Listen up, SaidHeads!

Road racer extraordinaire Boris Said will be racing at Infineon this weekend and Saidhead activities abound.

Saidhead Deb and her husband will be setting up camp at the Cougar Campground for the weekend. They invite all Saidheads to join them for a visit. Boris’ sister Leesa will be stopping by and if he has time, the man himself will pop in to say hello.

The Saidhead banners will be flying at the campground, so you can’t miss them.

The Saidheads will be sitting in Turn 2 Earnhardt Terrace on Sunday, so stop by to say “hi!” Again, you’ll not miss them. They will be clad in Saidhead shirts and wigs!

If you want to join the Saidhead Nation, visit www.saidhead.net. There you will find information on becoming a Saidhead and how to get Saidhead gear.

I’ll be proudly wearing my Saidhead shirt and earrings watching the race Sunday!

Like the shirt proclaims –

Who Said? Boris Said!

Racing, autographs and body parts

Well, the JR Nation has come and gone at Ona Speedway, and it was an overall interesting day. It was hot, it was crowded. There were campers in the parking area, something you don't often see at Ona.

Junior’s autograph line was already closed down at 350 people by the time I got to the track. Some folks I talked to had camped overnight and lined up at the gate by 8 and 9 a.m.

Since the Junior line was closed, I hopped in the Kenny Wallace-Sterling Marlin line and got my copy of Pit Road Pets (NASCAR stars and their pets) autographed by Kenny. Sterling had signed the book at Mineral Wells, W.Va., last fall along. Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer neither one had a pet in the book, so they weren’t as important. It would have been nice to have Junior sign the picture of him and Killer, but that line was shut. Oh well, I’ll just keep carrying it to the races.

And just why would you have a driver sign one of your body parts? Or any celebrity for that matter. I don't understand. My friend Shelly and I just sort of shook our heads as we watched women present arms and legs to be signed with a Sharpie. One person near us said you can have the signature tatooed permanently. Interesting.

A whole lot of people got to see local racing at it’s best with U-Car, Any Car, Late Models, Hobby Stock and Modifieds running before and after the Race of Champions. What a pile-up on the frontstretch in the Late Model Race. And nobody got hurt. A few pieces of car had to be hammered out from the guardrail, but one driver, Brian Royalty from Kentucky, got back in his wrecked car, finished the race and placed fourth.

You can read about all the races at Ona from Saturday in the sports section of Tuesday’s edition of The Herald-Dispatch.

NASCAR has nothing on these guys who race hard, race clean and race to win, delighting racefans every Saturday night.

Come on out and join in the fun!

Hendrick, eh?

Well, Junior has made his choice. Hendrick Motorsports for the next five years.

"I wanted to do what was right for me as a person, give the fans what the expect and deserve and have some fun along the way," Junior said.

Not really a surprise. Hendrick has been the dominating team this season with a darn good chance at the championship. Which is exactly what Junior wants.

As an earlier comment noted today, what's the JR Nation gonna do having to share team with Jeff Gordon?

Granted that's a formidable stable of cars and Junior will have his best shot at a Championship in the near future. Junior in a Hendrick car, especially in the COT next year. Let's face it, that team has perfected the COT and it will be great to see Junior in a car that has a real chance to win.

All this leads to the next question.

What will happen to the kid? Not Gordon's soon-to-be born, but Kyle Busch. Granted, he's a bit of a hothead (OK, a major hothead) But I don't recall Kyle ever saying he wanted out of his contract. That was his big brother and Roush Racing.

Break out the conspiracy theories. Kyle's demise may have been the day he stormed away from his car and Junior took it back onto the track, earning the kid a few points. From Rick Hendrick's comments, it sounds like negotiations on the contract extension broke down right after that.

It didn't mean a thing, Junior said of hopping into the 5 car.

Oh, really?

In this morning's press conference, Rick Hendrick said he'd been negotiating a contract extension with Kyle since 2006, but Hendrick saw other teams talking to the young Busch.

But about the time of the Coke 600, it "became obvious a fresh start would be good for both of us," Hendrick said without further explaination. "I had an unbelievable opportunity and we both agreed to pursue the opportunities."

The wait may be over

Dale Jr. has called a press conference for Wednesday at JR Motorsports and his spokesman Mike Davis says it’s to announce his plans.

The garage is full at Hendrick, which leaves Chevy teams at Childress’ and Gibbs’ places.

Rick Hendrick himself put the quietus at his team, full up with the four NASCAR will allow. But anonymous Associated Press sources say Hendrick has been working for weeks on a way to add him to the stable, which may include releasing Kyle Busch.

There are issues at Gibbs Racing with the Budweiser sponsorship thing.

The issue at RCR is the fact Junior doesn’t want to spend the next 10 years of his career running his dad’s number (read legacy). But he wouldn’t mind finishing his career in the Black 3.

This gives a really big reason to come out to Ona Speedway on Saturday and see Junior and hear what he may have to say.

As the story is updated today, we’ll pass it along to you.

On Wednesday, we’ll monitor SPEED, which will interrupt programming at 10 a.m. EDT for the press conference, which should last about one hour.

And the rumors fly again

Jeff Burton piped up on NASCAR.com with the “likely” addition of a fourth Cup team at Richard Childress Racing.

Hmmmm. What driver might be available for that expansion?

Burton wouldn’t speculate on a name, but said RCR seems to be planning for a team addition for next season. There’s two drivers in the development program, and Scott Wimmer on the sidelines. But it probably wouldn’t be them.

But wait, there is another driver with strong ties to Childress. A driver who’s a free agent looking to be signed. He has a good racing pedigree and some name recognition. He’s also got a good, committed sponsor.

Nah, you don’t think?

Well, RCR is mum on who a fourth full-time driver might be.

Burton had this to say Saturday: "Obviously we can't divulge what's on our minds, but we have some exciting things that could happen and we have some exciting things that might not happen. There's a lot in the air right now that we don't 100 percent know what's going to happen there."

Maybe we can see this possible expansion driver on the flagstand at Ona Speedway on Saturday.

Unless there is an announcement by then, the question of the day from the media and fans will probably be :

“Hey, Junior, you gonna race for Childress?”

FYI: tickets are still on sale for the C&O Motors Race of Champions. You can get them online or at Dixie Thunder in the Huntington Mall.

Even if you don’t come for the ROC, every Saturday night provides some pretty good local racing in all divisions. Visit www.onaspeedway.net for details, photos and local drivers.

Battles and consequences

After a period of relative calm, rebuilding his image and even being a kinder, gentler person, Kurt Busch has returned to his pre-Penske personality.

He’s been docked 100 driver points, fined $100,000 and put on probation for the rest of the season.

I have less problem with the on-track antics between him and Tony Stewart than when Busch deliberately drove to Smoke’s pit and nearly ran over a member of his crew. That’s where there’s a problem. Tony’s a pretty contentious guy, but I don’t think he’d pull that kind of stunt. He’s more likely to have a “discussion” with you or mouth off to the press post race.

Team Penske won’t appeal Busch’s punishment. And Roush-Fenway Racing folks must be secretly shaking their heads and saying “I told you so.”

In the other corner, the Indy Racing League, begins the battle of Danica Patrick and Dan Wheldon.

Danica had a little catfight (shoving) with Wheldon at Milwaukee after the race and Dan left his fighting to words (“spoiled brat”).

Despite the physical confrontation on Danica’s part, there was no official repercussion, no fine, no nothing.

Where’s justice?

Bottom line is both Busch and Patrick were unprofessional and endangered another person.

Now you may not think a shove is dangerous, but it is violence against another person. It may not be a two-ton mega-horsepower machine, but it’s still violence. And Wheldon shows great restraint, not just decking her in retaliation.

There should be some consequence for Danica Patrick, she shouldn’t be allowed to get by this time. Next time, and there WILL be a next time, it could escalate, as violence does.

Local racing and special June events

Congrats to June 2 winners at Ona Speedway, Brian Royalty (late models), Gary Queen (modifieds), Kenny Chapman (BathFitter Hobby), Rodney Snodgrass (classics), Keith Watson (U-Cars), and Patrick McClanahan (any cars).

Check out the Ona Speedway website: www.onaspeedway.net for photos of the winners and upcoming events.

You can also check out everyone’s lap times and speeds at the site by clicking on to www.mylaps.com on the left hand side of the homepage.

The next action-packed night of racing will be Saturday, June 9 with a full schedule.

AND

If you wear your Ona Speedway t-shirt, you get in for $8.

Don’t forget Dale Jr. and his pals will be in town June 16.

Tickets are still available.

If you want to have it in your hand instead of ordering online or by phone, go to Dixie Thunder in the Huntington Mall. They have ‘em.

There will also be a Relay for Life from 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday, June 22 at the speedway to benefit the American Cancer Society. More information on that coming later. If you are a cancer survivor, sign up for the RFL when you visit the track Saturday night.

Across the river at Rock Top Raceway in Coal Grove, Ohio, racing gets underway Friday, June 8 with late models, modifieds and bombers.

Admission is $12 for general and $25 in the pits.

Check out their website at www.rockytopraceway.net.

Finally, a win for DEI

Teresa Earnhardt got a huge simian off her back Monday when Martin Truex Jr. took the win at the Autism Speaks 400.

It’s been a while since a DEI driver led the only important lap. And who would have thought anyone but a Hendrick car would win a COT race?

But honestly, Truex had a strong run pretty much all day long, and answered the question “Can DEI win?” Nevertheless, it squelched the “where will Junior go” talk and was a bit overshadowed by the death of Bill France Jr.

Speaking of where will Junior go . . .

Gibbs Racing would love to have him, but not his sponsor. It’s a personal choice by Joe Gibbs, and I both understand and respect that.

In the past few days, Ginn Racing has been bantered about as a good home for Junior and Bud. It could be a good fit between the youngster and the casino owner who would have no qualms about Anheuser-Busch as a sponsor. Officials at Ginn also have a good working relationship with A-B.

And as was noted on Monday night’s Fast Talk, since the death of the elder Earnhardt, it would provide a mentor for Junior in Mark Martin.

Hmmm, I hadn’t even considered Ginn Racing as his next home. They have room, they have money. They have Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin, mostly Mark Martin, who still can make the Chase running a limited schedule.

Well, the Dale camp says they hope to have a decision by the end of June.

We’ll see if something happens by the time he shows up at Ona Speedway June 16, or what he’ll have to say to the media on the subject.