Iconic celebrations. They seem to be a fairly common occurrence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Often one driver’s unique celebration becomes a tradition that future race winners will also perform. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the birthplace of what may be the most iconic celebration, the drinking of milk in victory lane. But regardless if the tradition began at the Brickyard or not, when they do occur there they just seem to be on a grander scale. While some open wheel drivers have started a few traditions of their own, the NASCAR boys have added a couple as well.
Long before the “Got Milk?” campaign was even born, the drinking of the milk by the Indianapolis 500 champion was started by Louis Meyer in 1936. Milk companies soon thereafter began sponsoring the race and thus the tradition of the race winner drinking milk during the victory celebration.
Though not actually started at Indianapolis, the climbing of the fence was first made famous by Helio Castroneves in the 2000 Detroit Grand Prix. In 2005 Tony Stewart started doing his own version of the fence climb. Tony took it a step further and scaled the fence to the top to personally claim the checkered flag from the flag stand. While he made the fence climb a total of four times that year, the climb at the Brickyard was surely the most famous.
Another traditional post-race celebration was born at the Brickyard thanks to the NASCAR Cup series team of Robert Yates Racing. It was the kissing of the bricks. This iconic celebration was born in 1996 after Dale Jarrett won his first of two Brickyard 400 races. Jarrett’s crew chief, Todd Parrott, is credited with starting the tradition of having the entire race team kneel down along the row of bricks that make up the Start/Finish line on the speedway. The team members then turn their caps around backwards and proceed to kiss the bricks in celebration of the win. This iconic celebration has since been adopted by the open wheel drivers after winning the Indianapolis 500.
Considering the above mentioned celebrations, the kissing of the bricks is my favorite. I cringe at the thought of a driver or crew member falling off the fence and facing injury or death. The drinking of milk has it’s roots primarily from sponsor commitments, and frankly, don’t we have enough of that going on at every race and interview? But kissing the bricks, that’s classy and shows the entire race team’s enthusiasm and appreciation for their accomplishment.
So, which post-race celebration or tradition is your favorite? Maybe it’s the Polish victory lap? Surely it’s not the snow-angel, right? But maybe it’s the Icky-Shuffle, the back flip off the car, or simply taking a bow. Check out these iconic examples below and let’s hear your choice!
Maybe that’s the phenomenon happening over in the IRL.
If you haven’t seen or heard of the Danica Patrick and Milka Duno towel fight, check out Ray’s article here, or watch it unfold before you with the glory of YouTube.
So there is your introduction to these two ladies in case you are such a NASCAR Junkie that you tune the IRL out.
My question is “Which of these two ladies is hotter looking in a firesuit?”
Cast your gaze on these two photos and then your vote in the comments section. I’ll put all the commenters names together…mix ‘em up real good and award the winner with a free Biker’s Barbecue Box from the fine folks at Full Throttle Sauces. The Biker’s Box has two 20-ounce bottles of BBQ Sauce (Mild & Hot) and two 12-ounce shakers of Rub (Roadkill Chicken & Hog Rub).
If you missed my review of Full Throttle’s BBQ Sauces it is here.
*Be sure to use a valid email address when you comment so if you win I can contact you. This contest will run through the end of the day July 31, 2008. You can keep track of all the contests past and present here.
Paul*, the owner of Full Throttle BBQ Sauces contacted me after reading my Official NASCAR BBQ Sauce post. (Many kudos still to Chef Jason on his BBQ sauce recipes.)
Anyways, Paul sent me a sampling of Full Throttle BBQ for our family to try out. We did.
Delicious!
Full Throttle BBQ sauces come in two flavors: Mild and Hot. This is perfect for our family, because I like things hot and the wife & kiddo’s likes ‘em mild.
We all dipped our fingers in the jars and tried a taste while the grill was still warming up. The sauces were sweet, but not overly so. The Hot one left a nice aftertaste with a hint of a little zing on my tongue.
Both sauces were so good by themselves, I couldn’t resist licking the spoon clean each time I spread it on the meat in the final minutes of grilling.
Full Throttle BBQ sauces were a big hit with everybody. It didn’t overpower the great taste of the grilled pork ribs and chicken breasts. Although, my oldest daughter was spotted with her own little dipping bowl of BBQ sauce.
If you want to try Full Throttle BBQ sauces or rubs, check out Paul’s website and order some. You’ll be glad you did. Trust me.
*Not sure if I should be referring to Paul as the owner. Their website says, “Full Throttle Sauces was founded by the wives of two motorcycle enthusiasts who share their passion for bikes and barbecue.” So maybe Mrs. Paul is the owner
On the list of character traits Kyle Busch is lacking, confidence and motivation are nowhere to be found. Though he may have been quick to call the race over when Jimmie Johnson passed him in the closing laps. Shortly afterwards, when the caution flag came out for David Gilliland’s engine blowing up, the restart would give Kyle one final run to the checkers. “I don’t know how I did that,” he said. “I sort of gave up on myself when I lost the lead but those guys over there (his jubilant pit crew) didn’t give up.”
One crew member who didn’t give up was Jeff Dickerson, Kyle’s spotter. Not only did he not give up, but he also motivated Kyle with a little trash talk. “Dickerson gave one whale of a speech and pretty much said: ‘You ain’t got a hair on your ass if you don’t go to the outside and pass this guy.’ So I did what I could and tried to make his words work, and obviously they worked out for us.” said Kyle after the race.
As Jimmie Johnson led the field for the final restart, Kyle came up on his bumper. Once he caught Jimmie he didn’t let off the gas, but instead perfectly matched Jimmie’s restart. Kyle actually pushed Jimmie down the front stretch before jumping to the outside and passing Jimmie through turns 1 and 2. It turned out to be the race winning move. “You know, with that old car, you couldn’t have done that. You couldn’t have gotten on the guy like that, because it would have just spun him out because the noses and tails don’t really meet up, but with this car, it worked out.”
Kyle extended his point standings lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. to 262 points. The win at Chicagoland is Kyle’s 7th victory and 13th top ten finish in 2008. Kyle and brother Kurt have combined to win the last four Sprint Cup races [Kyle won 3, Kurt won 1], a feat that was last accomplished in 1955 by brothers Tim and Fonty Flock.
Here’s a look at the post-race loop data statistics for Kyle Busch’s run at Chicagoland Speedway.
Starting Position = 1st
Mid Race Position = 1st
27 Laps to Go = 1st
Lowest Position = 16th
Average Position = 3rd (Best of field.)
# of Fastest Laps = 47 (Best of field.)
Laps in Top 15 = 266 (Harvick & Stewart tied for best of field with 267 Laps in Top 15)
% of Laps in Top 15 = 99.6
Laps Led = 165 (Awarded most laps led bonus points.)
% of Laps Led = 61.8%
Final Driver Rating = 146.3 (Best of field. Second best rating was Stewart with a 120.6 driver rating.)
I realize this is a little short notice for some, but as of this posting there is still about 2 days and 6 hours to get in for the very beginning. Of course, one can always join late.
Anyway, I’d like to extend an invitation for you to join me in the OneBadWheel.com Clubhouse that I’ve created in one of the SPEED Fantasy Cup racing games. The cost is only $4.95 and it’s the PICK’EM & RACE - Circuit 2 game. It’s very easy and inexpensive to play. I thought it would be cool if some of our regular OneBadWheel.com visitors joined me in the OneBadWheel.com Clubhouse for some friendly competition. Or perhaps some of our players in the Champs, Chumps & Sleepers game would enjoy it too.
Here’s how Pick’em & Race works:
Pick one driver that will compete in the upcoming weekend’s race and be awarded Sprint Cup points.
You score points based on the driver’s Sprint Cup points awarded for the race.
You pick a different driver for each race, using 18 different Sprint Cup drivers during the Contest.
Pick your driver each week until the green flag is dropped.
This year Pick’em & Race begins with the LifeLock.com 400 on July 12, 2008.
The top 100 entries that accumulate the most points by the end of the challenge win cash prizes!
Up for the challenge? Sign up today! Pick’em & Race starts Saturday, July 12!
Click the link below to show me who’s boss!
PICK’EM & RACE - Circuit 2
Once you’ve signed up, click on Clubhouse link and then the button to join a clubhouse. Look for the “OneBadWheel.com” Clubhouse and join me!
Iconic celebrations. They seem to be a fairly common occurrence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Often one driver’s unique celebration becomes a tradition that future race winners will also perform. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the birthplace of what may be the most iconic celebration, the drinking of milk in victory lane. But regardless if the tradition began at the Brickyard or not, when they do occur there they just seem to be on a grander scale. While some open wheel drivers have started a few traditions of their own, the NASCAR boys have added a couple as well.
On the list of character traits Kyle Busch is lacking, confidence and motivation are nowhere to be found. Though he may have been quick to call the race over when Jimmie Johnson passed him in the closing laps. Shortly afterwards, when the caution flag came out for David Gilliland’s engine blowing up, the restart would give Kyle one final run to the checkers. “I don’t know how I did that,” he said. “I sort of gave up on myself when I lost the lead but those guys over there (his jubilant pit crew) didn’t give up.”
