Hey everyone! It’s about time right? Well since your dutiful reporter was last here, I have made my way to a different state and a new home etc…. So please forgive the lack of offseason coverage. After all, I ain’t gettin’ paid. Hehe. So here we are at The 2010 Daytona 500!! This of course means new beginnings for everyone not named Jimmie Johnson. Can Denny Hamlin or Juan Pablo Montoya take that next step to become a legitimate threat every week? Are Jeff Gordon’s best days behind him? Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. justify the hype? Lots of questions to be answered. Of course, I already know all the answers but telling you now would ruin a whole years worth of blog posts.We’ll have the Predictions and Mojo rankings and Trivia and Polls just like last year starting after the first race, and there may be some new features in the hopper. RaceMonkey isn’t even a whole year old yet and its off to a pretty good start. So WELCOME BACK!!!!

I’ve been in a huge rush these last few weeks changing cities 1000 miles from each other and emptying a house in only 3 weeks. So I’ve been a little busy. That said, I wanted to say my congrats on an amazing feat never before accomplished in racing. Four straight championships. Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster. That’s so incredibly amazing. After the move is complete I’ll have more time to update regularly like I used to. Unfortunately all this coincided with The Chase – which made for a bad ending to RaceMonkey’s first season. C’est La Vie, there’s all ways next year, right Mark Martin?

You know, Nascar has taken a lot of heat lately for the quality of its product. Some of it deserved, some of it not. I was thinking that since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, as well as the the last race of the season, that I might list some of the things about Nascar that I’m thankful for, and in the process remind us all why we’re fans in the first place. I might have forgotten a few, so if there’s something missing feel free to let me know!

1. Cool paint schemes – Nascar has lots of really cool paint schemes and when compared to most retro uniforms for other sports, the paint schemes win hands down every time.

2. Mother’s Day – I love that Nascar always has the moms of the drivers giving the command to start engines on Mother’s Day. It’s a nice touch.

3. Access – Where else can you tune a radio, and these days a phone, and hear exactly what a driver is saying live during a race! I mean seriously, how cool is that? Cursing and all! Complete unfiltered access.

4. Driver commercials – Although they’ve fallen off a little bit this year, the commercials featuring drivers tend to be the funniest ones on during a race. Who can forget Mark Martin, “Fernando, you’re on”. That spot was hilarious! Or when Dale Jr was backseat driving and his Dad said, “I can’t hear you, those 7 Winston Cup Championships are clogging my ears? Or Dale Jarret racing the truck? Great stuff.

5. Talent – It took Juan Pablo Montoya three years to catch up to what these guys are doing day in and day out. Sam Hornish Jr. still isn’t there. Say what you will, but these guys are some of the most talented drivers in the world.

6. Robbie Gordon – Here’s a dude that owns his own car and brings it to the track and qualifies it. Every weekend. Sure he’s not that competitive, but to be able to do that at this level is pretty amazing. I like that.

7. Mark Martin – I like that Nascar is a sport where you’re not done by the time you’re 35. Everyone making a big deal out of Favre should look at what Mark has done this year. You don’t see that in any other sport. Jimmy Conners isn’t gonna come out and whip up on Roger Federer, but Martin is showing kids how it’s done.

8. Unpredictability – I love that every race has the potential for about 25 different winners. Sure it would be nice if all 43 had a realistic chance, but reality has to step in somewhere. Keselowski, Reutimann, Vickers and Logano are all unlikely race winners, but win they did in 2009.

Not really gonna bother. I predict it will be a wreckfest and the winner will be the SOB with the most horseshoes up his but that day. There. My disdain for restrictor plates may be showing. A little.

Twelve wins in two seasons. Kyle Petty only had eight in his entire career. Sterling Marlin had ten. And it’s not good enough. When Kyle Busch missed The Chase this year after winning four races, it wasn’t long before the rumors started that Steve Addington would be out. And so it is. Expectations are high for this team because they know how talented Kyle is. They also know that unless you’re winning and running up front pretty much every race, Jimmie Johnson is gonna win the NEXT three championships in a row. So I understand the thought process behind it. My only concern is that crew chief swaps rarely work in the long run. To use Hendrick as an example, Jimmie Johnson has only had 1 crew chief his entire career. Jeff Gordon has not changed a crew chief unless the previous one left crew chiefing altogether. A true rapport does not develop overnight. Will Dave Rogers be the answer? Will the lag time in communication be short enough to overcome in one season? Joe Gibbs Racing is making this move to help with that lag time, but it’s still only a few races before Daytona. Maybe JGR is realizing what the rest of us don’t, that no one can beat the 48 team being merely excellent. You have to be legendary. And that is how high the stakes are these days.

Ok, so now it’s known that I don’t think that JJ is going to win the Chase. So this week is where the downfall begins. Now don’t get me wrong, he won’t fall far. He’ll get into some trouble and fight back valiantly, but he’ll still only finish 13th. Mark Martin, who hates Martinsville will none the less finish with a solid 4th place finish. Juan Pablo will do OK at 9th, but that won’t be enough to really make up any ground. Now as for Jeff Gordon, winning will be a huge step towards getting back in the thick of things, with Kurt Busch right behind him. Michael Waltrip will at some point cause a 4 car wreck that will bring out the red flag. I’m guessing around lap 206. If you checked this site yesterday, I had predictions up for the Talladega race. Duh. I’m just not with it lately. I’ve been distracted.

Is it too early to be thinking about next year? I mean, sure it’s technically possible that Jimmie Johnson could lose his entire chase lead in one race. But I think I can count on one hand the number of people who believe that will happen. If the 48 can make it through Talladega unscathed, and I’m betting they will, then it’s pretty much smooth sailing right? Everybody, including myself is ready to hand over the trophy to Jimmie after only 5 races. Halfway! Go Jimmie! Seriously. It’s over.

Not so fast.

Anyone remember the 2007 New England Patriots? 19-0? Or do you remember them the way I do? 19-1? The biggest “1″ in NFL history. Or how about Davey Allison in 1992? or Mark Martin in 1990? It’s not over folks. And I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that not only is it not over, but that Jimmie Johnson will NOT be your 2009 Nascar Champion. I’m not going to say who it is, because the whole point here is that we are only halfway through the chase. I don’t know who it will be, but my money is not on Jimmie Johnson. So the 48 has a lead after 5 races of 90 points. That can be erased in one bad race. And not even a bad race – a David Stremme blown tire while accidentally driving next to you race. So while I’m guilty in some regards of wanting to just hand the trophy over (after all the 48 is scary good, and in the chase – legendary good) , we can’t do that. And we shouldn’t. Let the chase play out until the last race. After all, the whole point of the chase is to build excitement. So if your driver is within striking distance of 2nd or 3rd, don’t give up hope. If you’re a Brian Vickers fan, well, hey! You made The Chase!