Saturday night under the lights at Darlington Raceway will be a night Jimmie Johnson and Rick Hendrick will always remember. Jimmie got his first win of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup series in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and win 200 for Hendrick Motorsports.

The racing at Darlington was under control until around halfway through the race. The first yellow flag flew on lap 172 when some debris was spotted by NASCAR in turn two of the track ‘Too Tough To Tame.” Seven more caution periods would happen, with the majority of them coming in the late stages of the race when the drivers were fighting hard to gain every position they could before the checkered flag flew. The Bojangles’ Southern 500 had twenty-two lead changes between eight different drivers.

Jimmie Johnson took his first lead of the race on lap fifty after starting from the second position. He spent a lot of time leading the way around Darlington Raceway as he led a race-high 134 laps of the Bojangles’ Southern 500. Many drivers got their “Darlington Stripe” during the race as they scraped the outside retaining wall. Darlington is called the “Lady in black” because that wall starts each race white, but ends black as the cars race inches away from it and leave it nearly solid black from the cars rubbing it throughout the race.

The final caution of the race came when Kurt Busch loses control of his car, spinning and sliding down into the inside wall of the track. Ryan Newman is caught up in the wreck as well and also hit the inside wall. After the race, Kurt, Ryan and a few of their crew members were involved in a little scuffle on pit row as a result of the incident.

That final caution period lasted long enough to put the re-start into a green-white-checkered scenario for the Sprint Cup drivers. Jimmie Johnson leads the field to the green flag with reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart next to him. Jimmie got a great jump on the field and rocketed out to a huge lead. He held on to that front position to capture the race win and number 200 for Hendrick Motorsports. In those final two laps, Denny Hamlin managed to move up to capture second place leaving Tony with a third place finish. Kyle Busch came in third with Martin Truex Jr. taking fifth. See the complete Bojangles’ Southern 500 race results here.

Sprint Cup points leader Greg Biffle started the race from the pole. He finished outside the top ten, but was able to hang on to the NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead for the ninth week in a row. In fact, the top four spots in the points remain the same with Matt Kenseth in second, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third and Denny Hamlin in fourth. Jimmie Johnson’s win moves him up three to a tie with Martin Truex Jr. in the points. However, the win gives Jimmie the edge and the fifth place over Martin. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings here.

With Jimmie’s win, Hendrick Motorsports becomes only the 2nd racing organization in the history of NASCAR to reach the milestone of 200 wins. Petty Enterprises and NASCAR legend Richard Petty is the all-time leader with 268 Sprint Cup points race wins. Hendrick Motorsports also includes the teams of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne. Although Jimmie captured the milestone win for Hendrick, Jeff has the most wins for the racing organization with eighty-five of the 200 wins while this was Jimmie’s fifty-sixth career win.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will take a week off from points racing this weekend as they head to Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night for the Sprint All-Star Race.

Congratulations to Staci Roper of Normal and her mom Linda from JD & Kevin in the Morning and B104! Staci won our picture with mom contest. Check out the other mom photos you submitted.

Staci was drawn as the random winner of a pair of sterling silver square hoop earrings from designer Charles Garnier only available at Bremer Jewelry for her mom. We’re sure Linda will wear the earrings proudly.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms from everybody at B104!

NORMAL – Illinois State announced Tuesday that former Redbird basketball player Dan Muller will be returning to Normal to become the team’s next head coach.

Muller was introduced during a press conference inside Redbird Arena, attended by fans, ISU players, the media and others from the Bloomington-Normal community.

Check out WJBC’s photo gallery from the press conference above. Welcome back, Dan!

Although the two-car-tandem racing was not as prevalent at Talladega Superspeedway this year, it did play into the winning move on Sunday (5/6) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. Brad Keselowski was pushed to the lead where he captured his second win of the 2012 season in the Aaron’s 499.

Most of the afternoon saw the return of “pack racing” on the 2.66 mile track called ‘Dega. The Aaron’s 499 was led by seventeen different Sprint Cup drivers who exchanged the lead a total of thirty-four times. Matt Kenseth was running point more than any other driver as he led the field for a race-high 73 of the 194 laps (188 laps was the scheduled length). Throughout the afternoon, two cars would get bumper-to-bumper for a short time and rocket forward. However, with the new rules instituted by NASCAR for the cooling systems, those two-car-tandems had to break up quickly or risk overheating for the pushing car.

Most of the race was uneventful as far as crashes go with the Aaron’s 499 running only five caution periods. The first caution came on Lap 16 when Regan Smith’s engine failed and blew up. The next caution did not come until lap 141. With some cars running out of gas and slowing, and others still running full-throttle; the inevitable happened. A crash happened that involved nine cars including Landon Cassill, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Juan Montoya, Terry Labonte, Aric Almirola and Dave Blaney.

Another caution happened on lap 175 that involved three cars. The two cautions that set up the winning move came late in the race. On lap 181, Kurt Busch went for a solo slide down the track into the infield to bring out caution number four. On the re-start on lap 184, Denny Hamlin and AJ Allmendinger tried to move to the inside lane just across the start-finish line and wrecked collecting at least eight other cars. That final caution period ran long enough to put the race into an overtime green-white-checkered finish.

The race is re-started on lap 193. Matt Kenseth jumps back out to the lead with a great re-start. He got far enough out in front by himself that when Kyle Busch moves up to push Brad Keselowski in a two-car-tandem, they rocket past Matt into the lead. Heading into turn three on the final lap, Brad dives from the high side down to the inside of the track. This move breaks the draft that Kyle had and causes Kyle to lose the momentum and advantage of trying a sling shot move to win the race.

Brad’s heads-up move in turn three allows him to speed across the finish line first to capture his second win of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and sends Dodge to Victory Lane at Talladega for the first time since 1976. Kyle grabs second place while Matt Kenseth is relegated to a third place finish after an afternoon of dominating at ‘Dega. Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle round out the top five in the Aaron’s 499 respectively. See the complete race results here.

Greg Biffle’s fifth place finish was enough for him to hang on to the points lead for the eight straight race. Matt Kenseth moved up two spots to second place just seven points behind Greg. Dale Earnhardt Jr. got another top ten finish, but slipped a spot to third place in points while Denny Hamlin also fell a spot to fourth. Kevin Harvick moved up two spots to take over the fifth spot in points. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings here.

This week will not be easier for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers. Danica Patrick will join the field of Sprint Cup regulars at the track they say is “too tough to tame,” Darlington Raceway. The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will be racing under the lights on Saturday night (5/12) in the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

Eric Church performs Saturday, April 28, 2012, at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington. (Photo by B Corbin/WJBC)

BLOOMINGTON – Rising country music star Eric Church packed the U.S. Cellular Coliseum on Saturday night for the first of two local shows.

Church is on his “Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour.” Saturday’s show sold out in 30 minutes, so he added a second Coliseum show for Sunday night at 7 p.m.

Check out our photo gallery (above) from Saturday’s concert!

See a WJBC.com photo you want to buy? Order it online using PayPal at our Photo Orders page.

For the second time in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, Denny Hamlin made the drive to Victory Lane. Denny took the checkered flag in the STP 400 at Kansas Speedway Sunday (4/22) to join Tony Stewart as the only drivers with two wins this season.

For the second week in a row, the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers raced  without wrecking each other. The STP 400 destroyed the previous record for fewest cautions at Kansas Speedway. The race was only under the yellow flag three times Sunday (the previous mark was twenty-two).

That put the pressure on the drivers to make no mistakes on the track as they raced under the green flag for almost the entire race. It also added importance that the drivers and crews made the right adjustments to the cars and made no mistakes during the pit stops. Being quick on and off pit row could mean gaining time on the track.

AJ Allmendinger started the race from the pole and led the first forty-four laps of the race. Throughout the race, nine different drivers exchanged the lead in the STP 400 fourteen times. With the NASCAR race under clouds for the majority of the race, Martin Trues Jr. dominated the day leading the field of Sprint Cup cars for a race high 173 laps. Martin would shoot out to a large lead with the few restarts in the race and would maintain a comfortable gap of eight seconds at one point early. It appeared that Martin was the class of the field and the car to beat until mother nature changed track conditions that resulted in changing the handling for Martin’s Sprint Cup car.

Late in the race, the sun broke through the clouds and gave Denny Hamlin’s car the edge he needed to run down and pass Denny for the lead with thirty-one laps left in the race. In the final few laps of the race, Martin tried to dive below Denny in the turns of Kansas Speedway to regain the lead and win the race. The warmer track conditions just would not allow Martin’s car to hold the track and make the pass.

Denny was able to hold off the late race charges to win the STP 400 and his second race of the 2012 NASCAR season. This was Denny’s first win at Kansas Speedway and he set a track record for the fastest average speed in a Sprint Cup race at the track of 144.126 mph. Martin was forced to accept a second place finish after a dominating day of racing. Jimmie Johnson took third with Matt Kenseth in fourth and Greg Biffle rounding out the top five. See the complete STP 400 race results here.

Following the race at Kansas Speedway, Greg Biffle retains the Sprint Cup points lead for the sixth straight race of the 2012 NASCAR season. Martin Truex Jr. was rewarded for his dominating say with a two spot move up to second place in points. Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. both slipped a spot in the points to third and fourth respectively. Denny’s win moved him up a spot to fifth in the pints. See the complete 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings here.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series goes “Short Trackin’” Saturday night this week. April 28th the top drivers will battle around the 3/4 mile Richmond International Raceway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 400.

Buck Stevens

Last night while driving home, I stopped and took a picture of the beautiful sunset. That got me to wondering, what pictures are on your cell phone?

It wasn’t that long ago that if you didn’t have a camera with you a perfect picture of some kind was missed. It could have been a special memory saved forever, but no camera meant no picture.

Now, with cameras built into our phones, we are always ready to capture those pictures and memories. I have over 400 pictures on my phone, which is low compared to some people I know. Looking through my photos I have pictures of fishing, hunting, baseball games, celebrities, cars, pets and so much more.

I want to know what pictures are on your cell phone? In fact, I want you to share a picture or two with me. If you have a special or unusual picture or a picture that has a very special story that goes along with it, email it to me at buck@wbwn.com. Put in the subject line of the email “My phone picture.” Make sure to include the information about the picture in the email as well. Tell me who took the picture, who is in the picture, where and when it was taken and any other information that makes the picture special.

Do not send any copyrighted photos from professional photographers that I cannot legally use. Each week I will randomly choose one photo to post on the B104 website along with the story behind it as the “Friday Phone Picture” of the week. You can have all your friends and family see your photo on the station website. Don’t forget, email those photos and stories to me at buck@wbwn.com and put “My phone picture” in the email subject line.

Take a look at some of the photos I have on my phone in the gallery below.

NASCAR got back to racing after a weekend off for the Easter holiday. The Sprint Cup series raced under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night (4/14). Greg Biffle extended his points lead by winning the Samsung Mobile 500.

They say that everything is bigger in Texas. I don’t know if that is true, but Saturday night it was definitely faster at Texas Motor Speedway. During the entire 500 mile race, there were only two caution periods that covered only ten of the 334 laps in the Samsung Mobile 500. Both of these were new records at the Texas Motor Speedway.

During the record setting pace of the Sprint Cup race, the lead changed hands eighteen times between seven different drivers. Jimmie Johnson appeared to be the car to beat through most of the race as he dominated the middle portion of the race leading a race high 156 laps around Texas Motor Speedway.

Jimmie was leading with 31 laps left in the race when Gregg Biffle passed him and pulled away to break a 49 race winless streak. Greg took the checkered flag more than three seconds ahead of Jimmie Johnson in second place. Greg averaged a speed of 160.577 m.p.h for the race, which sets another record Saturday night at the Texas Motor Speedway. Mark Martin finished the Samsung Mobile 500 in third place with Jeff Gordon in fourth and Matt Kenseth rounding out the top five. See the complete race results here.

Greg’s win in the Samsung Mobile 500 keeps him at the top of the Sprint Cup points standings for a fifth straight week and extends his lead to 19 points over second place. Matt Kenseth moves up to a tie with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in points. Matt gets the second place position having a win in 2012 (Daytona 500) and Dale falls a spot to third even though the two have equal points. Martin trues Jr., who started on the pole Saturday night and finished sixth, moves up two spots in the points to fourth with Kevin Harvick holding steady at fifth place in the points. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings here.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series heads to Kansas Speedway Sunday, April 22nd for the STP 400.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series raced on the shortest track on the circuit yesterday (4/1), Martinsville Speedway. Thanks to a late, and controversial, caution, Ryan Newman grabbed the opportunity to steal a win in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500.

The NASCAR races at Martinsville have typically had a lot of caution periods. When drivers are fighting for every position on a track so small, the cars usually get together with bad results. This time, the drivers appeared to be giving each other plenty of room and not getting too aggressive. The race only had five caution periods through 494 of the scheduled 500 laps in the Goody’s Fast Relief 500.

A handful of drivers lead during the NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway. Jeff Gordon dominated the race through most of the afternoon leading a total of 328 laps around the track they call the “paperclip.” His Hendrick Motor Sports teammate Jimmie Johnson looked like the only car that would be able to challenge Jeff for the win. Jimmie lead 112 laps when he wasn’t running a close second place to Jeff. It actually looked like Hendrick Motor Sports was going to have a great day at Martinsville Speedway with the top three spots near the end of the race with Jeff and Jimmie’s teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. running in third place with just five laps to go.

Then the questionable decision by David Reutimann changed everything. David had continued to race around the Martinsville Speedway with serious problems with his car. As a result of David choosing to not pit in the final laps of the Goody’s Fast Relief 500, his car died on track and brought out caution number six of the race with just four laps left in the race. This pulled the entire field together for a restart that would be a green-white-checkered attempt. The comfortable lead that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had created was erased as well.

Jeff and Jimmie choose to not pit under caution to make sure to keep the front row spots on the restart. The cars behind he two leaders came in and got new tires. That meant they would have better grip when they green flag waived to run the final two laps in NASCAR’s version of overtime. When the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 made its first attempt at the green-white-checkered finish, Clint Bowyer made a dive to the bottom of the track to get around Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for the lead. During that move, Ryan Newman made contact with Clint’s rear bumper. That small contact sent Clint sliding into Jeff Gordon, which in turn caused Jeff to get into Jimmie Johnson and all three cars spun and wrecked.

Following that seventh caution, Ryan Newman raced AJ Allmendinger on the restart to get he lead for the second attempt of the green-white-checkered finish. Ryan was able to stay out front and win with AJ grabbing the second place finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to hold on and get a third place with Matt Kenseth and Martin Trues Jr. rounding out the top five in that order. See the complete race results here.

Greg Biffle finished high enough (13th) at Martinsville to retain the NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead. Dale Jr. moved up a spot to second place in points, just six behind Greg. Tony Stewart, the defending Sprint Cup Champion, moved up one place to third in points while Matt Kenseth made a two spot jump to fourth. Kevin Harvick fell three places to round out the top five in the Sprint Cup points standings. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Standings here.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will take Easter weekend off before heading to Texas Motor Speedway for the Samsung Mobile 500 April 14th.

There were plenty of country stars who really shined at the 2012 ACM Awards when it came to fashion choices, but there were also lots of singers who fell flat. LeAnn Rimes, Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts singer Gary LeVox are just a few of the stars included in our Worst Dressed picture gallery, but they aren’t the only ones who should consider hiring new stylists (or just hiring a stylist to begin with).

Hands down, LeAnn Rimes had the worst outfit of the night. We hate to be so blunt about it, but we really just don’t understand this dress. From the sheer cutouts, to the pattern, to the odd fit, this number just isn’t doing it for us. We know LeAnn can do better. Sara Evans also looked like she was trying a bit too hard in her semi-wrinkly pink gown. It almost looked like she was getting ready for one of those parties where everyone dresses up in ’80s prom dresses. Now don’t get us wrong, it wasn’t horrible, but we’ve seen Evans in so many better outfits in the past that this one disappointed us. Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts was also sporting a questionable outfit made up of a tacky jacket and fringed pants.

Some other stars who made our worst dressed gallery? Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, Laura Bell Bundy and Jana Kramer. Check out all of the worst dressed pictures from the 2012 ACM Awards above and let us know who you thought had the most unflattering outfit of the evening.

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Source: TasteofCountry.com

Carrie Underwood was first, Blake Shelton and Lionel Richie were last and very few dips were found in between. It was three straight hours of back-to-back performances that barely left time for a bathroom break on Sunday night. The 2012 ACM Awards felt more like an all-star jam than an awards ceremony, not that anyone is complaining.

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw might have been the highest profile pairing of the night, singing Chesney’s next single ‘Feel Like a Rock Star.’ However, Richie and Shelton and Brad Paisley with the Zac Brown Band were two other collaborations that fans will be tingling from on Monday morning. Scroll through this photo gallery to see clips of all the best performances from the 2012 ACM Awards.

Click here to take the poll and earn points!

Source: TasteofCountry.com

Tonight at the 2012 ACM Awards, there were a few standout country stars, like Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, whose attire really blew us away. These are our picks of the Best Dressed pictures from the show, which was held at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Scroll through the photos to see the most fashionable musicians who hit the red carpet at the 2012 ACM Awards.

First up in our best dressed gallery from the 2012 ACMs is Taylor Swift, who looked stunning in a white form-fitting gown. This dress hugged Swift in all the right places and we absolutely love the cut of the neckline on her. The gold accents across the dress add a more interesting quality, and the cutouts on the sides are very fashion-forward. Her golden flowing locks, bangs, subdued pink lips and smoky eyes topped off the look perfectly. Carrie Underwood was another country star who really wowed us tonight. Her bejeweled strapless dress was romantic, and that thigh-high slit was super sexy — but of course Underwood kept it tasteful with some sheer fabric covering the opening.

Some other outfits we loved? Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum‘s classy black dress, Charles Kelley‘s powder blut suit (he owned that suit), and ‘You and Tequila’ singer Grace Potter’s rockin’ leather pants and blazer. Scroll through these pictures of the best dressed stars at the 2012 ACM Awards, and let us know who you think was the best dressed star in the comments below.

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Source: TasteofCountry.com

When the green flag waved in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series race at Auto Club Speedway yesterday (3/25), the drivers and teams knew they could be racing the weather as well as the other cars. When the rain beat the Auto Club 400 with 63% of the race completed, Tony Stewart was declared the winner of the race.

From the start of the race, the drivers knew they were racing to be leading at two points; the half-way mark of the race and the final lap of the race. With rain threatening the Fontana, California area, the Auto Club 400 could wind up being less than the 200 laps it was scheduled for. By NASCAR rule, when a Sprint Cup series race makes it to the half-way point (in this case 100 laps) before being red-flagged for any reason; if the race is not able to be resumed after that point, the race is considered complete. If the race was to be red-flagged prior to the half-way point and not able to be restarted that same day, it would be completed on the next day possible.

The drivers seemed to drive their cars with a sense of urgency and caution, knowing that there was a good chance the race would not go the full 400 miles. The Auto Club was fast, but uneventful as far as wrecks go. The Sprint Cup cars race fast and gave each other plenty of room to race, although they did go three, four and even five wide a few times. The drivers were getting every position they could to be as far forward in the order as possible at 100 laps, just in case the rain came.

Following a round of green-flag pit stops, Tony Stewart gets the lead of the race back on lap 109 of the Auto Club 400. Then, it came, the first caution of the race happened on lap 123 of the scheduled 200 laps due to rain in turn three of the Auto Club Speedway. As the cars followed the pace car around the track under caution, Tony Stewart fakes a move to pit row. Denny Hamlin (who was running second) seemed to buy into Tony’s well executed fake and gives up his position to head down pit road. Jimmie Johnson also appeared to fall for the fake relinquishing his fourth place position to pit.

While driving around under caution, Jimmie Johnson’s car begins to smoke pretty heavily. It was later determined that Jimmie had an oil line problem. Jimmie, now in tenth place, stayed on track under caution to not lose any more spots than he had already when he pitted. The Sprint Cup cars followed the NASCAR pace car down pit road on lap 129 when the race was red-flagged due to the rain, now falling heavily on the entire Auto Club Speedway.

The Auto Club 400 sat under the red flag for just over a half an hour. NASCAR officials determined that the race would not be able to be resume Sunday, and by NASCAR rule, Tony Stewart was declared the winner of the race. This makes Tony the first driver with more than one win in the 2012 Sprint Cup series season. Kyle Bush took home second place in the rain-shortened race with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third. Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards finished fourth and fifth respectively. See the complete race results in the Auto Club 400 here.

Greg Biffle finished the Auto Club 400 in the sixth position, which was enough for him to retain the NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead. Kevin Harvick heal onto second place in the points, just seven points behind Greg. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s third place finish move him up three spots in the points to third with race winner Tony Stewart also climbing three places to fourth. Martin Truex Jr. slipped back a spot to round out the top five in points. See the complete Sprint Cup points standings here.

This weekend, NASCAR goes “short trackin’” again as the Sprint Cup series heads to the shortest track on the circuit, Martinsville Speedway. You will be able to catch all the action of the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on our sister station WJBC FM, 93.7, this Sunday, April 1st.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series ran its fourth race of the 2012 season at Bristol Motor Speedway Sunday (3/18). Brad Keselowski gave NASCAR its fourth different winner by conquering the short track in Bristol to win the Food City 500.

Sprint Cup racing at the track they call “Thunder Valley” is always full of crashes. Even with the new concrete track that allows for side-by-side racing, drivers can lose control of their race cars pretty quickly. It didn’t take long for the drivers to be reminded of this fact. On lap 24 of the 500 lap race, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Marcos Ambrose crash collecting Kyle Bush and Kevin Harvick who all sustained major damage.

From that point forward, the Food City 500 calmed down, some. There weren’t as many wrecks as there have been in the past at Bristol Motor Speedway. However, when they happened, they were pretty hard crashes. The NASCAR race had a total of five caution periods that covered 49 laps in the race. Throughout the race, seven different drivers took the lead in the Food City 500.

On the backstretch of lap 217, Brad Keselowski drives under Brian Vickers to take the lead. Brad won the last race at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2011. In the second half of Sunday’s Sprint Cup Race at Bristol, he showed his last win was no fluke as he led 194 of the final 238 laps. In the final laps, Matt Kenseth put pressure on Brad, but did not have the power or chance to get around him. Brad won the race with Matt in second, Martin Trues Jr. third and Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers rounding out the top five respectively. See the complete race results here.

Greg Biffle had finished third in the first three races of the season, putting him at the top of the Sprint Cup points standings headed into the Food City 500. He qualified on the pole for the start of the NASCAR race at Bristol, making many think he might be able to win the race instead of coming in third this time. Greg’s day in “Thunder Valley” wasn’t as good as he had hoped, finishing thirteenth after starting first. The good news for Greg was that was enough for him to retain the Sprint Cup points lead after the race. Kevin Harvick held on to the second place in points while Matt Kenseth moved up two spots to third. Martin Truex Jr. jumped up four spots in the Sprint Cup points standings to fourth with Denny Hamlin falling two spots to round out the top five. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings here.

So far in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup series, the drivers have raced on the big track of Daytona, Phoenix and Las Vegas and the short track of Bristol. For race number five of the season, the top drivers will put their skills to the test on the third style of track on the circuit, the road course.

The next stop for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series is Fontana, California and the Auto Club Speedway road course. The drivers will have to turn both left AND right Sunday, March 25th in the Auto Club 400. You can catch all the action live starting at 1:30 p.m. central time on our sister station WJBC FM, 93.7.

Country Financial’s ‘Trips And Picks‘ concert series brought Trace Adkins ‘Songs And Stories’ tour to the Peoria Civic Center Saturday night, March 10, 2012.

The theater was full on all levels by people ready to listen to the stories and enjoy the great music that Trace Adkins was ready to share. I was in the audience and ready to listen, but unfortunately not ready to take pictures. I had left home without bringing my camera along.

Luckily for us all, B104 listeners Rodney and Jessica Embrey remembered to bring their camera. The Embreys were just a couple of the many winners of tickets to the concert from B104. Even more fortunately, they shared some of their pictures with us. Since they shared with us, we’ll share their photos with you. Enjoy!

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series battled in the desert of Nevada Sunday (3/11). In the end, defending Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart had the power and set up to capture his first win of the season in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In 2011, Tony dominated the Kobalt Tools 400, but lost the race due to a late race pit decision. Las Vegas Motor Speedway was one of a just a few tracks on the circuit that the drive known as “Smoke” had not claimed a victory.

When the green flag dropped to start the race, the crowd went wild as the sports most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. rocketed into the lead. Dale had a very strong car and ran well as he lead the vast majority of the first 100 laps of the race. He didn’t communicate with his pit well enough to keep the car running as strong all race as the track conditions changed resulting in a tenth place finish.

Eleven different drivers lead at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday, with Tony Stewart taking the point and dominating the second half of the Kobalt Tools 400. He lead all but seven of the final 137 laps of the race.

As the Sprint Cup race was nearing its end with Tony leading the way, one couldn’t help wondering if NASCAR history would repeat itself and Tony would let a win slip away. The Kobalt Tools 400 had a few caution periods setting up the possibility of a mistake to be made by Tony or his crew to one again leave him wondering how he lost the race. However, this year there would be no bad calls in the pits or mistakes by his crew or Tony. With each restart, it was as if Tony was shot out of a cannon to jump out to the lead.

Jimmie Johnson managed to get to Tony’s rear bumper a few times in the final laps, but he could not find a way to pass him. When the checkered flag flew, it was Tony Stewart streaking under it first to make his first ever trip to Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Jimmie grabbed second place in the Kobalt Tools 400 with Greg Biffle finishing third. Tony’s teammate Ryan Newman came across the line fourth with the 2011 Kobalt Tools 400 winner Carl Edwards rounding out the top five this year. See the complete race results here.

There have now been three races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series in the 2012 season. Greg Biffle has finished third in all three races. This is where “NASCAR math” overrides what you learned in school; three times three in this case equals one. With his third straight third place finish, Greg moves up to the number one spot in the Sprint Cup points standings. Kevin Harvick moves up to second place in the points while Denny Hamlin falls from the lead to third place. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth swaps spots in the points with Dale moving up to forth and Matt slipping back to round out the top five. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings here.

This weekend, the Sprint Cup drivers get the chance to beat and bang on each other as NASCAR heads to the short track of Bristol Motor Speedway. You can catch all the excitement of the Food City 500 live on our sister station WJBC FM, 93.7, starting at 11:30 a.m. central time Sunday, March 18th.

Saturday, February 04, 2012 Jason Aldean brought his ‘My Kinda Party Tour’ 2012 to U of I Assembly Hall in Champaign, Illinois. Jason brought special guests Luke Bryan and Lauren Alaina to the party with him.

American Idol runner up Lauren Alaina got the party started on the Assembly Hall Stage. She did an excellent job in getting the crowd warmed up for what would be a great night of music.

Luke Bryan took over next on the stage in Champaign. The ‘Country Girl (Shake It For Me)’ got all the ladies doing just that! By the time his time performing was over, the entire Assembly Hall was feeling his song ‘I Don’t Want This Night To End’.

Finally the host of the ‘My Kinda Party Tour’ came out and the energy level went through the roof! From the moment Jason Aldean appeared on the stage you could tell that this is what everybody came out to see. Jason moved to the back of the floor area and brought Luke back out for a two man acoustic set with his fellow Georgian. He also had Lauren come back out and performed ‘Don’t You Wanna Stay’ with her, the number one song he recorded with Kelly Clarkson and received awards for.

Finally Jason simply did what he does best, showed off his country-rocker style on hit after hit right up to the encore performances of ‘Dirt Road Anthem’ and ‘Hicktown’. It was an amazing concert from beginning to end.

Kathy wanted to share her experience for those of you that were not as fortunate to go to the show. Enjoy these photos of Lady Antebellum from Kathy’s perspective.

Sunday, January 29th, Lady Antebellum brought their ‘Own The Night Tour’ 2012 to US Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, Illinois. Here are our photos from the incredible sold out concert.

Thompson Square got things started with Darius Rucker taking over on the US Coliseum stage next. Finally, Lady Antebellum took the stage and brought the sold out crowd in Bloomington to their feet to round out a night of amazing  music and performances.

Thank you to Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker and Thompson Square for a great concert!

Laura McGee checked in after the Rascal Flatts show last Friday night to share her experience as the Rascal Flatts ‘Night Out’ winner. Laura took her daughter Marissa and she said she was able to enjoy a concert like never before.

Because Laura was the Rascal Flats ‘Night Out’ winner she enjoyed front row seats, meet and greet passes and dinner for two at Biaggi’s. Laura captured part of her night for us to enjoy.