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PICTURE PAGES
Click Here HELSINKI MARATHON PHOTOS |
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Personality Contacts
Feel Free to e-mail me any time:
hawk@kfan.com
or check out my sites:
www.chrishawkey.com
www.myspace.com/chrishawkeypowerplay
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Personality Bio
Producer, The Power Trip Morning Show
Host, FAN Motorsports AKA: Hawk
With the FAN since: 5 years with the morning show
Most memorable FAN moment: The 1st ever Rube Chat Party at Renegade's. I knew the Rube's were out there, but the size of the crowd and the reaction to the band that night was amazing. I love the Rubes...even the ones who seem to hate me for no reason.
The best movie scene of all-time is : When the gangster is beating the hell out of a laughing Tyler Durden in the basement of that bar in Fight Club. Tyler flips the guy over and spits blood all over him. The greatest movie ever!
If everybody at the FAN was locked in a house, reality show style, who would be the first to get kicked out?: The Superstar...he smells up every room he enters and he eats lots of food.
What is the best feature of KFAN.com?: I'm a big fan of Bump's Blog.
What is your favorite button bar drop of all time?: "Ride or die"
Who is your favorite FAN caller of all time: Mangalar
When you are done at the FAN what will you be doing?: Singing in bars wishing I was still working at the Fan.
And in closing...: I realize that this is the greatest job ever, but sometimes it's hard working with the guy who cost us the Super Bowl. in '98.
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Personality Links
www.racingone.com
www.gorillamask.net
www.fark.com
www.quietdrive.com
SUZE'S MIND
A blog from a Matt Kenseth Super Fan
Points Racing Penance
By Susie Wiegele
Please forgive me, God, for I have sinned.
I've spent the last year wrongly accusing the driver and team of the
No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet of racing for points and not for wins…and even
worse, points racing during their 2006 championship run. I have gone
out of my way to espouse my disgust of this behavior on all my
favorite NASCAR forums…to all my NASCAR friends…and to anyone else who
would listen. Even to you, God.
It all started right about this time last year. I was sitting way up
high, between Turns 1 and 2 at Phoenix International Raceway. It was
a beautiful day for a race…sunny, warm, bright blue skies. I was
filled with excitement as my favorite driver took the track, second in
points, a contender for the 2006 Nextel Cup. I was decked out in
black and yellow, surrounded, for whatever reason, by bunches of
Jimmie Johnson fans.
Kevin Harvick dominated the race…but not without a hard charge from
Jimmie Johnson at the end. It was Kevin – Jimmie, swapping one for
two, until several cautions and a late red flag set up what could have
been an exciting finish. The race restarted with a few laps to
go…Harvick out front, Jimmie close behind. I watched with a wide open
mouth as Jimmie Johnson made absolutely no move for the lead…took no
line to pass…played it safe…no exciting finish…happy with second.
I'll take my points and go home, thank you very much. See ya in
Homestead.
What was worse, God, were the 48 fans surrounding me. I wondered…why
don't you get up off your smug little asses, cheer, yell, and scream
for your driver when he's in second with 2 laps to go on a
restart…instead of sitting there all prim and proper with your hands
folded neatly in front of you? Oh yeah, I guess I forgot. You're
points racer fans. I called them all bad names, really bad names.
And I said mean things about their driver.
All this changed last Sunday night, God.
All my prior misgivings, accusations, and name calling about that
driver and team of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy dissolved in a matter of
five final laps at Texas Motor Speedway. I watched in awe as my boy
raced his heart out against the driver of that 48 Chevy…the one I so
meanly called, "points racer." It was a battle for a win. Points
were no object this time.
I saw that Chevy back off once and I was quick to snap, "Oh, that's
the Jimmie Johnson I know - same guy I saw last year at Phoenix give
it up to the 29 with two laps to go on a restart." But that's not
what happened, God. The 48 went all out for it. You could see the 17
and 48 were both loose coming off...Matt almost lost it. Jimmie knows even a good (or may I say, no I will say, great) driver can't always hold onto it at the end of a close finish. He could have easily
backed off, played it safe, given up for second in the name of points
and a Cup Championship...but he didn't. He raced for the win...sure 4
tires helped...but he didn't back off. He knew the 17 would race him
clean. He took a risk. He got it done.
God, I am here now to ask for your forgiveness. I take back all those
bad words, nasty names and accusations. I proclaim that Jimmie
Johnson and his team are out to win races, and not just points. I
will show my respect to the proud 48 fans. I will say the No. 48
Lowe's Chevy team deserves to win the 2007 Nextel Cup Championship.
They want it more. They race to win. There is no question now.
In the name of the 48 and with your help, God, I firmly resolve to do
my penance and amend my NASCAR life.
Amen. |
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Contenders and Sleepers at Daytona
Friday 07-04-2008 1:20pm CT
CONTENDERS
Kyle Busch/Tony Stewart/Denny Hamlin-Joe Gibbs Racing has dominated restrictor plate racing this year, leading 244 laps year out of a possible 388. That means the above trio combined, has led 63% of the time (careful that’s River Falls math). I think it’s a crapshoot as to which driver gets the win, but at gunpoint I would go with Hamlin. He’s won twice here before, he’s second in laps led this year, and he should have won than just the one race that he has.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.- The only non-Gibbs driver that has consistently been able to challenge the Gibbs Gang at the plate tracks this year. Won two preliminaries races at the beginning of this year at Daytona, and led 12 times for 46 laps at Talladega in April. Nobody runs restrictor tracks as well as Junior. The question remains, will be have the help to take down the Gibbs Gang under the lights on Saturday night?
SLEEPERS
Elliott Sadler-This team has ran much better of late, including a top-5 last week at New Hampshire, and what should have been a top-5 at Infineon until a tire went down on the final restart. Sadler has always run well at restrictor plate tracks, and he finished sixth in the Daytona 500 here in February. So a top-5 finish or even a win aren’t completely out of the question. Plus if he wins, you get a free 20-once Coke Zero.
Casey Mears-Is coming off of consecutive top-10 finishes, and is heading to a track where his team has always been stout. This team nearly won this race last year with Kyle Busch driving, just getting nipped at the line by Jamie McMurray. And Mears is no slouch at Daytona either, having finished second in the 2006 Daytona 500.
Juan Pablo Montoya-JPM has adapted to restrictor plate racing very quickly. He was in contention for the victory late at the Daytona 500, and came home second at Talladega. Chip Ganassi Racing may be a sinking ship quickly taking on water, but the plate tracks are the one kind of track they actually do seem to have things figured out at.
Thoughts while working on my tan in Florida
Tuesday 07-01-2008 10:14am CT
Tony Stewart may have the worst case of bad luck that I’ve seen in a long time. He was three laps from winning the Coke 600 at Lowes when a right front tire let go. Before the race a Dover everyone in the garage was saying that he had the car to beat, but on lap 16 he got caught up in the 11 car melee ending any chance for victory. A pit road speeding penalty on the last pit stops of the day derailed his chances at Pocono. Stewart may have finished 10th at Infineon, but that doesn’t tell the whole story, as he had to rally late after Kevin Harvick spun him out while running in the top five. And last weekend at New Hampshire the frustrations continue to mount for a team who still hasn’t won this year, and a driver who is pondering his future. Stewart had by far and a way the best car, but a decision by crew chief Greg Zipadelli to take two tires on the last pit stop of the day with rain quickly approaching doomed Stewart to a 11th place finish. The good news is that we’re coming to some tracks on the schedule where Stewart has had plenty of success in years past (Daytona, Chicago, Indy, Watkins Glen), which should help secure him a spot in the Chase for the Championship. 2008 has been lost year for Kurt Busch. After the way the Miller team came together during the second half of last year, a lot of people, including myself, thought that Kurt would be the Busch brother challenging for the championship, not his younger brother Kyle. And after Kurt finished second in the Daytona 500 behind his teammate Ryan Newman, it looked like the start of a potentially great year. Unfortunately, it that has been the lone highlight of the year until Kurt’s win Sunday. This team showed last year that they can string a bunch of good finished together, rallying to make the Chase, so maybe this will be the catalyst that this team needs. But this is a case of too little, too late, as Kurt is 18th in points, 222 points out of 12th. Oh by the way Jeff Burton finished a ho-hum 12th which means he has finished in the top-15 at every race this year. For those counting at home that’s 17 straight finishes of 15th or better. This is why this team is sitting second in points, just 64 points out of first. Want to know why Sunday’s race at New Hampshire was so weird? Before Sunday, the best finish Michael Waltrip had all year was a 23rd at Michigan, J.J. Yeley has failed to qualify for two out of the last four races including last weeks race at Infineon, and Reed Sorenson was benched by his owner last week in favor of a road course ringer. On Sunday these three drivers finished 2nd, 3rd, and 6th. I’m really starting to get worried about the lack of passing in NASCAR; it’s starting to turn into F1 before our very eyes! During Sunday’s race, only three passes for the lead happened on the track and not during pit stops. This is unacceptable for sport that prides itself on close, side-by-side, exciting racing, none of which we saw on Sunday, and for that matter most of this year. I watched most of the Indycar race Saturday night from Richmond. It wasn’t anything special, as out of the 300 laps run, 102 were caution laps. No race can be a good race when a third of the laps run are caution laps. And it seemed as if most the cautions happened during restarts. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for an Indycar to restart, but apparently it’s one of the most challenging things to do in racing. Who knew? Contenders and Sleepers at N.H.
Friday 06-27-2008 12:22pm CT
Contenders Denny Hamlin-The flat track king, as all four of his career wins have come on flat tracks (Pocono, New Hampshire, Martinsville) including this race last year. Matt Kenseth-No driver is hotter than Kenseth right now, and that includes Kyle Busch. Has climbed from 24th in points to 12th over the past month, and while he has never won at New Hampshire, he has run very well here in years past. Kurt Busch-He’s won on every type of track imaginable so far this year, so it’s not too much of a stretch picking him to win Sunday. Sleepers Jeff Burton-Leads all active drivers with four wins, but if he does win Sunday, I’m telling you people will be surprised despite the fact that he is second in points and hasn’t finished worse than 15th all year. Martin Truex Jr.-Not only is this is home track; it’s also one of his best ones. He finished 3rd and 5th in the two races here last year, so a win isn’t out of the question. Ryan Newman-Has given his team notice that he won’t be back next year if things don’t improve, and New Hampshire will be a good indicator of where this team is at. Finished in the top-10 in both races last year, and has won here twice before.
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© 2008