[media-credit name=”Kirk Schroll” align=”alignright” width=”296″][/media-credit]July 4^th marks an important day as it is Independence Day, and in typical NASCAR tradition, NASCAR is headed to Daytona International Speedway. In celebration, NASCAR has embarked on an initiative called NASCAR Unites an American Initiative. One of the drivers taking part is Tampa, Florida native Aric Almirola, who will be running a U.S. Air Force paint scheme on his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.

“It always means a lot to me whether it’s 4th of July weekend or any other weekend, to represent the U.S. Air Force,” he says. “It’s a big deal to represent our military and to basically represent the people that fight for our freedom on a daily basis.  So, you know, it means a lot to me to represent them.”

Almirola grew up on an Air Force base as he was born in Elgin Air Force base.

“I realize and know the sacrifices that the families make for us to be free and to live in a free country.  So it means a lot to me to be able to represent them and drive the U.S. Air Force car,” he adds. “Last time I drove the Air Force car, we qualified on the pole for the Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte for the Coke 600.  So hopefully we can carry that momentum into this weekend, and we’ll go down to Daytona and have a good weekend.”

The sponsorship with the Air Force has allowed Almirola to see the similarities between the Air Force and NASCAR. He says in speaking with the pilots, he sees all of the trust that they put into the mechanics that build the airplanes and make them safe.

“They’re putting their lives in other people’s hands to make sure the plane or the jet is put together properly and maintenance properly and all that stuff,” he says. “It’s a team effort.  It’s more than just a pilot.  And that’s kind of the same thing that we have in NASCAR.

“I get in the race car, and it’s my name above the door, but there is a lot that goes on that has to happen correctly for us to go out and perform and perform at a high level.  So without good people, good results don’t come. You have to have people you trust and are willing to work hard and to sacrifice time with their families and stuff like that to put a good product on the racetrack.”

So far this year, Almirola sits 22^nd in points with one pole and two top 10 finishes this season. The last restrictor plate race at Talladega Superspeedway marked Almirola’s first race of the season with Mike Ford as his crew chief.

“The last couple of weeks we haven’t gotten the result we’re looking for, but everything leading up to that has been great,” he says. “Working with Mike has been really great.  Mike’s a great crew chief and a great leader, and he’s really smart.”

In the last four weeks, Almirola only has one finish in the top 20 with a 17^th place finish at Michigan. The reason has been is that they’ve been trying some new things to try and get better, without having much success.

“Sometimes it’s not fun to run bad, but sometimes you learn kind of what not to do,” he comments. “So the last couple of weeks we’ve learned that and I feel like since he’s come on board at Richard Petty Motorsports our organization as a whole has gotten better — not just the 43, but I feel like the 9’s performance has gotten better too.  I really enjoy working with him.  His experience has helped me a lot.  He helps me a lot more than just being a crew chief.”

Almirola adds that he is leaning on Ford’s experience with showing up to some of the tracks for the first time in a Sprint Cup Series car and not knowing what to expect.

“I think as we build our notebook together and go back to racetracks together, and I’ll get to go back to a racetrack for a second time, I think we’ll be a lot better,” he continues. “Right now we just kind of feel like we’re filling our notebook with notes.  Some are good notes, some are bad notes, but you need notes.  Right now every time we show up to a racetrack, we have a blank sheet of paper.”

When they return to the race tracks, not only will they have notes to look back on, but Almirola says he’ll have a better understanding of the track.

“When I go out to practice, rather than learning the racetrack, I will already know the racetrack, but I’ll be working on my race car to figure out what I need to go fast,” he says. “That will be the biggest difference is just going back to these racetracks for a second time.  When I get on the racetrack, I know what I’m looking for.”

This weekend marks the 17^th race of the season and Almirola says he is more comfortable now than at the beginning of the year.

“I feel like I show up to the racetrack every weekend, and I know when I walk over to that 43 car, that’s my car, and my group of guys,” he says. “It’s a lot different than what it was at the beginning of the year. In the beginning of the year I was just trying to learn the guys’ names and figure out each week when we show up to the racetrack what to expect.  I feel like I have a lot better understanding of that now.”

Now moving forward, the next thing Almirola wants to do is win a race and put up a good performance. Almirola says he has good moments, such as the pole at Charlotte, and he hopes to have more of those, though he knows it’s not easy to keep doing it

“I didn’t expect to come Cup racing and beat Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards and those guys every weekend,” he says. “I knew it was going to be tough, and I had a lot to learn, and I still do.  I feel like I was right.  It is tough.  It’s extremely hard, extremely competitive.”

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”286″][/media-credit]We come to Daytona once again for a Fourth of July tradition. Racing at Daytona is always special but when we do it and celebrate our great country of America, it is even more special. We’ll see fireworks light up the sky Saturday Night. The last five Night Races at Daytona have been some to remember. We’ve had amazing finishes, first-time winners and some great racing.

2007:  We were still calling the race the “Pepsi 400”, but that night we saw a spectacular finish. For the most part of the final five laps, Kyle Busch (then in the No.5) and Jamie McMurray (then in the No.26) were racing side by side. They were coming across the line simultaneously almost every lap. Coming out of turn four for the final time, Busch had a slight edge but McMurray stayed along side. At the line it was too close to call but NASCAR officials eventually ruled McMurray the winner. At the time, McMurray had only one previous victory in his career so this win was pretty special.

2008: We saw a pretty calm race until the end. The biggest story leading up the finish had been Tony Stewart getting replaced in the car by J.J Yeley because Stewart was experiencing flu like symptoms. With two laps to go, Jeff Gordon was second coming to the restart and he got turned from behind which sent his car spinning but he did not hit anything and the caution did not come out. Then coming to get the white flag, we saw cars getting lose and sliding around but they did not wreck until they got to turn one. When the No.77 of Sam Hornish Jr got into the No. 28 of Travis Kvapil and turned Kvapil back across the field, the wreck began.

That incident ended the race and then NASCAR went back to the video to determine the winner. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch were side by side when the wreck began but when NASCAR went back to the videos, they determined Busch had a slight edge over Edwards and pronounced Busch the winner of the race. After coming so close last season, Busch got redemption and got across the line first this year in Daytona.

2009: The race was run on July 4^th for the first time since 1992. Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin dominated the race; they led a combined total of 149 laps. Two big wrecks occurred in the race; the first one occurred when Kasey Kahne (then in the No.9) got into the back in David Stremme (Then in the No.12) and then Stremme went head on into the wall and collected multiple cars with him. Many Daytona fans were angry because Dale Earnhardt Jr was involved; Jr was also involved in the 2009 Daytona 500 pileup. So 2009 in Daytona wasn’t a happy memory for Earnhardt Jr fans. Coming to get the white-flag, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Busch pulled up the track to pass Stewart. Hamlin pushed Busch around Stewart but Stewart got back up behind Busch before Hamlin could.

Coming out of turn four Stewart was trying everything to get Busch loose and then Stewart moved up the track. Stewart would go to the outside of Busch and when Busch attempted to block Stewart, Stewart turned Busch head on into the outside wall and Busch hit hard. Stewart would go on and take the checkers and the wreck wasn’t finished quite yet. Kasey Kahne (then in the No.9) couldn’t see a thing and he ran right into the back of Busch’s car, lifting Busch’s car into the air and back down. Then Joey Logano hit Busch one last time in the drivers’ door. Cars were scattered everywhere and Stewart went on to celebrate his first win at Daytona since 2006.

2010: The race didn’t begin until after 9 PM due to showers but the show went on. On lap 103, Montoya and Kyle Busch were racing each other for the lead when Montoya turned Busch head on into the outside wall. Busch was the dominant car of the day before this incident. After winning in 2008, Busch had been turned into the wall the next two years. A 22 car pileup occurred when Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch made contact on the backstretch and bunched the middle of the field up and the big wreck began. Burton and Busch didn’t suffer nearly as much damage as what the main cars in the wreck did. Drivers involved included last year’s winner Stewart. Other drivers involved included Martin, Johnson, Newman, Logano, Hamlin and many others.

A green-white-checker finish was also a part of this race. More fireworks erupted with the finish in this race. On the last lap, Kurt Busch bumped Bowyer into the wall then Bowyer spun back across the backstretch and through the grass. No caution came out and the race continued, Harvick held off Kasey Kahne (then in the No.9) and Jeff Gordon to take the checkers.

2011: We saw a great race last year. The race had competitive racing and a first-time winner. The 2011 Daytona 500 champion, Trevor Bayne ran into trouble early when the No.2 of Brad Keselowski got into the back of Bayne and turned him around into the wall. The first big wreck occurred with two laps to go when Joey Logano turned Mark Martin on the exit of turn two. When cars went high to avoid the wreck, they all got involved. Drivers involved included; Stewart, Truex Jr, Bowyer and many more.

The second attempt of the green-white-checker finish left David Ragan leading with Matt Kenseth pushing him in the two-car-tandem with other tandems approaching them. On the final lap, two separate wrecks occurred. One in turn three started when Landon Cassill (then in the No.51) turned Marcos Ambrose and David Reutimann (then in the No.00) was also involved. Then when the cars roared out of turn four, another wreck occurred. Dale Earnhardt Jr made contact with Jamie McMurray and sent McMurray spinning back up the track. Other drivers involved include; Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Juan Pablo Montoya. Kenseth pushed David Ragan across the line and Ragan won his first career Sprint Cup Series race. The race ended with fireworks and a first-time winner, not a bad combination for a fourth of July showdown in Daytona.

In the last five Daytona night races, we’ve seen great racing and close and wild finishes. Drivers who won one year, have gotten involved in a wreck another year. That shows how wild and unpredictable the races in Daytona are. I expect a combination of all these races for our race this Saturday Night in Daytona. No matter what the outcome Saturday Night, we should see a great race.

[media-credit name=”Brian Douglas” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]During the NASCAR weekend at the Kentucky Speedway there were plenty of brews and blues. For example Brad Keselowski and his Miller Lite/Roger Penske Racing crew slammed down some of their sponsor’s products in victory lane despite the major case of the blues they experienced to get there. Young Austin Dillon earned the right to slam down brews in victory lane only to get the blues following a post race inspection on his car. Oh yeah, there were enough Kentucky HOORAHS and WAZZUPS to fill up a NASCAR hauler. So, let’s begin with:

HOORAH to Brad Keselowski for winning the Quaker State 400 and scoring his series high third win of the season.

HOORAH to this team because that third win now makes them the first team to own a virtual lock on a starting berth in the 2012 Sprint Cup Chase For The Championship. That’s the kind of accomplishment that gets you brews in victory lane.

On the blues end of things, WAZZUP with that mini feud between the race winner and Juan Pablo Montoya? During the opening minutes of Friday’s first practice session, there was contact between from Montoya that sent Keselowski’s Dodge into the wall. After driving into the garage, Keselowski stopped at the Montoya garage stall to deliver a little “testimony time.” Afterwards, the Miller Lite crew began the process of prepping the back up car.

It wasn’t over yet. WAZZUP with Keselowski delivering some pay back on Montoya’s bumper during the opening moments of the second practice session. It seemed that Keselowski was taking a very risky chance on damaging his back up car.

You’ve got to give a HOORAH to NASCAR for sensing that the anger between the two drivers might spill over into the race. Keselowski was told by officials to keep some daylight between the two cars or “we will intervene.”

Afterwards, Keselowski said “sometimes you can say more with a tap on the bumper than the words from out of your mouth. I’m going to defend my team and not let anybody push us around.” HOORAH to “Bad Brad.” There are times when NASCAR racing, and its fans, really needs moments like this.

WAZZUP with Keselowski discovering a broken steering wheel prior to the start of the race? It appeared that one of the mounting spokes on the steering had broken. Fortunately, Keselowski always makes it a point to check his steering wheel and discovered the problem. A crew member had to make a high speed 100 yard dash to the trailer to get another wheel. This all happened just moments before the command to start engines and to proceed down pit road.

HOORAH to the photo of Keselowski doing the Tim Tebow kneel in victory lane in front of the winner’s trophy. Bad Brad said he always wanted to be the first to do the Tebow kneel with a Miller Lite in his hand. Needless to say, that photo hit “Twitter” faster that Keselowski’s Dodge going down the front stretch of the Kentucky Speedway.

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Now for some HOORAHS for making chicken salad out of chicken do do. The first HOORAH goes to Kyle Busch who appeared to be destined to endure a fourth, consecutive, hard luck story in a Sprint Cup race. In the early portion of the race, Busch scraped the wall and broke a shock mount which eventually led to a broken shock absorber. Despite the problem, his Joe Gibbs Racing crew did an outstanding job on pit road and Busch brought the car home to a tenth place finish. He later stated the obvious by saying “we had to do what we could on three pogo sticks.”

Another chicken salad HOORAH goes to Kasey Kahne who endured an early race loose wheel and left pit road two laps down. His team also rose to the occasion and charged their way to a second place finish.

HOORAH to Hendrick Motorsports for placing all four of their teams in the top six at Kentucky. In addition to Kahne’s runner up finish, Dale Earnhardt Jr finished fourth and gained some ground towards landing on top of the points standings. Jeff Gordon finished fifth and, with the bad luck this team has endured all year long, that had to feel like a win to them. Jimmie Johnson finished sixth to complete a strong day for the Hendrick squads.

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WAZZUP with Tony Stewart experiencing problems, for the second time this year, with the ECU box in his car? Stewart came pit road and said: “my ignition has taken a s**t, I’m so appreciative of the ECU what a great idea.” The collateral damage was harsh. Stewart finished 32nd in the race which dropped him from fifth to ninth in the points.

WAZZUP with the Kentucky misfortunes suffered by Carl Edwards? A missed direction on a yellow flag pit opportunity was costly. Edwards had to come to pit road, with three laps remaining in the race, for fuel. A guaranteed top ten finish, possibly a top five, turned into a 20th place finish.

WAZZUP with the team also losing the package delivery battle for bragging rights? Edwards’ Ford was carrying the colors and logo of United Parcel Service at Kentucky. The one thing he wanted was to beat Denny Hamlin’s Fed Ex Toyota, who wound up finishing third.

Last year Edwards was a major player in the championship picture and missed the title by one point. This year, he’s out of the top ten in the points and hasn’t found victory lane since the Las Vegas race last year.  WAZZUP with a post race comment from the driver, regarding the current relationship with crew chief Bob Osbourne, that led a lot of observers to, perhaps, read too much from it? Edwards said: ” we can do this together. We could divide right now or we could come together. I have the best crew chief in the business and he proved it at the end of last year.”

WAZZUP with this already being referred to as the quote of the week along with observers likely reading way too much from it? Drama-drama: save it for your mama.

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HOORAH to Austin Dillon for a very dominant performance in the Kentucky Nationwide Series race. En route to his first series win, Dillon won the Coors Light Pole in qualifying, led 192 of the race’s 200 laps and won by large margin of victory of nearly ten seconds.

HOORAH to Dillon for a much improved victory belly slide through the infield grass. Last year, while driving in the NASCAR Camping Truck Series, Dillon introduced the move. It was a work in progress that didn’t pan out so well. In fact, it looked rather painful.

Having said all that, WAZZUP with Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet failing post race inspection? NASCAR inspectors discovered that the car’s rear end failed to meet their minimum height requirements. A team spokesman later said the situation was caused by a broken right rear mounting bolt. On Monday, NASCAR officials handed down penalties that included crew chief Danny Stockman receiving a $10,000 fine and placed on probation until December 31st. Car chief Robert Strmiska was also placed on probation until the end of year. Morgan Shepherd, the car’s official owner of record, was docked six championship owner’s points. Dillon was docked six driver’s championship points which eventually cost him the series’ points lead.

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HOORAH to James Buescher for becoming the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ first repeat winner. Buescher, and Turner Motorsports, won Thursday night’s truck race at the Kentucky Speedway.

WAZZUP with an “F bomb” getting out live on the air for the second time in less than a week? During the SPEED Channel’s live coverage of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, driver Matt Crafton came over his radio and said “I was driving like a f*****g drunk.” Speed Channel broadcaster Rick Allen quickly apologized for the comment getting on the air and said “we can’t control radio chatter.”

WAZZUP with no one connected with a broadcast team not being able to control radio chatter? It’s really quite easy. Stop doing live on the air eavesdropping on team radio systems. Record it first and if you hear something cute and clever then replay it. You can’t get any more simple than that.

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In some final thoughts, WAZZUP with the bizarre change of weather that hit the Sparta-Kentucky area on qualifying day? First there was extremely hot, triple digit, temperatures with high humidity that was draining both on the drivers and the teams.

The heat leads to a HOORAH to SPEED Channel reporter Chris Neville for laying a thin hot plate on the garage area asphalt to cook bacon and eggs. WAZZUP with breakfast not getting served because the cooking process was disrupted by the sudden arrival of dark clouds and extremely gusty wind? The savage wind blew down, and destroyed, portable tarps on pit road and even rolled a large and heavy full loaded tool box through the garage area. Very bizarre.

HOORAH for capital improvements on the Kentucky Speedway’s infrastructure that avoided last year’s traffic and parking nightmares that caused many fans to miss the NASCAR Sprint Cup event. Never wanting to see a problem like that again, the state of Kentucky teamed up with Speedway Motorsports Inc, the owners of the Kentucky Speedway, to improve the freeway access roads and expanded parking.

The absolute final thought is a GOD BLESS to a new member of the NASCAR Nation. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Bryan Silas and his wife Misty welcomed their second child, a boy, to their family. Broydon Walter Lee Silas was born on June 26th and weighed nine pounds, seven ounces.