Dale Earnhardt has been gone a few years now, but that does not mean his legacy or his popularity has decreased one bit. The DVD Dale that was made for television has sold over 800,000 copies and is now considered the best selling sports DVD of all-time. For many this comes as a shock, but to me it does not.

Dale was in many ways a complex man and it many ways he was not. He went all out on the track, but he also had a side that many people never got to see. He did so much charity work and helped people out. Many times he would only consent to do it if it was not made public. This was the kind of man he was. A guy who did it because he wanted to not to get some press. It is to bad we lost him as diamonds like him are hard to come by. Even today it is hard to think about what could have been if he was still alive. Him and his son together at DEI. I guess everything happens for a reason and us race fans were the lucky ones as we got to watch the No. 3 circle many tracks and garner many wins. Still the emptiness lingers for a man who still remains as popular as ever.

Tony Stewart won the nationwide Series race Monday in California and it made me think about a couple of things. First it was Tony’s second straight win and wonder if he wins a few more will anyone catch him in the point standings. Is this fair to other drivers who are trying to make the jump from the Nationwide series to the Sprint Series.

This arugment has long been a bone of contention for many years now. Should the Sprint Series driver be kept out of the Nationwide Series? Most people say yes and that maybe true, but I look at it this way. These are the same drivers they will need to beat on a regular basis when they get up to the Sprint Series. In reality they have a great chance to learn from the best and at the same time beat some of the best on the track in their series. I say keep them in it and it will make Nationwide Series drivers better.

This is probably a race that many of the Nascar drivers are glad is over with. With very limited practice time thanks to mother nature and having to race on a Monday Carl Edwards ended it with first first win of the season. With Edwards win the Roush-Fenway cars won another race ar Califorina Speedway. Jimmie Johnson finished second while Jeff Gordon finished third.

Dale Earnhardt Jr finshed 40th after being involved in an accident yesterday that was not of his making. They should have never ran the race yesterday and it was called with 87 laps done. Edwards was happy they called it though as he gets a win out of it and to him that is all that matters.

Based on owners points from last year Jimmie Johnson gets the pole at California Speedway thanks to the rain that washed out qualifying.  Jeff Gordon will start second so this really helps these two drivers who struggled at Daytona 500.

This actually hurts Ryan Newman who was hoping to come out and show he is more than just a one race winner. Newman is at a fairly decent starting position so he should do okay. The hardest part is with little practice time this means most teams will have to go on last years notes, which does not always be success.

After his big win Ryan Newman looks towards California to keep rolling along this season. most of the time though this never really happens. In California names like Stewart, Gordon, and Johnson seem to do well. Rousch cars also do well so that is another name that you will need to look out for.

Mark martin seems to do well to here and i look for him to bounce back after another disappointment at Daytona. This should be a very interesting race for a number of reasons so I guess we will have to wait and see what happens and who knows someone could shock everyone in California.

Ryan Newman has not seen the victory lane in a long time so when he crossed the finish line as the winner of the Daytona 500 you cannot blame him for being very happy. It looked like for awhile though he wasn’t going to get there. Towards the end of the race many cautions did help him out as Tony Stewart had probably the fastest car, but that does not always guarantee a win.

Newman had something that Tony did not get to use and that was a teammate. Kurt Busch was behind Ryan Newman pushing him to the victory and without Busch he would have not won. Kyle Busch Tony Stewart’s teammate was behind him but to far behind to really help him so Tony finished third and was really not very happy. That is part of racing now they head to California.

Tony Stewart took the lead late in the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway and was able to hold off friend Dale Earnhardt Jr and others to take the checkered flag and give Toyota a much needed boost considering what happened at Daytona last year for Toyota.

In my mind Stewart and Junior have to be the favorites for the Daytona 500, but my personal favorite would be mark martin. I would love to see Mark Martin win the race as he deserves to finally win here. He was so close last year and maybe this is his year you never know.

Dale Earnhardt Jr apparently likes the view from the front and the winners circle as he won the qualifying race Thursday and will be one of the favorites when the flag drops on the Daytona 500. Junior left DEI just for chances like these and he knows he must make the most of his opportunities especially with the teammates he now has.

Denny Hamlin drove his Toyota to victory in the second qualifying race and is another driver you will want to watch. Tony Stewart is a guy that is always a threat, but some names that you do not think would miss is are going home and one guy who you thought was is not going home. Kenny Wallace making the Daytona 500 shocked me while guys like Bill Elliott, Boris Said, and Sterling Marlin are going home. This is how competitive the Daytona 500 is and it seems to get worse every year.

This years dual qualifying races at Daytona should be something to see as many drivers such as Dale Jarrett and others might not even make it to the big race. They cannot make it on qualifying time so they need to get into the field during this race. This means many drivers will be beating and banging each other cars.

Making the Daytona 500 is extremely big especially for a sponsor who is paying the bills so you can race. The Daytona 500 has a big audience and getting to this race can help set the tome for rest of the year and maybe grab you a sponsor for rest of the year and not just a few races. Watching them should be very interesting and we will see who is in and who is out which is the way it should be anyway.

Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip who are one and two for the Daytona 500 after qualifying this past weekend are sitting pretty right now. They are in the race and they can go out in the two qualifying races and try things on there cars that others will not be able to. These qualifying races for these two will be more of a test session to see what will work and what will not work for them.

Many people think this is a big advantage and I tend to agree with that assessment. The more things that you know the better chance you have for success. It just makes sense. When you can eliminate things that do not work it makes it easier to get your car set up for your best chance of winning. Winning the Daytona 500 is something every driver wants to do.