Photo: This is one way to make a brand new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 or a ZL1 Clone look and drive horrible.

Welcome readers, while I was reading Autoholics, a CarDomain blog, I came across this picture of a brand new Chevrolet Camaro that looks like a ZL1. Nobody knows if this is a true ZL1 or just a clone made from a V6 or V8. But one thing is for sure, many readers commented on that blog thought the vehicle looked terrible.

Personally as a car guy myself who does like the new Camaro especially the looks and power, I think the car looks terrible with that green and most likely drives terrible too on 28 inch tires. But I will say that if you do like this Camaro or putting 26, 28 or now 32 inch tires on a Camaro, all power to you and its about the show, not the go.

Image from Autoholics.

Photography: Jeff Gordon racing hard in the #24 Chevrolet. Love these images via Instagram.

Photography: Jeff Gordon driving at high speed via Instagram.

Jeff Gordon driving at high speed. It's a cool image I got off of a
Pepsi Max No Calories 2012 Pint Bottle and thought it would
look good shared on ThinkingBrian.com.

Video: Look its a message from NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon to me and some 16oz bottles, what? More.

Image taken by me.

Last week, I received a package from a PR company in the mail. This is the stuff I dream about, some company sending me an iPad, a tablet, a Smartphone, a digital camera, a collectible or something cool in the mail for me to check out and while it wasn't anything big, it was something cool.

It was a metal case that said "Pepsi Max No calories" on the cover with three Jeff Gordon 2012 Limited Edition 16oz pint bottles, a card and an video message from Jeff Gordon on a 2GB Thumb Drive. I have to say that I was surprised to see this one, especially the images on the bottle. But what really caught my attention was the video message from Jeff Gordon. Its actually pretty cool and I had to play it a few more times, its a wow factor to me.

But the big question everyone is asking is, did I drink the three bottle of Pepsi Max No Calories or keep them as as collectibles in my collectibles cabnet? Well I didn't drink it yet and considering I have a christmas soda bottle from another company already in my collection and I already bought some Pepsi Max cans, I might just keep them and of course use the 2GB thumb drive I got too.

Note: I have already published one of the Pepsi Max images from the bottles via instagram with filter and I plan on playing with all three here on ThinkingBrian over the next couple of days.

More - 5/31/2012: Just wanted to pass along two things:
1. I've decided to keep the metal case, thumb drive and bottles as a collectors item and put them into my collectibles cabinet. I like promotional things and this is cool.
2. Recently I have received an email asking me for the contact info on the PR company so he/she could get one of these promotional items. I'm sorry but I don't hand that info out at all. However with the exception of the metal case and thumb drive, consumers can buy these collectible bottles in store within the next few weeks. 

Hot Topics: Monaco Grand Prix, Indy 500, Franchitti-Sato incident, Coca-Cola 600, and the best race of the weekend.

Welcome readers, today on NASCAR burning questions, I'm talking about Memorial Day Weekend's Motorsports Longest Day and all of the action from the Monaco, Indianapolis and the Coca-Cola 600.

1. Was Formula 1's biggest race, the Monaco Grand Prix a good race or not?
While it all depends upon what you categorize as a good race, personally I found Sunday Mornings Monaco Grand Prix to be okay at best. 

Sure there was the beautiful sights and sounds of Monaco and near by Monte Carlo and by the end of the race, the top 5 were racing nose to tail at the end of it. But there was really no on-track passing. Instead if you wanted to pass, you had to do it with pit strategy and that a classic example of that was defending World Champion Vettel going from outside the top 10 to a fourth place finish. Otherwise welcome to follow the leader type race with the polesitter Mark Webber winning another one for Red Bull Racing.

2. Was the 2012 Indianapolis 500 a good race or not?
While every racing fan has there own criteria of what is a good race. My criteria of a good race is plenty of passing not only through the entire field, but for the lead, good pit strategy, a few cautions for good measure to reset the field without a bunch of wrecks and ending with a close finish for the win.

And Sunday's Indy 500 lived up to all that and more and in my eyes was clearly a good race and very entertaining to watch on television. Fans saw over 30 lead changes, some wild single-file restarts that quickly grow to two-three-four wide racing heading down the front straightaway and two-wide into turn 1 to drivers gaining four-five spots on just one restart.

But unfortunately there were a few moments that fans surprised and that included a early race accident with Mike Convey breaking a front wing piece (after contact with one of his crew members) and hitting the outside wall hard, collecting Will Power in the process that had no place to go. Power had ever right to be upset, Something wasn't right with that accident.

And of course it all came down to a battle for the lead on the last lap between second place Takuma Sato and leader Dario Franchitti that resulted in leader Franchitti running Sato all the way to the inside wall down the front straightaway and into turn 1 with Sato being turned around and hitting the outside wall hard and Dario Franchitti winning the race.

In my eyes both drivers made mistakes, Sato should have waited, instead of forcing the issue and Franchitti shouldn't have forced him over and pinched him down in turn 1. Both drivers made mistakes and in the end, its should have been handled better, but that's racing. And despite the finish and winner, this was a good race.

Photo Credit: Tyler Barrick
Getty Images for NASCAR

3. Was the Coca-Cola 600 a good race?
Sorry NASCAR, but no, the Coca-Cola 600 wasn't a good race. Sure it had some good racing, but it missed so much and while I have no problem with 600 miles at Charlotte, the race simply didn't have that wow factor. However in the end, the best moment of this race was Kasey Kahne winning his 3rd Coca-Cola 600 and giving the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet its first win of 2012.

4. Which race (Monaco Grand Prix, The Indianapolis 500 or the Coca-Cola 600) was the best race of the Memorial Day Weekend?
By far, the Indianapolis 500 was the best race of the weekend and the just for the record, the Monaco Grand Prix was the worst race of the weekend. Yes I found the Coca-Cola 600 to be better than Monaco.

And thank you to all of our brave men and women in the military for all that you have done. God Bless America.

Notebook: Wow Dario Franchitti wins an action-packed, wild 2012 Indianapolis 500. Damn we had a good race here. #indy500

It's the longest day in Motorsports and the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 at IMS. This was a race that would see several different leaders, 30+ lead changes, different pit strategies, a few wild wrecks, a few near misses, but in the end it would be now 3-time winner Dario Franchitti comes back from 33rd after first restart to win the Indy 500 in front of a good sized crowd. Now this was racing with this DW12 chassis. 

Notebook:

Conway-Power wreck.
Photo Credit: LA Times via twitpic

1. Scary wreck early in the race when Mike Convey lost it in turn 1, hitting the outside wall hard, collecting Will Power after breaking a front wing piece in the pits by hitting a crew member. Lucky the crew members and both drivers are ok. 

2. Wild three-four-five wide restarts. There seems to be no real order on the restarts during the Indy 500, but boy are they entertaining to watch and one driver can pickup or loss spots fast.

3. Weird, but cool seeing Rubens Barrichello running in the Indianapolis 500, instead of earlier this mornings Monaco Grand Prix. However for his first Indy 500, he lead a few laps and ended up finishing in the 11th spot, not bad.

But in the end, it sucks this one ended under caution after a wreck on the final lap for the lead between Takuma Sato and Dario Franchitti. Good try Takuma Sato, but not enough room for the move especially with Dario so far down on you.

Related Articles:
- F1: Mark Webber wins fast paced Grand Prix of Monaco from the pole.

F1: Mark Webber wins fast paced Grand Prix of Monaco from the pole.

Well, the checkered flag is in the air and the 2012 Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix is in the record books and it wasn't much to write home about. Sure the sights and sounds of Monaco and near by Monte Carlo is always spectacular to see, but this fast paced race was nothing short of tight follow the leader and an opening lap incident. 

These Formula 1 racecars were very evenly matched and nobody could really make any on track passing especially upfront. It would be strategy that would be the big winner today as Vettel would make his way from outside the top 10 into the top 4 with tire strategy, but it would be the pole-sitter leading most of this one and picking up the victory in the Monaco Grand Prix. 

Personally I was really hoping the rain that was heavily talked about throughout the race broadcast on SPEED was going to make more of an impact. Rain and Monaco make for a action-packed race, but no dice. And neither did my fantasy picks for that matter that I locked in before Saturday qualifying with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. You win some, you lose some, see you next year Monaco.

Herb Thomas, Leonard Wood, Rusty Wallace, Cotton Owens, and Buck Baker are the 2013 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Welcome readers, for the fourth class, today at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, NASCAR announced that Herb Thomas, Leonard Wood, Rusty Wallace, Cotton Owens, and Buck Baker would be the 2013 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductees.

But even more, for the first time, a new award has been created for 2013 and beyond for NASCAR media excellence with Ken Squier and Barney Hall being inducted. The award will be called the Squier-Hall Award. And couldn't be more happier for each of them. Congratulations to all 7 inductees and I think cool to see a NASCAR media award too..

Personally last month when the 25 nominees were announced, my thinking was Rusty Wallace, Benny Parsons, Red Byron, Cotton Owens and either Raymond Parks or H. Clay Earles. And I'm glad to see that one of my favorite driver Rusty Wallace made the class as well as a fan favorite Cotton Owens made the class too.

Note: The panel had to re-vote after a tie for the 5th inductee and the person who didn't get in was FireBall Roberts. Hopefully this means that Fireball might get in, in 2014.

Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing unveils the 2013 Toyota Camry NASCAR Cup Series racecar and its a Camry.

The theme for the 2013 NASCAR season is return the NASCAR prototype style racecar to look more like the showroom versions and so far, three manufacturers with Ford, Dodge and now Toyota unveiling their versions do look similar to the showroom version. And personally I think this is just about as good as its going to get as far as looks. The only change that NASCAR could do to add to these new 2013 racecars is add what looks to be doors. Just look at the Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, that looks good.

But in looking at the photo below of the 2013 Toyota Camry racecar, it doesn't remind me of NASCAR, it reminds me of a Toyota Camry. They hit their mark, but I just don't get thrilled over a Toyota Camry, of course I don't thrilled over a Chevrolet Impala SS neither. However the new Ford look is cool.

Photo Credit: Joe Gibbs Racing via Jayski.com
Note: Couldn't find image on JGR Website

Hot Topics: The 2012 NASCAR All-Star race and its future, Kurt Busch vs. Ryan Newman "WWE-Style" feud and Coca-Cola 600 predictions. MORE

Time for something different, some NASCAR burning question where I (blogger Brian Vermette and the man behind ThinkingBrian) answer a few burning questions from the past week in this NASCAR Edition.

1. Was the 2012 NASCAR All-Star race entertaining or disappointing?
It all depends upon the way you look at it. Personally while the All-Star race didn't live up to all of the hype and wrecks that the media and some fans were saying it was going to happen. The race was ok to watch. The first 80 laps which are four heat races was pretty good with each heat race winner dropping to the rear of the field and ready to advance to the main event. Yeah that's the way I looked at it once it began to play out. But unfortunately, the final 10 laps were a blow out with Jimmie Johnson just running away with the win. That #48 team and Jimmie Johnson did one hell of a job and they had the best car of the night. (Read More...)

So bottom line, it was good hard racing, but not the All-Star bang I was looking for. However NASCAR did every thing they could and that's it, no blame.

• 1a. Does SPEED and FOX TV Broadcast need to change too? Yes, simply put one of the reasons why the All-Star race didn't work was the broadcast itself. There is simply too many talking heads on one broadcast and too much going on that doesn't include the race itself. I really only need 2-3 people in the booth with one explaining the tech side of it with a detailed software on a screen. FOX has this and needs to showcase it more. And 3 people on pit road. FOX can include a moving reporter (Jeff Hammond does this right now) and that's fine. But get rid of the Hollywood Hotel. Too many people talking at once.

2. Should fans be angry at Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth for dropping to rear of the field or "sandbagging"?
No way, no, this is race strategy, not cheating or sandbagging. Teams found an advantage in winning a heat race early. You win a heat race, you go to back and wait for the main event (last 10 laps that pays $1 Million to win). But I will add that its does suck for the fans because this is an All-Star race and its go for broke type racing.

3. Does the All-Star race need a facelift and find a format and stay with it?
Oh hell yes and yes. There is so many things NASCAR could do here from a new simpler format, new qualifying way with no driver locked in to the main event a head of time to a brand new venue. I would even suggest exploring combining the Budweiser Shootout and the All-Star race into one elite event maybe during either the off season or during a week off during the season. Phoenix, Richmond, Martinsville, Bristol, Iowa would all make interesting venues for a new All-Star race. Or leave it in Charlotte and create some different. Now fans instead of yell about it, come up with a solution would work better.

Let me think about my best suggestion here.

4. Is Kurt Busch vs. Ryan Newman a "WWE-Style" feud?
No, its a old rivalry and as a WWE fan, I resent the fact that Kurt Busch would even spin his latest blow up as a good thing for the sport and a WWE thing. Personally I don't care about this whole Kurt Busch thing and haven't for a while, this is NASCAR's, the car owners and his sponsors problem, and they need to handle it. NASCAR could park him for one or two races, but that requires him to do something else wrong. I'm done with this crap and instead I want to watch some racing.

5. Predictions, 5 drivers to watch in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte including a wild card.
Obviously Jimmie Johnson one to watch and I'm picking him to win the 600. But Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart are also ones to watch. However in the wild card, I would say Martin Truex Jr. will be one to watch. Did I surprise anyone. The thing is though, while yes these are ones to watch, there 15-20 drivers on any given week that could win and the Coke 600 is NASCAR's longest race any one can win it if they are in the top 5 in the 50 laps.

Damn that works for my first edition and don't forget to click "I agree", "I disagree" or "Its cool" in what do you think at the top of the article for reaction.

And the winner is...Arsenio Hall wins The Celebrity Apprentice over Clay Aiken. Good choice Donald Trump.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I still watch The Celebrity Apprentice and The Apprentice as well. I don't know why, but for some reason I still find the show after all these years to be entertaining to watch most nights. Of course in the Celebrity Apprentice's case, some of the celebrities are nuts, but that sometimes translates into entertainment. And the show giving money to all different charities, that works very well too.

Anyway, yes I watched this entire season of The Celebrity Apprentice and for the most part I enjoyed it. And while I really thought that Aubrey O'Day and/or Lisa Lampanelli would have made the finals for sure considering the both were the strongest players in the game. It didn't surprise me that Mr. Trump ended up choosing Arsenio Hall and Clay Aiken to be in the final two. It just didn't.

Nonetheless, both Arsenio and Clay in the final task showed what they could do and I really couldn't have picked with one won the final task over all except that Clay raised over $300k and Arsenio raised over $167k.

At that point, I thought that Clay might win the Celebrity Apprentice based on several things, but I was presently surprised that Donald Trump choice Arsenio Hall as the winner of the Celebrity Apprentice, giving the Magic Johnson Foundation and extra $250k on top of everything else Arsenio raised during the show. Good Choice, but then again, both of them were a good choice and in this case, both charities win anyway.

Notebook: Congrats to Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team on winning the Pit Crew Challenge and the 2012 NASCAR All-Star race with $1 Million Dollars.

Photo Credit: Hendrick Motorsports
Facebook Page

It's May, a week before the best day in Motorsports (with Monaco GP, Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600), it must be the NASCAR's All-Star race event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. And for me, I rather enjoy the All-Star race and while I think the race should move around to other tracks like Iowa Speedway, it is different ever year.

Of course one way NASCAR keeps things new is the ever changing formats and while I don't like that, I have just come to expect NASCAR and CMS to change the format every year to give the fans something new and/or different.

Anyway, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning the Sprint Showdown, A.J. Allmendinger advancing and Bobby Labonte winning the fan vote, this was one of the more wilder All-Star races then in recent years, partly due to racing for segment wins and strategy once the driver won the segment with each one of the first three dropping to the rear of the field to test, can you say adjustments and save their racecar. Interesting and yet it works to a point. You have to give it to these teams, they always try to find an advantage in these races using NASCAR rules.

Segments 1-4: Jimmie Johnson won segment #1, Matt Kenseth won segment 2, Brad Keselowski wins by inches over Kasey Kahne in segment #3 (what a good race at the line for that win) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. won segment #4. That was good racing in all four segments.

Ironic, both Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle went out with fireworks as their engines blow. Special engines for a special event. I've seen this movie before, JGR a few years ago.

But winning segments only gets you one advantage, first, second, third or fourth onto pit road for the final pit stop, but you still have to race to win the All-Star race.

And it would be Jimmie Johnson going from winning segment 1 to winning the All-Star race and $1 Million Dollars. Damn, that #48 team is good, hats off to them for winning the pit crew challenge and the All-Star race.

- Hats off to my favorite driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. on winning the Showdown, Segment #4 and finishing 5th in the All-Star race. He's ready for the Coca-Cola 600 next week for sure.

NASCAR: Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominates and wins Sprint Showdown, A.J. Allmindinger advances and fans vote in Bobby Labonte to the All-Star race.

Photo Credit: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Facebook Page

Dale Jr. said he didn't want to black his way into the All-Star race, he wanted to race his way in and boy did he by dominating the Showdown, leading all 40 laps from a starting spot of 3rd to win it. Dale Jr. advances. But behind him, it would be a late race pass by A.J. Allmendinger (after a flat tire coming to the green) to finish 2nd and advance to the All-Star race.

With Dale Jr. and the Dinger in, that left the fan vote wild open and it would be Bobby Labonte. Yes I said Bobby Labonte and what a lucky guy. I'm shocked.

NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson nails it out of the ballpark, wins Southern 500 at Darlington and gives Hendrick his 200th win. Damn.

It's Darlington, what did everyone expect??? Damn, the first 172 laps were green flag only racing with the fast cars getting faster and the average to slow cars getting lapped.

But in the second half of this one, it was drivers getting up on the wheel, an aggressive race to say the least with the lady in black eating race cars and some damn good racing.

And In the end it would come down to a green white checkers with Jimmie Johnson bring it home for his first win of the season and Hendrick Motorsports 200th victory. Hell of job Hendrick.

And thank you, thank you, thank you, drivers for one hell of a race, now now Darlington  and that's racing. That's all folks.

View on Instagram. (Photo Credit: Jimmie Johnson)

Joey Logano plows his way to victory lane in Nationwide Darlington race; Sucked to see Elliott Sadler get wreck with a few laps to go.

Compared to last Saturday afternoons Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Darlington was a complete 180 and I enjoyed it for the most part and of course its Darlington. But his is Darlington and things happen and for Denny Hamlin despite leading the most and dominating, it wasn't his race as a late race caution for Kurt Busch would set up a wild finish.

On the restart before the last one, I really though Elliott Sadler was either going to win or at least get a top 3 finish. But Joey Logano forgot he was at Darlington and not Talladega and bump drafted Sadler and Sadler would end up into the outside.

That would set up for Joey Logano to get the jump on the green-white-checkered finish to win his second race in a row. Normally I would be happy to see Logano win, but not this time. Elliott Sadler deserved better. Hopefully Sadler can rebound and still win this Nationwide Championship.

Liking SPEED's primetime with Gearz, Car Warriors and RaceHub, but what is Hard Parts: South Bronx? Whatever happened to Bullrun?

As a NASCAR, Motorsports and Car Enthusiast, naturally SPEED Channel is one of the networks that I watch on a regular basis and that includes the primetime schedule. As a NASCAR fan, RaceHub seems to work for me including the two 5 minute segments a week with Jimmy Spencer that personally needs to be 10 minutes. He tells it like it is.

Factory Five Racing Ford Roadster built on Car Warriors.
Image from Car Warriors on SPEED Facebook Page.

Beyond that, I also like Gearz with Stacey David, My Ride Rules just because of the different vehicles and even Car Warriors that has been changed for the good with one judge and two additional lead techs. You can never have to much help in rebuilding a car in 48 hours.

However I really don't know what to make of Hard Parts: South Bronx that is coming up in a few weeks (May 19th after the All-Star race). Naturally I'll give the show a try, but I've seen a few of these types of shows before. Let's just hope that its not just another American Chopper Sr vs. Jr drama fest without the bike builds, yes that would be just fighting family members going at it. It is life in the Bronx running an auto parts store

But I do have one question for SPEED, if its possible, why not bring back Bullrun that the network had a few years ago. I really enjoyed that show and previously blogged on it on a previous blog. Now that was entertainment.

Note: In the art of full disclosure, I am on SPEED's email list to send promos to about upcoming shows and current shows that my readers might want hear about. However while several PR companies including SPEED's do send me the emails, its my choice and my choice alone as to what I talk about and this is something that I was not only interested in talking about, but I actually watch regularly. Of course I make each post all my own and not just publish a press release. Notice there is no press release and that's because that's the way I do my posts. Thank you.

Video: My Take on the Sam Hornish Jr., Danica Patrick incident at the end of the Aaron's 312 NASCAR Nationwide race at Talladega. UPDATED.

In and among all of the demolition derby type action that was the Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway earlier today including a few "The Big One" wrecks, a red flag, two-car tandem drafting, large pack racing battles for the lead and more. There was one incident between 12-Sam Hornish Jr. and 7-Danica Patrick on the final lap that received a lot of attention and is being debated just like so many things in that race.

But from what I saw from replays on TV and the video below, Sam Hornish Jr. was racing for position coming off turn 4 heading down though the tri-oval when Danica Patrick (who had a head of steam) was trying to make a pass on the outside. In the tri-oval, it looked when Danica Patrick got to Sam Hornish, Hornish moved up the race track blocking Patrick right into the outside wall. They were racing for a top 15 spot.

After the race heading into turn 1, Danica Patrick was upset and looked like she wanted to voice her displeasure and hit Hornish which sent him into the outside wall.

In an interview with ESPN, Sam Hornish Jr. said, he blow a tire coming off turn 4 and it wouldn't turn by the time he got to the tri-oval. Which could explain why he went up the track into Danica Patrick. But if Hornish did blow a right front tire, why wouldn't he get on the apron and limp it around to finish the race and not just go at speed into the tri-oval risking he go into the outside wall. Not a good move at all and Danica Patrick had every right to be upset.

As for after the checker flag, I believe Danica Patrick was upset and wanted to voice her displeasure. I don't know if she meant to just hit Hornish or turn him into the outside wall, but she got her point across.

Honestly, I think Sam Hornish Jr. if he blow a right front tire shouldn't have stayed in the throttle and instead backed out and limped it around. If he didn't blow a tire, then that was just terrible driving. As for Danica Patrick, well I'm not a fan of putting a driving into the outside wall for retaliation unless it's a driver's last resort, but hitting them from behind and giving them a good hit to get their attention is fine. No harm, no foul. Of course when Patrick hit Hornish like that, the flat tire would have sent him into the outside wall anyway.



Interesting.

Update: It's been 24 hours and while I stand behind my statement above, I do believe that both drivers could have handled this better. Sam Hornish Jr. with his experience should have gotten out of the throttle since he had a blown tire instead of heading off into the tri-oval at speed and risk not only taking himself out, but another competitor. Its a respect thing. And Danica Patrick should have waited for another day to go hit Sam Hornish Jr. for his move. Don't get me wrong, Hornish deserved a good hit to the bumper, but wrong move for Danica.

So NASCAR should penalize both Sam Hornish Jr. and Danica Patrick for there parts in this incident. I believe a 6-10 race probation and a fine. If either driver gets out of line again, then a bigger penalty should be given.  

Just a thought on the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Talladega Superspeedway as they go green.

Oh boy, it's the Saturday edition of the demolition derby at Talladega Superspeedway. Will we see The Big One in the Nationwide race? Check back Monday for my ARCA and NASCAR Notebook on the racing at Talladega. Sorry I just couldn't resist.

Update: Joey Logano makes last lap pass on Kyle Busch on 3rd G-W-C to win Aaron's 312. But here's my take on the Sam Hornish Jr., Danica Patrick incident.

Photography: A scenic beach view from the passenger seat at 30 mph.

This is a beautiful scenic beach view from the passenger seat at 30 mph.

Photography: Beautiful Early April Flowers via Instagram Android App.

Despite the fact that I really only use Instagram now for following people including celebrities like Miranda Cosgrove, Selena Gomez and Victoria Justice as well as discovering cool photos. I just couldn't resist publishing some beautiful early April flowers that I took in my back yard (with my 3.2MP LG Thrive Android Smartphone) last month.

NASCAR: Martinsville tops most exciting Cup Series race after first 9 races despite Baldwin's comments and media continuing to fuel dying fire.

As the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season continues to roll on into Talladega Superspeedway (the demo derby), the Tommy Baldwin interview on NASCAR RaceHub sparked two things with me.

1. I stand by my comments in both my previous article "NASCAR: Ryan Newman wins Goody's 500 at Martinsville as Johnson vs. Gordon in final laps denies Hendrick 200th win." & "NASCAR Martinsville Cup Race aftermath continues: Clint Bowyer vs. Jimmy Spencer on NASCAR RaceHub." on David Reutimann, Tommy Baldwin and NASCAR being at fault for late caution and top 35 in points nightmare.

But I do want to add this after the Baldwin interview on RaceHub in that Baldwin continues to in my eyes disrespect his competitors with thinking there was nothing wrong with leaving his dying #10 car out on track with a few laps to go in Martinsville race and ultimately causing a caution flag.

Personally, it isn't about Hendrick not getting his 200th win, it will come and that's nature of racing, but its about leaving a dying race car on track to collect points and effect the race with the race car being a safety issue. And now Baldwin doesn't know how to stop talking and attacking Dale Jr. and other drivers for speaking their minds on the issue. I have no respect for that at all.

And it's also time for the media to move on as well and stop asking about the Martinsville incident.

2. Even after the Reutimann/Baldwin controversy, I still believe that the Martinsville Cup race last month was the most exciting race after the first 9 races over Phoenix and Bristol. Of course the worst races were California and Texas. Kansas falls in the middle as it was a good, fast paced race with some good passing throughout the field and battles for the lead despite lack of cautions. Cautions breed good, exciting, action packed double-file restarts.

NASCAR Richmond 400 Cup Race aftermath continues: Carl Edwards deserved black flag penalty, but NASCAR was wrong too and needs to give a better explanation and fix the problem.

It's Wednesday afternoon and the hot topic among NASCAR fans is the Carl Edwards and NASCAR restart controversial decision on lap 320 of last Saturday night's Richmond 400 at RIR, a race that was won by Kyle Busch over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

In watching the Richmond 400 live on FOX, I have to say that I agree with NASCAR in giving Carl Edwards the black flag for jumping the restart. That part is very clear to me as Edwards went well before the restart box and also beat the leader Tony Stewart to the line. Double trouble.

However its NASCAR's explanation after the fact and especially the course of events that went down just before the restart that actually still has me scratching my head. Let me explain.

You see the caution came out during a round of pit stops for Jeff Burton hitting the turn 4 outside wall. Only a few cars were left on the lead lap, but it's unclear besides Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards who was on the lead lap.

Carl Edwards pitted up that caution, but since Tony Stewart had already pitted, Stewart took the lead. Edwards would slot in behind him.

According to NASCAR, they have several audio comments between Edwards, the spotter and the crew chief of them being second behind Stewart in the running order. NASCAR even told the #99 they were second behind Stewart when they were coming to 1 to go. However when the one to go sign came up, Edwards beat Stewart to the line and that set the scoring pylon to incorrectly read #99 leader, #14 second place and so on and not Stewart as the leader.

According to Edwards' spotter as well as Stewart's spotter, a NASCAR official on top of the spotter stand was asked by either the #99 or #14 spotter who was leading. The NASCAR official said #99 leader. Edwards' spotter relays that message to Edwards and his crew. But Stewarts spotter while he relays that message, he also says Stewart is the leader, not Edwards.

Green flag comes out and Edwards jumps the restart and beats Stewart to the line. Black flag Carl Edwards for jumping the restart. To me, it doesn't matter if Edwards was the leader or Stewart was the leader, Edwards clearly jumped the restart.

So Carl Edwards deserved the black flag penalty hands down. However NASCAR is also at fault here too as a NASCAR official on top of the spotter stand did say according the the #14 and #99 spotter that the #99 was the leader. If that NASCAR official said #14 was the leader, then NASCAR would be in the right and it would simply be Carl Edwards gets black flag for jumping the restart. But now NASCAR is also in the wrong and needs to give a better explanation and fix the problem.

Oh yeah, NASCAR also needs to update the restart policy including restart box and stick to it in being consistent, otherwise it's going to suck for fans and drivers to understand.

The Biggest Loser 13 was the worst season to date after top 5 controversy, but looking forward to season 14 in the fall without the kitchen sink.

As I sit here watching movies and some NASCAR programing, I have decided to pass on the season finale of The Biggest Loser 13. I’ve been watching The Biggest Loser since day 1 and it’s a good reality because its more than just people completing for $250,000. Its tips on how to get healthy and people getting healthy

But season 13 has been anything but entertaining. It was a frustrating season filled with 3-4 people quitting, the controversy with top 5 crying over something in their contract and just the way the season went.

A few suggestions I would give to producers is the second chance in the middle of season needs to be dropped and stop sending home contestants before they even get into the house. The brother-sister combo got screwed and its such a disadvantage to come back after 30 days.

However having the final 3 locked in (from the house) and then having a race at the end of season (26.1 miles or less) with all returning players for a final spot in the finals would be great, Four finalists completing for the $250,000 would make the show better and a one hours finale. Contestants working at home work just as hard, if not harder than the ones in the house and deserve a second chance at winning the game.

Just one thing, two-hour shows every week (please not on Tuesday, election coverage in my area blocks this show on NBC (WHDH-Boston) is the only way to go. One hour shows simply don’t work.

BTW: I do take tips from this show seriously as my diet is as good as its going to get, but exercise must be better. I want to see my little nephew grow up, graduate from from high school and maybe get married.

Update: Jeremy drops 199 pounds to win 'The Biggest Loser' season 13.

ABC debuts a new ‘Big Brother’ type show called The Glass House.

I thought I would share this article called ABC Debuts New ‘Big Brother’ Type Show ‘The Glass House’ | Big Brother Access via Big Brother Access with all of my readers where ABC is going to debuting a new Big Brother type show called The Glass House on Monday June 18th. The Glass House will feature 14 contestants living a state-of-the-art house with video cameras capturing their every more.

But players wouldn't just be competing against each other, but also competing to win over viewers each week. Viewers will have a hand by voting in which player is sent home and which eliminated players will earn the chance to return. In another words, its a viewers show.

Personally as not only a Survivor fan, but a Big Brother fan, I find this new show to be appealing and interesting depending upon how deep they go. I gather from the press release that this isn't just another Big Brother type show, it's more like someone watched Big Brother for several years, listened to viewer feedback and then designed a reality show around all that with social media in mind. Keep in mind that Twitter, Facebook and Google+ play a big role in million's of peoples lives right now.

Think of it as where Big Brother lacks or leaves off, The Glass House picks up and runs with it especially social media. This could work, but I really hope that unlike Big Brother, The Glass House doesn't charge an arm and leg for online content because that would a turn off. And I already subscribe to Showtime for this show. It would be even better if it was free for the first season at least. I can also see former contestants of Survivor, Big Brother and other reality shows being on this show trying to win as well.

I guess I will wait and see, but of course I am waiting for Thursday July 12th for Big Brother 14 season premiere and hopefully with no one knowing each other and no returning players.