We're still a few months away from learning who the first five inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be, giving us a little time to banter back and forth about who should be in that critical first class.
I'm curious to see how everything plays out with the criteria for induction. With three premier but separate series – the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – how do you arrive at the finalists given the dominant success several drivers have enjoyed across the three different divisions?
But for most Americans, NASCAR's green flag really dropped 30 years ago in the 1979 Daytona 500 when television carried flag-to-flag coverage of the sport's biggest race for the first time.
It was a dramatic finish -- Richard Petty edging Darrell Waltrip with the great Indy car champion A.J. Foyt keeping them honest. But it was "The Fight" going on in the infield after the race that captured the country's attention.
Here's what everyone will be talking about as the NASCAR haulers roll into Daytona International Speedway next month for the start of one the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.
The last time backstretch tickets to the Daytona 500 were this cheap, Sterling Marlin pulled into Daytona victory lane to collect his second consecutive 500 trophy and a young Jeff Gordon went on to finish the season 34 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt to claim his first Winston Cup championship.
That was 14 years ago and America's interest in NASCAR was just being piqued. Corporate America was figuring out the sport's massive potential. Drivers were accessible, candid, genuinely grateful for any media coverage they could generate and still a bit surprised to be recognized by fans West of the Mississippi or north of the Mason Dixon.
Here's what everyone will be talking aboutas the NASCAR haulers roll into Daytona International Speedway next month for the start of one the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.
Only a few years ago I was writing about Jeff Gordon eclipsing the seven Cup championships earned by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. All the statistics indicated he was on pace to become NASCAR's greatest champ. I was totally convinced we would witness a historic eighth.
Here's what everyone will be talking about as the NASCAR haulers roll into Daytona International Speedway next month for the start of one the most unpredictable seasons in recent memory.
Especially early on, one of the most intriguing storylines of the season will be the success of the mega-mergers.
Will we see Kumbaya moments or power-plays as some of the biggest names and egos in the sport join hands hoping there's strength in numbers?
Over the course of the past 24 hours, word has come out that one of the newer faces to the NASCAR garage area will be changing gears in how he works with the sport.
Max Siegel, hired on as the company president at the then-Dale Earnhardt Inc. in Febuary of 2007, will now lead NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program in addition to returning to an Indianapolis law firm to specialize in sports and entertainment.
The move was predicated by DEI's merger with Chip Ganassi Racing in November that diminshed the need for Siegel's efforts at the newly-named Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing. Prior to the merger, Siegel was the highest-ranking African-American executive in the NASCAR garage.
Recently, Wrangler Jeans was kind enough to invite FanHouse down to Charlotte to interview Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and -- I kid you not -- ride a couple laps in the 88 car. (Watch the full video of Will Brinson's ride with Dale Jr.) What follows is the conversation between Junior and myself about Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson's dominance and how Amp is secretly a better post race drink than Budweiser. Will Brinson: Thanks for having us down here to hang out, ride around in cars, and get our NASCAR feet wet.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.: Yeah, man, good to have you.
WB:I want to talk about the Sprint Cup for just a second. Jimmie [Johnson] is locked up, right? He's got his third straight title? What are your thoughts on that?
DE: Yeah, I think Jimmie's on record to set a new record, even to write history. I said to him the other day, "Man you're writing history". And I'm happy for him, he's a great guy ... I say to him all the time: "If people only knew who you are ...". But I think people do know Jimmie is and know he's a good guy. But man, he really deserves it; he works the hardest of any driver I know to stay in shape, to understand what's going on out there and to be ready do his job every Sunday. They're hard to beat man, and they earned it.
NASCAR's two biggest names -- Earnhardt and Petty -- might fall under the same banner in the near future in the latest sign of how NASCAR's middle-of-the-road teams are struggling to keep pace with multi-car and mega-supported teams in the Sprint Cup Series.
While Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty never were true rivals on-track, the competition between each drivers' stats always persisted. Earnhardt never matched Petty's incredible 200-win total, but in 1992, he reached seven championships in NASCAR's top division to tie "The King".
"I think in this time, in this sport, anybody running from one team to three teams is talking to somebody, and anybody with four teams is trying to get to eight teams," said Loomis, vice president of race operations for Petty Enterprises.
Loomis likened it to what has been taking place throughout the financial world in recent weeks. Organizations such as Petty Enterprises and DEI, which are short on sponsorship dollar commitments for next season, are trying to align themselves with larger companies that are on more solid financial ground.
The Sprint All-Star Race XXIV is scheduled for Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway. As the teams prepare for the winner-take-all non-points event, stay with the FanHouse all week for plenty of All-Star coverage.
Buddy Baker in the TV booth sure summed up Davey Allison's win in the 1992 edition of The Winston by saying "he won the race, but sure paid the price." Indeed, he did.
Watch below as Allison battles Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the final lap.
Heading to the white flag, Earnhardt was leading in the first event at the then-Charlotte Motor Speedway to be run under the lights. Earnhardt led until Petty mounted a charge down the backstretch and got to his rear bumper in Turn 3.
Until recently, I don't imagine Martin ever thought he'd ever be driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. I sure didn't. And I certainly never thought he'd be driving for DEI in the Craftsman Truck Series, but that's what they reported tonight on "NASCAR Now" tonight.
After confirming the uncertainty of Regan Smith's future, it was mentioned that DEI will run two Busch teams and possibly a truck team with Martin behind the wheel. No idea if that means that DEI is acquiring the Ginn truck that Smith is racing this weekend at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
I do believe that this is Martin's dream situation--to be able to run a full-time season in the truck series--for the "fun" of it--as well as a part-time Cup season--for the cash.
Whatever else he was thinking about the "merger," Martin had to have been thrilled with this development. Speaking of Martin's thoughts... I've been dying to hear them. He has been outspoken about his confidence in Ginn, but I have to wonder if the firing of three drivers, two veterans like himself and a rookie he personally mentored, wrenched his gut a little.
We're still a few months away from learning who the first five inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be, giving us a little time to banter back and forth about who should be in that critical first class.
Over the course of the past 24 hours, word has come out that one of the newer faces to the NASCAR garage area will be changing gears in how he works with the sport.
NASCAR's two biggest names -- Earnhardt and Petty -- might fall under the same banner in the near future in the latest sign of how NASCAR's middle-of-the-road teams are struggling to keep pace with multi-car and mega-supported teams in the 
Until recently, I don't imagine Martin ever thought he'd ever be driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. I sure didn't. And I certainly never thought he'd be driving for DEI in the Craftsman Truck Series, but that's what they reported tonight on "NASCAR Now" tonight.
