Because I was tired of writing about hurricanes...

I thought I'd write about Nascar.

I wasn't formerly a Nascar fan. I considered it a redneck sport, and redneck I did not consider myself...although as I am getting older I don't really care. Country girl, rural female, redneck...whatever...I am what I am.

My first real Nascar race was watched the day Dale Earnhardt Sr. died. Not a good way to begin watching a sport. Amazing I ever watched another one. I didn't have any idea what the rules were, who the people were, etc. 7.5 years later, I probably know more about the sport than Richard does and I watch it frequently. We even attended the last race that was held at the Rockingham Speedway.

At any rate, there's one more race before the "chase" begins. For those who are reading who are not familiar with Nascar, the chase is this: At 10 races before the end of the season the top 12 drivers are entered into the chase. This means that their point systems are set back to zero and all 12 chase drivers all start on even playing ground. Now the interesting part is that there are still 43 drivers in each of the 10 chase races, but only the drivers in the "chase" earn points toward the 2008 championship.

Any driver can win a chase race, but if the driver is not in the chase he wins the "purse", not points toward the championship. It wouldn't matter if the same guy (not a chase driver) won all 10 races of the chase....then he cannot win the championship. Right now 8 drivers have earned enough points to be in the chase just by starting their car next Saturday at Richmond. 4 other spots are kind of up for grabs...depending on the outcome of the Richmond race. Jeff Gordon is one of our (mine and Richard's) fave drivers. If the chase drivers had been decided after yesterday's race, he'd be in the chase...but he isn't guaranteed a spot since there is one more race and he didn't have enough points spread between he and several other drivers to be guaranteed a spot as of yesterday. I hope he makes it.

Richard and I were talking about Jeff at dinner today. We believe him becoming a father has hurt his racing career. We believe that suddenly his mortality is real to him. He is a father and has to think about the fact that his career could cause his baby girl to grow up without her father. It makes complete sense, but I am sad that it is that way.

Richard and I wrote out who we'd want to be in the chase if we could just vote them in. Here are the choices we made:

R's: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr., Carl Edwards, Kyle Petty, David Ragan, Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears, Michael Waltrip, Ryan Newman, Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton

Mine(I only came up with 10--other two I don't care as long as it wouldn't be Kyle Bush): Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr., Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle.

So, Saturday night at Richmond will decide the chase drivers and then there are 10 races to decide the championship. Jimmie Johnson was 2006 and 2007 Nascar Champion.