18 days until the Daytona 500. I can't wait. I don't care much about all the racing in between now and then, but I guess it gives me a good excuse to get together with friends and have a few pops. I think NASCAR has tweaked the Bud Shootout so much that it left a bad taste in my mouth, so I have no desire to watch it. The new format is more about manufacturers and less about drivers. I'm looking forward to watching Dierks Bentley perform though.

It normally makes me cringe when drivers come out of "retirement" to race. Ahem, Terry Labonte. Labonte is entering the Daytona 500 for a new Cup team, Prism Motorsports, owned by Phil Parsons and Randy Humphrey. He will drive the #66 Toyota for PM. After the Daytona 500, Dave Blaney will take over the ride for the rest of year. I suppose a brand new team wants to take advantage of that past championships provisional...

I've got one thing to say to Jimmie Johnson...Didn't your mother ever teach you not to play with knives? On Monday, Johnson was using a kitchen knife to cut a hole in his fire-suit in order to feed a tube through it and he cut his middle finger pretty bad. He needed stitches and had to have a tendon and nerve repaired. He's fine to race though.

All for now...

Yesterday, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Tony Stewart would try and qualify the No. 80 Hendrick Motorsports car for the Nationwide race at Daytona. He's won this same event three times...once for Joe Gibbs (2008) and twice for Kevin Harvick (2005 and 2006).

"After winning the season-opening Nationwide Series race at Daytona three times, we're going to try and get another one, this time for Rick," said Stewart, who has seven career Nationwide Series victories. "Hopefully we can go back-to-back for a second time and put the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in Victory Lane. Rick and I have been friends for years, so it would mean a lot to me to get a win for him."

If Stewart makes the race, it would be his first appearance in a Hendrick Motorsports car. Hendrick has had three victories at Daytona in the Nationwide Series.

"Tony is one of the best drivers in the world," Hendrick said. "We know how terrific he is at Daytona, so I told the guys to build him a fast car and let him do what he does best. He's a great friend, and it's going to be fun to see him drive for Hendrick Motorsports for the first time."

Good luck Stewart.

Speaking of Stewart, this is how you know the season is just starting up:

(Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)

He is actually smiling to the media, something that you never see. We'll revisit this photo later in the year, I am sure.

All for now.

According to a press release from officials at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, ticket renewals have been completed for the June 28, LENOX Industrial Tools 301. The limited remaining tickets will go on sale Monday at 8 a.m.

NHMS is offering a payment plan for folks that are feeling an economic pinch but would still like to go to the races in June. They have rolled out a "FansFirst Four Pay" plan where you can purchase your ticket/tickets, camping spots and pre-race pit passes with 25% down. The rest of the money will be spread out over three additional payments. Nice.

Says Jerry Gappins: "Our 'FansFirst Four Pay' program is one way that we can help our fans in these challenging economic times."

I do think a payment plan will help those fans who are diehards but are feeling a crunch. Will this type of program sway you in purchasing tickets if you were undecided? Just curious.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nhms.com.

Elliot Sadler had signed an extension to his contract with Gillett Evernham Motorsports through 2010 only to hear through the grapevine that they were going to put AJ Almendinger in the No. 19 Dodge this year.

That is, until Sadler called his lawyer and was going to sue for breach of contract. So now he's staying. It's funny how those legal contracts work. So what if he hasn't done squat for GEM? A contract is a contract. That simple. Don't you think GEM should have thought about his performance before signing him on through 2010? Seriously.

Happy New Year to all of you. I hope the holidays were good for you all. It's been so long since I've written a blog that I feel a bit rusty. I just need to get back up on that horse, I guess.

The countdown has begun for the Daytona 500, 40 days to be exact. I'm getting excited. I'm so out of touch though. I've got to get familiar with racing again. When I take a break, I take a break. It's that simple.

But I'm back. I'll try to update an entry on a semi-regular basis from here on out.

Don't plan on seeing a different picture of me on this blog. I just don't want to go through it. Plus, I've grown quite accustomed to this one...although it would be quite easy for me to have a shot taken with a box of Hamburger Helper in one hand and a picture of Clint Bowyer in the other (much easier than traipsing through Portland with a life-size cardboard cutout!).

Are you in a Fantasy League? If you are, where do you go to get in one? I'm lost in that regard. Just curious what's out there.

And because this entry contains random thoughts... I was listening to Free Beer and Hot Wings talk radio this morning on the way into work as I always do and they were discussing the fight between Sharon Osbourne and Megan from Rock of Love Charm School. Producer Joe thought it was for real, the others thought it was staged. So I came into work to see for myself. What do you think?

I wouldn't mess with Sharon Osbourne. Just sayin.

If you're new to the blog, I don't really cover local racing. I only throw my thoughts out there on Sprint Cup racing and sometimes nationwide racing. If you are interested in keeping up to date with local racing here in Maine, I would highly recommend Travis Barrett's Green-White-Checker.

Anyone care to throw out any predictions for this season? Here are a few of my predictions:

-- Tony Stewart will not win as a team owner.
-- With the random drug testing that NASCAR has promised, someone will test positive for drugs. Now that I mention it, I think testing is supposed to start in the next week or so...
-- Juan Pablo Montoya is going to dominate this year. (okay, maybe not but I would love to see that)
-- Scott Speed will win Rookie of the Year.
-- I don't believe we will see much from young Joey Logano.
-- Kyle Petty will cut his hair.
-- Jeff Gordon will break his losing streak.

Would you care to share your predictions?

All for now. I'll be back at some point in the near future with another update.