The newly named Nationwide Series will replace the Busch Series as Busch is leaving and they must carve their own identity into the sport which will be tough that is for sure. When your around a very long time and association with the sport than it’s made much easier. Being an Insurance company will make it a tougher sell for Nationwide in my opinion. More people for some reason related to products that they enjoy. I don’t know to many people who enjoy paying insurance.

Either way though it will be a tough road to go down. Changing rules will be something that needs to be done and for Nationwide they were tossed a ball that the Busch Series didn’t want to tackle and that was Cup drivers in the series. No matter what Nationwide does it will take them a number of years to get the following that Busch has, but it’s not impossible. Nascar fans love their racing and will accept nationwide with open arms as long as the love is given back in good racing with limited rule changes.

Robby Gordon couldn’t even tell you how much it pays to win if it even pays at all. This is how important the Dakar rally is to him. Drivers come everywhere to win this race of endurance where you race in all kinds of terrain and only the best equipment and the strongest survive this test. Gordon is one who loves this kind of racing and would love to add this race to his collection.

The toughest part about this race is you can break down at anytime and for Gordon it usually has been the wrong time. It doesn’t damper his excitement when he talks about winning the Dakar Rally or even the dangers that lie when you run this race. He just loves it and I can’t imagine the excitement if he ever won it.

Today we are starting our series of some of Nascar’s drivers that many people may not have heard of. Today the spotlight will fall on a guy name Rex White. White started his career in 1956 and ended in 1964. During his run he won a Nascar Grand Nation Championship in 1960 and tallied 28 wins, 36 poles and 163 Top Tens.

White was also named one of Nascar’s 50 greatest drivers. Rex White check from the Grand National Championship was 13,000 while Jimmy Johnson got over 15 million dollars. White isn’t remembered by many fans as the flashiest driver, but ask his competitors and they will tell you no one could set up a car better for a race than White. He is the man that basically put Chevrolet racing on the map and will forever be remembered for that. Rex White one of Nascar’s 50 best!

Bobby Hamilton Jr have a very rough year in 2007 losing his dad to cancer and also wondering if he would even have a ride. The worry about a ride looks like it will be hammered out for at least 30 races so he will have that to look forward too. Losing your dad is tough especially a dad who was as popular as he was.

Hamilton Jr will have one saving grace though that will make him proud his dad’s fans will probably now root for him even more to win some Busch races which has to delight him. Even though his dad isn’t here a part will always be here as his fans will never leave him. Nascar fans are the best and I’m sure Bobby Hamilton Jr will find that out this year.

Way back when Nascar drivers used to race for 10 dollars and a 12 pack of beer, now they have million dollar contracts and motor homes and jets to go from city to city. This is how big Nascar has become and continues to be. Most people never realize how little some of the earliest drivers got paid, but they did it because they loved to drive. Some of these drivers no one will ever remember but they help shape the sport of today.

Drivers like Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, and Ricky Rudd understands what these drivers did for them and you could ask each one and they would tell you a different story about how they watched them as they grew up and turn their life into racing. More than not though these older drivers are forgotten and that is a shame. Were going to change that. We will start to profile some of these drivers right here so people can better see who paved the way for today’s drivers to make those million dollar contracts. it will be fun. Merry Christmas everyone!

Looks like Kasey Kahne will be heading to court after all for the allege shoving incident of a security guard at Homestead Speedway in Miami. The court date is set for Jan 8, 2008 and he is being charged with misdemeanor battery which carries a 1,000 dollar fine and a year in jail. Gillette Evernham Motorsports supports their driver in this case and feel the truth will come out in the end.

Things like this happen and it makes no real sense I guess depending on how you look at it. It will be interesting though to see how this all plays out inside the courtroom. If I know one thing about the court system you can never tell what will happen that’s for sure.

Remember weeks ago when Kasey Kahne got into an altercation with a security guard and reportly pushed him down. Well the investigation isn’t complete, but the security guard is filing a lawsuit against Kahne claiming distress over the incident and citing all the bad press he has taken for doing his job properly.

According to the lawsuit web blogs have been writing on the incident and he has taken mental anguish from this incident and the blogs are just another part of it. Most of these are fans blogs and in my mind this is plain stupid, but in America people will sue and that is what he is doing. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.

Well with Christmas coming up I figured I’d make a list for things I want from Nascar that way they can get things right next year. Of course we know it will never happen, but let’s have fun with it anyway’s.

• Please Nascar can we actually show all the drivers and how they are doing. Sure the popular drivers are great, but you have fans of other drivers that aren’t in the Top 20. They are loyal fans too.
• How about getting a retired Series going with limited racing sorta like the IROC. I think it would be a hit and you could do it before the Nascar race. People would love it.
• Change your qualifying rules where if you wreck in happy Hour and it’s not your fault you go back to the back of the field. That isn’t fair.
• Let’s not forget the older drivers or the ones who don’t always finish in the top 20. We need to show support all drivers.

Do you realize that if this point system in place Jeff Gordon would have had another trophy on his mantle right now and maybe even two more depending how you look at it. Gordon who was the runaway points leader until the chase started and if no chase he easily would have won. Here’s the basic problem with the Chase and I will use Jeff Gordon as an example. Gordon was leading by a comfortable margin and once the chase started it was gone. Sure he made it into the chase, but in reality what did all those extra points do him. nothing really and their lies the problem with the chase.

Drivers aren’t rewarded for consistently or doing well it’s a point system that has flaws in it and will continue. In fact I’m sure someone crunches the numbers and has it figured out where they can run every race all year until the chase to make it. This is how many this system is. You watch people are going to beat they system time and time again. We need to change it and soon.

This really doesn’t come much of surprise to me as Sears will be pulling out as title sponsor in 2008 of the Craftsman Truck Series that they help start. This really shouldn’t come much of a shock to anyone. Nascar doesn’t really pomote this area of racing that much so it makes perfect sense for them to pull out.

Look recently at all the sponsors that have pulled away from Nascar and you will see their has to be a reason behind it. If companies are getting go mileage from it they don’t leave. This means their not and thus they are saying goodbye. It’s a shame that Nascar don’t get it and keep losing great sponsors.