The DVD takes a deeper look at the inner-workings of Hendrick Motorsports and the six days leading up to race day, including testing equipment, tuning engines, and all the adjustments and preparations that go into making the car and team function come Sunday morning. The list to make everything come together is nearly 250 items long and fans will get to see technicians check the items off.

Fans also get to see the pit crew practice and fine tune their pit stops by seeing how they train and prepare for their moments in the race.

But of course, the most important part of the DVD is getting to see the star of the show—Dale Earnhardt Jr.—and his life away from the track.

Fans get to watch him having fun go-karting on his property with friends, celebrating Hendrick Motorsports' 25th anniversary, and seeing his reaction to his brand new 2010 paint scheme for the first time as well as what goes in to his personal appearances—all are rarities for fans to see.

The DVD will be available exclusively on specially marked four packs of AMP Energy for a limited time. More information is available at the AMP Energy website and check the official AMP Up the 88 website for daily giveaways.

** Special giveaway: If you are the first person to answer the following question correctly, you will win a special AMP Energy prize. E-mail your answer to FHKaye@aol.com. No repeat winners allowed. **

—This week the No. 88 team and the rest of the Sprint Cup racers head to Bristol Motor Speedway. When was the last time Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMPed it up and won at this track?

** We have our winner! Dale Jr. last won at Bristol in August 2004!

Photo courtesty of AMP Energy.

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The Shelby American GT 350 had many surprises.

Kurt Busch was on the pole, after breaking the qualifying record but ended the race in 35th place, eight laps down after the No. 1 of Jamie McMurray and the No. 42 of Juan Pablo Montoya got into each other and took Busch with them.

The other hometown hopeful, Kyle Busch, finished in 15th place and on the lead lap. He received a penalty after entering pit road too fast while he was in second place.

There were two cautions totaling eight laps for malfunctioning caution lights, which kept turning on despite there not being a caution.

At one point, there were only 12 cars on the lead lap but thanks to the “wave around” rule, it put 21 cars back on the lead lap. In the end, 23 cars finished on the lead lap.

The race finally went head-to-head after the final caution, when Johnson and his teammate, Jeff Gordon, pulled ahead of the rest of the pack. However, the difference between the two was that Johnson was on four fresh tires while Gordon was only on two.

Gordon took over the lead from laps 237 to 251, when Johnson passed underneath him and sped away for the win. He had only led one lap previously while Gordon led a total of 219. Eventually, Kevin Harvick caught up with Gordon and took over second place.

The decision to take two tires was between Gordon and his crew chief, Steve Letarte. They thought more people would take two, but obviously, they were wrong.

“You know, if we won the race we'd look like geniuses—Steve would have,” he said of the choice. “The fact that we lost the race, now Chad looks like a genius. That's how it goes sometimes. When you're leading, that's the toughest position to be in—to make that call.”

Despite a lugnut issue on pit road, Johnson and his crew, led by Chad Knaus, overcame car issues and worked through traffic for the win.

Is he lucky? Some might think so.

But he can also drive a car.

After today's win, he becomes the all-time leader on 1.5 mile tracks.

When asked about making choices on the pit box, team owner Rick Hendrick said Knaus studies races and knows when and how to make the right calls. He said the duo of Johnson/Knaus seldom make a mistake.

Knaus was asked about making the two versus four tire call and the difference between his call and No. 24 crew chief Letarte; he praised Letarte for his efforts.

Knaus said he had a plan and assumed everyone else would take four tires as well.

“There wasn't a wrong call to make. They came in first, they wanted to maintain track position because it's so critical. The only way for us to beat them was for us to do something different,” Knaus said of his call from on top of the pit box. “I didn't know what he was doing. Steve is a fantastic crew chief, he is a great teammate...and he did not make the wrong call. He did what he thought was right to win the race.”

Does the team feel they're peaking too soon?

Johnson says no.

In the funny-numbers game the Hendrick team likes to play, Hendrick Motorsports led all but 48 laps.

The remainder of the top 10 are Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, and Greg Biffle.

Photo Courtesy: Farrah Kaye

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Driver introductions began and the rain started again.

The race was delayed for nearly 90 minutes while the rain came and went and the dryers went to work.

Finally, the race began. Almost immediately, Kevin Harvick and his No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet went to the front, taking over the lead from pole-sitter Brad Keselowski.

Harvick led most of the first half of the race, in between a few rain cautions and Kyle Busch took over the lead at the halfway point. From there, the lead changed between Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and finally Harvick, who took over the lead until he grabbed the checkered flag.

The stands emptied at two pivotal moments before the end of the race.

The first time was when No. 7 GoDaddy.com driver Danica Patrick came together with No. 81 Monte Carlo driver Michael McDowell on lap 83. McDowell had a low rear bumper and came down the track, running into Patrick and taking them both into the wall. McDowell took 100 percent blame for the accident in his post-race interview.

They both went to garage and were done for the day. So were most of the fans.

The stands emptied a bit more when the race reached the halfway point and the rain started to come again, along with wind and a drop in temperature. Knowing the race would be official, the fans knew they could catch the race on the radio or TV.

A few notables from the race:

The first caution was brought out by JR Motorsports driver Kelly Bires when his No. 88 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet hit the wall in Turn 1. He said the tire seemed to have gone down. Because of this, neither one of the JRM cars finished the race.

Trevor Bayne, driver of the No. 99 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota, finished sixth, the highest finishing Nationwide regular. He started 18th, working his way steadily through the pack during his first visit to the track.

Kyle Busch, who at one point was leading the race, wound up finishing 16th after brushing the wall on lap 179, telling his team, “I'm done.”

Rusty Wallace Inc. had both of their cars in the top 15. Steven Wallace finished 10th and Brendan Gaughan finished 13th.

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This comes one day after his Penske teammate, Kurt Busch, captured the pole for Sunday's Shelby American GT 350.

Another thing the two drivers in common? Setting new track records.

Keselowski broke the record previously held by Scott Speed, set at last year's qualifying. Keselowski's lap time was 29.122 with a speed of 185.427 while Speed's was 29.597 at 182.451 mph.

“That was awesome! I'm so proud of Paul [Wolfe, crew chief] and this entire Discount Tire Doge team and Penske Racing,” he said. “We just got out there, pulled the belts tight and ran it as hard as I could. I didn't breathe for about 60 seconds. Awesome lap. A brand new race team.”

This is Keselowski's first pole for Penske Racing. He has three previous poles with JR Motorpsorts in the No. 88 Chevrolet.

“This is an awesome feat,” Keselowski said.

In his three Nationwide starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he has finished 27th, 23rd, and 34th. However, he has finished third in points in the last two years and has vastly improved on the tracks. He hasn't finished worse since the 27th place at LVMS in 2009 at any track. He has also been working on his 1.5 mile track racing, so hopefully the pole will help him this weekend.

“I've worked hard to improve my driving at the mile-and-a-half tracks, so I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Charger this weekend," he said. "We want to continue our solid start to the season so that we are in a good position when we get to the non-companion races because there is no Chase in the Nationwide Series.”

Keselowski's first two starts in 2010 have garnered some attention. He was involved in a wreck with Kyle Busch in Daytona and spun out Joey Logano in a rush to the checkered flag last week at Auto Club Speedway.

Starting on the outside is Kevin Harvick in the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet. The remainder of the top 10 are Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brian Scott., Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers.

Keselowski's Penske teammate Justin Allgaier qualified his No. 12 Verizon Wireless Dodge Charger 13th. Another notable qualifier was Danica Patrick, who qualified 37th.

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But when looking at the statistics, don't count out David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 TUMS Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing.

Although in 2009 Reutimann only had one win, he currently has the longest streak of races without a DNF at 43. He is also one of only three drivers to have finished every point race in 2009.

At least year's race at LVMS, he qualified fourth and finished in the same spot, which earned him his nickname “The Franchise,” which has stuck until this day.

So what does “The Franchise” think of the track he will run on this weekend?

With a bad first few experiences at the track, he didn't like it previous to last year's top-five finish.

“I wasn't a big fan of the track to begin with, but now I'm really looking forward to going back. It's strange how one race can change that.”

His opinion may change again, however, having qualified 17th today, -.382 behind pole-sitter Kurt Busch. Reutimann said his TUMS Toyota Camry is really good but they never got to do qualify runs.

“The car revved good. It started similar to where we finished up last year and worked on it, kind of refined it a little bit,” he said of his car before they qualified it. “We didn't get a chance to run our qualifying lap in the way we needed to and suffered a little bit because of it, hence why I'm aggravated. One thing leads to another, leads to another...”

Since Reutimann has been here many times before, he is familiar with the track before it added progressive banking.

He said now the track is weathered and has some laps on it, while before it was just fast with a lot of grip, making them need a hard tire. But thankfully, he said, the track has aged well.

“It has some more races on it and the grooves have widened out. Goodyear continues to refine their tire and bring a better tire back every time we've been here and they've done a lot of tire testing here,” he said of the growth of the track.

“I think all in all, it's a combination of the track getting better, us getting a little bit better handle on the cars, and Goodyear constantly refining their tires.I think it's still a very tricky race track—a very fast race track—still but it's not as an extreme of a race track it was when we first started coming here.”

Another factor in rooting for Reutimann? Over the last 10 races on NASCAR's 1.5 mile racetracks, Reutimann is second in total points to Jeff Gordon. His statistics at those tracks include one win, two top-fives, four top-10s, two poles, led 51 laps, and has an 11th average finish.

After the first two races of 2010, Reutimann is eighth in points, the highest of all MWR drivers.

This weekend he will also be one of give DirectTV HotPass drivers on DirectTV channels 795-798.

The Shelby American GT 350 airs on FOX at 11 AM on Sunday, Feb. 28.

Photo Courtesy: Farrah Kaye

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This is Busch's first pole in 10 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the first of 2010.

Busch wasn't the only one to break the track record. The younger Busch's original record was broken by 17 people before his brother captured the pole.

When asked what he thought was contributing to the quick qualifying times, Jeff Gordon, who is starting next to Busch, said Goodyear had given them a new tire. Mix that with the rapidly-changing weather and you've got super fast times.

Busch ran his lap in 28.614 seconds at a speed of 188.725 mph.

At his post-qualifying interview, Busch said he is following the direction of new crew chief Steve Addington, who was previously the crew chief for his brother, and the knowledge he has of the COT.

The hope is that the car stays strong tomorrow during practice and during the race on Sunday, as long as the weather holds up.

Busch got emotional when asked the “what if you win” question, especially since his mother can't be at the track this year while recovering from surgery and defending his brother's win.

He also said the track is special because of the people that are here—family and friends—and the history that surrounds it.

“You always remember the people that helped you get to where I've got in racing, like I have,” he said of the people who have stayed by him as he grew through the local ranks and into the NASCAR series.

His chassis on this car is “702,” the area code for Las Vegas. The team originally wanted to take it to California but he wanted to wait.

Addington said of the car, "We're coming in [here] with one of our best Miller Lite Dodge Chargers—our (PRS-) 702 car—and Kurt was all over that when we decided to run this car [here]. The first thing out of his mouth was that the area code in Vegas is 702 and that hopefully it's an omen of good things to come for our team [here] this weekend."

It obviously worked out.

Filling out the remainder of the top 10 are: Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, and Juan Pablo Montoya.

The Shelby American GT 350 will be on Sunday, Feb. 28 on FOX at 11 AM PT.

Photo Courtesy: Farrah Kaye

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Tickets were originally given out exclusively to members of the hotel's player club program, but eventually were open to the public.

Fans of all ages and from all parts of the country gathered in the small theatre, decked out in their favorite Johnson gear, holding memorabilia in hopes there would be an autograph session after.

Johnson was welcomed to a standing ovation and discussion began about the great start to his season with the win in the Gatorade Duel and last week's win at Auto Club Speedway.

The word “luck” was brought up in reference to the win at ACS and Johnson admitted luck did factor in allowing him to get the lead, but that he still had to hold off the No. 29 of Kevin Harvick for the remainder of the race.

Johnson also announced he and his wife Chandra, who are expecting a child, recently found out they will be having a baby girl and are in super-pink shopping mode. He joked he will have to work longer because of this.

The moderator asked about his recent series, 24/7 Jimmie Johnson: Race to Daytona. Johnson explained it came about when Chandra and he watched the boxing series and it turned her into a boxing fan. This triggered Johnson to think what kind of an impact he could make on the sport if he did it for NASCAR.

On the topic of staying hydrated and conditioned during the race, Johnson promoted new Gatorade products the drivers use pre and post-race. He also stated he is taking his training much more seriously this year and gave a shout-out to his teammate, Mark Martin, for being in such great shape.

One of the audience members told the story about Johnson's burnout on the Strip during Champion's Week, which brought laughter to the audience, as well as an anecdote about Brian Vickers being a menace during a time he tried to get an autograph from Johnson.

The “Drive for Five” topic was brought up and Johnson said he's not thinking about it too much right now, because it brings on too much pressure.

Chad Knaus was a topic as well, with Johnson referring to him as his second wife and how serious Knaus takes his job. Johnson said Knaus is focused on winning and that Johnson and him are working together to get the wins.

An audience member asked on knowing who to “team up with” on each track. Johnson said on Daytona and Talladega he has no friends, but it changes from week to week. He also said it doesn't pay for him to bump anyone, because he usually winds up crashing himself.

Being in Vegas, the moderator brought up the Busch brothers (not a popular topic in the room as the entire room booed), if he worries about them at the Vegas track and which drivers he worries about at certain tracks. He complimented the younger Busch by saying Kyle can pretty much drive everywhere and mentioned a few drivers he correlates with tracks.

The session lasted about a half hour and most of the questions from the audience members were fun, while the more serious questions came from the moderators.

In all, it was a great experience for everyone that had a chance to be in the small theatre with the four-time champion.

Photo Courtesy: Farrah Kaye

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Their award-winning mac'n'cheese was decided by about 20 children from area Las Vegas Boys and Girls Clubs.

The duo, who called themselves “Le Chef Dum Dums” (because they gave out Dum Dum lollipops) beat out other Nationwide rookies Brian Scott and James Buescher (“Team Cooking Cavaliers”) and Sprint Cup rookies Terry Cook and Kevin Conway (“Team Cook-E-Monsters”).

Scott and Buescher made a chicken alfredo dish while Cook and Conway made a penne in meat sauce dish.

Each team was joined by a chef from the ESPN Zone and the event was moderated by MRN Radio's Steve Post, who asked the drivers questions when the children had none.

The event was filled with laughter and fun, especially from the drivers themselves.

Cook asked the other drivers what they do when they have to go to the bathroom during the race and Braun poked fun at Post for having a pink camera.

The first question from the children was “what was the worst thing you did on national television?”

Scott answered about the time he wrecked under caution at Daytona and Cook mentioned he saw a driver picking his nose (but wouldn't name names!).

Danica-mania took over when a little girl asked about the percentage of women in racing. Scott said he didn't know but more women should come and the girl said rides dirt bikes and plans on it. It was a great moment!

When asked if they had any other jobs besides racing in their lives, Conway mentioned he previously drove for the Richard Petty Driving Experience for eight years to earn money.

After the kids voted on their favorite dish, they, along with the drivers, received free game cards to play in the arcade. As the kids raced on the Daytona arcade game, they had their very own crew chiefs!

The event was a success and everyone left with smiles on their faces.

This is the fifth year this event was held at the New York New York Hotel and Casino restaurant. Last year, participants included Joey Logano and Scott Speed.

Photo Courtesy: Farrah Kaye

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I figured it would take six months since I had experience and had enough savings to last just that. Six months went by and the savings was gone.

Then I was faced with a tough decision—what to do next?

I tried to get back into the corporate world, but it's a tough economy and I still needed time to work on my writing. The jobs I was offered wouldn't cover my bills anyway.

I took a deep breath and looked around my house.

What about trading in my sports memorabilia?

Do I really need two autographed Derek Jeter baseballs or three Jimmie Johnson autographs?

I took stock of all the items I had, went to a memorabilia shop, and asked about the process of “authenticating” my items and how much they could sell for.

Would the money help? Sure, but only for a month or two.

But in the long-run? My memories would be gone.

Although I might have a lot of memorabilia, some duplicates, each item has a memory to go with it.

For example some people may say, “why do you need three Jimmie Johnson autographs? One should be enough.”

But each one has a memory of its own. One is from my very first time in a NASCAR garage at Michigan International Speedway, one is from Champion's Week in Las Vegas at the Jimmie Johnson Roast, and the last is from a contest I won, which has his crew chief's autograph as well.

All three memories are special to me and represent three completely different times in my life.

Sometimes I sit and look at all the things I have, feeling so lucky to have them. And then sometimes I feel guilt when I see my overdrawn bank account and the burden I've become on my family as they support me in my journey.

On the other hand, when I'm feeling down about my lack of money, the only thing that keeps me going are memories of a better time and a hope that one day, I can show my children these memorabilia and tell them about all the great adventures I've had.

It's a total catch 22.

Will I still have the memories in my head if I got rid of the items? Sure. But getting to look at them everyday somehow keeps me going a little and makes me strive to write more so I can achieve my goals and put money in the bank.

And to be able to make even more memories.

Photo courtesy of Farrah Kaye.

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