Vote for Valdosta! / ESPN

Hey guys, I don’t ask for many favors on here but would you guys please do me a huge favor and click the link below and vote for VALDOSTA, GA in ESPN Sports Center’s “Title Town” search.

The town was named one of the final 20 nominees and voting started today to find the winner. The ESPN crews were here two weeks ago and filmed a segment, which you can watch after the jump.

Please… please go vote!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR VALDOSTA, GA!!

The best question and answer from this, which is a good read regardless, is:

Q. There could be times next season where Tony the driver and Tony the owner are not exactly going to see eye-to-eye. You can’t fire yourself –

TONY STEWART: Sure, I can. It makes it easier to fire yourself if you own part of the team.

To read the entire transcript….

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to this week’s NASCAR teleconference in advance of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. This will be the fourth race in the Race to the Chase. That’s the ten-week run that precedes the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Our very special guest today is the race’s defending and two-time champion, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. Tony comes into Indy tenth in the series points standings.

Now you’re a two-time winner at the Brickyard, and what does it mean to go back to that track as a defending race champion?

TONY STEWART: You’re obviously proud when you go back, especially after the first year, I don’t think we got to enjoy the win as much as we did the second year. I think the first year it was more of just a huge weight lifted off our shoulders that we accomplished a lifelong dream of ours. And I think last year it was a chance that we really got to enjoy it with our team, and you know, really we’re able to enjoy the win that night versus just the emotional drain of just finally accomplishing a goal like it was the first time around.

Q. Obviously you’re going to be moving over next year as a co-owner of the team; have you identified what you think the team is going to need to raise up to a championship level, and what’s your timetable? How long do you think it will take?

TONY STEWART: Well, I haven’t fully been able to figure it out. Obviously last week we were on vacation and I did have my first team meeting a week ago yesterday, with the guys in the shop and it was just nice to get that first meeting out of the way and get to see the faces that I’m going to see a lot the rest of this year and a lot of them next year.

So I’m not sure that I fully understand exactly what is holding them back right now but I do know that they have got good resources and it’s just a matter of figuring out where the break is in the system there. There’s obviously something that’s not exactly the way, obviously that it we want it to be or they want it to be right now. It’s just going to take some more time, and I think being able to being at the shop a lot the rest of the year will help with that.

But I know that in the short amount of time since we made the announcement at Chicago, we’ve had a lot of really good people call and want to be a part of this program, and I think that’s going to be a big key to getting it turned around.

As far as how long it’s going to take, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know the answer to that. I wish I could say that everything would be perfect by the time that we go to Daytona, but I think it’s going to be a work-in-progress right now. You look at the caliber of the teams and the quality of car owners that are out there, it’s going to be a lot of work to get caught up to where they are at, but that’s something that I’m excited about is having that challenge and taking whatever time that it takes to get it where we want it to be, and to be a team like a Joe Gibbs Racing or a Hendrick or a Roush or Childress.

Just having that opportunity is something that six months ago was barely an idea and was almost too good to be true at the time.

Q. On the team topic earlier in the season, you were weighing the decision and now you’ve made it and now you’re looking ahead, how has the pressure changed on you?

TONY STEWART: I think it’s taken a lot of pressure off of me. Obviously I’ve got a great race team and still have a great race team at Gibbs right now. We’ve battled a lot of adversity in the last nine and a half years, and obviously when your guys don’t know what you’re going to do for sure and you don’t know what you’re going to do for sure; it makes it a little bit tense, but I think we all have made the most of it. Even though it’s tense, we still have found ways to laugh and joke and cut up and keep each other relaxed to a certain degree.

So it was definitely something that was a hard process for sure but now that we’re through that, I can’t say that it’s a big weight lifted off my shoulders, because it’s like you just switched weights is all you did. We took one off our shoulders and added another one on.

If I wasn’t excited about doing, this I think that would probably bother me a lot. But, I mean, I’m excited about it and I’m excited about all the pressure that we have going into next year now. It’s something that we’ve been, looking forward to.

Q. Do you have any fear in making this move?

TONY STEWART: No, not at all. Once we made the decision and once I said, okay, this is what I’m going to do, at that point, the fear was gone. The fear was just making sure that I was making the right decision in what I felt was going to be the right thing, and, you know, once I made that decision, then that part of it went away.

Q. Being that this is the 15th running of the Brickyard, could you compare that first race in ‘99 to how it is today and your most memorable Brickyard moment?

TONY STEWART: Obviously my most memorable Brickyard moment was the first win in 2005. But obviously the cars have changed a lot since I ran there in ‘99 as a rookie, and this year is going to be another landmark year of bringing the new COT car there for the first time.

Obviously any time that there’s a change, and this is a significant year obviously with bringing a totally new designed car into the series full-time, and to the bigger tracks. So this year, will even be more different than last year and all of the races in the past.

I think as times have gone on and as the series has evolved, it’s kind of been neat to see. The one thing about the Brickyard is there’s outstanding performances by teams when they are able to win. You know, it’s not a track that you back into a win. Track position helps you, but it doesn’t win you the race. It always boils down to who has got the best handling and best handling car and the best straight line speed.

So that combination of those two is very important there, and there’s always been some really good one-on-one battles late in the race that have decided the winner of this event. That to me is what makes this race so special.

You’re not going to have one of those finishes where you’ve got two guys side-by-side coming to the checkered flag; but it’s normally going to be decided before that, and it’s also at the same time, it’s always fun to watch a team when they have a good day there, and you know, the two races that we have won there, it’s been awesome to get in that last ten laps and you know, you pray that when you’ve got a lead and that when you’re pulling away, that you don’t get a caution late and that you just have to hit your marks.

But you’ve got four opportunities to make a mistake, versus two opportunities a lap so, it always makes it more nerve-wracking and those last ten laps of the race seem like they take forever when you’re leading.

Q. Now that you’re an owner and in the sponsorship game, how do you view the climate of attracting sponsors in these economic times and how important is a driver in that?

TONY STEWART: I think it’s big obviously. It was a discussion that I had with somebody the other day, and it’s not – these sponsors don’t attach themselves to teams and drivers; winning races isn’t the priority. It’s still a matter of aligning yourself with a driver and organization that’s going to give you a lot of press and a lot of publicity.

It seems like in the last couple years, two or three years, you’re seeing sponsorships attach themselves to drivers and creating that relationship to where it’s kind of like the Gecko/GEICO. That’s been an icon, and no matter what the commercials are, that gecko is in every one of those commercials and that’s kind of how they center their marketing campaigns, it seems like.

I think the drivers are a huge part of it. Obviously the reputations of the whole organization are important obviously, but the driver is the one that’s doing those commercials and all that, and that seems to me to be where it’s kind of shifting gears from sponsorships signing up with organizations to then versus now the drivers are being lined up and teamed up with sponsors, and that association seems to be what the marketing is surrounded by. I think it’s probably more critical now than it’s ever been.

Q. Just wanted to ask, I know every year about this time of year when you go to the Brickyard you get asked this question, so I figure I would go ahead and ask it. With ownership now entering this new realm in your career, has that given you any more impetus to think about the 500 and going after it?

TONY STEWART: Actually it’s just the opposite. With this new venture, I feel like I need to focus that much more energy toward the Cup program. When I was just strictly going to be a driver, it’s a lot easier to try to do things outside the box, but I feel like now I’ve got more responsibility on me, and I’m responsible for a lot more people.

Even if logistics worked out, I don’t see myself trying to go back and run the 500 anymore. It’s just something that the amount of work and dedication that it’s going to take to be a part of this organization and try to help it be successful going to take a lot of time and effort and that’s something that the month of May, it’s a long, long event. It’s not just a three-day event like it is on a Cup weekend.

So dedicating and splitting my time up between the two events is just going to dilute my effort with what we are doing on the Cup side so, I’m just going to focus on that.

Q. With the new team next year, of course you’ll be going back to Chevrolet, have you gotten any sense at all in recent days in light of General Motors’ announcements that it’s looking at cutting back, as to whether the support that you were expecting in the first place will still be there next year?

TONY STEWART: Honestly we’ve just dealt with the racing side of it. Obviously we all know like you guys know about the economic situation, but just dealing with the people on the racing side is the important part to us right now, and as long as they say we are moving forward, that’s what we are doing.

Q. This is your last Indy with Greg Zippadelli, is there any extra sentiment associated with that and how have things been with you two since the announcement became public?

TONY STEWART: I think it’s been fine. I think we got along as good this year if not better than all the years in the past.

The thing is, when you spend ten years with somebody like that, this was something that was talked about between Zippy and myself before a decision was made on what I was going to do, and I think we both understand why we made the decisions we made, and you know, what was right for me wasn’t necessarily right for him, and vice versa.

But you know I think we’ve been around each other and with each other long enough to respect why we both made the decisions that we’ve made. We’ve all had the professional side of the relationship, but we’ve also had that personal side. He’s always going to be like a bigger brother to me, even when we’re not working together next year. He’s somebody that has spent over a quarter of my life with every weekend each year for the last ten years.

When you have a relationship like that, just because the working relationship changes, doesn’t mean the personal side does. I see us being just as good of friends the rest of this year and in the future as we are and what we have been the last nine and a half years.

Q. I’d like to ask you about the season Kyle Busch is having, winning so many races in the top three series. Being a teammate of his this year, have you discovered anything new about his abilities, has he surprised you at all with what he’s doing?

TONY STEWART: Well, I don’t think any of us expected would he have the year that he’s going to have, and not because he doesn’t have talent. He’s having a dream season, to go out and win the amount of races he’s won in all three divisions, and to be as dominant as he has; you pray that you have a season like that and they don’t come around all the time.

You know, I’m happy being Kyle’s teammate. I’m happy to be as close to him as I am right now, and get a chance to see him have the season that he’s having. I’m proud of what he has done. He’s worked hard and the results have shown from that.

You know, it’s not easy running the Cup Series and then just running a partial nationwide schedule, let alone the beginning of the year running every race, plus running as many truck races as he could.

You know, that takes a lot of commitment to do that and I’m pretty proud of him for what he’s been able to do the first half of the season. Like I say, it’s something that you pray that you’re in that situation in the future; that every year you could have a year like that. You know, you look at the history books and there’s few seasons that have been like this.

Like I say, I’m proud being a teammate of his. I’m really proud and happy for the success he’s had this year, and you hope that the rest of the year finishes out the way that it started for him. I mean, obviously we want to go out and win the Chase just like he does and just like Denny does but you hope that they keep that momentum the rest of the year, too, and have a strong finish to the year after the way the first half of it’s been.

Q. You answered my question about Zippy but I was interested in also finding out, moving into an ownership role, do you think that you will have any more, I don’t know, say, power or pull with NASCAR when you go and complain about something like earlier in the year, you had the problem with the tires and you spoke out about Goodyear; do you think NASCAR takes the owners more seriously than what they hear from the drivers?

TONY STEWART: Not necessarily. Obviously if I have a complaint from the driver’s side they will look at it from a driver’s side. I don’t think being a car owner in the series is going to necessarily have more pull. I think they have always been really good about listening to what everybody has to say and evaluating and making their own decisions about it.

They don’t let the drivers make the decisions for them and that’s something that’s made NASCAR as successful as it’s been for the past 50 years is that NASCAR has always retained that control and they always have open ears and they tell you, that if there’s something you don’t like, come to us and talk to us about it.

I think they treat the driver issues as driver issues. I think they treat the car owner issues as car owner issues and sponsor issues from the sponsorship side. I don’t think having dual roles, though, is necessarily going to give you power over what’s going on. I think NASCAR itself holds the power to what’s going on here. I just think that whatever side of the coin you’re on as far as what aspect that your complaints are about or concerned about, that’s the side they will address it from.

Q. With all of the changes, is NASCAR an open-wheel series – (indiscernible).

TONY STEWART: In my opinion it’s an open-wheel, and when I say open-wheel, I don’t necessarily mean IndyCar Racing. Sprint car racing, midget racing, USAC races and Indiana, and they just finished up Indiana Sprint week and to me there’s a lot of late dirt model racing and pavement racing, but it’s still to me the thing I think most about is all of the midgets and USAC days in Indiana.

Q. You touched on the new car earlier, but given how notoriously difficult it is in the past in Indianapolis anyway, will we see anything different than before?

TONY STEWART: I don’t think so. I think you’ll see the same style of race. Obviously a track that has 90-degree corners versus 180-degree corners, you’re not in the – the duration that you spend in each corner obviously isn’t as long, so that doesn’t normally lead to having multiple grooves.

The preferred line is to be on the white line in each corner. It makes it a little harder to pass because of that, but you know, at the same time, I think what sometimes the fans and sometimes the media loses sight of is that you’re still winning a race at a track that has a rich history and just to have your name on a list of winners there is a huge, huge accomplishment in my opinion.

Like I mentioned earlier, most of the times, somebody that’s won the race there has won it in dominating fashion, and I think sometimes people lose perspective of what the accomplishment of winning that race is when you’ve had a dominating day like that or you’ve had a car that was just that much better than everybody else’s and lose sight and say, well, it was a bad race. It wasn’t a bad race; it was a team that figured out the equation better than somebody else and went out and had a performance that day that showed that.

I think you’ll see a very similar race to what we’ve seen in the past. You never know for sure until you get there obviously but I think it’s going to be very similar to what we’ve seen in years past.

Q. Has the pressure of winning at Indianapolis gone, and do you enjoy this week more than you would have the last few years?

TONY STEWART: Oh, absolutely. There’s no doubt about it. You know, every year that we went there, whether it was an IndyCar or a stock car and had not won there yet, just that pressure kept building. Once we won it in 2005, it took a lot of pressure off and then winning last year even took more pressure off.

I think in all reality, after each time that you’ve won there, I think it makes it easier when you go there. I think the emotional side of it, not the desire, I don’t want you guys to confuse the desire of winning versus the pressure of winning; I think the pressure goes away, but the desire is still there, and I think if anything, it makes it easier to focus on what you’re trying to do and what you’re trying to accomplish because you don’t sit there and wonder all weekend, what would it be like to win.

You know what that feeling is like and you know what to do to accomplish that goal, and it’s just a matter of going out and doing the work to accomplish it. But I think it takes a lot of the pressure off to where you can just focus better and worry about the task at hand of what you have to do to win that race.

Q. As far as the Chase is concerned, are you comfortable with the direction your team is headed right now, and who on the outside right now worries you the most?

TONY STEWART: I couldn’t even tell you any more that we’re tenth in points right now. I haven’t – I don’t even know who is 13th in the points or 14th or 15th.

As far as the comfort level, I am very comfortable where we’re at. I feel like we’ve really started to hit on things the last three or four races, and it still has not led us to a win yet obviously. Chicago I thought was a great example, for a large portion of the race, we were a contender to win and the car got away from us there, the handling got away from us the last couple of runs, but for the majority of the day, we were as fast as our teammate was, and the guy that’s been the dominant driver in all of NASCAR racing this year. To be running with him like that is exactly what we were going to have to do to probably win the championship this year.

I felt like consistently over the last three or four races, our performance seems to be pointed in a direction that we’re a lot more comfortable with and I feel like the consistency in our runs now are going to be a big key factor in the success of the rest of the season.

Q. A few years ago you seemed like you would be eager enough to get enough money to get out of NASCAR and race wherever you wanted. Was there one thing that changed your mind about that? This seems like a long-term commitment to NASCAR.

TONY STEWART: It is, but it doesn’t mean that I have to drive. I don’t know how long that I’ll be a driver, but the good thing is, I’ve enjoyed being an owner in USAC. I’ve enjoyed being an owner in the World of Outlaw Series, and I have no doubt that I’m going to enjoy this experience of being an owner in the NASCAR Cup Series.

We’ll see what direction that goes. I have an option now and I’ve always had an option as a driver of deciding when I retire and doing it on my own terms, and I still have that option and on the other hand, I have an ownership role that I might stay involved in NASCAR until I die as an owner.

It’s nice having those options and you know, like I said, the enjoyment I’ve had owning USAC teams and the world of out law teams, I feel like all that has got me ready to be an owner in NASCAR and hopefully will enjoy some of the same successes that we’ve had in the open-wheel series.

Q. Have you made any progress in getting a teammate?

TONY STEWART: We’re still working on it. Obviously I’d love to announce it sooner than later. I think it will be a key to being able to attract sponsors to the second car. We’re still working on that. Hopefully we’ll be able to get – I want to get that done as soon as I can. I feel like that’s a big key in this whole program being successful next year is having the right teammate so definitely want to get that done as soon as possible.

Q. There could be times next season where Tony the driver and Tony the owner are not exactly going to see eye-to-eye. You can’t fire yourself –

TONY STEWART: Sure, I can. It makes it easier to fire yourself if you own part of the team.

Q. How do you reconcile that next year where you’re going to maybe do things from an owner perspective and another from the driver’s perspective?

TONY STEWART: I think it’s what I’ve learned from Joe Gibbs and JD, and you know, you win races and championships with people; it’s not with fancy race cars and by having trick strategies. That’s not what happens in the long haul. In the long run it’s people.

You know, when I’m at the track on the weekend, I’m on the driver’s side. You hire the right people to do the right jobs and it’s their responsibility to do their job and it’s my responsibility to do my portion of it as a driver on the weekends. When we go back on Mondays and Tuesdays and I’m not sitting behind the steering wheel, I’m obviously an owner again but you have to have that confidence that you have the right leadership within the organization to focus on your job of being a race car driver on the weekends and knowing that those people are doing the right jobs and you have to trust that. If you don’t trust the people that you have working for you, you’re never going to be successful.

I think that’s a trust that you have to put in those people that you’ve put in those positions to do the right jobs and focus on what I need to do as a driver to be successful in my part of it.

Q. As an owner now, putting on your owner hat and looking at adding a driver, several guys out there, what’s the type of person you’re looking for in a teammate, certain mind-set or attitude?

TONY STEWART: I think so. I definitely think so. We definitely want somebody that you feel like is dedicated to what we’re trying to do and realizing that we’re taking an organization that’s not had the success that it wants and has the for sight to look forward and see what we’re trying to accomplish and see that we’re dedicated and going to put 110 percent into making this organization the best it can be.

You know, you want a driver that has that same attitude with what they do every weekend. You don’t want a guy that’s just content to run in the Top 15 or Top 20. You want a guy who has every intention every year and a realistic intention of saying, I expect to make the Chase. I want somebody that expects to win races and expects to be a contender to be a championship every year, and if they don’t have those intentions, that’s not a guy that I want driving my race cars.

Q. What about a crew chief? There’s been a lot of talk about who you might pick, and is Ryan Newman still in the running to be your teammate?

TONY STEWART: There are a lot of drivers in the running right now. It’s not narrowed down to just one driver right now.

Obviously the crew chief situation, that is obviously a big factor in what we’re doing. You know, now that we’re back from vacation, it’s kind of the full-court press now on trying to figure out not only who we’re going to have – we need two crew chiefs right now. It’s not just one crew chief.

We have to figure out exactly if we’re happy with the crew chiefs that we currently have or if we need to look outside the organization, and at the same time, looking at the leadership of what we have on the floor and deciding if the team manager’s roles and the people that are going to really be the brain trust, I guess, and the guys that you trust to get everything turned around. Those are key positions right now that are a huge focus for us right now.

Obviously the two crew chiefs whoever they are going to be whether it’s Booty or somebody different, that’s obviously a huge priority for us right now along with getting a driver and other key people in the organization signed up right now.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you and first of all, much appreciated, Tony Stewart, best of luck this weekend for you.

TONY STEWART: Thanks, you guys, I appreciate your time.

Tony and his dog Kayle. / Flickr

Tony Stewart will present  the Indiana State Police unit with bulletproof, stab-proof vests for police dogs on Thursday at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Indiana.

Stewart donated money to provide 30 vests for the state police’s K-9 unit and for 10 for dogs in Georgia, North Carolina, New Mexico and Minnesota.

The vests costs $695 each, according to Susie Jean of Socorro, N.M.’s website. That would bring the total of all K-9 bulletproof vests at nearly $28,000.

My old building. / My Camera Phone

Today has been one of those days, let me tell ya what. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. so that my mom and I could ride together to try and save gas money. Yeah, that didn’t work out too well. When I put her out, get out for a few, and then go to leave to head to school and work, my truck wouldn’t crank.

Finally, we got it cranked and I went to work where I had to answer telephone calls all day from mothers who are trying to get their daughters into a sorority. You never hear from fathers, it’s always mothers and daughters.

So I head to class and come back to the office and that to the right was in front of me.

They have finally began tearing down my building.

My building….

That building had been my home for the past four years. I had three, well four if you count my current job in there. I spent more time in that building the past four years than my own house and now it’s being torn to rubble.

It’s where I decided what I wanted to do with my life. It’s where I learned that I’m a really good news / features writer. It’s where I learned to work a sound board and talk live on the air. It’s where I spent a lot of time with some of the people I’ve been closest to the past four years.  There’s so many memories in that building that just won’t be there anymore.

It makes me sad.

Stewart and Newman talking before the Prelude to the Dream. / Getty Images

Sit tight, I don’t believe it’s that kind of press conference.

Tony Stewart will take part in the weekly NASCAR teleconference for members of the media tomorrow at 2 p.m.

But here’s the interesting part - Ryan Newman will also be giving a weekly teleconference CAM for members of the media tomorrow at 3 p.m.

NASCAR usually holds the press conferences for media to call in and ask questions at 2 p.m. but they’re doing a special one this week.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

The late Heath Ledger as The Joker. / Flickr

Look at the records that “The Dark Knight” broke just this weekend. It’s amazing!

1 - LARGEST NUMBER OF OPENING THEATRES WITH 4,366 (MORE THAN THE 4,362 DEBUT THEATRES OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END IN 2007).

2 - BIGGEST MIDNIGHT PREVIEW GROSS WITH $18.489 MILLION IN 3,040 THEATRES (BEATS STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH AND ITS $16.9 MILLION IN 2,915 THEATRES IN 2005).

3 - BIGGEST IMAX MIDNIGHT PREVIEWS SET AN NEW RECORD WITH $640,000 (INCLUDED IN THE $18.489 MILLION PREVIEW NUMBER).

4 - BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY GROSS IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $67.850 MILLION (BESTS THE $59,841,919 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

5 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS IN BOX OFFICE HISTORY WITH $155.340 MILLION (BESTS THE $151,116 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

6 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS FOR AN IMAX RELEASE IN BOX OFFICE HISTORY WITH $6,214,061 MILLION IN 94 THEATRES WITH $66,107 PER THEATRE. (BESTS THE $4.7 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007.) IMAX SHOWING AT FULL CAPACITY $1.9 MILLION ON SATURDAY ALONE.

7 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND OF 2008 WITH $151.340 (BEATS INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL‘S $101.137 MILLION FROM MAY 23-25, 2008)

8 - BIGGEST JULY OPENING EVER (BEATS PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST‘S $135,634,554 ON JULY 7, 2006).

7 Things I Hate About You

1. You think the world revolves around you.

2. You like to tell me my flaws and what’s wrong with me.

3. I never do anything good enough.

4. Stop telling me to act my age. I like teenybopper music!

5. Yes, I breathe and live auto racing and I’m a girl. Get over it. I know more about racing than you will EVER know and I could kick your ass at it.

6. You make me trust you and then rip it apart.

7. I don’t even have to list the 7th thing here because you know.

Now, unfortunately, the 7 Things I Love About You

1. Your laugh

2. Your taste in music

3. Your Sense of humor

4. Know my weaknesses

5. Crazy just like me

6. You love Elvis.

7. I can’t think of a 7th thing. Is that sad?

HA! Maybe I have moved on…. yay!

Who goes home on tonight’s episode of “I Love Money”?

The bottom three: Mr. Boston, Megan, and Heat.

Who leaves?

HEAT!

Elvis Presley / Flickr

1. What is your favorite thing to do alone? I think it’s singing or just browsing online at stuff like the kitteh pictures. I also like to write when I’m alone. I can’t concentrate to write when someone is around me.

2. What is your favorite thing to do with your best friend? Well, I don’t really have a best friend right now but it was going shopping and laugh at stupid shit or see if we could find something relating to NASCAR or Backstreet Boys. I usually always did that with my best friends for some reason.

3. What is your favorite band? Of all time? Probably Backstreet Boys, although lately I’ve been listening to a lot of rock stuff so I would say Poison and Motley Crue too. I love Bon Jovi also.

4. What is your favorite song? Of all time? “Always on my Mind” by Elvis Presley. I don’t like the Willie Nelson version, even though he wrote the song. My other favorite songs are “And Still” by Reba McEntire, “Shameless” by Garth Brooks, “Love You Back” by Rhett Akins, and “Heaven” by Warrant.

5. What is you favorite part of your job? I have two jobs. My first job, at the newspaper, my favorite part is designing something and writing things that the entire school and city is going to see. I like being able to voice my opinions on things and having people agree with me. I like representing the school. My other job? I like being able to learn more about the inside workings of a major university, specially the student life section. My old job? I miss my ping pong boys.

6. What is your favorite TV show, on now? “Grey’s Anatomy.” I didn’t like the show until an asshole made me watch it and I saw that Eric Dane, who had played on “Charmed” was on there and I liked him and I just kind of fell in love with the show during re-runs so I went and bought Season 1 and Season 2. I got Season 3 when it came out and I’ll buy Season 4 when it’s released.

The "Friends" cast. / WB

7. What is your favorite TV show all time? By far it would be “Friends” because it reminds me of high school and it was there for me when so many other things in my life weren’t. I own every season and every episode on DVD. I can recite lines from it. My other favorite is “Charmed,” which I didn’t start watching until right before it ended, but I also own every season of that.

8. Who is your favorite actor? When I was younger, it was Tom Hanks and John Travolta. As I got older, it was Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, but now that I’m older, Will Ferrell pisses excellence. I never really realized until recently how many of his movies I own and like. I went to the movies to see “Night at the Roxbury” way back in the day. I’m still a Ben Affleck fan and I’ve come to like Seth Rogan, also.

9. What is your favorite film? When I was younger it was “Forrest Gump.” I went to the movies to see it like nine times. It’s still possibly my all time favorite movie, but in the past few years my favorite movie is by far “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” I can recite the lines from that movie from front to back.

Who am I tagging? Tara, Penni, Amy, Charity

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wallpaper

Anywho, I decided to add the Goodies section back to the site for peeps after some request for them. I’ve also added a few new wallpapers and stuff, including Taylor Swift, Jimmie Johnson, Miley Cyrus, and more… so head over to the Goodies section now. I’m using the Taylor Swift wallpaper right now, the one where she has the hoodie on. I might make some more tomorrow or down the road some. I want to have one for each driver.

As for what I’ve been up to today, it was an… interesting day that I don’t really want to talk about to be honest. I did watch a really cool movie called “The Linda McCartney Story” on one of the movie channels and it was really interesting. I’ve also had Miley Cyrus’ new “Breakout” album on repeat the past few hours. It comes out Tuesday and I think everybody should buy it because it’s pretty good for teen pop. I don’t know what’s up with me and Miley and the Jonas Brothers lately. It’s good music though. There’s nothing like good pop music that makes you smile.

There will be a Day of Blogs 2008! A few new people are holding the event where bloggers blog for 24 straight hours to raise money for their favorite charity. While I can’t take part this year, my good friend Tara is and she’s going to be blogging for VJGC just like I did. I will be supporting her in this endeavor and will be helping her raise money since I can’t take part in the actual event this year due to prior commitments.

So head over now and donate, donate, donate to Tara and Victory Junction Gang Camp because I guarantee you, Tara being up for 24 hours straight will be highly entertaining! Click after the jump to view her badge that she has created!

I will be reminding you guys everday to go donate, so be prepared!

Chrissy Wallace (l) and Alli Owens (r) in Sparta Kentucky. / Getty Images

The ladies are giving the guys a run for their money this weekend in Kentucky in the ARCA/ Remax 150 and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The Built Ford Tough 225 presented by The Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers race.

In the ARCA / REMAX Series, Angela Cope, the twin niece of Daytona 500 winner Derrick Cope and driver of the No. 68 Red Rocks Cafe-peoplefirstcard.com Dodge, qualified eighth.

Daytona Beach, Florida native Alli Owens, driver of the No. 12 ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevrolet, qualifed 14th while Angela Cope’s twin sister, Amber, driver of the No. 70 Comp Cal-Derrick Cope Inc Dodge, qualified 15th.

Gabi DiCarlo, driver of the No. 90 Great Clips Toyota, qualified 21st.

In the Craftsman Truck Series, Chrissy Wallace, driver of the #03 GEICO/Germain Toyota Tundra Toyota, was eighth fastest in the first practise session.

Be sure to watch out for all the girls this weekend racing in Kentucky!

Ashlee Simpson / Flickr

I admit, lately I’ve been sort of blah. The past two and a half months have been busy, slammed packed and just downright annoying at times. I’ve dealt with finishing up an internship, having surgery, packing up three offices that have been in a building for 60+ years and moving them to a new one, starting a new job, and taking math - my worst subject.

So… I’m going to give myself a makeover tomorrow!

While I don’t have the money to go off and buy a new wardrobe, I do have clothes that I’ve barely warn. I’ll buy clothes and half-ass wear them because I get stuck on wearing, for example, Tony Stewart’s 2007 Race to the Chase t-shirt that is practically fading, or a pink VSU t-shirt.

While I’ve gotten my teeth all sparkly, new and shiny and my hair cut in a cute retro way, I’m dying it tomorrow. I’m doing something different with it that I haven’t done in a while. I’m moving away from the brunette and into the redhead stage… a’la Ashlee Simpson. No, I’m not pregnant and not planning on marrying some emo kid from Chicago, but I do have natural red highlights in my hair and I’m going that shade of red that I’ve never been before.

I might post pics privately of my makeover… maybe, just maybe.

Junior & Smoke

Friday Fill-ins

1. If I could be a fly on the wall I would in a more entertaining environment than I am right now.

2. Jealousy is a bitch, but great when it’s others that are jealous of you..

3. When I see a shooting star my wish would be that I would disappear.

4. I’d rather be in cold weather than _than hot weather any day!

5. Certain songs when I hear them make me wanna cry.

6. If time were in a bottle is a song I remember hearing once.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to sleeping, tomorrow my plans include dying my hair and Sunday, I want to sleep but I need to study for Tuesday!

Friday Fiver

1. Last party you went to? End of the year party…

2. Do you pee in the shower? no ew

3. Have you ever fired a gun? yes

4. Where do you call home? right now, school… is that sad?

5. What’s your favorite board game? scrabble

Top 5 Friday

Top 5 Vacation Albums (albums you have to have with you when you travel or make you think you’re on vacation)

1. Backstreet Boys - Chapter One
2. Josh Gracin - Josh Gracin
3. Garth Brooks - The Hits
4. Poison - Greatest Hits
5. Reba McEntire - #1’s

Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers. / Tommy2.net

So rumors are circulating in teenybopper land that country singer Taylor Swift and Jonas Brother Joe Jonas (the middle one with straight hair) are dating.

Taylor joined the band in Dallas and also joined them in Anaheim (California) to film a scene for their 3D movie coming out later this year.

In other Taylor Swift news, Taylor has released a special CD only available at Walmart with a song called “Beautiful Eyes,” which, I’ve had for a while. The song is amazing.

Also on the CD (which also comes with a DVD) is a song called “I (heart) ?” which is one of my personal favorite Taylor songs.

Back to Taylor and Joe… want to see a video of them singing “Should Have Said No” live in concert?