What’s happening in Florida during March 2009? March is the beginning of the county fair season. Both Sumter and Citrus County Fairs begin this week. County fairs offer the usual thrill rides, cotton candy, funnel cakes, Italian sausage sandwiches with lots of aromatic onions. Young folks show their livestock, cattle, sheep, pigs and horses all compete for the fair goers’ attention. There are booths for politicians, local businesses, and clubs. County fairs bring back the days of your youth, when there weren’t that many things competing for your time and attention.

The famous Twelve Hours of Sebring kicks off March 18, 2009. The gates to the three point seven mile track open at six AM and run through March 21, 2009. The 2008 races drew approximately one hundred seventy thousand fans that enjoy the American LeMans series and the exciting racing that the famous Sebring track offers. There are both professional and celebrity drivers who compete at Sebring each year. Among the famous who have competed in years past are actors Paul Newman and Steve McQueen.

The Gator Nationals are held each year in Gainesville Florida. The Gainesville track opened in 1969 and the first NHRA Nationals were held in 1970, the Gainesville track is one of the fastest tracks in the nation. It was here that Funny Car driver John force first broke the three hundred miles per hour barrier. The Gator Nationals which is known as the largest drag racing event in the world will be held from March 12, 2009 through March 15, 2009.

Daytona Beach hosts the largest, loudest and most enjoyable motorcycle gathering each year beginning February 27, 2009 and running through March 8, 2009. Usually during Bike Week as its known world wide well over one half million bikers migrate to the mecca of motorcycles and speed. There are races held at Daytona International Speedway that attract all of the top factory teams along with privateers to compete in the Daytona 200. A part of the infield is converted into a moto cross track and this race brings all of the top riders from across the nation to start the season. In addition there are bike shows, beauty contests and the most famous street in the United States, Main Street. Here there are bars, clubs and bars where everyone comes at least once to be seen and to see all of the beautiful bikes that parade down the street. There are also some beautiful people so Main Street is a great spot to people watch.

The Florida Strawberry Festival starts February 26, 2009 and runs through March 8.2009. The Strawberry Festival has been an annual event since 1930, and it improves and expands every year. The festival includes all of the things you find at a state fair, just more of them and better. There are beauty contests with a queen and a court crowned. There is livestock and fowl and the list goes on and on. One of the big attractions is the daily entertainment which includes some of the most popular performers in the music industry. And there is plenty of the mainstay of the festival; your favorite and mine strawberry shortcake.

That’s just a few of the happenings around Florida in the near future. Stay tuned, as we think of more we’ll put them on the blog.

Matt Kenseth won the rain shortened Daytona 500 last Sunday, today he won with the fastest car in Fontana California. Jeff Gordon didn’t have anything for Kenseth after the last pit stop. On a couple of occasions he pulled to Kenseths’ bumper but didn’t have enough tires or power to complete the pass.

Kyle Busch finished a disappointing third after winning two of the NASCAR races on Saturday. He seemed to be disappointed with third after the way he started the weekend in California.

This was a disappointing weekend for the Hendrick Racing team other than Gordons’ second place finish. Both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin had engine problems on the same lap that put both of them in the garage.

Tony Stewart finished eighth at Fontana, after leading during the 500 mile race. An eighth place finish was very respectable considering Stewart has started a new team.

The race in Fontana California was slowed by caution flags eight times, seven times because of rain falling on the race track. The other flag was thrown for a blown engine in the car driven by Kevin Harvick. The engine exploded causing the right front tire to blow. At that point Harvick pounded the wall hard. He was uninjured in the crash.

Next week the Sprint Cup Series moves to Las Vegas Nevada. Hopefully it will be a dry weekend with great racing for the fans.

Kyle Busch Dominates The Day In Fontana California

Kyle Busch made history on Saturday by becoming the first man in NASCAR history to win two touring series races in one day. He not only won both the truck race and the Nationwide Series race he did it by dominating both races at Fontana.  The twenty three year old driver led a total of two hundred thirty eight laps on the two mile track Saturday. He has a chance to make more history Sunday by winning the Sprint cup race.

During the 2008 racing season he won more races in the three top series than anyone ever had. With two wins today he is off to another blistering start of the 2009 season. This was quite a change from last weekend where he finished a disappointing forty first in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a crash triggered by Bryan Vickers blocking Dale Earnhardt Jr. Next week the series moves on to Las Vegas, the Busch brothers’ home town.

Kevin Harvick, a Bakersfield California driver driving a car owned by his own team finished a strong second. He was trying for his first win at what he considers his home track. He also was attempting to win his first Nationwide Series race in a car owned by he and his wife. In years past he has driven cars owned by his Sprint Cup owner Richard Childress Racing of North Carolina.

The Fontana speedway is located in southern California. Fontana has grown from a farming community to one of the many towns that have become part of the greater Los Angeles area, with many residents commuting to Los Angeles daily.

Stay tuned for more racing action to come tomorrow from California.

The Speed Channel Needs to Dump Spencer Now!

As one of the most recklessly aggressive drivers to ever have the honor of driving in NASCAR’s top series Jimmy Spencer sounds ridiculous when he criticizes other drivers for things that happen on a race track. He wasn’t even mildly successful as a driver. With his rant against Dale Earnhardt Jr. he proved that he is worse as an announcer than as a driver and that seems impossible.

Basically he said that Dale Earnhardt Jr. shouldn’t have bumped Vickers when he blocked him during the 2009 Daytona 500. If a driver intentionally blocks another by running him into the out of bounds area as Vickers did to Earnhardt Jr., he is the one who needs to be penalized. Blocking has consequences, sometimes deadly serious. Vickers shouldn’t do it if he isn’t willing to suffer the consequences.

It was too bad that Vickers couldn’t recover from the spin that took out a number of cars that were still in contention for the win. If he didn’t have such a big mouth and short memory he would remember a few years back when he spun out Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson to win the race at Talladega, Alabama. It seems both Spencer and Vickers have no memories of their past sins.

We don’t need to see another overweight, uninformed, cigar smoking big mouth on television ranting about drivers he doesn’t like. His language is not what we want our children to hear, and they don’t need to see an obese individual smoking a huge cigar. We have enough lousy role models in the sports world.

Do the right thing Speed Channel, lose the loser!

Daytona Beach, Florida

Matt Kenseth, a past NASCAR champion was declared the winner of the 2009 Daytona 500.  It was called because of rain with forty eight laps left in the premiere race of the year. Kenseth was in tears after being declared the winner, saying that it was bigger to win at Daytona than to win the NASCAR championship. 

Matt Kenseth who hails from Wisconsin led only one green flag lap before the caution flag flew, followed soon by a red flag that permanently stopped the race. The race was called because of rain, along with high humidity that would have made it impossible to dry the track before midnight. If you can only lead one lap Kenseth picked the right one to lead. As the old saying goes; it’s better to be lucky than good.

Kevin Harvick finished second. Harvick, a Bakersfield, California native was the winner of the race in 2007 blowing past a line of cars to win by beating Mark Martin by a bumper. When the rain came he didn’t have the opportunity to repeat his feat of two years ago.

A.J. Almendinger, another California native was competing in his very first Daytona 500. He had failed to qualify for the 500 in previous tries, but this year he took a brand new car, with a new team, painted in the retro colors that Kyle Petty drove years before.

Clint Bowyer, a Kansas native finished fourth in another brand new car driving for the Richard Childress Racing team.

Tony Stewart starting his first NASCAR points race as an owner/driver finished eighth. Stewart was disappointed that he didn’t get to finish the race saying, he thought he had a chance for a victory. Ryan Newman, his teammate and fellow Indiana native continued to have terrible luck that has plagued him during this years’ Speed Weeks.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., the Kannapolis, North Carolina driver who is a fan favorite and the most popular driver in the sport blew his chance to win by committing two glaring rookie mistakes. He first couldn’t find his pit stall and had to go around once again before pitting. He had to go from the front of the pack and start in the rear on the restart. To his credit he really drove hard to get back to the front, making some moves that were reminiscent of his father. His second screw up was stopping with his right front tire on the pit box line. His crew then ignored the official who told them to get the car off the line before servicing the car. Now a lap down he was trying to be the first car one lap down. Brian Vickers blocked him, he turned Vickers into the pack resulting in a wreck that took out and severely damaged a number of cars.

Now the NASCAR series goes from Daytona to California for another show next week. Then in July as sure as the sun rises in the East the good ol boys will be back in Daytona once again.

Daytona Beach, Florida

Tony Stewart won the Nationwide race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. Stewart drove the #80 Chevy owned by Hendrick Motorsports.
The car was sponsored by Hendrick.com, which is the company that Rick Hendrick operates his automobile dealerships under.

 The #80 comes from the number of dealerships that Hendrick owns. Stewart said during a post race interview that Mr. Hendrick had almost one hundred million dollars of inventory. That’s a lot of cars, no matter how you count them. Tony fulfilled two of Mr. Hendricks’ wishes; first by winning the race, and secondly by bringing the car home without wrecking it. The car is to be taken around to the different dealerships to be displayed.

As always all races at Daytonas’ super speedway is an exciting affair and this was no exception. Amazingly, Stewart won the race mere hours after he and teammate Ryan Newman wrecked their Daytona 500 cars in the final practice for the 500. Ryan Newman blew one of his Good Year racing tires and Tony Stewart plowed into the side of him. Their cars were heavily damaged. Both drivers must go to back up cars and move to the back of the field for the start of the race. 

The two Indiana natives will be fun to watch as they attempt to move through the field. Of course Newman won the Daytona 500 last year, but Stewart has never won the 500. It would be great for the sport if the first year team owner could pull off a win. He has won the July race, the Bud Shootout, and Nationwide races, but the crown jewel of auto racing has eluded him so far.

Finishing behind Tony Stewart in second was Carl Edwards, closely followed by Clint Bowyer, then Kyle Busch in fourth. These drivers in the front of the pack prove that stick car racing is no longer a southern sport. Stewart is originally from Indiana where he was an open wheel champion. Edwards is from Missouri. Clint Bower, a dirt racing superstar hails from Kansas. Kyle Busch is from Las Vegas Nevada.

Now we’re down to five hundred miles left in the 2009 Speed Weeks extravaganza in Daytona. Sunday afternoon Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin will lead the field to the green flag as the fifty first running of the Daytona 500 gets underway.

Now we’re Racin! The sounds of powerful stock car engines and the smell of burning rubber were once again in Daytona Beach Florida.

The qualifying races for the Daytona Five Hundred were run Thursday afternoon. These are now called the Duels. They are one hundred twenty five miles of door to door racing at speeds over one hundred eighty miles per hour. These two races determine the starting order of cars three through thirty nine for Sundays’ running of the Great American Race. Now the field is set.

In the first race of the afternoon Jeff Gordon proved he could still get to victory lane. It was his first win since 2007. He was a very proud father holding his beautiful little daughter as he did his victory celebration.

In the second qualifier Kyle Busch continued his winning ways from 2008 by holding off Mark Martin for the win. Last year Busch won twenty races in three NASCAR series; Craftsmen Truck, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup, becoming the dominant driver of the year. Some call him Wild Thing for the way he can drive a race car. He puts on one heck of a show, it doesn’t matter what he’s driving.

Another young driver that was impressive on the Daytona super speedway yesterday was eighteen year old Joey Logano. For the first time during speed weeks he seemed to be comfortable driving the high banked oval.

There were two cars from each race that had to qualify for the Sunday show. Jeremy Mayfield was one of those, he started a new team recently, prepared a car and managed to race his way into show on Sunday. After the race he looked both relieved and elated not to have to load up and head home as roughly eighteen driver did. 

Fan favorite Tony Stewart an Indiana native; also started his own team in the off season was another driver who raced his way into the show. Stewart showed his Chevy was one of the cars to beat in Sundays’ race.

Others that should be favorites for the Daytona 500 are Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all Chevy drivers for the ever strong Hendrick Racing stable out of Charlotte North Carolina.

Walt Disney World in February is delightful. The crowds were very light. The weather was perfect, high 60’s to low 70’s, blue skies, not a cloud in the sky, perfect Chamber of Commerce weather. Of course we don’t know how long the perfect weather and small crowds will last, but this sure beats the fool out of snow and ice and layers of clothing. We and most of the other visitors were in shorts and tee shirts.

The most popular attraction in Walt Disney World is called “Soarin”. “Soarin” is in Epcot. Yesterday the wait was about forty minutes, which is great. Since this is our favorite attraction we have had waits much longer. The smart thing to do is to take the time to plan your day. What attractions would you like to visit today, get your Fastpass and come back at the designated time and walk right in. Beats the fool out of wasting the day standing in line!

We didn’t have reservations for lunch, so we chose to have a salad at the American pavilion in the World Showcase, which is a part of Epcot. Here again it was a very short wait with many tables available to us.

Another of the attractions we visited yesterday was the Land. We’re fascinated by the innovative ways that the folks at Walt Disney World and their partners are growing food. Tomatoes and melons from trees, huge fruit, and growing fruit and vegetables suspended in the air. Hydroponics is where you grow vegetables and fruit, without soil. This is another wonderful possibility to feed the world. There are aquaculture exhibits, growing fish including; sturgeon, bass, and catfish in tanks. The world presently grows thirty percent of our seafood on farms. 

During this economic slowdown Walt Disney World is offering terrific bargains on tickets to the four theme parks that make up Orlandos’ Walt Disney World. Best HotelsNow.com is also offering great rates on hotels in and around Walt Disney World. Rental cars are also available a reduced rates.

With the weather being great in the Orlando area, prices reduced, and easy availability why put that long awaited vacation on hold. Now is the time to start making those memories you and your family will cherish forever.

Daytona Beach Fl
The NASCAR racing season officially got rolling Saturday. The smell of gasoline and burning rubber was added to the salty smell of the Daytona Beach area. The ARCA race was run Saturday afternoon. As usual it was a wreck filled show with both veteran and newcomers spinning wildly on the two and a half mile track. The race boiled down to two eighteen year olds driving Joe Gibbs Racing prepared cars prepared in Charlotte, North Carolina.
James Buescher held off the sensational Joey Logano for the win.

 The race took longer than was expected, causing Logano to miss the drivers meeting for the Bud shootout, which was run later Saturday evening. This is Logano’s first full year driving in the top NASCAR series. That’s amazing, to think about. Eighteen years old and already a veteran of many years of racing, he’s taking over the driving duties of two time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. Stewart is a native of Indiana and a past open wheel champion as well as a NASCAR winner.

Twenty eight cars took the field in the shootout, which turned out to be almost as wreck filled as the ARCA race. And these drivers are the elite of stock car drivers. They aren’t a bunch of eighteen year olds full of testosterone. Kevin Harvick, a California native won the race with a last lap move reminiscent of his win in the 2007 Daytona 500 in which he slid by Mark Martin on the last lap to take the victory.

Tony Stewart finished a very respectable third. This was his first race as the owner driver of a team that he started just recently. Stewart showed he has the power, handling, and smarts to win at Daytona.

It was a full weekend of racing at Daytona with qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon. There are more cars trying to qualify for the Daytona 500 than any other race. To start this race pays two hundred fifty thousand dollars, a handsome amount for some of the cash strapped teams.

Sunday qualifying only sets the top two spots for next Sundays’ Daytona 500. The pole award was taken by New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. followed closely by longtime Arkansas driver Mark Martin.

Thursday, the other drivers have their opportunity to qualify. This is determined by the finishing position in the dual races. Third through thirty nine will be set, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. There are thirty five drivers from last year that are locked into the race by virtue of their standing at the end of the year. Thursdays’ races are guaranteed to be a fun spectacle.

Tampa Florida
Today the hoopla came to an end. Thank goodness. Everyone in the world is not a professional football fan. The game was played in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.  The Pittsburg Steelers won the game beating the Arizona Cardinals 27- 24.

The halftime show was a great show. Those New Jersey boys, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band put on a terrific show. And as usual the television commercials were outstanding. How a company justifies the cost of one is baffling, but they were for the most part entertaining.
Now that the forty third Super Bowl is over those who want to come to the Tampa area to visit can find great deals on hotels and rental cars. Contact Besthotelsnow.com for reservations.

Undoubtedly Tampa had nothing going on except the Super Bowl last week. The local news at 6:00 PM had nothing but information about the Super Bowl and a short weather forecast concentrating on what the temperature would be at game time. Maybe they work for the NFL. Nah! It must have been infomercials and I missed the disclaimer.

The Tampa area is a great area to visit. There are many things to see and do. Visit the docks at Tarpon Springs. You will see amazing sponges brought in by the local sponge divers. Visit the museum where you will see artifacts of the sponge industry such as ancient diving equipment. There are many seafood restaurants that serve freshly caught seafood in and around Tarpon Springs.

If you are more interested in seeing man made attractions such as thrilling rides along with a free beer during the day visit Tampa’s Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens has a wild animal park that most city zoos would be proud to have.  Busch Gardens is a wonderful place to spend a day while visiting Tampa.

A short drive from Tampa is Walt Disney World, the worlds’ number one vacation destination. There are four theme parks, two water parks and five championship golf courses along with approximately thirty five thousand hotel rooms ranging from modest to deluxe. There is something for all ages to enjoy. Another popular vacation destination is Universal Orlando. Universal draws enough visitors to be considered the third most popular vacation destination in the United States.