RickKarle's Blog

     A good Monday to you!  After spending about 16 hours at the Talladega Superspeedway to watch the Aaron's 499, my mind is racing like a Cup car without a restrictor plate. Some insight and a few thoughts from a guy who was in the trenches:

     Two words were music to my ears:  No rain!  We dodged the preverbal bullet, although about an hour after Kyle Busch took the checkerd flag, the skies opened and pelted our Fox6 crew with all sorts of water.  With 5 edit machines, live trucks, cameras, microphones and valuable equipment, our folks did a great job keeping everything dry and working. By the time our 9:30 pm post-race show hit air, I thought we did a nice job pulling it off... Fox race analyst Krista Voda joined us for our earlier post-race show. Krista hails from the great state of Iowa.  Ever wonder where these network pit reporters come from? Bet you never thought of Iowa... Dale Earnhardt, Jr told us after the race that while he finished 10th, he thought he had a strong car that deserved better.  Junior hinted that he had the strongest car in the field, and he sees no reason why the 88-car can't finish in the top 10 each and every race... Following his crash with 15 laps remaining, Tony Stewart met the media, where he was calm, collected and courteous to reporters. What's with that?...  Jeff Gordon told Mike Dubberly following the race, "I have no comment on what I think of this kind of racing".  This from a guy who owns 6 Cup wins at 'Dega and won both races last year... I know that Junior likes to bump draft, but did you see him go after Paul Menard?  Junior bump-drafted him around the entire Superspeedway!... Good to see a tanned and relaxed Taylor Hicks before the race. Taylor tells me he is heading west for an "American Idol" commitment, afterwhich he will return to the Birmingham area to play a pro-am at the Regions Charity Classic... I ran into Samford football coach Pat Sullivan- he tells me it will be a year or two before he gets the kind of players that will compete against the likes of Appalachian State in the Southern Conference... Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville told me his drive in the pace car was a rush. Tubs says he was told to keep it around 65 MPH but just had to get the car up to about 85 MPH. Tuberville says he's excited about heading overseas this summer to join U.S. Armed Forces- he's received several innoculations...  Cup driver Martin, Truex, Jr is right when he tells Fox6 that a Talladega race is exciting at the start, boring in the middle and then wild at the end when boneheaded drivers start doing ther thing... Brian Vickers has a good thought, as he tells Fox6, "We have more caution flags are other tracks around the country, it's just when a crash happens at 'Dega, 20 cars are involved"... Man, were those fighter jets flying close to the grandstands Sunday!..  I agree with some drivers who tell us that a Talladega race would be more exciting if it were shorter. It will never happen, as the networks and local TV stations would not want to see less ad revenue...

     Gotta go do some TV- talk with you later!