The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened Tuesday May 11.  It is located in downtown (sorry, uptown) Charlotte, NC.

While we were in the Charlotte area Memorial Day weekend, Penni & I decided to go to the NASCAR HoF.  We were there for well over 2 hours and didn’t even feel like we had seen it all.

The first 5 inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame were…

Bill France Sr

Bill France Jr

Junior Johnson

“The King” – Richard Petty

“The Intimidator” – Dale Earnhardt Sr

A blogger Penni & I met at the Coca-Cola tweet-up named Valli posted a great recap on her blog of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and all it has to offer.  Instead of trying to do the same, I thought I’d share a link to her post and then show some of my photos.  I will say that the NASCAR Hall of Fame is a must for a NASCAR fan and even sports fans when they are in the Charlotte area.

You Have to Visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame – Valli

Click here to view all of the pictures I took on my vacation.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that rain is causing weekend plan problems right now.  It is after all April.  Rain just seems to be throwing kinks in the weekend plans constantly right now.  Yesterday was supposed to start with the Race for the Cure and then heading up to Missouri to Lindsey & Grayson’s to help with their flower beds.  Instead, we had pouring rain that lasted off and on all day.  We did end up going up to MO for supper so the day wasn’t a total loss but it is still disappointing, nonetheless.

Last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series was at Texas Motor Speedway.  The forecast was showing a small chance of rain all weekend.  Our hope was that 30-40% wasn’t going to hurt the race on Sunday.

We went down to DFW on Friday.  We stay in Frisco right next to IKEA and Dr Pepper Ballpark, which is home of the double-A Texas Rangers team the Frisco RoughRiders.  Our hotel room had a great view down into the ballpark.  It’s too bad they aren’t ever at home the weekend of the NASCAR race.

We spent Friday evening at my uncle’s house in Dallas.  It was a great visit with him & Rod and a great home cooked meal!  I took tons of pictures of their flowers & plants while I was there (of course).

On Saturday, we got up early and went to the Dallas Farmers Market.  We left there with several fresh vegetables & some berries.  We also left seeing all of the great flowers blooming and wishing we could go home and plant them all in our yards.  Saturday night, our group of 13 met at Babe’s Chicken House in Frisco for dinner.  For those unfamiliar with Babe’s, it is a restaurant where you pick your meat you want to eat (fried chicken, chicken strips, pot roast, chicken fried steak, etc) and then all of the vegetables are served family style.  (NWA Peeps:  Think Monte Ne Inn here in Rogers, except there are other meats to choose from besides fried chicken.)  This is our second year in a row to eat there.  It’s very good!

Sunday was race day (or at least it was supposed to be).  That 30-40% chance was pretty well 100% at the track.  We headed out there hoping the rain would stop and the track would get dry.  No such luck.  The race was postponed til Monday.  (Shelby, Mom, & I headed on home Monday so Shelby & I didn’t get to see the race.)

While we were at the track on Sunday, NASCAR 4-time champion Jimmie Johnson held a Q&A session at the Chevrolet stage.  The major topic of the questions was that he & his wife Chandra are expecting a baby girl in July.  His words…”I hope she comes during the off-weekend in mid-July.”

Junior took quite a wild ride in today’s Nationwide series race.  I’m hoping he’s in Victory Lane tomorrow for the Daytona 500 instead of the infield care center.

I recommend that you all watch the 4 part HBO series called 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona.

For NASCAR fans, it gives us a glimpse into the psyche of Jimmie Johnson & Chad Knaus.  Until Dale Earnhardt Jr joined Hendrick Motorsports, I viewed Jimmie as an arrogant driver with way too much good luck.  He still has way too much good luck but I must say that after 4 NASCAR Sprint Cup championships in a row, his & Chad’s arrogance was confidence in what they could obviously accomplish.  (They need to get with Junior and pass on at least a bit of a confidence.  I guess that’s for another entry, though.)

For non-NASCAR fans, it gives you a glimpse at the world behind “racing in circles”.  Let me be the first to say that, if all NASCAR was was watching cars go round and round in circles, I’d be bored out of my mind and would not be a fan.  The goings on behind the scenes at the track and off the track are sometimes much more interesting than who is leading the race.  This series is giving a behind the scenes view of Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, & Chad Knaus as they prepare for the Daytona 500 (which is 2 weeks from today!).  Folks try to explain away NASCAR as not being a sport.  Just watching the first episode demonstrated that the drivers & the crew members work out a lot to prepare for the hard work that is driving a car for 3-4 hours during a race and also accomplishing 12 second pit stops.  Not many sports make a team member lose up to 10 pounds a game/race/etc.  That fact has always made me say Wow! when thinking of a driver’s stamina to race.

By the way…I loved the milk & cookies re-enactment with Rick Hendrick!  Rick always has the best stories to tell.

You can watch the series on Tuesdays at 9pm CST and on re-runs.  There are 3 new episodes left.

Here is the website for the show where you can see several clips of the show.

2009 was quite a year.  The most important and exciting thing that happened to me this year is that I bought my first home.  I’ve looked and talked and planned for several years.  The pieces all fell into place very quickly at the end of July for me to officially begin my search for a home.  The house I bought was the first one me & the realtor that assisted me looked at together.  Greg (my realtor & Lindsey’s father-in-law) found me the perfect house.

My other major purchase of 2009 was a Nikon D90 camera.  I’ve had fun playing with it this year.  Although, I haven’t ventured far from the automatic settings yet.  One of my goals for 2010 is to learn more about what all my camera can do.

Lindsey, Kelly, Hayley, & I saw the Paisley Party Tour stop in Tulsa in January.  It included Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, & Darius Rucker.

My mom’s birthday in January marked the beginning of a very bad ice storm.  I don’t remember ever having weather like that.  The ice was crazy.

In March, Kelly & I went to San Antonio for a few days.  We saw a bit of a history at the Alamo, had dinner on the top of the world, and even visited the beach.

In April, we took our annual trip to Dallas/Fort Worth for some NASCAR.  While down there, we visited the Sixth Floor Museum & Dealey Plaza where JFK was assassinated.  Jeff Gordon finally won a race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Memorial Day weekend I traveled to Charlotte, NC to visit Penni and go to the NASCAR races that weekend.  It was a weekend full of rain but it was a great weekend of visiting old friends and meeting new ones.

In June, I went to a couple of concerts.  The first one was Casting Crowns at the Church at Pinnacle Hills.  The second one was Chuck Wicks at the Poultry Festival.  I got to meet Chuck in person twice (once by accident) that evening.  It was great!  He’s hilarious and very down-to-earth.

Lindsey, Shelby, & I made last minute plans to go to Junction, TX in July to our cousin Lacey’s wedding.  We made Mom come too.  We took our time going down to visit Mom’s brother (our uncle) Mark and also to visit Dublin for some wonderful Dr Pepper.

In the beginning of October, Shelby & I traveled to Dallas.  The University of Arkansas Razorbacks played the Texas A&M Aggies in the new Cowboys Stadium.  Shelby, our uncles Mark & Rod, and I went to the game.  It was an awesome game in an aswesome stadium.  I’m hoping we get to go again next year!

In mid-October, I traveled to Phoenix with a couple others in my department for an SAP conference.  Besides the conference, we took some time to do some sight-seeing.

The last trip I took in 2009 was with Shelby the first weekend of November.  We went back to Dallas/Fort Worth for the NASCAR race.

Here are the blog entries I wrote this year related to my year in review.

January 3, 2009 10:57 pm - The Nikon D90
January 4, 2009 5:54 pm - New Camera – Day 2
January 10, 2009 10:32 pm - New Baby
January 11, 2009 2:38 pm - The Red Coat
January 24, 2009 8:56 am - Tulsa Bound
January 26, 2009 6:40 pm - Family Tradition
January 28, 2009 1:34 pm - Be Still!
January 29, 2009 6:32 pm - Tulsa Time
January 29, 2009 8:27 pm - Ice Storm
February 1, 2009 12:02 pm - Ice Storm Aftermath
March 5, 2009 9:00 am - San Antonio Bound
March 6, 2009 9:25 pm - Where’s Dad When You Need Him?
March 7, 2009 8:31 am - 173 Years Later
March 14, 2009 3:03 pm - Life is like a box of chocolates
March 14, 2009 3:59 pm - A bit of history
March 15, 2009 6:38 pm - The San Antonio Zoo
March 15, 2009 6:57 pm - The Texas Beach
March 15, 2009 8:03 pm - Sea World
March 21, 2009 2:40 pm - Tower of the Americas
March 21, 2009 4:15 pm - San Antonio Re-Cap
April 18, 2009 4:05 pm - Who Dun It?
April 18, 2009 4:45 pm - He finally won
June 20, 2009 3:58 pm - Chuck Wicks Times 3
June 27, 2009 4:47 pm - Casting Crowns
August 9, 2009 4:58 pm - My New House
August 23, 2009 5:42 pm - My New House – Before
October 7, 2009 9:52 pm - Long Wait
November 6, 2009 3:32 pm - Shop a Little, Race a Little

As far as 2010, I don’t really have any plans for any major traveling.  I know we’ll go to both NASCAR races in Texas in April & November.  Other than that, this may be a year that I take it a bit easy as far as traveling goes.  I do need to catch up on here with some blog entries.  I really want to share what my house looks like now that I’ve gotten it painted and decorated.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports, & Lowe’s on their 4th championship in a row!

From Marty Smith (ESPN) on Twitter:

Just asked Johnson to be honest with me about where he stacks up among the greatest ever: “This puts us up there. No doubt.”

Hendrick teammates Mark Martin & Jeff Gordon finished the season in 2nd & 3rd, respectively.

Dale Earnhardt Jr finished the season 25th.  This season has been a bumpy season for Junior & team.  Lance McGrew was finally named the official crew chief (removing the interim designation) a while back.  I really think Lance, Junior, & the 88 team can do great things together.  I’m very optimistic about 2010!

Brad Keselowski’s last race with JR Motorsports was Saturday.  He will be joining Penske Racing & driving the #12 in the Sprint Cup series next year.  Good luck, Brad!  Kelly Bires will be joining JRM next year.  I’m very excited to see how he does for JRM.

Shelby and I are leaving this evening to head to Dallas.

I’m getting closer & closer to moving into my new house.  While in Dallas (Frisco, actually), I am going to visit IKEA.  I’m sure I will find way more than I can afford or need but I look forward to look around for ideas.

Sunday is NASCAR time!  Shelby and I have the best seats we’ve ever had (up near the top at the start/finish line).  I thank the season (actually lifetime) ticket holder that decided to sell their tickets for the great view we will enjoy!

The drivers contending for the 2009 championship are…

• Mark Martin
• Tony Stewart
• Jimmie Johnson
• Denny Hamlin
• Kasey Kahne
• Jeff Gordon
• Kurt Busch
• Brian Vickers
• Carl Edwards
• Ryan Newman
• Juan Pablo Montoya
• Greg Biffle

As you can see by the above list, Dale Earnhardt Jr didn’t make it in.  I really haven’t yet figured out who I think has the best chance to win the championship.  Although, my gut says Tony & Jimmie are very good early favorites to win it all.  It will boil down to whoever can have the most consistent (good consistency, that is) finishes for the remaining 10 races.  Who are you rooting for to win?

The drivers spent the past couple of days doing a whirlwind media tour in New York City.  Here is a clip of one of the appearances.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWEqW4LagVM

Today is the first Arkansas Razorback football game of the season.  The Razorbacks are taking on the Missouri State Bears at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.  Go Hogs Go!

Some Exciting Former Hog News:

• Former Hog baseball player Craig Gentry has been called up from AA Frisco to the majors – the Texas Rangers.  Northwest Arkansas has been fortunate enough to keep up with Craig’s progress through the Rangers organization because Frisco plays the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.  Good luck, Craig!

Brad Keselowski has helped Dale Earnhardt Jr make JR Motorsports a weekly contender in the NASCAR Nationwide series.  Brad has 5 wins in the NW series and got his first Cup series win in April at Talladega.  Penske Racing announced Tuesday that Brad will join them beginning in 2010 and will drive the #12 Penske Dodge in the Sprint Cup series.  Congratulations Brad on this great opportunity!  Just remember that Rick Hendrick & Hendrick Motorsports isn’t out of reach!

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals have 3 games left (with only 1 win needed) and they will have clinched a Texas League playoff spot for the 2nd straight season (in only 2 seasons in existence in NWA).  Good luck Naturals against the Tulsa Drillers this weekend!