Ultimate Race Day

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Guest Blogger:

By Katey Dietz

Fall is my favorite season! The smell of leaves, fresh apple cider & fry cakes, football, crisp air, and best of all – The Chase!

Autumn weekends find me cheering on the local high school football team on Fridays, helping my parents clear leaves from their yard and catching the ACC match ups on Saturday, and routing for my Bills and cheering like crazy for every left turn on Sundays.

(Photo credit: Bleacher Report.com)

This season I’m finding it hard to pick a fave to take the Cup. I’m not a strategic fan, a sentimental fan, or some waffle-belly who only roots for single drivers with big bank accounts. I like good people and good stories. I’ve got my team, Joe Gibbs Racing, because they’re the “hometown” team and I’m a proud Huntersville resident, but more significantly it’s Joe Gibbs! It’s impossible not to admirer him and how he runs his business & manages his teams.

Then I have my drivers. Yes, plural. I’ve been a fan of Denny Hamlin since his rookie year and enjoyed his consistency and solid no flash racing. So many young drivers become reckless and wreck prone searching for points and wins. When Hamlin has the car, he’s got her out front. When it’s not his day, he drives it as hard as he can, but doesn’t risk what car he does have. My second driver? David Gilliland. This is only my second season following him, but I’m sure there are many more too come. I enjoyed him last year with Yates, but have been blown away by his determination and professionalism as a journeyman and with TRG this season. It takes more than media training to handle being dropped, having multiple start & parks, lack of sponsorship, and being bumped by a veteran with the class and decorum Gilliland has showed. Adding to his appeal for this Gibbs Girl is the news that he’ll be piloting the fourth JGR car for a few races.

While I always pull for Hamlin and Gilliland over everyone else, this year’s Chase offers several compelling drivers to back. It would be Hamlin’s first Cup, and is there a fan alive that wouldn’t be thrilled to see Mark Martin finally take one home? A Tony Stewart or Ryan Newman win would make a great bookend to a stellar first season for Stewart-Haas Racing. Part of me even wants to see Kyle Busch play spoiler a rack up a bunch of late season wins (can you imagine Stewart’s in-car if that happens!?).

So Sunday, before I watch my Bills rout the Bucs to make up for Monday night’s heartbreak, I’ll be cheering for the first chapter of a great story. You?