Hendrick Motors Taking Off Where They Left Off

Well after this weekend Hendrick Motorsports seems to be taking up right where they left off last year. With Junior winning the Bud Shootout and Jimmy Johnson winning the pole position for the Daytona 500, HMS looks like they are going to dominate just like they did last year. Although Tony Stewart did give Junior a run for his money in the Shootout in his Toyota, it was still all about teamwork with Jimmie Johnson giving Junior the push that he needed to get around Stewart and to win the race.
Toyota does seem to be doing better this year than it did last year with Michael Waltrip qualifying for the outside of the front row. Can this manufacturer actually beat HMS in the Great American Race? Right now, HMS seems unbeatable because the whole team works together. That is what a team is supposed to do, racing is a odd sport that way, you have a team but you are also an individual racing. HMS seems to know how to keep everything in perspective and work together when they need to and still win the races. That is the whole idea of working as a team. Other teams should follow their example and they would probably be more sucessful.
Now we can look forward to the Gatorade Duel Races on Thursday and then the big race on Sunday. I don't know about you but I can't wait to see who will win.

Testing At Vegas and California

So far testing seems to be going better at Vegas and California than it did at Daytona. The kinks seem to be working themselves out and everyone seems to be getting more speed out of their cars. I don't know about anyone else but I get more anxious every day for the racing season to start. I look forward to Feb. 14th for the Gatorade Duels because then I know that the Daytona 500 is just 3 days away. The excitement is in the air I am really looking forward to this season.

PRESEASON THUNDER

According to the drivers the track is bumpy, no not bumpy but the new car design makes it hard to draft, or maybe it's just getting back into the cars again. But all in all the drivers are back in their cars again and that is what counts.
When looking at the stats you see a trend that is hauntingly familiar, there are a lot of Chevy's at the top of the leaderboards. But much to my surprise Toyota had some top spots also (the cars of Joe Gibbs Racing did best).
Chevy has long dominated as top manufacturer with the most wins for the last several seasons. It looks like JR Motorsports is going to have a good year with driver Brad Keselowski putting both of his cars in the top ten.
All in all this is looking like it is going to be a great NASCAR season with a lot of competition. Will Kevin Harvick be able to repeat his heart stopping win from last year? Will Junior win his second 500? Could one of the Toyota driver's win? Stay tuned to find out.

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.