years ago we would see local hero’s get one off rides in Cup cars. Brightbill, Opperman etc but in non-competitive cars. Tonite we saw a local guy kick butt and it was great. Colby drove  a great race. Sort of proved what we’ve known all along. That there are some great drivers racing locally that can hang with the big names if given a competitive car. I feel this demonstrated it perfectly.

overall I liked tonite’s show. It was actually close to being what I thought it would be. I’m not going to get into negatives as it really wouldn’t be productive anyway. Besides the end out weighed them.

I just finished watching the DVR of the show and while CBS did a good job at covering the event, it did not compare to the real thing.  What did not get shown on the telecast is how much side-by-side racing and how many times someone had cars out of control.

I have a new found respect for Michael Waltrip, he was a wheelman yesterday.  He hustled the car and really did a great job being aggressive and being up on the wheel.  I thought Bobby Labonte was going to come but he was simply riding around. Complete difference.  Helio also showed a lot of acumen, even though he got into trouble here and there.

On the lower end, Ribbsa and Paul Tracy did not look comfortable; although Willie improved quite a bit throughout the night.

The rest were quite respectable.

I am glad I went up there and it was a great weekend overall.  First time at the track and it really is a showplace.  I am offloading my photos tonight while watching the cup race at Texas and will look to share some images of the weekend when I have some time.