Breaking News: Kasey Kahne

Around 10 PM Wednesday, news broke out that Kasey Kahne is no longer driving for Richard Petty Motorsports and will not be driving the #9 Budweiser car in Martinsville.
Kahne has been in the spot light since Saturday night's race in Charlotte; his lost his breaks during the race which resulted in a crash with Sam Hornish.
It took the team about 100 laps to fix his car but by that time, Kahne had left the track and J.J Yealey had to replace him and finish the race. Kahne told people he was sick, vomited and couldn't finish the race.
Rumors are spreading about Kahne's future; will he race the Red Bull car in Martinsville?
We will know by the end of the day, I'm sure.
What I do know right now is that it'll be strange to see someone else in the red fire suit and not Kahne.

Judging bikini contests

On Tuesday, I attended Whisky River's monthly Boots and Bikini contest, as a judge. The Whisky River (is spelled without the 'e') is a bar located at the EpiCenter in Uptown, Charlotte and owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr; it's a pretty hot and happening spot for adults of all ages.
I kind of took this judging thing a little serious, as I tend to do with most activities I participate in. I didn't need to; it's a bar competition after all. Nothing serious except the prize is cash. I had considered entering this contest in the past, the grand prize is $500; 2nd place is $200 and third is $100.
I used to model and I've competed in Fitness Atlantic in Boston, MA; East Haven, Connecticut and in Toronto, Canada. Before then, I did things with Cinderella Model's In Manchester, NH and with John Casablanca in Newton, MA. So, you shouldn't be surprised to see me at a modeling show or competition of any kind; but, at this point in my life, I'm tired and set with being judged in a modeling; I'd really like to judge and participate in other parts of these competitions. I have other interests in my life other than NASCAR. I love all things modeling, fashion and fitness.
So, this past Tuesday, I show up at the Whisky River around 10ish; dolled up and ready to meet people. My friends couldn't come with me, they don't go out on weeknights and I should have stayed in myself but I took a chance and went out. That was the last night I'll ever go out to a bar alone.
I met a few harmless guys but guys will be guys and after awhile I was irritated with them. Thankfully, the bar tender was friendly and stood up for me. This one guy wouldn't stop trying to order a drink for me and I kept saying no; so she told him she wouldn't serve me unless I asked her myself. Thanks girl!
I waited and waited for what seemed hours for this competition to start. It was getting later and I was getting tired.
Finally, around mid-nightish, the show started. I was on stage with five other guys. The girls came out one by one and it was quick.
You may be asking yourself what I was looking for. I always look for a model's personality on stage. Is she smiling? Is she shy or outgoing? Is she interacting with the audience? I also do look to see if she's wearing a bikini that fits and flatters her. There were about six girls; one of them even traveled as far as Virginia, three hours away. She told me she was going back that night after the show; she had to be in nursing class by 8 AM. I was surprised to hear that.
At the end of the night we awarded the first prize money to contestant #5, Daniel.



The rest of the night was a bit more interesting; I met a NASCAR driver but I'll leave the details for another blog. No, I didn't meet Dale Junior either.
I may consider judging the competitions I used to compete in; there's one coming up this April 2011 in Connecticut. It's more in-depth for it's fitness modeling. Some girls model; others do a vigorous fitness routine. It's a lot of fun and I do miss being in that field.
As for future bikini contests at the Whisky River, we'll just have to take it month by month. I think for now, my nights out on a week night are over.

Weekend Racing Events

On Sunday morning (10/17) I woke up very early; it was a little hard to do considering the night before I was here...




at the Bank of America 500; 5th race for the Sprint Cup Championship hosted at Charlotte Motor Speedway (North Carolina).

I woke up with memories of a fun evening that I had not planned on. I found my way to the race track and I had intended on going simply to meet with my fellow twitter friends; an event now known as a "TweetUp." NASCAR journalists have hosted a "TweetUp" at every race track this season, this was my second time attending; my first was in New Hampshire last June. One thing led to another and I found myself with a ticket and a new friend; we sat together, facing the front stretch, 29 rows in the grandstands and directly in front of our favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior's pit stalls.
This is how happy I was...



Turn of events at the race will be reported on the news website (NASCAR's Skirts and Scuff's) I write for sometime this week, please be sure to look for it.

I gathered myself up quickly and was out the door at 6 AM; it was dark out and in the 40s, temperatures southerner's are not used to. I was feeling good, fired up and ready to run my first 5K.

The event was a 5 kilometer race hosted by NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne and his Foundation. Contributions went to the Ronald McDonald House that is being built in Charlotte.
We arrived at the NFL Panther stadium early; we got our t-shirts, numbers and found a place to park.

Joining us were some pretty famous men, NASCAR drivers obviously. The youngest guy in the Sprint Cup, driver 20, Joey Logano, sponsored by Home Depot; driver #9, Kasey Kahne currently sponsored by Budweiser; and 4 time Sprint Cup Champion, #48 Lowes driver, Jimmie Johnson.
According to rumor, Johnson spoke and joked around with my sister.

By the time we started the race at 8 AM, I was even more fired up and ready to run. Johnson was behind me.
Until of coarse, he passed me. He was running low on the inside and then he cut ahead of me.
"Damn it!" I thought, "I must pass him; even if I have to put him into the wall!" (Just kidding)
However, there's a reason why this guy has won 4 consecutive Championships these past four years and he has that same mentality and speed running on the road as he does driving on the race track. He continued to run forward, passing everyone else and I didn't see him again until he was on stage.

I finished the race in 33 minutes, that is a lot faster than I expected from myself. So needless to say, I'm all sorts of proud of myself tonight.

Around 9AM, the boys sat down with ESPN journalist Marty Smith and entertained their fans with a less formal interview.


(video failed to upload, I may post another blog filled with pictures and videos')

They ended the morning with handing out awards to the fastest runner. My sister's mother -in-law won the fastest time in her age group and was the lucky one in getting to stand up close and personal with Kasey Kahne and she took her granddaughter with her!




This was by far one of the best weekends I've had. At least now I can say, I officially raced with Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano.
Monday morning I start a whole new journey in my life, one I hope to brag about in the near future.

Listen to NIKE and 'Just Do It'

Sometimes, I feel a bit silly talking about my life. I know I have a lot of interests and a few aspirations. I know my resume can look a little bit “all over the place,” as one recruiter put it but in reality, I’m just a woman who believes in keeping busy; I also believe it’s important to learn new things. In my personal experience, certain circumstances have led me to having more than one job, that’s what happens when you become an employee (or should I say become victimized) in the ‘temp agency’ world.
With all of that aside, I’ve had a few interests for a very long time, actually since my childhood. One of them is writing, the other being modeling and the third being weight lifting/exercise.
This next week will be interesting for me. On Sunday, I’ll be running in my first 5K, my goal is to run (the entire time) to the finish line. I’ve been practicing running alone for almost two years now. I think this challenge will help my run.
The run is actually with the Budweiser driver #9 Kasey Kahne (Foundation); it’s called the 5K Kahne 5. It starts Sunday (October 17th) at 8 o’clock in the morning. If you haven’t already registered, Kahne is saying there’s still time and you can register the morning of the race. The proceeds will go to his foundation which includes The Ronald McDonald House and the STEM research project. Running will begin at the Bank of America Stadium, also known as Panther’s Stadium and will end at The NASCAR Hall of Fame. After the race, ESPN’s Marty Smith will interview Kahne. Other famous faces that you should see are Joey Logano (driver #20) and Jimmie Johnson (driver #48). Who knows who else will be there.
On Tuesday, (October 19th) I will be attending the Boots and Bikini contest at the Whiskey River and I’ll be judging the competition. After years of modeling and several bikini competitions, I do know I have ‘the eye’ to judge a show. The fact that I’m doing it still hasn’t registered with me yet; I’m a bit nervous but I’m excited and most important, I’m sure I’ll have good time. I'm pretty sure being involved in local competitions like this one and a lot of others is something I'll do from time to time. Participating in competition is food for the mind and soul.
If any of you ladies out there want to compete, please let me know! I promise to be a good judge!
Those two activities are fun for me to do - they are not "career aspirations." I never thought I'd run a 5K but a few months ago I put it in my head that I would go for it; I may never want to run again after Sunday or maybe I will. I pride myself in being open minded enough to at least try new things.
At this time in my life, I’m coming to terms with the fact that I didn’t get lucky in my early twenties with a career of my dreams. I know why ‘some things’ didn’t pan out for me but mostly, when I did put forth an extra effort and tried real hard, I wonder what went wrong. Why did I get stuck in that crazy loop and why can’t I find that one job that pays well and keeps me so interested that I’ll put all my eggs into that one basket?
My sister once said, “it’s because you’re not at the right place where at the right time.” I think I agree with her, that could be fate.
Someone else said it’s because “you really don’t hang out with like minded people.” It's true, when you surround yourself with people who've been there done that or going through what you're going through, it makes it easier to reach that goal.
For some odd ball reason, I never date men that love what I love; or love me for the real me that I am (that's a blog for another day).
So anyway, I’m going to keep having fun and keep diving in head first and I’m going to keep doing what I love to do. Out of all the things I can’t control in life, the few things I can control are keeping busy with fun projects, charities and developing healthy habits, friendships and relationships; oh and going to the ‘day job’ that does pay the bills (yes I do have a day job).
The last boyfriend I had told me that my aspirations were unrealistic and he couldn’t believe that at my age, I was still hoping for success in a career. Here’s my two cents to that comment:
First, if you use your age as an excuse to not go after what you want, you’re stupid. Sure, the older you get, some things change but if you’re like me and your goal is be a published author, trust me, your luck will come later on in life and NOT in your twenties (unless you’re flipping lucky).
Second, the only way your hopes, goals and dreams are unrealistic is if you don’t try. Hey, you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket right? If I wasn’t working out and eating healthy; if I wasn’t writing everyday; if I hadn’t trained with the elite trainers of Fitness America and I hadn’t paid my dues at places like Cinderella Modeling and John Casablanca Modeling when I was a teenager; and I didn’t go to college at places like say N.Y.F.A, or NEiA, then sure, my dreams would be unrealistic. But the fact remains, I’m awake and I have and I still work hard to achieve success.
Look, the best marketing slogan I've ever heard is from Nike, if you want something, "JUST DO IT!"

Casting Earnhardt in Chick Lit?

Would you ever cast you're favorite celebrity in your fiction "chick lit" story?


On October 10th Dale Earnhardt Junior turned 36; I read a lot of superstitious comments on facebook and twitter, mostly positive comments like, “his birthday is 10-10-10 – maybe this will be the race he wins.” Sure, that’s an awesome thought; most people I know like to believe that when stars align and the date is something like, 10-10-10 that it’s a lucky day that can lead to a lucky year. Earnhardt started the weekend off on a positive note; he qualified 9th for the starting line –up; one position better than 10th (for more information about the race, check out the NASCAR journalists websites like: Bob Pockrass, Dustin Long, Nascar.com, Jeff Gluck)
According to all media pictures and articles that came my way, I read that he started his birthday in a good mood; he’s smiling in all of his photo’s. Since he’s quiet about his personal private life, only one can guess if he had a good birthday breakfast with a special someone but that’s not the point here. What I want to talk about are his fans.
I read a lot of comments & birthday wishes on his fan page, dalejr.com, Twitter, Facebook, Infield Parking as well as many other websites that allowed fans to leave comments in hopes he would read it.
In a few short months, I’ve researched everything I can about NASCAR. I can’t help but notice how committed and dedicated fans are; especially to Earnhardt. I’m forced to remember the days I lived in Boston and for some reason, the love and passion fans feel for this man is just as equal to how passionate Red Sox fans are.
The Boston Red Sox have a long flipping history of losing the chances to the play offs (as well as the World Series) to their rival, the New York Yankees yet Boston doesn’t care, they love the Sox and will root for them hell or high water; it took the Sox 86 years to win a World Series, let alone beat the Yankees to the play offs yet they didn’t lose their fans in Boston. They even wrote a movie about it, “Fever Pitch,” with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore. I can’t help but notice how Beantowns passion is not much different than Earnhardt fans. He hasn’t won a race in since 2008, yet, Junior Nation still holds their breath as they root for him; believing he’ll win soon. It’s possible, I highly doubt it’ll take him 86 years to win a Championship; let’s also hope it’s not another 86 races before he wins again.
Earnhardt even has his rivals and just when I thought the Red Sox fans in Boston were the biggest jerks and meanest rivals to have, I learned quick that NASCAR fans, including Earnhardt rivals are probably as bad if not worse.
All of this stuff I'm talking about is material for a fiction story I've got going on.
I’ve been writing fiction since I was 13 years old. I’ve never once worked so hard on a single character or specific story as I have been since the Daytona 500 of 2010. In 2006, I created a character and a story – I’ve changed the protagonist’s journey a lot since then and finally, this past NASCAR season, my story his skyrocketed from fantasy to notes to 1st, 2nd, 3rd and now 4th draft. The story is taking on a new direction and it’s all thanks to Junior Nation, Red Sox Nation and the journalist who write for NASCAR, especially the women. I have more than the required 120 pages for a movie and I’m sure I could easily bang out 300 to 400 pages for a novel.
Then there’s the question of legality. When can a writer include an already established celebrity into their story? There are many thoughts to that one; I was told by two professional writers from my school (New York Film Academy) that I cannot add famous people in my story; it turns the producers off because that means they have to work harder to get the celebrity involved then it's going to cost a lot of money if the celeb agrees to be a part of it and it also means taking a chance of the said celebrity either not liking what you wrote or them accusing you of misquoting or hey, misrepresenting them.
With the internet blogs and freedom to post whatever we want about who ever we want, it does raise a question as to whether or not there’s a law protecting celebs from a novelist’s or scriptwriter’s story. I read Jeff Gluck’s blog on SBNation the other day and Earnhardt said he didn’t even know he was an animated character on South Park last Wednesday. So again, I question what I was taught. I’m assuming the teacher’s at N.Y.F.A are simply protecting their a$$es and I’m sure they know what they’re talking about, one of them is after all a director for Saturday Night Live.
To conclude this blog before it turns into a novel, I’m just going to say that as I start draft 4 of my story, I’m going to take some chances by adding some real events and real drivers. I don't have my hopes up nor am I holding my breath because maybe a draft will find a way to his hands; it probably won’t; maybe he’ll like it or maybe he won’t (heck he can burn it at that point) or maybe, he’ll have ideas of his own to make my story work. But I do know for a fact that the story is not intended to misrepresent anything about Earnhardt, NASCAR or his fans and certainly won’t misrepresent Boston.
Are you a fiction story writer, novelists or screenwriter, and what have you been told about including celebrities in your story?