Random thoughts while waiting for my Hall of Fame nomination.

I know this is a couple of weeks old now, but David Reutimann did nothing wrong at Martinsville. The criticism is grossly unfair. And last time I checked, Reutimann has two more wins than his biggest critic, Dale Earnhardt Jr., in the last three years.

Trevor Bayne went to victory lane in NASCAR’s biggest race in 2011. This year he can’t even get full sponsorship for a Nationwide Series championship run. Something just ain’t right about that.

It looks like it’s going to be a long season in Beantown.

Of the 25 NASCAR Hall of Fame nominees for the Class of 2013, here are my picks: Benny Parsons, Clay Earles, Leonard Wood, Buck Baker and Fireball Roberts.

Bobby Petrino is a scumbag.

On the HBO series “East Bound and Down,” Kenny Powers’ team, the Myrtle Beach Mermen, play the — I’m not making this up — Rockingham Ruckus. The Ruckus fans throw batteries at Kenny.

Of course they do.

This is a story that only I may find interesting, but I think it’s pretty cool. Nelson Piquet Jr. is entered in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 presented by Cheerwine at Rockingham Speedway this weekend.

His start at the track is pretty unique. He will be the only racer to have starts at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway and Rockingham (U.K.) Motor Speedway. If he wins, he will be the only driver with wins at both tracks, obviously. He won a Formula 3 event in the U.K.

I normally don’t get into the NFL draft too much, but this year is a little bit different.

Melvin Ingram, the defensive end/linebacker from the University of South Carolina, is projected to be drafted in the first half of the first round.

Several mock drafts have him going seventh to Jacksonville and some have him going 12th to Seattle. Either way, I am very proud of this kid. Melvin was one of the students when I was a teacher at Richmond Senior a few years back.

He used to stop by my room asking me to write a note for him being late for class. I never gave him one, but he always asked with a big toothy grin. Great kid and I wish him all the best in the NFL.

I got to take my daughter to Rockingham this week as they prepare for the race. My dad (the closeted race fan) actually did all the painting on the street side of the tower and my brother (who works in the media center on race weekends) painted the famous tower fascia, so we went to visit.

She loves the track and got to go on the roof of the tower. While she may not have the coordination to be a driver, she may have found her calling: spotter. As we were leaving, she said, “Daddy, I bet you can see all the race cars from up there!”

She now has a pretty cool story to tell her friends when she goes back to school this week.ntact

Andy Cagle at andycagle@ earthlink.net.