CHEERS to Geoff Bodine and the ByDyn Bobsled initiative that got the U.S. a GOLD medal at the Olympics! No matter what I’ve said about him in a race car so long ago, when you think about a legacy and leaving your mark on the world, this is one of those things that count more than any NASCAR win.

JEERS to Kim Kardashian at the track and pretending to be a NASCAR fan. Just say it, okay? You’re here to plug your fragrance, not because you’re a fan. If you were a fan, you wouldn’t have used the word “jumpsuit”. ‘Nough said.

CHEERS to racing in Las Vegas, because even if I’m not a Busch fan, the pride they have at being there is evidenced on their faces and they both seem a little more real when they’re at LVMS.

JEERS to racing in Las Vegas, because they don’t call it sin city for nothin’… I have to admit that I picked Kyle Busch on my top-three list in the fantasy league. I’ll repent tomorrow.

JEERS to the Pizzi piece again. It seems they listened to us half-way – when we complained about the “stupid gopher piece” on each week’s pre-race, they took away the gopher, but forgot to take away the stupid.

CHEERS to the RCR drivers’ interview and the inside joke. Kevin Harvick said he spent the week lookin’ for the golden horseshoe that the 48 team has, and Jeff Burton chiming in, “I don’t wanna know where he was lookin’.” For those of you following on Twitter, you might remember where Kevin said that horseshoe was.

CHEERS to each week there’s someone else feeling a little more at-ease wearing glasses. Is there really still a stigma against them? Now that DW can see Hammond’s nose hair a little more clearly, he might opt out, though.

CHEERS to Carl speechless when asked about his new father role. Some things are so big in your heart that you can’t always put them into words right on the spot like that.

CHEERS to all the nice sentiments poured out for Suitcase Jake Elder. With the growth in the sport over the past 10 years, I wonder how many new fans know the history of greats like Elder. It’s unfortunate that we learn about them only after their passing. FOX and ESPN both need to take a lesson from TNT with the spots they have Kyle Petty do with the greats in our sport’s history. Replace the goofy Pizzi and gopher pieces with something of substance, and give us some real history each week, drawing the lines down the family tree to show the impact these great men have had on where the sport is today.

JEERS to Frank Caliendo who is a one-act, unfunny, tired comedian with mediocre impressions. With the talent that is in Vegas, this is the best they can do?

CHEERS to the voice of Robin Leach at the track each time we visit Vegas.

CHEERS to the invocation and the brief smile on the face of Marcos Ambrose during the prayer “…and Lord, we thank you that we live in this great country.”

CHEERS to a girl next to Tony! I guess Zippy CAN be replaced!

CHEERS to Terry Fator at the track and doing the anthem!! Now THAT is the kind of talent I was hoping for from Vegas!  

CHEERS to impeccable timing, and the Thunderbirds overhead to the roar of the crowd.  VERY nicely done!!

CHEERS to Carroll Shelby with his name on the race and giving the command, but JEERS that he had to stand next to Kim Kardashian. I will say, though, that I don’t know who was responsible for her not sharing those four words, whether she opted to give that spotlight solely to Mr. Shelby or whether she didn’t know she was supposed to say it at the same time, it worked out well.

CHEERS to the beauty of those clouds in the sky. Some clouds just look better than others, and those were some great-looking clouds! Maybe it was the blueness of the sky that seemed deeper than usual. Or maybe it’s just the contrast to the smog of California last week.

CHEERS to consistency in the booth, and DW’s radio 0-3 this year in first attempts to reach a driver.

JEERS to trouble early for Kevin Conway, but at least his lessons learned didn’t include running into anyone else.

CHEERS to AJ through the grass and yet not wrecked (and not even clogging his splitter with sod!)

CHEERS to the billboard over the tunnel that I think might say “Smith Paint”, but that mostly what we see is a big S and a big P. As we hear that Aric Almirola has finished his day, we see that S&P sign? Subliminal, maybe? 

JEERS to “I smelled grease about two laps ago.” And Bobby done for the day. It’s the worst smell in racing? When someone says something is the “worst” why am I always compelled to try and think of something to disprove that? Hmmm… What could be worse? Maybe being a relief driver in August for a guy who got out of his car because the flu got the best of him? Do I win?

JEERS to seeing Mike Bliss in the wall. Gosh, I hope his jumpsuit didn’t get dirty. I wonder if a driver against the wall like that when the field comes by feels the same as getting a ticket on a main road through town and three friends drive by and see you.

CHEERS to an “Oh no you don’t!” move on pit road by Matt Kenseth to block a charging 48 on the outside.

CHEERS to old-school fixing on pit road – Coca-Cola will sticky it up enough to give a little more grip out of the pits.  Makes you wonder why there aren’t more ant infestations at race tracks, doesn’t it?

CHEERS to Mike Joy taking the Shelbys (the car and the man) for a spin, and even speeding on pit road. What a thrill that had to be!!

JEERS to caution lights failing. If they can fail to go off at the right time, will they fail to come ON at the right time? Victims of our own technology, all of us!

CHEERS to the “baby on Thursday, victory lane on Sunday” theory!

JEERS to bad news for teammates and now JPM and Jamie Mac both in damaged cars. Would you like some fries with that?

JEERS to JPM not knowing how to accept an apology and then trash talking his teammate. Ouch, the déjà vu is killin’ me. And he talks about Jamie not helping himself. Hmmm… which of the two of you has won more NASCAR races? Oh yeah, that’s Jamie. And the Daytona 500? Yup, Jamie again. And who’s wearing the ugly shades? That would be you.

JEERS to malfunctioning lights… crazy. How do you fix THAT in the middle of a race? Shut them all off and revert to flagmen and radios? That’s my vote.

CHEERS to Mike Bliss back in the race. I wonder if anyone in a jumpsuit talked him into returning to the track.

JEERS to Max Papis’ crew causing a penalty for the driver. Well, at least I hear he won a couple hundred bucks in a slot machine this weekend.

JEERS to Jeff Burton’s car that he reportedly “can’t turn at all.” Well, c’mon, now Jeff. You can turn a little bit, right? It’s not like you’re not still going in circles.

JEERS to not just only 15 cars on the lead lap, but only another 11 on the second lap.

JEERS to what seems to be missing chemistry between driver 88 and his crew chief. When a driver tells you he’s doing all he can with the car, is it a good idea to answer with sarcasm that he’s really only been battling his car for 170 laps and not 200? Really??

CHEERS to returning from commercial with all cameras on the 33 car in the lead. Yes, we’ve just finished yellow-flag pitting, but he’s there and his two RCR friends are in the top ten with him.

JEERS to two tires for Gordon when he’s leading the race, and the car most likely to kick him off that leading spot is his own teammate with four tires. Let’s take the focus off Junior’s crew chief for a moment and wonder what the heck is wrong with the leader of the 24 team?

JEERS to 19 cars taking the wave around, but yet CHEERS to 19 cars that aren’t in front of the leader on the restart.

CHEERS to “He’s got four feel-goods on there and he’s goin’ to town!” That might turn the race right there for Jimmie to take down his teammate.

CHEERS to whatever that sound was from Earl Barban, the spotter. Was it a quacking, or a stoogish “nyack nyack nyack”? Either way, we liked it!

JEERS to a reported “sell-out” at Vegas when we are looking at empty seats, however…

CHEERS to LVMS who seems to have packed their house fuller than any other track in recent memory.

CHEERS to 14th place Marcos Ambrose. I think I might go buy a big ol’ bag of Kingsford just in case the snow from November ever melts off.

CHEERS to Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus knowing from the get-go that it’s not how many laps you lead, as long as you lead the last one.

CHEERS to the most mile-and-a-half track wins on the books, but bigger CHEERS to Mike Joy for pointing out that the accomplishment these days is not what it was when the “old timers” had just Charlotte as their 1.5 mile track.

CHEERS to more comedy from Earl who wants a spot next to the blue-feathered girl in Victory Lane.

CHEERS to winning at Vegas, but I’m sorry… that belt is just a wacky trophy, and looks ridiculous on the winner.  For some reason, it has always looked better held, arms outstretched, over one’s head.

CHEERS to one of the best moments of the day, ten minutes after the flag, the winner bonks his head on the camera. I can’t be the only one who winced and said aloud, “Ouch!!”

CHEERS to a smiling Joey and while he didn’t drink his Coke, he sure got a nice shot of it right there at the camera, didn’t he?

CHEERS to interviewing Tony who finished just behind Joey, so the background of his interview was the 20 car. For a moment it was nice to remember, and I bet it was nice for Tony, too. Yes, he loves his new sponsors, but I’ve never seen anyone handle a team change with the kind of class he’s shown, no longer affiliated with Home Depot or JGR, but still emotionally vested.

CHEERS to a great weekend for Kevin Harvick, and still on top in the points. Maybe this won't be his last year with RCR after all?

CHEERS to Kevin Conway’s post race quote, “It was a really long day.”

CHEERS to Jamie McMurray having such class in the aftermath of his teammate’s documented anger. He could have explained how the whole thing wasn’t his fault, how JPM came down on him, or even how it was just one of those racin’ deals. Rather, he took the high road, and defended his teammate, saying that the media shouldn’t put too much stock in his words. “When you ask somebody something immediately after getting crashed, they typically don’t have nice things to say.”

And finally,

CHEERS to the desperation on team 24 this year. When Jimmie first came on the scene he was a nice little brother figure. A protégé that Jeff Gordon could feel good about. But then the student began beating the teacher again and again. Even then, Jeff Gordon was still… well, JEFF GORDON!  Wonderboy. Maybe the best natural talent to ever race in the series. Now that Jimmie has matched Jeff Gordon (some say he’s even bested him for the amount of time in the sport and the consistency of four straight), there is a new, quiet rivalry brewing, and it might even be a one-sided rivalry. Does JJ have the kind of desperate attitude, “We must get to five before Jeff”? Not that I’ve seen. But is Jeff Gordon driving like he’ll be darned if he’s gonna let this upstart kid take away his glory and get to five championships before he does? He’s been on his “drive for five” for how many years now? There are eight holes in the wall for championship trophies over at HMS, originally planned for the eight that Jeff Gordon would get. At this rate, I wonder when Rick Hendrick will have the conversation, “Say, Jeff, we were thinking of moving your four to the back room display…” 

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