Time To Start the Season

It's good to have NASCAR back. It seems like years since I saw a race. Man I was glad to see the Bud Shootout last weekend. And then we had qualifying on Sunday. This is just the start of a big, big week in NASCAR. You need to stay tuned to SPEED which will show both practices on Wednesday and both Twin Duals on Thursday.
This Racing With Payton blog was something I was asked to start last year. And here I am again this year getting things going. My aim is to come on here and write about the way I see NASCAR. Now sometimes I'll write about NASCAR in my columns. But most of my writing and thoughts on NASCAR will come right here.
This is also a way for you to get involved. Please feel free to respond to what I have to say. I'm sure you won't agree with me all of the time. I like to see what you have to say about NASCAR.
As for the duals on Thursday, I can wait to see how Mark Martin does with his new Hendrick Motorsports Team. He took the outside pole for the Daytona 500 and should be one of the cars to beat on Sunday.
It's also going to be interesting to see how Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman do as teammates in their new cars.
Toyota had a good year in 2008. I take that back, Kyle Busch had a good year in his Toyota last year and it's going to be interesting to see if he can keep that up for the whole year. It's also going to be interesting to see if he and Carl Edwards are going to be rivals again in 2009.
And then there's Jimmie Johnson, the thee-time cup champion. Can anybody dethrone Johnson? That's the question many people have been asking.
It seemed like there was no way that Johnson was going to win in 2008 with the way Edwards and Busch was dominating. Then Johnson and his team came to life in the second half of 2008. You can't count Johnson out of it.
Now it's time to get ready for the duals. These races will determine who is going to race in the Daytona 500 and who isn't. None of the drivers in Daytona want to miss this race. But some will.
Those who make the race on Thursday, will be on cloud nine until the green flag drops on Sunday. For those who don't make it, well, they'll be at home watching the race from their television set.
Which is exactly where I plan to be.