Watching all the Daytona coverage this July 4th weekend has gotten me sentimental over one of the best experiences I’ve ever had a race. Wait - who am I kidding? It was the best experience I’ve ever had a race, besides when I worked for Fox Sports for a week for the 2007 Daytona 500.

That weekend already consisted seeing all of the previous Daytona 500 winners, including the most recent, Jimmie Johnson, stick their feet, hands, and sign their name in cement blocks that would be placed outside Daytona USA. I got to meet a few drivers and crew chiefs, saw Tony Stewart win the only and last IROC race that I had ever seen, and saw Dale Earnhardt, Jr. win the Busch race that Friday night.

Now close your eyes and picture it. Wait, open your eyes or I can’t tell you what to picture.

July 1, 2006 and the weather was scorching hot. Thousands of fans pilled into Daytona International Speedway to see their favorite drivers burn rubber for 400 miles around the 2.5 oval track. (more…)

It was May 1, 1998. My senior high school class went to Grad Nite at Walt Disney World. A hometown country singer was there that I loved and that is all that I cared about.

Until I saw them - Backstreet Boys.

Yes, today marks my ten year fandom anniversary. I know it’s weird to know the date when you became a fan, but the date marked a lot of other first for me… and as you can see in the photo below, I have it marked in my old senior memory book.

Nick asked “Am I sexual?” and dammit, I said yes.

I love you, Backstreet Boys. I love you, BSB. I probably wouldn’t be where I am today without you guys helping me overcome a lot of crap.

As you can see by looking over at the flickr photos on the side, my Reba McEntire photos are up and viewable to the public. You still them and I will kill you. Thanks There’s a Reba album right here that you can see all the photos on.

And there’s a few videos for your viewing pleasure…. (more…)

There was no cropping in this picture… nothing. This is how my camera and eyes perceieved it.

Mrs. Reba McEntire… my idol… my mama… in all her glory.

Tonight. My town. God it was awesome.

I love you, Reba.

The “Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood” album is up! Click on the flickr pictures on the side and on the album to see all the pics!

Carrie Underwood is absolutely amazing in concert. After seeing her short set in Nashville over the summer, I knew she would put on a really good full concert and to say the least, I wasn’t disappointed. She performed all of my favorite songs on her albums except for “Some Hearts,” and even did a kick ass rendition of “Paradise City” by Guns ‘N’ Roses. Her live rendition of “So Small,” “All American Girl,” and “Don’t Forget To Remember Me” were absolutely amazing and not to mention her guitar skills. The girl played guitar on several songs - electric and acoustic.

We didn’t stay for all of Keith Urban because, I won’t lie, I’m not big on him. We did stay and see a few songs and he did really good. The video equipment and stuff for his screen were top notch stuff, it was almost like watching a DVD but it was live.

Then, I had to run into someone I would have rather not seen on the male sex there. Then he had the nerve today to text me to see if I got any good pics, which I did, but hell I’m still uploading Dierks pictures.

Carrie is freaking awesome.

Okay so it’s not as dirty as it sounds. I will be slowly uploading the pictures over the next few days. I’m sort of a photography freak - especially since I got my new camera and the lens I have for it - but I took 900 photos LMAO! Some were deleted for being a bit blurry but the majority are very good.

Anyway, the concert was awesome! First off, I must say that Dierks is by far one of the nicest celebrities I’ve met in a meet and greet type setting. He was so nice and personable. I think my favorite part of meeting him was he looked at my press pass that I had on and asked if I was a writer and all and I noticed he spelled my name right on my picture and I’m like “Hey, how did you know how to spell my name?” and he laughed, telling me he cheated by looking at my card LMAO! He also said he liked the spelling of my name and that I could stay around backstage and take as many pics as I wanted. Before heading back out to my seat, I saw a few guys that I go to school with that work on the camera crew there at the theme park and talked with them.

I missed seeing Bucky Covington and I’m not too broken hearted, though. Luke Bryan, on the other hand, was AMAZING. He knew how to draw the crowd in and his little stage moves remind me of Billy Currington. He sung all of his songs, along with “Good Directions” which he co-wrote for Billy. Dierks part of the concert was pure magic. He reminds me of Garth Brooks on stage, running from end to end and then just getting so involved in the show itself that he doesn’t know what to do next. I really liked the acoustic part of the show when he sung “My Last Name,” which is one of my favorite songs. The show was so entergetic and just… awesome. That’s all I can really say about it.

Now I must go get some sleep…. the Daytona 500 is tomorrow.

The 2008 Budweiser Shootout will go down in history for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. winning his first race for Hendrick Motorsports and for being by far the best race that I have ever seen in person. I knew when I woke up Friday morning that something big was going to happen in Daytona. I had the same feeling a few days before Tony Stewart won the 2006 Pepsi 400 in Daytona. Since I had that feeling and saw the results… I knew to follow my intuition. (more…)