NASCAR 2006

The NASCAR Nextel Cup season is ready to begin. The Daytona 500 is this weekend and my favorite driver is on the pole. The season for Jeff Burton sucked last year. He is off to a great start this season by winning the pole and finishing 7^th in the Daytona Duals today. I have followed NASCAR for over 20 years. It is a great sport, a team sport. They honor the military in some way before every race. They pray before every race. The fans are the best and very loyal to their drivers, teams, and sponsors. That brings up this thought. This year is the 5^th year since Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash at the Daytona 500. I was not a fan, but I always knew who the man on the track was. His number was 3 and that is causing some questions around the racing scene. NASCAR has never retired a number. Dales crew chief and friend Richard Childress leases that number from NASCAR. Childress wants to retire that number, as does Dale's widow. You can read about that here. My thought on this is no way! There has been many great drivers and their numbers are not retired. To retire #3 would only result in the retirement of many other numbers or show a lot of disrespect to the other drivers families and fans. Here is what will happen. Dale Earnhardt Jr will drive the #3 for Childress in years to come. His contract will end with DEI and he will move to RCR and bring out the #3 car. This will make the Dale Sr fans happy, the Dale Jr fans happy, and both very very rich. Just the T-shirt money will be off the scale. Dale Jr is the only driver that will be accepted by the fans in that #3 car. Does anyone agree?

I have to mention my girlfriends favorite driver is Jamie McMurray. Geesh...Jamie?? She said the car is pretty. Hmmm. I don't think it is the car she likes. My fellow blogger Brian Patton likes Kevin Harvick.(Stop Laughing) He has a NASCAR post here. I am ready for RACIN'