NASCAR IS BACK

It is that time of year again. You can feel, hear and smell it, the burning rubber, the flowing gas and the roaring engines. The NASCAR season is about to begin again. Speed week is almost upon us and then it will be time for the big race, the granddaddy of them all, the Daytona 500. This will be the 50th running of the race which makes this year all the more special.
Alot of changes have happened in NASCAR since the end of the season last year. We now have Indy drivers coming in leaps and bounds to our sport. It started with Juan Pablo Montoya and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. This year we have two Indy 500 winners joining our ranks with Scott Pruett and Dario Franchitti coming over. With all these drivers coming to NASCAR will the IRL be able to survive?
Probably the biggest change this season will be that Junior will no longer be driving for his father's company. I don't know about the rest of you but it is going to be weird to see Junior driving anything but the red #8 with Budweiser on it. Speaking of Bud, Kasey Kahne the #9 driver will be driving for the Bud sponsor from now on.
It is my understanding that both Mark Martin and Dale Jarrett will be driving a limited schedule. Both of these drivers are the most professional drivers I have ever seen in this sport and they will be truly missed when they fully retire.
Well we have a whole season to look forward to and a lot of questions that need to be answered. Will Hendrick Motorsports dominate again this year like they have in the past few years? How will Gibbs Racing do with Toyota? Can Rousch Racing keep up the pace they have maintained? Will RCR compete as well as they did last year? And finally can Martin Truex Jr fill the shoes that were left by Junior at DEI? Only time will tell.