I don't have too much to say about the race, to be honest. Other than, the last time I checked, they have lights at Daytona International Speedway. What a major disappointment. I don't think they even waited a half an hour before calling the race. What gives?

Am I the only one to feel this way?

I guess high fives go to Matt Kenseth, who was in the right place at the right time to get the victory. So congrats to Kenseth.

I attended two 500 parties on Sunday. The first part of the race I went to son of racefan's house. Fun times. Thank you for the invitation. It was a pleasure to meet you and racefan at last. (They are big contributors to this blog.) I pretty much announced that I would stay until Joey Logano crashed. So when he did, I departed and went on my way to the second 500 party at a friend's house.

Rookie Watch: I mentioned it above but Logano did crash. He finished in last place. Scott Speed finished in 35th place. Both were involved in wrecks.

Here's hoping the race at Fontana this weekend doesn't get cut short due to rain.

Congratulations to both Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch for their victories yesterday in the Gatorade Duels. The field is now set for the Daytona 500 and here's the lineup.

Rookie Watch: I was impressed with Joey Logano yesterday. He raced in the first Duel and finished fourth. He ran in the back for most of the race but he got a bit racey towards the end of the race and kept his nose clean. Not so lucky was Scott Speed in the second Duel who got hit by Boris Said on lap 14. Said had a tire go down. He had hit the wall a lap or two earlier which likely was what caused the tire to go down. Speed ended the race in 25th position.

The transfer spots went to Scott Riggs and Tony Stewart in the first Duel. In the second Duel the transfer spots went to Jeremy Mayfield and AJ Allmendinger. Mayfield was stout all day. I was quite impressed. I wasn't expecting that from him.

The cars that made the Daytona 500 on speed were Bill Elliott, Travis Kvapil and Regan Smith. Terry Labonte takes the champion's provisional.

I can't wait until Sunday. I typically attend some sort of Daytona 500 party which is always fun. How about you?

My pick for Sunday is Mark Martin. Who do you think will win?

The Gatorade Duel 150 Qualifying Races are today at 2 pm on SPEED. I set the DVR to record these so I can watch them tonight. I really dislike that they are aired in the middle of the week in the middle of the day. Oh well, it is what it is.

Let's see if I can get this straight. I find it all very confusing to be honest. Martin Truex Jr., pole sitter, Mark Martin, outside pole winner plus 33 drivers are already locked in for finishing in the top 35 in owners points in 2008.

Four drivers that are also locked in but did not finish in the top 35 in owners points last year are: Bill Elliott, Travis Kvapil, Tony Stewart and Terry Labonte. If these four drivers race their way into a transfer spot in today's Duels, four drivers would get in on their qualifying speed. They are Regan Smith, Joe Nemechek, Boris Said and Scott Riggs. If they do not race their way in, then the fastest drivers not already in, would get the spot (certainly correct me if I'm wrong).

The 17 drivers that are not locked in by a top 35 in owner's points standings are:

1. Joe Nemechek
2. Scott Riggs
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kirk Shelmerdine
5. Tony Raines
6. Mike Skinner
7. Carl Long
8. Regan Smith
9. Boris Said
10. AJ Allmendinger
11. Jeremy Mayfield
12. Mike Wallace
13. Mike Garvey
14. Derrike Cope
15. Kelly Bires
16. Geoff Bodine
17. Norm Benning

Here's the lineup for Gatorade Duel 1 and here's the Gatorade Duel 2 lineup.

(Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

What a great Bud Shootout. It was nice to sit down and watch some racing again. I was rooting for Jamie McMurray towards the end of that race but was A-OK with Kevin Harvick taking the checkers. Congrats to Harvick!

All the cars looked extremely loose all night. Once that first caution happened, they just kept coming. It was a wreckfest. Couldn't help but feel bad for both rookies, Joey Logano and Scott Speed, who were only able to stay in the race for about four laps. During the first caution, Logano went down on the apron to stay clear of hitting anyone when Scott Speed ran right into him, ruining both their nights.

NASCAR penalized Logano for not making the drivers' meeting for the Bud Shootout. The penalty was to start at the rear of the field. Logano was held up in the ARCA race that ran right before the Shootout. There were so many delays during that race from so many cautions, including a red flag condition at one point that lasted about a half an hour. Bad deal for Logano.

Here's the NASCAR Newscast: Budweiser Shootout and Daytona 500 Pole Day:

Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. for winning the pole for the Daytona 500. Kudos also go out to Mark Martin for attaining the outside pole position. I really like seeing Martin do well. I think he's going to have a stellar year.

What did you think of the racing this weekend?

The media is picking Carl Edwards to take the championship this year in a preseason NASCAR media poll, putting a stop to a possible 4-in-a-row for Jimmie Johnson. The vote wasn't even close with Edwards getting 70 votes to Johnson's 37. The media's pick for the rest of the top-12 lineup looks like this:

1. Carl Edwards
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Kyle Busch
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6. Greg Biffle
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Mark Martin
9. Jeff Burton
10. Matt Kenseth
11. Denny Hamlin
12. Tony Stewart

While I agree with most of the above, there's someone clearly left off the list. Clint Bowyer. My picks would look a whole lot like this list but instead of Stewart in the top-twelve, I would go with Bowyer.

In the rookie of the year vote, Joey Logano came in first with 52% of the votes with Scott Speed coming in second with 44%. I'm going with Speed for Rookie of the Year.

Do you agree with the media's assessment?

Only nine short days until the Daytona 500.

First practice for the Bud Shootout starts today at 4:15. Here's the rest of the broadcast schedule for the weekend. Happy racing folks!

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.

This is getting old...

Congrats to Kyle Busch for yet another victory.

I was away camping last weekend and had to settle for listening to the race on MRN. They make it sounds so exciting when you listen to it. I fell asleep before the end of the race though.

After we got settled back at home yesterday, I watched the race. (I set the DVR to tape it) Here are some other random thoughts that ran through my head during the race.

-- That was one of the best sung National Anthems yet. It was a group that I had never heard of, Lady Antebellum, that sang it. Have you heard of them before Saturday night's race?

-- I liked how the majority of the commercials during the race on TNT were aired in the lower right corner of the television. While the commercial was a bit distracting from the race, it was nice to be able to watch the race in the background.

-- Dale Earnhardt Jr., my pick for the race, finished eighth. He had a strong car all night long.

-- How could you not feel bad for Tony Stewart? He must have felt really lousy to get out of his car and not finish the race. I will say that J.J. Yeley didn't do all that bad in his car either.

-- Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart were the biggest losers in the point standings while Matt Kenseth was the biggest winner and gained four spots.

-- Not once but twice poor Jeff Burton was involved in a wreck.

-- I didn't like the paint scheme on Martin Truex's car but I loved the paint scheme on Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s.

-- According to a press release, Paul Menard's pole position was a first by a DEI driver in the Sprint Cup Series at Daytona. I did not know that. Way to go Menard!

What did you think of the race?

** Folks, I know there are major issues with posting comments on the blog. I'm sorry. This has been an issue for a long time on this blog, I know. I think we will make some traction on it though because all hands are on deck dealing with a host of problems, this one included. Please let me know if you have a problem so that I can continue to share it with the powers that be.

I appreciate your patience.

I'm sorry, folks. There have been major issues with the Web site, as I am sure you know.

Off to Daytona. I'm going with none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the win at Daytona International Speedway Saturday night. I contemplated Tony Stewart because he's not too shabby here and works well with Junior in the draft. And as you know, anything anything can happen those last few laps ...

Here's the NASCAR Newscast: Daytona Preview and broadcast schedule.

Who are you picking to win?

I'll be camping this weekend so I'll have to settle for listening to the race Saturday night, which I actually think is sometimes better than watching. I will (hopefully) be back Monday with my thoughts of the race.

Have a safe Fourth of July weekend everyone.

I watched the race at my brother and sister-in-law's house. The first part of the race was a true sleeper. In fact, I took up an offer for a game of Scrabble with the girls.

At one point during my Scrabble game, everyone started yelling "Hey! Blogger, you've got to see this..." I dodged from the kitchen table into the living room to see Jeff Gordon heading to the pits because of a suspension problem. Honestly, it put a smile on my face and I went back to my game.

I finished up my Scrabble game and headed back to the living room to watch the last 30 laps or so. I'm glad I did. There was some fantastic racing going on.

As I always do during a race, I was trash talking Kyle Busch saying he was going to do something stupid and he wasn't going to win the race, even though he had the car to beat. My brother-in-law said "Jenny, Kyle Busch is the "GOAT" of the Sprint Cup Series." Yeah, right.

Anyone that has been reading this blog knows that I really like Juan Pablo Montoya. So when he [Montoya] was the one to pull a brain-dead move by taking out another driver that I like to watch, Clint Bowyer, who happened to be going for the lead, you can imagine the verbal abuse I was taking. So here it is.... Kyle Busch might not be as much of an idiot as Juan Pablo Montoya, at least in this race.

I thought when I started watching the race that it was going to be a season of Joe Gibbs Racing vs. Hendrick Motor Sports. What a pleasant surprise to have Roger Penske and Ryan Newman receive their first victory at the Daytona 500. Newman is a class act.

First off, how absolutely ridiculous that NASCAR couldn’t find an hour after the Busch race to qualify those last 14 cars... It was completely nuts to send the pole-sitter home. For the love of all that's good in racing, this top-35 qualifying rule must go!

Oh, and did I miss something? Since when do the commercials air in the lower right-hand corner of the television during the race? I didn’t know that was going to happen. I will admit it was kind of nice to be able to see the race during commercials. Because even though they say: "If caution breaks out, we'll break in," let's face it, that doesn't always happen.

Tony Stewart – I love his passion, but sometimes…

When interviewed in the garage after the wreck, he said Denny Hamlin had “tried to crash us on Friday in practice and didn’t get it done so he finished it off (Saturday).”

So the question is….WHY DID HE DRAFT WITH HIM FOR SO MANY LAPS? I know he’s one of the most passionate drivers out there and wears his emotions on his sleeve, but he should take a little responsibility.

HE hit Hamlin. HE knew Hamlin almost wrecked him on Friday practice. Hamlin’s car wasn’t handling well.

The finish –

I am not sure what I was rooting for more…Jamie McMurray to win and break his 166-race streak, even after being black flagged for going below the yellow line, or for Kyle Busch to NOT win the race. I am not a Kyle Busch fan at all. I think he’s a putz who causes a whole lot of wrecks.

In the end, I was very pleased to see McMurray win. It was a little too close for comfort but made for some great on-the-edge-of-your-seat racing to the line. He won by only 0.005 seconds.

What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them.