Dale Jarrett says goodbye at Bristol

Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol will mark Dale Jarrett's final race in NASCAR points racing. It also happens to be the exact same racetrack where Dale started his career. In case you were wondering, yes that was planned.
I was lucky enough to get to meet Dale at a local Ford dealership near my hometown. He was incredibly handsome, which really took me by surprise. What impressed me was how polite he was. I've met a lot of drivers and some of them I was sorry I'd wasted my time waiting in line for. DJ was worth every second standing in the blazing sun sweating like crazy, dying of thirst and shaking with nerves dying to meet him. I would do it again in a heart beat.
When I met his father Ned a few years later I told him that I had met his son and that he was such a gentleman. Ned thanked me and asked me about my experience with DJ. I am sure I was beaming when I told Ned about my 2 minutes with Dale. I hope he knows how that was a precious moment that I will never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life.
Every time I see the UPS commercial where Dale finally races the truck and then hangs up the keys I cry. Sunday will be a hard day for me. It's the end of an era. One of class, fairness, clean competition and racing the truck. "We wanna race the truck...people love the truck!"
For this die hard Fed Ex girl... I must say seeing someone other than Dale Jarrett in the UPS car is gonna be weird. That brown car will always be DJ to me. What can brown do for me? It already has. It showed me what a champion is. It showed me how gentlemen race with class. Something a few of the newer guys need to learn. I hope some of the guys being left behind will try to follow in DJ's footsteps. They're gonna be big shoes to fill, and no matter how much time passes I will always feel a void where Dale should be. Dale Jarrett left an impression on me and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if my beloved D Ham took a page out of his book. Especially the champion page.

Thanks for the memories DJ. I for one will miss you...more than you will ever know!

Letters to Fed Ex

I have been in love with the commercials that Fed Ex is running about D Ham. If I had to pick a favorite, I guess it would have to be the one where he walks into the Kinko's to ship his trophy back home to Va. and the girl tells him he has to let go to which he replies "Don't want to". I don't blame him one bit.
The new ones are hilarious. I love his hair in the "Where did he hone his driving skills" spot in which he plays a valet. That 'do' is enough to make me wet my pants laughing. He looks like a total nerd...precious! The other one running right now is pretty cute too. I love the 4 second 6 pack, 2 minute rotisserie and the 30 second dog training. When he speed reads that book and says "Sad" at the end.... I lose it!
I guess you have to be head over heels for the man like I am to truly understand how I feel, but I can't get enough of them. I wish they didn't just run them during NASCAR races. It shoots the whole pit stop, snack run during the commercials idea all to heck since I have to be glued to the tube during the race to see my baby...but it's worth the sacrifice.
Let's face it...I could find something I love about all the Fed Ex commercials. The lawn mower one is by far the very best. Knowing that he flipped that thing over on him doing doughnuts and popping wheelies between takes cracks me up. Leave it to Denny! I hope they continue to shoot more of these great ads.
The Toyota ads with Denny, Tony and Kyle with the kids in the stands controlling the cars....too sweet. I saw a show on SPEED with Rutledge called "NASCAR in 30 seconds" that showed the making of the actual ad that was just awesome. There's some real talent behind all these ads and I for one am glad my driver is being included.

D Ham's a Gillette Young Gun

Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray have left the Gillette Young Gun's program. Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer have been named as their replacements. Good choices if you ask me. The new commercial shows the guys learning wrestling moves from WWE's John Cena. Cena learned how to drive a race car last year and this year he's returning the favor by pumping up the Young Guns. The ad is hilarious! D Ham is amazing...really looks great throwing John Cena around the ring. "You can't see D Ham" .
I think the addition of Bowyer and Hamlin is exactly what the campaign needed. While I love both Jimmie and Jamie I do understand their reasons for moving on. Together with Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne this ad campaign is a can't lose for Gillette. Even I want to go out and buy a Gillette razor to support the Young Guns. I am a commercial nut and this one keeps me watching every time. Check out the link to the Gillette Young Guns below to see for yourself.

http://www.gilletteyoungguns.com/news/rss.asp

4 Races in and what do we have to show for it?!?

So we've made it through Atlanta and we're headed for Bristol....19th in points. Let's hope that Bristol is good to D Ham because I'm not sure I can handle any more bad luck. There is just no more room for hitting the wall and getting caught up in other people's misfortune. The only weepers I want are Denny's excited parents in Victory Lane. And of course yours truly. He was hit by everything but the Pace Car at Daytona, got caught up in a weeper at California and the tire troubles followed him at Atlanta. The best I can hope for is that he comes away without a DNF and finishing on the lead lap. A win or pole would be a bonus! Keep your toes crossed and don't forget to say your prayers.