Kasey Kahne gave HMS win #201 on Sunday night in the quickest Coca-Cola 600 ever. (photo credit: NASCAR)

Everybody deals with pressure at one point in their lifetime and Kasey Kahne is no different.

Sunday night all the pressure that had been mounting since signing with Hendrick Motorsports was lifted in one drop of a checkered flag.

Kasey Kahne won his third Coca-Cola 600 and also placed himself back in the hunt for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

Last night’s victory was Kahne’s 13th overall in Sprint Cup and the first since winning in Phoenix last season.  Last night was also Kahne’s 300th career Sprint Cup start as well.

» Continue reading “Sprint Cup: Make That #201, Mr. Hendrick…”

Kes waived the checkers at Talladega on Sunday with a little help from his friend Kyle Busch (photo credit: NASCAR)

Okay so drivers have heard and been told a bazillion times to “be patient” on the track.

Yeah, we’ve all heard it on radio communications during races and have even probably preached audibly to our drivers during races as well.

I know I have.  I’m the queen of talking to the television during racing season.

Matt Kenseth looked poised to win the Aaron’s 499 with about five laps to go and clearly had one of the strongest cars (along with teammate Greg Biffle) all day long.

Until…the two K’s came rolling along on the green-white-checkered finish.  I’m talking about Keselowski and Kyle.

» Continue reading “Sprint Cup: No Patience? No Problem Says Lord Kes”

Might be calling this place home sooner than I think...literally. Fingers crossed.

Okay.  So hi again, everybody.  Yeah, I’ve been away for awhile.  For that, I apologize to everybody and anybody that gazes at our site from time to time or on a regular basis. 

I’m trying to relocate to the Racing Capital of the World (yes, Indianapolis – squeee!!) so I’ve been driving like mad between interviews, seeing my boyfriend on the weekends and still maintaining sanity here in Northwest Indiana. 

It’s been a bumpy ride, kind of like Jeremy Mayfield’s journey through the justice system that ended in utter failure a couple days ago.  Ouchie.

Let’s see what’s shakin’ in racing this week and get back on the speed freak wagon, shall we?  

» Continue reading “Let’s Catch Up With The Rest Of The Field, Shall We?”

Social media nerd or just plain smart as can be? You be the judge.

You’ve got to give it to Brad Keselowski.  He knows the value of interacting with his fans, and I don’t know any driver that does it better.  This past Friday, Brad Keselowski teamed up with 3,000 of his Twitter followers (myself included), Reese Towpower, and Cooper Standard to run a Follow Brad on Twitter truck.  I’m sure that gained him some more followers even though we didn’t fare so well in the race.

But Monday night, Brad Keselowski took social media to a whole new level.  Never had any NASCAR driver posted anything online during a race.

NO!  Brad wasn’t driving at the time.  The field had just been redflagged for the extensive Colombian Catastrophe cleanup and the drivers had a little time to kill.  2.5 hours of a little time to kill.  Brad whips out his phone and starts tweeting away.  This stroke of social media genius netted him a cool 100,000+ followers in a matter of minutes and some serious TV time.

Here are a few of the offerings from down on the track by Brad Keselowski (@keselowski):

» Continue reading “Keselowski: Twitteraholic or Social Media Genius?”

This Wisconsin native was the "Big Cheese" in Daytona tonight. (photo credit: Chris Graythen)

The race technically ended on the twenty-eighth day but who’s counting, right?  This weekend’s Daytona 500 kind of ran together in one, huge blur of weirdness that started way back yesterday around noon.

And just ended about five minutes ago.  No joke.

In twenty years as a race fan, this was the most unusual of them all.  Rain was our problem on Sunday and fire was our problem on Monday.  Go figure, right?

Unless readers sat and suffered through the more than two-hour long caution for a strange, almost  God-like act at Daytona trust me when I say readers have no idea.

Until tonight I thought I’d seen it all at the track…until the jet dryer nearly burned the track down.  Thanks, Juan.

Oh yeah.  And Matt Kenseth won the 2012 Daytona 500 with an overheating car and nearly zero radio communication.

» Continue reading “Daytona 500: And On The 27th Day…Everything Happened.”

That right, Kes. It's your birthday. Celebrate like you stole the checkers!

Today we celebrate the 28th birthday (such a young pup) of one of mine and Erin’s favorite drivers!

The Kes celebrates his birthday and if you don’t follow him on Twitter, well you’re just lame because everybody should follow Kes on Twitter.

Happy Birthday, Brad!

That's the look of coolness and of a dude who has a killer Twitter contest going right now. (photo credit: Autoweek)

I love Brad Keselowski.  Why?  Because he’s freakin’ different and chicks dig different dudes.

What’s Brad up to in the off season?  Ummm…besides being my favorite for the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup title (yes, I’m saying it now, mark the calendar) he’s lighting up Twitter with a contest.

Kes is racing in the season opening Camping World Truck series race at Daytona on February 24, 2012 and he’ll be sponsored by Reese Towpower and Cooper Standard.

5,000 winners will be chosen to have their Twitter handles printed on the decklid of the truck.

Morgann, I’m dying to make this happen!  What do I do?  Easy.

Follow Kes.  Follow Reese Towpower.  Follow Cooper Standard.  Retweet Kes’s tweet with your prediction and 5,000 fans will get their names drawn for the lucky prize to have their handle printed on the hood of the truck.

Ten grand prize winners will get their names on the side of Kes’s truck for that race as well.  How cool is that?  Yeah, way cool indeed.

It's Over, Brian.

Dean Wormer will no longer influence NASCAR chairman Brian France.

NASCAR has had a recent history of secretly fining drivers for speaking their mind.  Ryan Newman was fined in 2009 for critical statements involving the “boring” racing at Talledega and the new COT car.  Denny Hamlin was secretly fined for speaking out on Twitter against seemingly “fixed” late race caution flags.  Brad Keselowski is the most recent recipient of a secret fine.  He was fined in 2011 for calling NASCAR’s impeding 2012 move to fuel injection a “disaster.”

» Continue reading “NASCAR Announces No More Double Secret Probation”

No joke, these really do exist for NASCAR fans.

Okay, people.  Christmas is approaching (in nine days but who’s counting)!  Have you finished your shopping for that die-hard NASCAR fan such as myself?

Just in case you haven’t and were wondering what NASCAR and racing-related gifts rock our faces off this holiday season look no further than right here at Lipstick and Lugnuts.

In salute to our top ten drivers in the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup we have something for every, single race fan on our Christmas shopping list. 

» Continue reading “10 NASCAR Christmas Gifts That Sort Of Don’t Suck”

Dear Santa: I have a few things on my NASCAR wishlist I'd like to see you take care of -- like pronto.

For the offical record it does not include our current 2011 Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart tied up and wrapped in a big red bow underneath my Christmas tree.  However, that would be very nice in case anybody is thinking of me, won’t lie.

Good morning, everybody.  Since we’re officially dead in the middle of racing withdrawl season, I’m taking an opportunity to address issues, concernes, grievances and things I’d like to see either changed or improved for the upcoming 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

This can be anything from track and safety conditions to driver rides and penalty enforcement changes as well.

So take a ride with me and we’ll see if Santa is nice enough to check my list twice because I’ve been a good girl this year so I deserve at least something, right? 

» Continue reading “88 Days And Counting: A NASCAR Christmas Wishlist”