pic is from Atlanta Motor Speedway, November 2000. He finished 2nd..... Anyways, there will be a ton of pics from my travels. Pics with drivers, cars, me in Dale's Taz Daytona car along with pics from The North Carolina Racing Hall of Fame, the RCR shop, the Hendrick shop & different tracks. It's been a blast going through my old pictures. I only stopped going when I bought my first boat... It'll be fun to put together a retrospective...one more, me on 'ol DW in 2000... "Let's go racin', boys! BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY!!!"

*singing* "he is so smart, S-M-R-T..."

Hey Mark/Dave, real nice Walleyes!! One question, it looks like a strange growth on the fin of Dave's fish....is it, or am I seeing things? I've seen a few Quinte 'eyes with strange growths the season so far....

Fantastic shots, simply fantastic.....

"Set it, and forget it" Never had a dehydrator, but everytime I see Ron Popiel pushing it, I always think about all of the $$ I'd save if I made my own jerky...

Both MCI & OFAH in '06, undecided in '07.

Cliff, that was awesome, man!!! The Middle, Creep, Switch & Last Dance were my favorites. The Middle being first, & you'd mentioned if that style of video was any good?? YES, VERY.....

'Monster Chiller Horror Theatre' was always good with Joe Flahraty, or Dave Thomas doing 'Lin E. Tang' was great too... "The Days of the Week" running soap opera SCTV did was hilarious. Geez, it was all good! Enjoy the DVD's Glen, I know you'll be laughing.... btw, mucho impresso!

Very well done guys, what a great season you had! Roger, I think I saw it, watch it again.... I think I also recognized a couple of guys too!

My favorite hockey to watch. I was actually fishin' Steel today, but I did catch the end of it on the radio. Way to go, 2-0 Canada....

You'd do much better if you were wearing 'the' sweater, Glenner, you should know that by now.... Still, nice l'il guys nonetheless....

Right on, I've got some of Hulbert on DVD, the guy catches fish...

I'll second that 'fishin' with the ladies' thing....

Sounds like a rough night, hope today goes better for ya...

He was here, he was here!!! Merry Christmas everyone....

Merry Christmas Ernie, have a great one....

Nice display & great to hear from you, Mick! All the best to you & yours....