the White Collar NASCAR guy: my last off weekend of the spring season

So here we are with NASCAR heading into America's heartland @ Kansas Speedway after the first night race of the season...
I always look at the Texas night race as a warm up for the NASCAR schedule's prime night racing season which starts @ Richmond International Raceway next weekend, then passes through Darlington, Daytona, Bristol, Atlanta and then culminating w/ that one last race to make the chase back at Richmond.

Entering Kansas, I have a few questions (all relating to Denny Hamlin):

How much media will Denny Hamlin garner this weekend? (after all, he did win this race last year)
Would Denny have been a favorite @ Kansas if he were racing?
Will this be Denny Hamlin's last off weekend of the spring season?

He tweeted this week asking NASCAR for the points they took from Penske:

In the NYC area, this time of year provides us with our first glimpse of spring - warm weather, trees starting to bloom, boats going back in the water and me wearing flip-flops & shorts way too early. And oh yeah, it's the time of year where I get to make my first visit of the season to Richmond! (will we see Denny there?)

Richmond International Raceway (Spring 2011)

I am more than excited that I'll be hopping on a plane in less than 7 days (6 days & 14 hours to be exact) - this is the first time since the spring 2010 race my wife will be accompanying me. This time we won't be partaking in the Richmond 2 Person Tailgate since we're bringing another couple along for the experience. It will be their first time to a NASCAR race and I'm willing to bet not their last.

On Friday morning, we'll make our way into the downtown area known as Shockoe Slip to check into our hotel. It's a great downtown neighborhood w/ hotels, restaurants, bars and adorned w/ great architecture & cobblestone streets. It's a great place to stay during race weekend - the best of both worlds w/ the city night life & restaurants combined with America's #1 sport within a 5 mile drive.

Shockoe Slip

After checking out the downtown, we'll probably head over to grab some lunch at Buz and Ned's Real BBQ which has been featured on the travel channel (most likely because I had been there previously). Immediately following lunch, we'll make our way over to the track for some tailgating w/ friends, which is definitely better than the Richmond 1 person tailgate I had last September on my last (of 4) bachelor party.

the Richmond 1 person tailgate

It looks as though if I'm craving some more BBQ while tailgating, I'll be able to get my fix at the track: RIR Local Food.

The first round of tailgating (which is a warm-up similar to the night race @ Texas Motor Speedway) will be short lived as it's time to head into the track to watch some qualifying and then some NASCAR Nationwide Racing. Here's to hoping this spring's Nationwide race is as exciting as last year's!