Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season. Now with the season opener for Nascar Sprint Cup series coming up it’s time to go back to racing. So what’s going on around here, well let’s see.

3 time Sprint Cup Champion and last years Champion Tony Stewart is back of course, though his sponsor appears to be changing with Office Depot becoming a part time sponsor and Burger king is going to have it their way for some races also. Mobil 1 will also pick up 11 races. Longtime crew chief Greg Zipadelli will become the director of competition and Steve Addington will become the new crew chief.

Danica Patrick will attempt to run in 10 Sprint Cup races including the Daytona 500. She will be driving the #10 car with Go Daddy as her main sponsor. This is the number she used in her early years when she was karting. She wanted #7 but Robbie Gordon will not give the number up. Stewart-Hass Racing is looking for another part time driver so the team can run a full schedule. Patrick will be running a full Nationwide schedule.

Dale Earnhardt Jr will be back driving the #88 again with the Army National Guard and Diet Mountain Dew staying with him as sponsors.He made the Race for the Chase but was never in real contention for the championship. Will he go winless again or is this the year he finally breaks this horrible winless streak?

The Ford Motorcraft\Quick lane Ford of the famous Wood Brothers Racing is running a part time schedule this year, just like last year unless it can find a full time sponsor. guess who is driving? Well that is a good question, Ricky Stenhouse, David Ragan, or Trevor Bayne who won the 500 for the Wood Brothers last year. It is rumored Trevor Bayne is looking for a full time ride.

Who knows what is going on at Richard Petty Motorsports. At this point the #43 will be driven by Eric Almirola as A.J. Allmindinger has left to take over the #22 to replace Kurt Busch. However Kurt Busch may come over to keep Best Buy as a sponsor, and Amirola has Smithfield Foods and the U.S. Air Force behind him. David Ragan is also in the picture to drive the #43. This is just the tip of the iceberg for Petty Motorsports. They need to get things settled with the Daytona 500 looming in the near future.

There’s plenty more going on and will update again soon. If the off season is any indication of how the regular season is going to be like, then we are in for a fun ride. (pun intended).

I heard through the grapevine that:

Kurt Busch tirade at Jerry Punch: During Sunday’s Ford 400 at Homestead, analyst Jerry Punch tried to interview Kurt Busch after the driver was forced out of the race with transmission problems. What resulted was a profanity-laced tirade by Busch who didn’t want to wait until the ESPN control booth threw it to Punch. In the end, Punch decided he had enough and walked away from Busch telling his producers, “never mind, never mind. Gee and I thought Kyle was the bad guy in the Busch Brothers. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Kurt Busch Statement: “Unfortunately, our result in the season-ending race at Homestead on Sunday was not what we had hoped for as a team. In my frustration with the loss of my transmission early in the race, I let my emotions get the better of me. I regret having done this and apologize to the sponsors of Penske Racing , to NASCAR, its fans, to the media and in particular, Dr. Jerry Punch. Once again the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

NASCAR has fined Kurt Busch $50,000 for his actions during the Nov. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR determined that Kurt Busch violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing  inappropriate hand gesture; abusive language) of the 2011 NASCAR Rule Book. In issuing the penalty, NASCAR cited Kurt Busch’s “poor judgment in making an inappropriate hand gesture” when he drove his car into the garage early in the race after it experienced transmission problems. In addition, NASCAR said Kurt Busch showed “disrespect towards a media member,” an incident that followed similar inappropriate media confrontations earlier in the season.

Shell and Pennzoil are disappointed with recent actions by driver Kurt Busch at the final race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race season,” the company said in a statement. “His actions are in no way consistent with the way we want our brands represented and we have expressed our disappointment and concerns directly to Penske Racing. Did i mention that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?

Tony Stewart to Present Annual ‘Stewie Awards’: Tony Stewart will host the fifth annual ‘Stewie Awards’ show on Thursday, December 1, live from Las Vegas on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. The ‘Stewies,’ which features Stewart’s entertaining and irreverent take on the best, boldest and funniest moments from the 2011 NASCAR season, will be awarded during a live broadcast hosted by Stewart and Matt Yocum from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Thursday, December 1 (9:30 pm ET / 6:30 pm PT).

There’s more coming about changes during the off season soon.

The last time I used this title was because Kyle Busch came out of no where and won a race. this time it is a little bit different. So Friday night in the Nascar truck series Kyle Busch wrecked 53 year old many time champion Ron Hornaday under caution. He pushed him into the wall very hard and Nascar told him to park his truck for the night, which I have never seen done before. Then on top of that they said he could not compete in the Nationwide series race this past weekend and that he also could not race in the Sprint Cup race in Texas. Wow, as he is one of the 12 drivers in the Race to the Chase championship. Stick a fork in him as he done for the year. This is a first for Nascar, but he hasn’t been playing by the rules for a long time and Nascar has had enough. Wonder if his sponsors have also, let alone Joe Gibbs Racing.

Ron Hornaday going for another truck championship said, “if Nascar hadn’t done something then I was going to buy Tommy Baldwins cup car and make sure he does not finish another race.” Busch had no comment. But now after he had a talk with Joe Gibbs, he is apologizing to everyome JGR Racing, his team, to Nascar, his sponsors and to Ron Hornaday. Intentionally wrecking someone under caution on national TV, WOW. Am not sure he will live this one down. I don’t a gree by any means what he did, but he sure is helping the ratings.

Well I can toot my own horn again as I picked Tony Stewart to win at Martinsville. He passed Jimmie Johnson with 2 laps to go for his 3rd victory this year. All of them have come since the Chase started. In 3rd place was Jeff Gordon, followed by Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Jeff burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

#99-Edwards (who was a lap down on two separate occasions and got the lucky dog twice), and #39-Newman. #17-Kenseth, who came into the race second in points and started second, was involved in a late race accident and finished 31st. #99-Edwards leads the Chase by 8 points over #14-Stewart. There were 23 lead changes among 12 drivers and 18 cautions for 108 yellow flag laps.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will test Electronic Fuel Injection at Martinsville Speedway as research and development continues leading up to the full implementation of EFI in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the 2012 season. Cars will be on track Monday, October 31 from 10am – 4 pm/et. Currently nine teams have entered for the test. So one of the oldest tracks is taking us into the world of fuel injection. Kind of neat that Martinsville has been around since 1949 and orginally was a dirt track, it was paved in 1955.

Now it’s off to Texas Motor Speedway as the chase starts to wind down for the final 3 races. It is still to hard to pick who will be the Sprint Cup Champion. Can Carl Edwards hag on to get his first championship, or does Tony “Smoke” Stewart get his 3rd title. Of course Jimmie Johnson is going to do his best to make it 6 in a row. And Jeff Gordon who led the most laps with a 111 total is back in the mix. One these drivers is going to win it all, the rest are just racing for a win. So with that said, Jimmie Johnson to win at Texas.

By now most everyone is aware of the tragedy at Las Vegas Speedway last Sunday as 33 year old Dan Wheldon sucumbed to injuries in a 15 car fiery wreck as his car went airborne and into the catch fence. He was racing for only the 3rd time this year after winning the Indianapolis 500 for the 2nd time in May. Starting at the back of the field which was part of the challege he was racing for a chance to win 5 million dollars to be split with a fan. He had moved up 10 positions in the 34 car field then the crash occurred on lap 11. May they never race Indy cars again at las Vegas. There were many concerns before the race because of the steep banking where everyone just went flat out in a pack.

He was scheduled to race in Austraila next weekend in the Surfers Paradise Gold Coast 600 in two 300 kilometer touring car races. And next year he was scheduled to take over Danica Patrick’s ride as she is moving to the Nationwide Series full time next year.

What you may not know is that he was born in the small English village of Emberton in Buckingshire County north of London, and started driving go-karts at age 4. He won 8 carting titles in the 90′s in England. Having failed to secure financial backing in Europe he moved to the United States in 1999. In 2005 he became the first British driver to win the Indianapolis 500 since Graham Hill in 1966. Wheldon won the race for the second time this year. With his film-star good looks and his atheletic prowess it is no wonder that Americans took him to their hearts. He will be always remembered as a great driver, husband and father. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

In closing I was always proud to have him living in my city of St. Petersburg, Florida which he dearly loved and spoke very highly of living here. He was and is a true inspiration to many people young and old, both on and off of the track.