Welcome, gay NASCAR fans! What an exciting day it was for our foxy fantasy team, the DeVine 91/2! Cute, cute Kevin Harvick started on the pole and ran away with it at the end, getting only his third victory since taking over the Goodwrench ride in the aftermath of the Earnhardt tragedy. Congratulations and a tall cocktail, Kevin! If y'all go back and check my coverage of the Chicagoland 400, you'll see that I told Kevin (who'd run out of gas) that his lucky day was on the way! I just hated it that NBC stopped their show before the winning team turned their caps backwards and kissed the bricks with that fanny in the air pose that we love!
Sure was nice to see Mari Hulman George, the chair of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, giving the start command. We love her! And what a goregous racetrack she has! (Read on down to see the amazing news I found out about Mari's life story!)
I adore all our boys, but I'm just a giggly fool in love when it comes to Jamie McMurray, and honey did all us fans of the #42 have plenty to cheer about Sunday! As Jamie passed car after car, on my porch we knew our role! "We gotta hep Jamie!" Cherelle cried! Out came the Sauza Hornitos, and help Jamie we did, shot after shot -- until our boy was in the lead!
Jamie led laps 114-132 and 142-144. ALL the press post-race talked about how he had the fastest car. We thought he really might take it until the last restart, Kevin's teammate Robbie "No Relation" Gordon boxed Jamie in to let Kevin get the jump. Jamie really is the cutest thing on rubber -- if he can just win one, he's a cinch to take Raybestos Rookie of the Year away from Biffle! Dixie says next time we've got to do more shots, and that might give Jamie the extra juba he needs!
The crowd -- 300,000, can you imagine? -- roared like Lion Country Safari when Indiana native Tony Stewart took the lead. Tony led the most laps, but at the end he complained about tire problems, made an extra pit stop, and finished 12th.
The wrecks of the day were a 7-car spinout pretty late in the day and a real scary moment when Dale Jarrett spun around backwards on pit lane and hit his jackman and a photographer. They were OK, thank goodness, it turned out. But this caused pit road to be closed, and Jeff Gordon, along with some other guys, pitted anyway and took the penalty to keep from running out of gas. Scary! (Recently, I ran my Buick so long trying to get to Florida that the gas alarm bell was ringing when I finally stopped! Now really, that's pretty stupid, I admit it.)
USA Today had a big racing section on Friday and the main story was about how Kenseth is such a shoo-in to win the championship and the points system needs to be revised. I say: this points system has given us a good ride this far. Of course, I think they should have stayed with Winston, too.
Well I'm happy to say that yet again the DeVine 91/2 is THE swinging NASCAR family. We had six of the top 10 at Indy, and now our guys have seven of the top 10 points slots! If Tony will get back in the groove, we can make eight!
THE MARI HULMAN GEORGE STORY!
Y'all this just goes to show how you can look up something on the Internet and it blows your mind! When I went to Google to spellcheck my earlier reference to Mari Hulman Geoge, I was directed to the site of the Indianapolis Star, where I learned that:
* Mari's dad, Tony Hulman Jr., bought the Indy speedway when it was just a weedy mess after WWII.
* Tony got folks to saying, "Gentlemen, start your engines!"
* After he got too sick to say it, he got his wife, Mary Fendrich Hulman, to say it!
* After she got too sick to say it, she got their only child, Mari Hulman, to say it!
* In 1957, Mari married Elmer George, an unsuccessful racecar driver. They had four kids. Mary was the speedway chair, and Elmer was the vice president in charge of international radio.
* On race day in 1976, Elmer argued by phone with his horse trainer, then after, the race, went over and contronted the guy, who then shot him dead! The jury did not indict the trainer!
* Mari and Elmer's son Tony became president and CEO when Elmer died.
* In a really messy 1989 divorce trial, Tony's "use of cocaine and marijuana was revealed," according to the Indy Star!
Gosh, no wonder Mari looks like she's seen it all! She really has!
Next week our guys will be trying to remember how to turn right at Watkins Glen. Even though I like speedway racing way better, I have to admit that Watkins Glen, with its summery mountain views, looks like a great place to spend the day. If you're headed up that way, send me a picture and a special report, won'tcha?
That's it for now, race buds 'n' babes. Let's all get together for Watkins Glen! I'll see y'all at the Track Bar!
Love,
Betty Jack DeVine
