Leaving Las Vegas...

Never have three words sounded so sweet, nor the memory of a race been so great to forget. So Sin City didn't exactly try to hide that it wasn't fond of Denny Hamlin. Luck was certainly not on the Chesterfield, VA native's side. My only solace is that hopefully he won big in the casinos while hanging out with his buddies.

Just two laps into the Sam's Town 300, Hamlin found himself spinning out with none other than Brad Keselowski. Irony at its finest. He was able to recover from that debacle, only to be served with a pit road speeding penalty. As if that wasn't bad enough, the No. 20 car sped while serving its pass through penalty for that violation. The result, yet another pass through penalty. Misery indeed loves company.

The frustration mounted and wouldn't you know, the Interstate Batteries machine had a tire going down. Holding his own, Hamlin was handling the situation under the wise council of crew chief Dave Rogers, when the unthinkable happened. Mike Bliss, who's spotter was taking a break in the local casino and being derelict of his important duties, was unable to see the bright green car right in front of him and plowed Hamlin from behind, lifting his wheels off the ground and putting both cars into the wall.

When the dust settled, the flames that engulfed the Toyota holding Denny Hamlin were nothing short of terrifying. Mike Bliss failed to have an explanation for his stupidity and a despondent Hamlin tried to laugh it off, but the disappointment and frustration were evident. And from the appearance of the veteran driver, he was still a bit shaken from the incident. Well, he wasn't alone. That was quite scary and a fate I don't want to see repeated any time soon.

Hamlin rolled his Fed Ex Office Toyota off the grid in 34th starting position for the Shelby 427. When what do you know, new bestie Brad Keselowski found the No. 11 machine once again and caused yet another tangle between the two. I guess there is a drawing magnetism between the GoDaddy.com driver and his Fed Ex nemesis, because the two cars just simply couldn't avoid each other the entire weekend at Vegas.

The rest of the day was just more of the same and while Hamlin did his best to rebound, it just wasn't to be. He finished 22nd, a lap down, but was able to gain one spot in the points standings. His teammate, Kyle Busch, was victorious in his hometown for the first time and was overjoyed, kissing the start/finish line after doing his now signature bow and taking the checkered flag.

With snow back in NC stranding the drivers and their families in Vegas for a while, no doubt there was some celebrating going on amongst the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. Happy for his friend, Hamlin no doubt lifted his glass to honor a hard fought victory for the No. 18 team. But in his mind, Denny Hamlin was celebrating the end to his Las Vegas weekend and thanking his lucky stars he won't have to return to the scene of that fiasco for another twelve months.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAD KESELOWSKI

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY BRAD KESELOWSKI!

Okay, so the Denny Hamlin Blogger has a weakness for her favorite driver's arch enemy. Every girl has their weakness and I happen to have one for JR Motorsports' phenom.

So... February 12th is his birthday and I just couldn't pass up a chance to send him birthday wishes. I hope he has a great birthday and that when he blows out those candles he gets a starting spot in the Daytona 500 as his gift. Best wishes for an awesome Gatorade Duel and here's to seeing you in the Great American Race come Sunday!

Let's Review...For Those Still Having Trouble Comprehending What Just Happened

NASCAR handed down fines to the #88 JR Motorsports crew members that rushed the 20 car and started a fight with the Z Line Designs crew and Denny Hamlin. They fined Tony Eury Sr $1000 dollars for actions detramental to NASCAR. They fined two crew members $1500 for not listening to NASCAR officials and putting their hands on the officals. One guy was suspended a race for his actions. ALL of which were not called for.

THERE WERE NO FINES TO THE DRIVERS FOR THEIR DANGEROUS ACTIONS. Denny and Brad were BOTH wrong...did you see that? WRONG! Under NO circumstances is it right to have contact with another car under yellow. What he says on the radio is just blowing off steam...they all do it. Stop taking it so personal and get over yourselves. Hitting each other while the field is under a caution puts the safety crews in danger and it should have been a BIG fine and penalty for BOTH drivers...oh yeah....Dale Jr hit Denny in the rear bumper too...so that includes him. For the only time in my life I admit that Denny Hamlin did something wrong. I also admit that he got off easy. They both did...it should have been a fine at the very least.

What NASCAR decided was that it was a heat of the moment race deal that the drivers handled incorrectly. I'm sure everyone involved did not leave the NASCAR trailer without a huge slap on the wrist and receiving a good ass chewing from it. In fact, I would guarantee that Joe Gibbs also gave Denny a talk about his behavior. But it is a male sport where men with lots of testosterone get heated. This is going to happen. When you are told by the NASCAR officials to knock it off and you don't then you're going to have to take the penalty.

All the Junior fans forget that their precious crew members were out of line on pit road and they got burned for it. You can have disagreements, you can use words. But when the people who make the rules tell you to knock it off and you don't....stop crying about it and shut your mouth. Something that seems to be running in the water for Junior nation.

When Brad and Denny were in the post-race press conference, they were still pissed. Denny was expressing his opinion which he is entitled to do. You ask a stupid question you had best be prepared for Stupid's answer. The fight wasn't over just because the cameras were on. But D Ham let his words express that...he didn't rush to Cry Baby's car and start a fight. Just because Cry Baby couldn't come up with a good response doesn't make Denny immature. It makes him the winner of the fight.

It's sour grapes and this will be the last time I talk about it. My inbox is filled with BS on the subject and I decided that it was time to clear the air. I went somewhere I swore I'd never go and will NEVER go again..I admitted that my precious Denny was wrong. That's as good as it's gonna get.

Now that the choir of angels has resumed singing and D Ham is walking on water again...let's go on to Dover and see how Joey Logano handles that 20 car. It should be a great race and Dave Rogers will once again be the hero who has taken some pretty amazing drivers to greatness. Tell me again why Dave is still in Nationwide? Hopefully the 4th JGR team will be run by none other than Dave Rogers...he deserves it!

NASCAR penalizes 3 JR Motorsports members

Three members of Brad Keselowski's team, including crew chief Tony Eury Sr., were penalized Wednesday for participating in post-race altercation with Denny Hamlin's crew on pit road at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Crew members from both teams scuffled after late race contact between the two drivers in Saturday night's Nationwide Series event. Keselowski ran into the back of Hamlin under caution, and Hamlin retaliated by hitting him back.

The drivers finished second and third in the race, and their crews had to be separated in the impound area.

Eury Sr. was fined $1,000 and placed on probation until June 25.

Michael Sandlin, a team member for JR Motorsports, was suspended one race, fined $1,500 and placed on probation until Oct. 15. NASCAR said Sandlin failed to follow a directive from a NASCAR official and had inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official during the post-race altercation.

Jordan Allen, another JR Motorsports crew member, was fined $1,500 and placed on probation until Oct. 15 for failing to follow a directive from a NASCAR official and inappropriate contact with a NASCAR official.

I love the fact that no one from the Z Line Designs crew was penalized. It was clear that the aggressors were the JR Motorsports guys and this was handled correctly. Both drivers were wrong for making contact under the yellow, but NASCAR let it lie...a smart move.

A lot of people want to jump on D Ham and blame him for being passionate about how he wants to be raced but this proves that he is the bigger man and Brad and Junior both have a lot of maturing to do. Thank you NASCAR for proving my point. I just wish you'd have made it hurt a little more in the pocket.

It will be clear who's side I'm on in a minute

Last night I watched the Nationwide race at Lowe's and the most exciting part was the brawl at the end of the race. Today I've read email after email in my inbox that blames Denny for being the aggressor and the one who's wrong.

Of course, because Keselowski's car is owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., D Ham is now public enemy #1. Well, Denny's crew didn't rush Brad's car..it was the other way around. Don't send an army (or the NAVY) to defend you because you're a punk ass who can't fight his own battles. The picture at left clearly shows which car they're in front of.

Brad said that Denny gets mad when people race him too hard. It's not a matter of racing too hard...it's a matter of racing dirty. Not clearing someone in a turn is dirty to me. Hitting someone from behind during a caution is dirty to me. If you can get around the car in front of you because you're faster....then do it. If you can't back off until you can so you don't wipe out both of you. Keselowski is writing checks that his ass can't cash. Denny did hit Brad back on the caution lap but why was Brad up next to him in the first place? He had no business being there at all and if he'd stayed in 3rd place where he belonged that never would have happened.

It all boils down to JGR versus Junior Nation and the Ky Bu Junior battle from a few weeks ago. JGR is winning EVERYTHING and Junior hasn't won ANYTHING in over 2 years. That makes Junior Nation mad. Well Jr Nation makes me sick to my stomach. Brad Keselowski was WRONG and that's the bottom line! It's the first time that he's not had a DNF and he goes crazy and it comes back to slap him in the face. Like Denny should have done to Tony Eury Sr. when he got in his grill. People blame Denny for that but the crews from both Brad and Dale Jr's teams went rushing over to the 20 crew to start trouble. Shows the lack of class at Jr Motorsports if you ask me.

D Ham has the right to say how he feels and I agree with him 1000%.

I'm a proud Denny Hamlin fan...bottom line. It's not whining, it's telling it like it is. Don't like what you hear turn off the TV. I do! I am not a Jr fan and childish incidents like what happened last night, which was low class and uncalled for, I never will be. There is a lot of animosity because Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports aren't winning and JGR is. I happen to be a fan of the winning side of this battle and have a different opinion than most. Oh well... I'm on my driver's side whether he's right or wrong. I just don't think Denny's wrong. He has the right to want to be raced a certain way and truth be told EVERY driver feels that way. I've heard Jr. pissed off after a race for things other guys have done to him.

But the kicker for me is the hit from behind under caution. That is WRONG! Yes, Denny hit Brad under caution and that does not make me happy. But the retaliation would not have happened without the initial action by the # 88. As an owner Dale Jr needs to jump his drivers case for that.

Say what you will....NASCAR asked for more emotion and the post-race scuffles are awesome to see. It's good for the sport and the guys to express their feelings and work things out. As long as punches aren't thrown words don't hurt. I don't like seeing Denny in fights but I will put my money on him ANY day. He was ready to rumble and I think the winner would have been D Ham by a KO.