Life as a Virtual Assistant - Lightening Your Load One Smile at a Time: Florida: Daytona Beach

Danica Patrick's debut at Daytona was a bumpy one.  But that's what Daytona is really all about, isn't it?  Up until now, I've only watched the Sprint Cup races.  Danica enticed me to watch the Nationwide series and I'm so glad I did.  It was great.  Danica wasn't the only woman in the race, although the news would make it sound like she was.  Unfortunately, Chrissy Wallace's (daughter of Nationwide racer Mike Wallace and niece of legendary racecar driver Rusty Wallace) turn behind the wheel at Daytona was extremely short lived.  She was bumped by #98 Paul Menard and hit the wall, sending her completely out of the race at Lap 4.

Right after the caution came down for Chrissy, 18-year-old rookie #99 Trevor Bayne was hit by #40 Mike Bliss when he bump-drafted Bayne's car, sending the rookie to the garage at Lap 7.

Danica Patrick seemed to be a bit hesitant behind the wheel.  I was worried about how she would do because she kept sliding further and further back in the field to where she felt comfortable, staying away from the other drivers.  They don't say "rubbin' is racin'" for nothing.  You have to be fearless enough to kiss bumpers and trade paint with the other drivers.  She started looking more and more comfortable and actually started aggressively moving up the track when, at Lap 68, the first "big one" hit.  A total of 10 cars were caught up in the accident caused when #16 Colin Braun clipped #61 Josh Wise.  Unfortunately, Danica's #7 got caught up in the aftermath when she had nowhere to go.

The second big wreck happened at Lap 91, when Carl Edwards' #60 moved up and hit #22 Brad Keselowski, who turned into second place Dale Jr, causing him to hit the wall and roll over.  Luckily, Jr. was fine and walked away from the wreck unscathed.  Unfortunately, this wreck left him with a 29th place finish after a strong showing for the first 90 laps and what looked like a very strong chance of winning.

Tony Stewart's #14 took the checkered flag at Lap 120 for another Daytona win.  All in all, this was a great way to start the race, even if some of the fan favorites were taken out.  I'll definitely be watching more Nationwide races now that I know how great it is.

The next Nationwide race will be Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 5pm EST at California Speedway on ESPN2.  I'll be there in person.  How cool is that?!

Results of Daytona Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway:

1. Tony Stewart #14
2. Carl Edwards #60
3. Kevin Harvick #33
4. Justin Allgaier #4
5. Brian Vickers #32

Heather Chavez, Real Estate Virtual Assistant - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!

Well, Daytona did not disappoint!  NASCAR's Coca-Cola 400 on July 4th had fireworks that nobody can actually plan for.  You just have to understand that this is what happens with restrictor plate racing.  Tony Stewart, Jimmy Johnson and Denny Hamlin were pretty dominant throughout most of the race.  The first "big one" happened smack dab in the middle of the race at Lap 77.  It appears that Kasey Kahne may have bumped into the back of David Stremme, making his car wiggle right into Jamie MacMurray (#26) and causing a huge pileup and a couple more wrecks.  It managed to take out several of the guys in the top 12 in points.  All-in-all, 13 drivers were involved in the wreck: Brad Kaselowski (#09), Jeff Gordon (#24), Kevin Harvick (#29), Brian Vickers (#83), Ryan Newman (#39), David Reutimann (#00), Clint Bowyer (#33), Kasey Kahne (#9), Michael Waltrip (#55), David Stremme (#12), David Gilliland (#71), Dale Earnhardt Jr (#88) and Reed Sorenson (#43).

But, that was NOTHING compared to the finish.  Tony Stewart's pit crew were the ones to beat.  They took the lead off pit row 8 out of the 8 times Tony was on pit row.  The last few laps had Kyle Busch leading the race after "Smoke" had lead for much of the latter part of the race.  As they rounded the final turn of the final lap, Tony and Kyle raced hard to take the checkered flag.  Tony tried to move around Kyle and Kyle blocked him at every turn.  When Tony went down to try to pass Kyle, Kyle dove in front of him.  Tony swerved to the right and Kyle tried to block him again.  But, this time, Kyle didn't quite make it and ended up getting himself turned into the outside wall.  And, if that wasn't enough, Kasey Kahne ended up digging right under Kyle's battered #18 to lift him up all the way on top of Kasey's hood.  Once Kasey's car shook Kyle's car off of it, Kyle hit the wall again on the only side of his car that had yet to get hit.  Tony took the checkered flag and Kyle ended up finishing 14th.  Craziness!

View the last electrifying laps of the Coca-Cola 400 here

To Kyle's credit, you could see how angry he was getting out his car.  But, he refused to give a comment about the race.  In the past, you could pretty much expect good ol' "Shrub" to run his mouth off.  That is one rumored reason he was let go from the Hendrick stable a couple of years ago.  Instead of saying something he might later regret, he went to his trailor to cool off.  Poor Tony felt bad about the way the race ended.  It wasn't the way he wanted it to go and apologized publicly to Kyle Busch in Victory Lane if anything Tony did may have caused the wreck.  I, personally, think it was racing.  They both raced hard.  Tony did what he had to do to get around Kyle and Kyle did what he had to do to block him.  Unfortunately, it ended up the way it did.  The most important thing I think everyone should remember is that Kyle walked away from this accident.  Eight years ago, Dale Sr wasn't so lucky and he had a wreck that looked so much less harsh.  So, NASCAR has come a long way, baby.

The next race is on Saturday as well, July 11th at 8pm EST in the windy city of Chicago on TNT.  Don't miss it!

Top 5 at the NASCAR Sprint Cup's 2009 Daytona's Coca-Cola 400:

1. Tony Stewart (#14)
2. Jimmie Johnson (#48)
3. Denny Hamlin (#11)
4. Carl Edwards (#99)
5. Kurt Busch (#2)

Heather Chavez - Second Self Virtual Assistance: When There Isn't Enough of You to Go Around!