NASCAR’s Biggest Fan - Ron Ripple

Hey everyone… Ron Ripple here.  I wanted to introduce everyone to our new sponsor, JustMensRings.com.  These guys are serious NASCAR fans and have taken it to a whole new level by designing racing inspired rings.  Just Mens Rings contacted me about a week ago telling me they’ve created a ring designed for only the “Biggest NASCAR fans.”  At first I was skeptical because of course… I’m NASCAR’s Biggest Fan and the only way a ring could be considered good enough for NASCAR fans is if they got my approval.

Yep that’s me - RON RIPPLE - Representing my new kick ass ring!

So JustMensRings.com sent me a ring and I was honestly shocked when I received it.  They sent me the #18 Kyle Busch ring and it was not what I expected.  The ring is a stainless steel ring that is made of stock car grade stainless steel.  The outer band spins around the inner track which is a lot of fun because I find myself messing around with it when I’m bored or in deep thought. The ring is definitely Ron Ripple Approved… I highly recommend you go to their site and pick one up yourself.

So far since I’ve been wearing it I’ve received nothing but compliments and other fans asking where I got it.  I also ran into my boy Tony Stewart the other day and he surprisingly noticed it… so he wasn’t happy to see I wasn’t representing him. 

Make sure you go check out JustMensRings.com and let me know what you guys think.  They’re only $24.00 a pop and well worth it.  Make sure you tell them Ron Ripple sent you.

Stay up to date with my latest NASCAR rantings and Subscribe by email.

7 Comments »

Jimmie Johnson dominated this past weekend’s race at Fontana by leading 228 laps of the total 250.  He led the race from the drop of the green flag and only lost the lead when coming in to pit.  That didn’t last long either… it seemed as though when he got back on the track he drove by the leaders as if they were just keeping his “seat warm.”

From the start of the season, Jimmie Johnson had more hype from the fans than Kyle Busch had kleenex boxes after the Bristol race.  Jimmie Johnson started out the season a little slower than expected but he is finally living up to his hype, and he’s showing the fans he’s working on making it a three-peat.

(Photo Compliments of NASCAR.com)

If you remember correctly, this is exactly what he did last season coming into the chase.  He won the labor day race in Fontana and then won at Richmond that set him on fire to win four more races once the Chase started.  The kid is on fire and if you don’t think the momentum is in his favor, then you better start figuring it out. 

Momentum plays a big role with the drivers these days.  Carl Edwards has it… Kyle Busch has it… and now Jimmie Johnson has it.  These are going to be the drivers to watch out for, mark my words. 

Things are looking pretty good for these three drivers when it comes to the Chase.  Kyle Busch will be starting out with 50 extra points, Carl Edwards will be starting with 30 extra points, and Jimmie Johnson will be starting with 20 extra points.  Obviously things may change depending on who wins Richmond, but it’s going to be quite the battle once the chase starts especially if Jimmie Johnson races like he did this past weekend in Fontana.  These guys are going to have a tough time competing.

Not to get off subject… but another area Jimmie Johnson dominates in is his significant other.  Jimmie Johnson is “dominating” the field with his wife Chandra Johnson.  You all know I have a little thing for Chandra Johnson, so writing about Jimmie just gives me another reason to post a link to her infamous bio.  Check her out!

Ok… back on subject!  Jimmie Johnson did a great job this weekend and it only makes the Chase that much more interesting.  I can’t wait for the chase to start and I don’t know who to bet on. 

Who would you bet on to win the Championship?

6 Comments »

Last weekend in the final laps of the Sharpie 500, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch decided they wanted to start showing each other how they really feel.  Carl Edwards worked all night trying to pass Kyle Busch but just couldn’t seem to get him on the high side.  During the last few laps Carl Edwards dipped into the corner and taped Kyle’s left rear bumper causing him to lose control and allowing Carl to slide by gaining the lead. 

Carl Edwards went on to win the race but not without getting into a little pushing match with Kyle Busch.  After Carl Edwards got the checkered flag, Kyle Busch drove up beside him and rubbed the side of his car.  “The Nice Guy” Carl Edwards immediately drove into Busch and spun him out.  The crowd went absolutely CRAZY.  It was awesome to see some drama go down on the track.  It’s not too often these days you see emotion on the track.

 In a post race interview Carl Edwards says “It’s one of those deals where I couldn’t get by him, I couldn’t get by him, and I just had to ask myself, ‘Would he do that to me?’ 

Of course Kyle Busch would do that to him… he’s been doing it all season.

The funniest part about this little drama is that after the race, Kyle Busch was seen whining like a little girl saying “wittle Cawl Edwads pwushed me.”  If you ask me… I think Kyle Busch gets what he deserves… karma’s a bitch and if you can dish it out, then you need to learn how to take it. 

NASCAR just announced that both drivers were slapped on the hand and were given probation for the next 6 races.  If anything… I think the two should be patted on the back for creating an exciting ending to an awesome race.  NASCAR needs to commend these two racers for showing their feelings and creating an exciting rivalry.  NASCAR needs more moments like this…. this is what gets fans on their feet. 

Kyle Busch is an incredible racer but if you haven’t noticed, when he’s the bad guy he’s loving life.  He’ll go out there tap bumpers, spin people out, race rough, and walk around the pits like he’s God’s gift to NASCAR.  But the minute someone else bumps him or passes him aggressively the kid starts whining.  “Cawl Edwads, Cawl Edwads… he bumped me, he bumped me!”  Save the drama for the track and show “Cawl Edwads” that you’re supposed to be the “bad guys” and that he needs to go back to being the “Nice Guy”

I’m jacked up to watch the rest of the season… it’s going to be an awesome race for the chase.  I think Carl Edwards is going to be a force to be reckened with.  It seems as though he’s the only one that has Kyle Busch’s number. 

I can’t wait to watch the rest of the season unfold.  So what do you guys think?  Is Kyle Busch a whiner or is he in the “right” here?

9 Comments »

Jenn Sterger… what a beautiful NASCAR fan we have here.  I met Jenn Sterger at a Florida State football game a few years ago.  I started the day out extremely excited because I had front row seats to the Florida vs. Florida State football game.  As I walked up to my seat I was getting pretty agitated because I noticed there was someone sitting in it… turns out it was Jenn Sterger, the infamous FSU Cow Girl, so I didn’t complain.  We ended up sharing the seat the whole game and it was great publicity for me because when she was on camera… I was on camera.  Yeah… I tried to slip a kiss in there a few times but there was always a big play right when I went to make my move…  so I never got my chance.   Turns out the chick loves NASCAR and even attends some races.  so here’s her little bio…

  Read the rest of this entry »

11 Comments »

Just when you think Kyle Busch is in a so called “Slump,” the kid comes out and dominates another road course.  Watkins Glen was an incredible race and one you did not want to miss. 

So we all know Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were saying they saw weakness in the no. 18 car over the past couple races, well let me just say… THEY WERE WRONG.  Just because Kyle Busch didn’t dominate the field in the last couple races doesn’t mean the driver is in a slump.   He came out this weekend and showed the field exactly what they didn’t want to see… “the back of Kyle Busch’s no. 18 car!”

Watkins Glen was a pretty tame race overall until lap 86 when there was a huge pile up sending Bobby Labonte to the hosipital and a 45 minute race delay.  Bobby Labonte was complaining of sore ribs and was later released. 

The wreck started when contact was made by Michael McDowell which sent David Gilliland’s Ford spinning out of control into the guardrail. Sam Hornish Jr. slid sideways into the barrier of sand barrels dividing the racetrack from pit road… from there it was a huge pile up including Michael Waltrip, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Max Papis and Reed Sorenson.

All were released from the infield medical center but it delayed the race 45 minutes.  The race then re-started on lap 86 with Kyle Busch racing to the finish and getting the win on the 90th and final lap.  About 3 seconds behind Kyle Busch was his team mate Tony Stewart who has a solid finish but still continues his 36 race winless streak.

You all know Tony Stewart is one of my favorite drivers of all time… even though he hasn’t won a race in 36 races.  I do have to admit though… he seems to be losing his attitude and his “I’ll say what’s on my mind” reputation.  I think he’s setting himself up to be a leader for his new team Stewart Haas Racing.

It seems as though Stewart is not only losing his attitude but it’s almost as though he’s giving it to Kyle Busch.  Kyle Busch comes off the track and says “Tony was faster than me only at the “bus stop” chicane, but nowhere else on the track.”  and Tony Stewart comes off the track saying “I’m real happy with this second place finish, I didn’t have anything for my team mate Kyle Busch, he ran a great race.”

I dont’ know who’s telling my boy Tony Stewart to be nice and respectful, but whoever it is needs to let him be who he is.  Overall it was a good race to watch…. Kyle Busch obviously made the chase… Tony Stewart also bettered himself in the points… so overall I’m a happy fan.

By the way… Craig… i’m sure you’re happy with Montoya’s finish this weekend.  He finally finished better than 41st place. haha!!!

Who’s your team and who are you rooting for to make the chase?

4 Comments »

This weekend the boys will be hitting the Pocono track and boy am I excited.  I didn’t post much this week because frankly I was tired of everyone talking about the tire issues NASCAR dealt with last weekend.

Just my .02 cents… NASCAR needs to start testing tires there for next year otherwise we’re going to run into this issue year after year.  Ryan Newman seems to be the only one voicing his opinion which as you all know I love.  Maybe he’s starting to speak out because he’s going to be one of Stewart’s boys next year.

Anyway… Pocono is always a blast of a race to watch.  It’s a funky triangular shaped track that makes for great racing.  I think there’s going to be a lot of competitive racing here especially with us getting so close to the final 12 races.

Who are my picks for this weekend?  I think there’s going to be a lot of top contenders out there especially since we saw a few guys from the Hendrick team out in front last weekend.  I have a feeling it’s going to be a couple guys out there dominating… Kyle Busch of course… Jeff Gordon again this weekend (He always seems to do well here)… and I think we may see Carl Edwards back up there in the front.

Carl Edwards has been impressing me with his intense driving on the course even though he has that “nice guy” attitude off the course.  He’s been showing the world that not all “nice guys finish last.”  One thing is for sure… he’s gonna have to show Kyle Busch this is true because if he’s wrong… Kyle Busch (cocky guy) is going to finish first.

Great racing to come… I look forward to discussing this race with you all on Monday.  Make sure you guys drink a bunch of beer this weekend because POCONOOOO… HERE WE COMMEEEE!

4 Comments »

This weekend I finally have a nice break from this stressfull life I live filled with NASCAR drama.  The next Sprint Cup race isn’t till next weekend so everyone sit back relax and let’s just enjoy the Nationwide race today in KY. 

I was going to write an article about Kyle Busch and his chance to win a trifecta with the truck series but I decided not to because I look at the title of my past articles and about 95% of them have to do with him.

Enjoy your weekend my fellow NASCAR fans and look for my up coming controversial post on Monday.

Ron Ripple

No Comments Yet »

Ron Ripple himself (that’s me) is being recognized by Forbes Magazine this month in their Celebrity Issue.  Forbes Magazine is one of the top magazines in the world known to feature the richest and most famous people ever.  Ok… so they’re obviously not recognizing me for being one of the richest people in the world… but I still made FORBES for being NASCAR’s Biggest Fan. 

Forbes Magazine contacted me about 2 1/2 months ago saying and I quote “I’d like to tell you how badass you are… and I would also like to feature you in Forbes Magazine, as NASCAR’s #1 Fan.”

At first I thought this is really a sick joke that one of my beer drinking friends were playing on me.  I really wasn’t excited or anything but then I noticed the e-mail address came from Forbes and there was also a phone number.  So I picked up the phone and called this young lady who proceeded to tell me how excited she was to be talking to NASCAR’s Biggest fan.  Boy let me tell you what… I think she could tell that I was blushing from the other side of the phone.

Forbes Magazine was trying to get in touch with me… this beer drinking NASCAR fan who has no fortune or celebrity status except for this website on the so called World Wide Web.  At first I was curious as to how they got a hold of me.  Had they talked to my boys down at the track such as Tony Stewart or Dale Earnhardt Jr?  Did they call Kyle Busch and ask him who annoys him the most or who is a fly he can’t get rid of when he’s down in the pits?  Of course I knew they would say me, but when she finally admitted how she found me I was shocked…  she simply said Google.

After our brief conversation we set up dates on when she was going to interview me and shoot the photos for the magazine.  When the interview date came she called me up and I gave her an incredible interview filled with exciting quotes and tons of information.  At least I think I did… I guess we’ll find out on the 22nd!

One of the things Forbes requested from me was a place to shoot when they sent their photographers down.  I didn’t even hesitate when they asked me this so I immediately called my boy Craig Waters down in Bradenton.  Craig is a great friend of mine and is known for his incredibly decorated garage.  The guy has created a NASCAR heaven that’s jam packed with 3 flat screen TVs, 100’s of posters, 20+ DieCast cars, old race tires, a pool table, work bench, tool chest, couch, and the list could go on.   Click on the photos below to check it out!

About a month later Forbes sent down photographers to take pictures of me… well in reality they couldn’t take pictures of me, so they took pictures of my creators Blake and Brock Gratton.  I won’t get into who Blake and Brock Gratton are but let’s just say they’re kind of a big deal around here.  Ron Ripple wouldn’t be here without them.

But the rest is history and the magazine comes out on July 22nd which is right around the corner.  I’ve put up a count down on the right side of the page so make sure you Ron Ripplers pick up a copy.  I’m so excited and honored to be featured in the magazine and I couldn’t have done this without my readers. 

Thank you all and make sure you continue to read.

15 Comments »

The unstoppable Kyle Busch sweeps in Chicagoland. He not only wins the Nationwide Cup race but also surprisingly wins the Sprint Cup race on Saturday night on the last lap. I don’t know about my readers, but I’m sick of hearing and talking about Kyle Busch. I love watching him on the track, don’t get me wrong… but with all the wins Kyle Busch has it seems as if this website is geared towards him. And it’s not. How can I stop talking about him? The kid continues to amaze the world with his relentless victories.

Saturday Night’s Sprint Cup race was one helluva race.  Leaders included Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Vickers, Johnson, Kenseth, Kurt Busch and well… I had my heart set on my boy Tony Stewart who ran hard and in the top 5 all race but unfortunately lead for a VERY short time. I was hoping and praying that he would have a chance to take this race home but it never came to fruition. I was on the edge of my seat the entire race and may have quite possibly drank 10 to many beers, but what happens during a NASCAR race happens. I reckon I can’t be accountable for something that I just can not control and when my boy is in the top 5 is when I really start to pound the beers.

The last 25 laps came down to three of the strongest cars all night: Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick. It looked like once again Kyle Busch was going to win this race unchallenged, and that’s when Jimmie Johnson charged to the front passing Kyle Busch on the inside. The man exploded past Kyle and never turned back it was lap 16 and there was no stopping him. Busch was heard radio’ing to his crew “race over”. It was evident Jimmie had the strongest car at that point and there wasn’t much that could be done until Gililand caused a yellow flag giving Busch another opportunity. Jimmie Johnson wasn’t concerned, “Before that last caution came out, we were gone. … And you know, we had such a great car I really felt like the restart would come and we would march off and be fine,”

Take a look at the last 16 laps and the incredible restart Kyle Busch had… with two laps left Busch was able to squeeze by Johnson on the outside where it was all over but the crime.

Side Notes: Carl Edwards has had a strong season thus far and lead a few laps here in Chicagoland, he unfortunately broke his splitter brace which would put him out of contention. Earnhardt struggled all race finishing in 16th along with Kasey Kahne in 15th. The Newman joining Stewart talk is still running rapid in the pits and it sounds to ME that Newman will in fact be racing for Stewart-Haas. The two are friends on and off the track, they’re both from Indiana and it just so happens Newman’s contract is up after this season with Penske.

For those of you who heard the rumors of Obama sponsoring a Sprint Cup team. “The Obama campaign will not be sponsoring a car in the Sprint Cup Series, though we will continue to look for ways to reach out to voters and convey Senator Obama’s message of change.” said Bill Burton, an Obama campaign spokesman. I also read a news article written by USNEWS.com where they interviewed Jimmie Johnson and Chandra Johnson and spoke about NASCAR fans being McCain supporters. I also wanted to thank USNEWS.com for referencing my website in their article!

Thanks for the traffic. Alright Ron Ripplers… What were your thoughts for the race?

6 Comments »

The Coke Zero 400 was a race that goes down in the history books for it’s photo finish that couldn’t be called till the tapes were reviewed.  Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards were literally nose and nose, racing for the finish as a huge wreck took place behind them making the race a difficult race to call.  Kyle Busch just barely took the win with Carl Edwards less than a foot away from being crowned the Coke Zero 400 champion.

The photo finish!

Kyle Busch says he was on the edge of his seat doing everything he could to prevent a repeat of last years race with him taking second place to Jamie McMurray after a  similar situation with a photo finish.

In my opinion the real talk of the day should be about Dale Earnhardt Jr and his domination of this race that resulted in earning his 8th place finish.  The kid was driving around the course as if he owned it and nobody deserved to be on it but himself.  He was driving so aggressive and passionately that I was afraid he was going to wreck Jimmie Johnson when he dared to get in front of him.  He led more laps than anyone but when they counted he got left hung to dry and drifted back to the 10th place position.  In his post race interview he said there were a lot of ignorant drivers in the final laps and he claims he deserved a top 5 finish.

I guess if winning a race means Dale Jr needs to be ignorant than I guess he better start learning how.  Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and of course Kyle Busch were making runs for the front.  They didn’t hesitate when it came down to racing hard and doing what it takes to get out in front.

Two guys I need to give a lot of credit to even though they didn’t make it to the front is Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch.  Both started in the back of the pack and both made it to the top 10.  Kasey Kahne started in 41st position and picked off every driver as he made is way towards the front giving him a 7th place finish.  Kurt Busch also started in 36th position and also made is way to the front giving him a 4th place finish.  I guess when you’ve got a strong car and know how to drive it you can do anything.

This was one of my favorite races to watch.  It was action packed and reminded me of what true racing is. What did everyone think of my boy Tony Stewart and the good ol switcharoo allowing Yeley to step up and drive it like he stole it? Stewart had an extremely strong car racing in the top 3. Was I the only one to notice that Vickers was the cause of at least two of the wrecks?

8 Comments »