Things I don’t want to hear this weekend:

-“Who will have their luck run out? And who will shoot craps?”-Thanks Chris Myers.

-“Another right front tire problem.”-I really hope Goodyear and NASCAR get it right this weekend.

-“Trouble again for the 8 car”-Love him or hate him, it’s good for NASCAR when Junior runs well. Plus, I happen to like him.

-“Ooh, Deuces wild!”- as Kurt Busch takes the lead. Thanks DW.

-“You know, here in Vegas you want to hit 21, but it looks like 20 is a pretty good number too.”-Larry McReynolds as Tony Stewart opens an 8 second lead.

-“Trouble in Turn 2”-With increased speeds comes increased danger and decreased control. Nobody wants to see another scary crash like David Reutimann’s at California.

-“Who will gamble on fuel here in Sin City?”-Thanks Mike Joy.

-“Caution for debris, that means we’ll have a green, white, checker finish.”-Oh great, phantom caution and a contrived green, white, checker.

-“Honey, can are you going to clean the basement today?”-“Sorry dear, there’s a green white checker!”

Other Thoughts

-Is it me or has this been a really quiet two weeks in the NASCAR world? There is nothing noteworthy happening. It’s been three weeks since Daytona, you would think Silly Season rumors should have surfaced by now. Something about how Jeffrey Earnhardt is going to replace Dale Jr in the 8 car. Or maybe Regan Smith announcing his retirement from Cup racing.

-This weekend is Daylight Savings Time. Don’t forget. It would be a shame to miss an hour of the race by forgetting to spring ahead.

-My prediction for a youngster to win at California was not very accurate. Clint Bowyer ran well, but never threatened. This week is a brand new surface at Las Vegas so I think someone with great car control and probably a veteran will win. Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth each have two wins here and either would make sense. I'm going with Jeff Gordon. He ran well at California, and traditionally runs very well higher banked tracks and he won at Chicago last year. Chicago has 18 degrees compared to the new Vegas' 20 degrees.

-Last Thursday marked the annual start of Mustache March. One of my friends is “required” by his work to grow a stache. I decided to join in and grew a killer handlebar. I still need to take a picture, but it most resembles Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me fame. It only took me two months to grow, but I'm pretty proud. My wife? Not so much.

-And Finally…Introducing Torqued off Tuesdays

I’ve been thinking about a way to create more interaction with fellow NASCAR fans and the loyal readers of my blog (I really appreciate the support by the way). A few years ago I worked at a sports radio station. They had a feature called “What Bugs you Wednesday.” Listeners would call in with their best bugs about sports, work, traffic or life in general. The best ones were pretty funny. So I’ve decided to try something similar beginning next Tuesday. Maybe something in Sunday’s race will get you torqued off, or a coworker that comes by your desk to ask if you got their email, or the dude that cut you off on the freeway. Whatever it is, leave a comment on Tuesday. I’ll come up with a few myself and see how it goes. I wish I had a prize for the best ones, but at least there’s the potential for some fun or catharsis.

Let me know what you think.