HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and is ready to start the 2010 NASCAR race season! I can't believe it, but Daytona is only about six weeks away and I can already sense the excitement!
A few story lines took place from the last time I wrote on my blog. First of all, Danica Patrick made it official by signing with JR Motorsports to run a limited Nationwide series schedule in 2010. She is making her stockcar debut in the ARCA race at Daytona next month. It sounds like she will officially start a Nationwide race in California, the weekend after Daytona. I am excited for her, but as I said in my previous blogs, she certainly has her work cut out for her. I have been following her on Twitter, and she is really excited to get started on her new venture. I know that she probably has high expectations for herself. but I think she has to think realisticly and just try to finish all the races she starts in and get that valuable seat time. Good luck Danica! Second, NASCAR changed the format for the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. The field will consist of the twelve 2009 Chase drivers, past Sprint Cup series champions, past Budweiser Shootout winners, past Daytona points race winners, and the reigning rookie of the year in the Sprint Cup series. Now, I am not going to say anything other than it's certainly better than how they did things last year, which was to take the top six points finishers from each manufacturer. But, I will say that a certain someone was not in the Shootout last year, and this year he will be. I'm sure that will make a lot of fans happy! And last, Richard Childress Racing lost one of their own on Christmas night. DJ Richardson died from complications of the H1N1 virus at the age of 37. He was the rear tire changer for the #29 car of Kevin Harvick. My condolences go out to his entire family.
As we start out this new year, I can't help but think about how great 2009 was. We saw history made at the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. Jimmy Johnson won four consecutive championships, and Hendrick Motorsports finished 1-2-3 in the points, something no other team has ever done in NASCAR history. It certainly was an exciting year and I can't help but think that 2010 is going to be even better yet! I would love to hear what your favorite moment was for 2009 and who you think can win the Sprint Cup Series Championship this year. I don't know if I want to predict the winner, since I didn't do a very good job of picking last year's winner. If you remember, my pick was Tony Stewart. Of course, I will be pulling for my favorite driver, Denny Hamlin who finished the 2009 season very strong, including a win at the last race of the year. Whoever it will be, there's sure to be alot of drama and excitement by the time we get to Homestead-Miami. Good luck to all the drivers this year!
Lastly, I would like to tell all of my fans and followers that if anyone is looking to go to the Great American race, the Daytona 500, you can go to Lynch Tours & More's new and improved website at http://www.racetour.com/ and check out our prices for this race. We are still in the construction phase, but we do have a list of all the races Lynch Tours will be attending this year, and pricing for the entire 2010 schedule will be listed very soon.
Thanks again for making my first year blogging a great one! I hope I can continue to give you my opinion about NASCAR racing in 2010 and make it entertaining at the same time.
As always, I'll see you at the races!
