November 21st, 2011 by Casey Parker
Tony Stewart won the biggest game of winner-take-all in the history of NASCAR.
Rebounding from a succession of setbacks, Stewart took the checkered flag in Sunday’s rain-interrupted Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the Sprint Cup championship in a tiebreaker over race runner-up Carl Edwards.
With four new tires to Edwards’ two — thanks to a strategic gamble that paid off when rain hit the 1.5-mile speedway for the second time on Lap 213 of 267 — Stewart gradually pulled away after a restart on Lap 231 and claimed his third Cup title, bookending the five consecutive championships won by Jimmie Johnson from 2006 to 2010. Stewart also won in 2002.
The victory was Stewart’s fifth of the season — all coming in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup — and the 44th of his career. The bonus points for winning allowed Stewart to make up the three-point lead Edwards held with one event left. Stewart and Edwards ended the Chase tied at the top of the standings, but Stewart claimed the title with five victories this season to Edwards’ one.
Stewart, who left Joe Gibbs Racing to become co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, became the first owner-driver to win the title since Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat in 1992.
“We said all week, [if] we just go out and win the race, we didn’t have to worry about what he did — and that’s what we did,” Stewart said in Victory Lane, as rain pelted the winning team. “If this doesn’t go down as one of the greatest championship battles in history, I don’t know what will.”
Race Results
Race Standings
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November 17th, 2011 by Casey Parker
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November 16th, 2011 by Casey Parker
Easy As Chicken Pie
Ingredients:
1 deli rotisserie chicken
1 can condensed chicken soup
1 can condensed potato soup
1 bag frozen vegetables (optional)
1 can refrigerated biscuits or puff pastry or pie shell
1. Shred the chicken from the deli and place into pie pan. Save the carcass for stock if you want.
2. Combine both cans of soup with one cup of milk or water, then pour over chicken. If you want to add thawed frozen vegetables, go for it.
3. Place biscuit dough on top of the pie mixture.
4. Bake until the biscuits are ready (about 20 minutes at 375 degrees)
5. Eat!
Movie List
What Women Want (Wo Zhi Nu Ren Xin)
November 15, 2011
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November 14th, 2011 by admin
It was NASCAR’s dream. Punch and counterpunch — the top two drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup trading shots in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Yes, Kasey Kahne won the race — his first victory of the season and the 12th of his career — but Edwards and Stewart dominated the action as their battle for the 2011 championship remained as close as it was at the start of the day.
In a race between the only two drivers mathematically alive for the Cup championship, Edwards finished second and Stewart third, but Stewart led the most laps for the second consecutive week and leaves Phoenix just three points behind Edwards as the drivers prepare to settle the issue in the season finale next Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We couldn’t ask for anything more,” Edwards said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s neat to be able to go to Homestead and race it out. I’m sure these guys [Stewart's team] are going to be good down there — they’re fast on the mile-and-a-halfs.”
“We just came up two spots shy,” Stewart said. “It was just a little too loose on entry those last two runs there. I thought that Darian [crew chief Darian Grubb] made a really good call there with just gas only at the end [on Stewart's final pit stop on Lap 294], and we were able to run Jeff [Burton] down there and get back to third.
Stewart said the formula for winning the title is simple.
“Just keep doing what we’re doing,” Stewart said. “We’re going to keep the pressure on him, and we’re going to make him sweat it out.”
Kahne pitted early during a late cycle of green-flag stops and took the lead on Lap 299 of 312 when Keselowski came to pit road. Edwards chased him for the final 14 circuits but finished .802 seconds behind.
Race Results
Race Standings
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November 3rd, 2011 by Casey Parker
Country Must Be Country Wide [3 Tracks]
Here For a Good Time [Single]
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October 31st, 2011 by admin
Tony Stewart passed Jimmie Johnson on a restart with three laps left in Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and held off Johnson’s desperate bid for the win on the final lap.
The victory was Stewart’s third in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and vaulted him into second place in the standings, eight points behind leader Carl Edwards. Stewart won for the 42nd time in his career.
“He’d better be worried,” Stewart said of Edwards after the race. “That’s all I can say. He’s not going to have an easy three weeks.”
Stewart brought his car to the pits under caution on Lap 416, thinking he might have a flat tire from contact with Harvick’s Chevrolet after a Lap 413 restart. Stewart was 21st when the field took the green flag on Lap 420, but a two-tire call during a caution on Lap 459 got the No. 14 Chevrolet off pit road in the fifth position for a restart on Lap 463.
By the time Brian Vickers wrecked for the fifth time to bring out the 18th and final caution — three short of the track record — Stewart had worked his way to second in time for the three-lap run to the finish.
Race Results
Race Standings
Race Schedule
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October 27th, 2011 by Casey Parker
Here For a Good Time [Single]
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October 26th, 2011 by Casey Parker
Tex Mex Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Nuggets with Homemade Ranch
Chicken Nugget Ingredients:
1 whole rotisserie chicken, shredded
16 large jalapeños, halved with all the insides removed
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, room temperature
1 package of bacon, each piece sliced in half
1 Tbs Tex Mex Seasoning*
Honey for drizzling
Chipotle Ranch Ingredients:
8 oz sour cream
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 lime, juiced
1 Tbs finely chopped parsley
1 Tbs finely chopped chives
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
1 tsp chipotle pepper, ground (paprika can be substituted)
*Tex Mex Seasoning:
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 425.
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for Tex Mex Seasoning.
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for Chipotle Ranch and whisk together. Put in refrigerator. (This can be made ahead of time because the flavors only get better the longer it sits!)
In a large bowl, shred rotisserie chicken by hand. Add all the Tex Mex Seasoning and entire package of cream cheese. Mix together with your hands until it’s thoroughly mixed and creamy. (Try to resist the temptation to taste too much of the chicken mixture – you have to save it for the recipe!)
Stuff each jalapeno half with a spoonful of the chicken mixture. Wrap a halved piece of bacon around each stuffed jalapeno. Place on cookie sheet. (Foil or parchment paper on the cookie sheet will make for an easier clean-up!) Drizzle honey on top of each nugget.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until bacon is crisp.
Dip each nugget in ranch and devour!
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October 25, 2011
Nazareth: Live
October 25, 2011
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October 24th, 2011 by Casey Parker
Clint Bowyer surged past Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton through the tri-oval on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway to win Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500.
On a two-lap run to the finish that followed the ninth caution of the race, Bowyer, the defending winner of the race, pushed Burton to a lead of more than 20 car lengths over the pack that was chasing them. That gave Bowyer the luxury of a slingshot move past Burton in the tri-oval. Bowyer nosed ahead 1,200 feet from the finish line and held on?barely.
Bowyer realized he was taking his shot early but decided to seize the moment when Burton gave him the inside line.
A six-car wreck on Lap 104 did major damage to the Chase chances of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. As the lead pack of cars sped through the tri-oval, a push from Marcos Ambrose turned Richard Petty Motorsports teammate AJ Allmendinger, triggering a crash that crumpled the hood of Harvick’s Chevrolet and knocked in the driver’s side of Busch’s Toyota.
Harvick lost two laps during multiple pit stops to repair his car, and Busch spent 11 laps in the garage before bringing his hobbled car back on the track on Lap 118. Later black-flagged because his car leaking oil, Harvick finished 32nd, nine laps down and fell to fifth in the standings, 26 points behind Edwards.
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October 20th, 2011 by Casey Parker
Country Must Be Country Wide [3 Tracks]
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