Well, another NASCAR race under my belt as of Sunday. I think that makes the grand total six, not counting two trips to Vegas for Champion’s Week. The hubby & I headed to Dallas last weekend, where we got sit about 17 rows away from the racetrack. At Texas Motor Speedway, that experience will leave you breathless and covered in a thin film of rubber, debris and smoke. As you can see from the image below, the SPEED folks know how to throw a party at the track. , you crack me up.

My first NASCAR race happened in 2007, where I traveled to Watkins Glen for the race when I was about seven months pregnant. Not kidding! I wasn’t the only very pregnant girl there, but I was the only one who wasn’t smoking and drinking. Not kidding again. I wasn’t a fan of the sport at all at that time, but soon began to follow it after experiencing a race in person. It is absolutely something you MUST do once, even if you don’t like NASCAR at all. It’s the perfect combination of order and chaos. Since then, I’ve sat in VIP seats with hot passes, cold passes, pit passes, you name it. I’ve been behind the scenes, in the scenes, nowhere near the scenes, with credentials, without credentials and that being said, I’ve met 80% of the drivers.  I’m hooked.

I’ve done you a favor here, condensing a four hour race into a four minute experience. It’s the Samsung Mobile 500. Enjoy!

Let me tell you, as I was taking all of various video clips during my trip to the race, I knew it should have Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” playing in the final cut. However; due to the potential for scary and costly copyright issues, I couldn’t do that. But it’s a fitting theme for my relationship with NASCAR. Why? Because of all of the crap and jokes my non-NASCAR fan friends like to dish out, which is about 99% of them. That’s why it’s a bad romance. I wish I didn’t like it, but I do. And I don’t see us splitting up any time soon. You know why? In addition to my feelings for NASCAR, I have two little boys who also love NASCAR. Hello COOLEST MOM EVER. At least until they’re teenagers.

Image: SpeedTV

You can tell a lot about your life by listening to the entertaining words that fly out of the mouth of your 3-year-old child. As you can tell from this amusing video, we like 24/7 NASCAR Talk on SIRIUS. In fact, during the racing season, my radio rarely changes from being dialed in to channel 128. That would be SIRIUS radio. What can I say? I like being a smarty pants. And let me assure you, my kiddos probably absorb more about NASCAR than I do. Here’s the proof:

We’ll be headed to Texas Motor Speedway and I’m so excited because it’s a night race. That’s a great thing in Texas, because you avoid the searing heat that’s pretty common this time of year. It doesn’t have to be super hot to roast yourself crispy. I’ve learned that the hard way!

Anyway, thanks to all of SIRIUS NASCAR radio folks who flood our heads with interesting factoids, stats and humor during the NASCAR season – Dave Moody, Angie Skinner, Mike Bagley, Pistol Pete, Rick Benjamin, Chocolate Myers, the lovely Claire B Lang, Dave Ross & Buddy Baker. Sorry if I’m forgetting anyone. You’re the best! I’m standing up!

It’s been a busy weekend in the world of entertainment. Charlie Sheen’s insane ramblings and “duh, winning” continues to be among the most talked about topics, but I’m going to tackle a few other goodies instead. Danica Patrick, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards and Miley Cyrus. Odd combo? Yes, but I have my reasons. (See video at the end of this blog post if you must skip ahead for a laugh.)

Danica Dominates in Vegas
Things got interesting at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend as Danica Patrick snagged her best finish EVER in the Nationwide race on Saturday, coming in 4th. A top five finish proves she’s in NASCAR because she’s a talented driver, not just because she’s a pretty face and a hot body that makes a gazillion dollars for her sponsors. (Yes, I’m talking to you, GoDaddy.) I’m so excited for Danica and I hope this will shush the naysayers, at least for a while.

Daddies Dominate in Vegas too…
Jeff Gordon raced to victory last week and Carl Edwards just snagged his first victory today in Vegas. Both drivers finally ended some rather lengthy losing streaks. I think this proves that just because you have sweet, innocent, adorable babies crawling, drooling at popping on your at home, doesn’t mean you’re a big old softy on the track. Last year, I asked Carl Edwards about whether or not fatherhood had changed him as a driver. He told me the answer was yes and no, which makes sense. He added that he was annoyed at people who think that would make him less of a driver. I think these two wins prove that diaper duty actually makes them better drivers.

Miley Cyrus on SNL Spells Redemption
If you didn’t catch Saturday Night Live last night, you missed a rather hilarious episode. Miley Cyrus was the guest hostess and I have to say, she was very cool about spoofing herself. I’m not a Miley fan, but I did respect her good sense of humor about… well, herself. SNL does a skit about Miley Cyrus having her own talk show and they totally rag on her. Miley was on that skit last night impersonating Justin Bieber. I thought it was super. Not that’s she’s laugh out loud funny, but it was definitely entertaining. Notice the way they spoof her dad… love that mullet!!! 

Images: Nascar.com & Hulu.com

Dressing up little kids is so much fun, especially for sporting events. Unlike adults, they look really adorable in crazy, bright, bold wacky fan gear. Sorry, I just can’t get over grown men in football jerseys and burly biker dudes in Kasey Kahne shirts.

Anyway, in honor of the M&M’S Most Colorful Fans of NASCAR Contest, you have a chance to win a $250 Visa Gift card by simply picking your favorite kiddo outfit. Celebrate mini fandom and win. It’s that easy! Choose a yellow Kyle Busch outfit for a little girl, a red and white Tony Stewart option for little boys or the sporty Jeff Gordon ensemble for girls (pictured above).

I put together three cute outfits that you can see and if you vote for your favorite by leaving a comment, you have entered to win. Think about how much cool fan gear you can snag with a $250 gift card. Lots and lots. Hop over to Babble and cast your vote today!

“I want Kyle Busch in a pink car in a pink suit.”

The Toyota Sponsifier “Kimmy” commercial will go down in history as one of the all-time BEST television commercials ever. You might have to be a NASCAR fan to truly appreciate it, but everyone should get a chuckle out of it regardless. What’s better than making the guitar-smashing “Rowdy” Busch wear a pink suit with kitties on his helmet? Well, how about Kyle actually driving that car in real life. Yes, that would be better.

“I love you…no write that on the spoiler.”

Rumor has it that Kyle will be running a special Z-Line / Toyota Sponsafier car in the NASCAR Nationwide race at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, Sept 10th.  The racecar is nearly identical to the pink car featured in the commercial; covered in kittens, puppies, horses and yes, even the baby seal!

I will be watching and hoping for another record-breaking win. I just wanna see that car in victory lane. How sweet! BTW, you can special order the diecast here.

A few years ago, while preggo with my second kidlet, I became a NASCAR fan. Why? Well, my husband started attending races as a VIP guest through business connections. Attend one race in VIP style and you’re hooked for life. Needless to say, NASCAR chatter began to sneak into our daily conversations. I had two choices. One was to roll my eyes and scowl at him. Easy enough. The other was to give it a spin and see what all the fuss was about. As I sat in the stands at my first race in Watkins Glen – 7 months pregnant, by the way – I got it.

Fast forward to today and my exciting news! I am currently ranked in the TOP 1% of my NASCAR Fantasy League on ESPN. That’s right, folks. I am beating 150,000 other NASCAR fans playing fantasy racing. In my own league, I am ranked 1st. What does this mean? Let me tell you…

It means English majors are cool. It means moms are hip. It means girls are smart. It means a yuppie who likes Starbucks can be a serious NASCAR fan. It means all of those hours I spend listening to Dave Moody on SIRIUS 128 are paying off. It means running cross country in high school is not dorky.  Okay, well maybe it is. It means a Chevy is NOT better than a Benz. It means I am the new face of NASCAR. And yes, my dad can run faster than your dad.

Read more about my NASCAR posts because MommyQ is Motorsport Mommy!

As you know, MommyQ is a huge NASCAR fan and has been for many years. Oddly enough, I grew up in Virginia and had no interest in NASCAR whatsoever while living there. Now I’m practically a Texan and a NASCAR fan for about 3 years. My hubby & I headed to Texas Motor Speedway last weekend for the Samsung 500. Yeehaw! What started out as a rainy, cold, muddy mess turned out to be one of the best weekends ever.

We arrived hoping for sunshine, but spent the day in a gloomy, wet mess. We’ve seen races get rained out on television many times, but this was the first one we had to experience in person. Not fun! The worst part was the mudfest in the parking lot. We got stuck almost instantly, but thanks to pushes from a few fans (in exchange for beer) we got out and found a tiny slice of dry land. Anyway, we shopped for fan gear and ate corny dogs and then they called the race. The new start time was noon on Monday. Back to Austin…

During the 3-hour drive home on Sunday, we decided to come back the next day for the race and bring our kiddos. Our little ones are HUGE NASCAR fans and we thought it would be the ultimate surprise. As you may know, our oldest child is 5 and was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder a few years ago. What could make a NASCAR race difficult for an autistic child? They usually detest loud noises, they don’t do well in huge crowds, they become easily overstimulated in a stadium environment and so on. We discussed the potential issues and decided to give it a try anyway.  Three more hours in the car that may or may not be worth the effort.

To make a long story short, our kids were in shock & awe as soon as they heard the roar of the engines. We arrived a bit late, so the race was underway. In Dallas, you can hear the cars long before you can see them. With headphones on securely, we walked up the stadium steps and the look on my kid’s faces was a look I will always remember. Sheer joy! The youngest was a bit scared of the noise, even with headphones. But my oldest child defied every trait of autism and he was in heaven. He immediately started pointing to the cars as they flew by us at an amazing rate of speed and named the drivers.

We stood there for a moment, all of us trying to absorb the thrill and the magnitude of the race. We moved to our seats and my little distracted duck continued to point at each car until he had probably named them all about 10 times. Last year, this would not have happened. Last year it was hard to simply communicate, let alone attend an event this big and this loud with so many moving pieces. I’m not sure he would’ve understood where he was or made the connection or understood he was supposed to sit and watch. It would’ve been a three hour drive for a 10 minute stay.

Monday was special because we enjoyed a family pastime together as any normal family. We cheered when our drivers did well and cheered even louder when Jeff & Tony wrecked right in front us! We avoided the rain and enjoyed a beautiful cloudy day together, inhaling race fuel and cigarette smoke. Sounds gross, but it’s the smell that lets you know you’re a true fan. Best of all, two things were shining that day — the sun and my son.

If you haven’t been to a MONSTER JAM show yet, you’re really missing out. We went a couple of months ago and it was AWESOME! Am I a redneck? No. Do I brush my teeth with Dr. Pepper? Never. Do I think Old Spice is classy? Nope.

I’m just your average college-educated, living-in-the-suburbs, driving-my-Mercedes-around-town kinda gal. And I happen to like Monster Trucks. We spent about $20 per ticket and took the kids. It is so loud, your whole body vibrates. We had headsets for the kiddos, which I highly recommend. It is L-O-U-D.

The drivers put on a great show and even I was super-excited when they brought out the soon-to-be-smashed cars. There’s just something cool about seeing a huge truck smash little cars. Monster Mutt is really quite cute with his flapping tongue and puppy-like ears. Worth every penny!

I’ve been a NASCAR fan for a couple of years now and I’ve gotta hand it to Sin City for providing fans with a great experience during 2009 Champion’s Week. I’ve been to lots of races, pre-race festivities and VIP banquets, so I’m no stranger to these types of events. I was in Vegas for the latter part of Champion’s Week and got to participate on an amazingly up-close-and-personal level.

The pre-lap festivities started at the MGM Grand and went all the way down the Vegas Strip. It was cold outside, but the roar of the engines when the 12 drivers revved up added some warmth to the day. You could tell the drivers were enjoying making lots of noise spinning tires on the Strip. Carl Edwards and Juan Pablo certainly made the most of this unique Victory Lap. It was awesome to see them driving the cars without their helmets because you could see their smiling faces for a change! We didn’t get to see Jimmie’s first DNF of the season, but we heard all about it.

After the engines roared down the Vegas Strip, the 12 Chase drivers came back to the MGM for a fun reception called “After the Lap.” Hosted by the beautiful and witty Jamie Little and presented by Tissot, this event was such a treat! All 12 drivers showed up in suits and dress shoes – well, Mark Martin had on Sketchers – and they were totally laid-back in this casual setting. Each driver was presented with a Tissot watch and they unveiled the Sprint Cup trophy. Jamie asked each driver a question from fans all over the U.S. The answers were quite amusing.

I enjoyed the bantering between all of the drivers, especially Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo as well as Denny and Jeff Gordon. Jimmie making fun of his own eyebrows was hilarious. (I still think it was mean of Tony to deny Juan Pablo his hug, but that’s just MommyQ’s opinion.) From a fan’s perspective, it was easy to be part of the celebration and you got to see a glimpse of the drivers that we normally don’t see in person. Overall, I think Vegas did it up right and I look forward to doing it all again next year.

Images courtesy of myself!

Romijn, the gorgeous 36-year-old model/actress formerly married to Full House star, John Stamos, is expecting twins this winter with actor Jerry O’Connell. She told Page Six magazine, “I have not been without a bra this entire pregnancy. I refuse. I’m not taking any chances. I’m determined to keep the puppies up!” Poor sweet girl. Someone needs to tell this perfectly plump mom-to-be that breastfeeding, while great for the bambinos, is no friend to the breasts no matter how many miracles your Victoria’s Secret bra may perform. Get to know your new best friend, saline.

Bowen, best known for her roles on ‘Boston Legal’ and ‘Lost’ is expecting again according to People magazine. She had her first son, Oliver, in April 2007. I loved her recent guest appearance as Denise on BL last week. She’s quite the clever seductress. My advice in preparing for baby number two would be, buy a great tandem stroller (or tantrum stroller, as I call it) and prepare to meet your new mortal enemy, muffin top.

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Jessica Simpson’s little sis and wife to rocker Peter Wentz, is about to deliver any minute. Even as I type she could be in labor. Wow, that’s real news. The former jig-dancer would also like to make some big lifestyle changes, like becoming a vegetarian. Nope, scratch that – sorry, a Canadian?  “She’s hot all the time,” said Wentz on the Ryan Seacrest show last week. “She’s like ‘I wish I was in Canada right now.’ Our room temperature is set to, like, 34 degrees. It’s insane!” Eh?

Supermodel Niki Taylor and her NASCAR hubby, Burney Lamar, are expecting a baby in March 2009. Niki has 13-year-old twins, Jake and Hunter. Since Burney is a Nationwide driver, I can tell you a name he absolutely won’t choose for his new baby, Kyle. Here’s another one, Busch. I can also tell you they won’t be decorating the nursery with a M&M theme. Luckily for Burney, he joins Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon in the elite ‘drivers with hot wives club’ without even being a Sprint Cup driver. Now that’s a victory!

MommyQ’s Hollywood baby trend predictions for 2009? The Bugaboo will reclaim its spot as the number one stroller, bumping off the outta-this-world Orbit. Blessed babes will sleep in cribs that cost more than your summer wardrobe and celeb moms will continue to dress their little fashionistas in eco-wear, like this $92 Angel sweater and designer duds like these $195 Prada toddler shoes. Not to mention, Hollywood mamas will be out & about in $238 William Rast jeans, a size 25 please, only weeks after giving birth. Making you feel like wearing this.