I took this photo at JR Motorsports last October when I was in Charlotte for the fall NASCAR races.  Brad Keselowski drove this car at Fontana, CA Labor Day weekend last year.  Well, I guess I should say “wrecked” instead of “drove”.  Brad was asked about this car this past weekend in Cali.

“Dale’s got it out on his property there,” said Keselowski, who lives in an apartment on Earnhardt Jr.’s property. “Every once in a while, we’ll get in a golf cart or a four-wheeler and drive by it and see it.”

“It’s a good conversation piece,” Keselowski said. “It’s actually out back in the woods. It’s on a hill and there’s vines and stuff growing through it. It’s cool because Dale left it completely intact. Every single piece other than the radio is in it. It’s really cool to see.”

I took over 600 photos while I was in Michigan at the NASCAR races.  The gallery of the best of these photos can be found here.  I wanted to post a special entry explaining some of the photos and to use some of them to explain more about the weekend.  Feel free to ask questions about any of the photos if you’d like more information than I give here or on the photo’s caption in Flickr.

Michigan International Speedway is location in Brooklyn, Michigan.  It seemed quite literally in the middle of nowhere.  There was a town closeby and the track had neighbors but nothing major and there was not really a major highway going in and out of the track.  (Oh yeah…Speaking of the road…A lot of people complain about traffic in & out of Texas Motor Speedway being some of the worst.  We don’t ever have problems at TMS.  MIS was much, much worse.)  Because the track is so close to Canada, there are a lot of Canadian NASCAR fans that come down for the race.  The track flies, not only an American flag, but also a Canadian flag.  Plus, we listened to both the Canadian and United States national anthems.

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Or is it…Brad Keselowski loves Tennessee?

Brad Keselowski won his first NASCAR Nationwide series race in Nashville, TN on June 7, 2008.  He won his second on Friday night in Bristol, TN.  His Bristol win, besides being the second of his career and this year, is the 4th win this season for JR Motorsports.

Around the Web:

• Foxsports:  Late bobble costs Bowyer, lists Keselowski
• NASCAR.com:  Keselowski uses Bowyer’s slip to capture win at BMS
• SceneDaily.com:  Bowyer’s Bobble Boosts Keselowski to Nationwide win at Bristol
• SI.com:  After starting 37th, Keselowski wins Bristol Nationwide
• SpeedwayMedia.com:  Keselowski Scores 2nd Win of Season at Bristol, Closes in on Points Lead
• ThatsRacin.com:  Offered Penske’s No. 12 Dodges in Sprint Cup, Keselowski Declines

My flight leaves at 6:15 in the morning bound for Columbus, Ohio by way of Memphis, Tennessee.  What’s in Columbus, you might ask?  Well, Sarah & Alisandra live there.  Penni & I are going to be tagging along with them on their annual excursion a couple of hours north to Brooklyn, Michigan for the NASCAR races (Nationwide & Sprint Cup series) this weekend.

I’ll, of course, be taking my laptop with me.  (We should have internet access in the hotel room.)  Whether or not I use my laptop, I’ll have my cell phone and will be twittering along the way.  Feel free to follow along with me this weekend.  I’ll have lots of stories and photos to share when I return, I’m fairly certain.

Who’s gonna win this weekend?  Well, I’m rooting for one of the JR Motorsports teams - #5 driven by Mark Martin or #88 driven by Brad Keselowski - in the Nationwide series race on Saturday.  On Sunday, I’m rooting for the #88 driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr.  All of these teams have a great shot at a win.  (Junior actually won the June race in Michigan so I’m sure he can defend his win.)

Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

At this point in 2007, Jeff Gordon was leading the Sprint Cup standings (and was 344 points ahead of 2nd place).  He & Jimmie Johnson were tied for the most wins so far with 4 a piece.  After today’s race, Kyle Busch leads all drivers this year with 8 wins and is leading the standings by 242 points.  Both of those stats are alarming to me.  First of all, I expected Kyle to do ok in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing.  I figured he’d have 1 or 2 wins and probably make the Chase.  Instead, he has 8 wins and is a sure thing for the Chase (if not the championship).  The 242 point differential between Kyle and 2nd place is a big surprise to me.  Jeff Gordon had 4 wins at this point last year but was farther ahead of 2nd place than Kyle is with 8 wins.  This makes me think that it may be any one’s ballgame once the Chase starts.  Kyle has definitely had some great finishes this year (very reminiscent of Jimmie Johnson at times in 2006 & 2007 when nothing seemed to stop the team from a top 5 or win).  Unfortunately, he has a handful of very poor finishes (including Martinsville, which is a Chase track).  He will more than likely need no stumbles (or bad luck) in the Chase to keep his roll going and end up 2008 Sprint Cup Champion.

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