Random thoughts while contemplating soccer fires, “Bob” and taking names off press releases …

I wrote about Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick running away with the 2018 season last week. The defending Cup champion, Martin Truex Jr., proved me wrong.

When Canada’s Northwest Territories were divided in two in 1999, people voted to keep the old name. The runner-up was “Bob.”

As is my tradition – and the tradition of many race fans – I spent the Sunday before Memorial Day watching racing. It’s been a thing for me for the last 25-ish years. But it keeps getting better; this year, my two boys spent the day holed up with me eating junk food and watching cars go fast. The week before, I was able to take my daughter to the Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte and she got to hang out in the garage before the event. We hear, and I talk a lot, about kids not caring about racing. I’ll be darned if my kids are going to be part of that conversation.

Ahead of World Cup 2018, a Russian mineral water company released a soccer ball-shaped bottle that turned out to be a spherical magnifying glass perfect for starting fires if left in the sun for less than a minute.

Bob Pockrass had a great take on NASCAR penalties: “Most series don’t do the extensive NASCAR measurements. And that’s NASCAR’s biggest challenge: Measuring things so closely to keep an even playing field but, when it views violation like a misdemeanor, how to penalize when public perception is it’s a felony.”

I have never read anything truer about penalties. Context: this is in response to questions about Kyle Busch’s Xfinity penalties from his win at Pocono.

Cleopatra wrote a book about makeup. Speaking of makeup, Crayola is now in the game. This seems obvious.

I like Brad Keselowski because he is not afraid to say what it is on his mind. He participated in a tire test this week with Goodyear. He didn’t like the tire they recommended and asked, publicly, to have his name taken off the press release. Power move.

The BritishRoyal Navy uses blasts of Britney Spears’s “Oops!…I Did It Again” to scare off Somali pirates.

Since the All-Star Race, there have been questions whether the same package with the restrictor plate should be used again in 2018 on 1.5-mile tracks. All-Star Race versus Coke 600: the answer is yes.

It is cheaper to send Scottish cod to China to be filleted and sent back again than to fillet the fish in Scotland.

Kyle Petty is 58 years old. His wife had a baby this week. I’ll leave that right there.

I have always enjoyed Danielle Trotta’s NASCAR coverage. I hate to see her go. She is going to NBC Boston after a long stint at Fox and SiriusXM.

Vocabulary word of the day: Misophonia (n.) Irrational rage and terror caused by the sound of people eating. My wife has this.

Andy Cagle can be reached at andycagle78@gmail.com.

Andy Cagle NASCAR columnist
https://www.bladenjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_Andy-Color.jpgAndy Cagle NASCAR columnist