Maybe NASCAR is listening after all....

We've gone on and on and on... and on. "Nascar isn't listening... they don't care about the fans, all they care about is the money," and so on.

Well, suddenly things are starting to change - not everything that we wanted to see, but at least this is a start.

Like the qualifying... Up until now each driver went out by himself and put out the 2 fastest laps that he could and the starting lineup for the race was set by who had the fastest speed. The bad thing about that is that depending on when you went out, you may have had an extra advantage or some disavantage. The sun could be shining for one driver, and for the next to go out, it's cloudy. Or maybe the wind just so happened to pick up a bit while another one went out. The weather plays a major role in qualifying speed. The drivers sitting in the top-35 in points will still qualify this way, but those outside the top 35 will go out as a group to qualify. That way, the speed is the real speed, and weather conditions won't mess it up for someone who has the fast car but didn't make the race because of the weather & track conditions when they went out.

One thing I am very thankful for is the change for where the fine money goes. It was crazy before!!! A team cheats, pays a large fine, but basicly get's the money back at the end of the season. Some punishment!! But now all fine money will be going out to support nascar charities. That's great, because not only will drivers and teams not be getting their money back, but it will be going to a good cause as well.

Nascar also put a whopping 2 more races at a 1pm starting time. It's definantly not big, but like I said earlier, at least it's a start. If it were up to me, either the pre-race shows would be WAY shorter, or the race coverage would begin at noon. Or better yet, how about Saturday night racing at every track that is equipped for night racing!! :) As a die-hard fan I watch every single race, but the problem is that I rarely get to see the end. And that's the part I want to see! I get home from church at 1 pm and leave again at 5. All four of those hours I'm usually glued to my television set. You can fit a race into that time period, but when you watch over an hour of pre-race stuff, it doesn't happen. I miss the finish and don't find out who won until the I get home at 8 pm and hop onto the internet. That is nervewracking to say the least. And I'm not the only one that goes through this.

ESPN is switching around some of it's reports and one of those moves includes Dale Jarrett replacing Rusty Wallace. Alot of fans have complained about Wallace being on the broadcast team. What we'll all think of Jarrett remains to be seen. I've seen him before and personally liked him, but I know there's still people out there that won't like him any better.

Tires - all of the top 3 Nascar series will now be able to test on Goodyear tires. Cup teams will get 50 pairs, Nationwide teams, 40 pairs, and the truck teams, 30 pairs. That will allow the teams to test on the actual brand of race tires, giving them more usefull information while testing.

The Cup series may be upping the minimum age to 21, from the current age of 18. That's a move in the right direction. While there's not a lot of drivers that move up into the Cup series before that age to begin with, the purpose it to keep drivers in the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series a little longer before driving with the big boys. Rather than the age limit though, maybe there should be a time period you have to drive in one of the other series' before entering Cup, because many drivers are not staying there long enough, or pretty much skipping that step all together.

There are still many things that could use change, like Nascar's consistantcy with the rules. But at least this is a start, if even a small one.

Maybe, just maybe, NASCAR is starting to get the point.

While Some Things End, Others Begin...

I was reading an article recently when it hit me just how many things came to an end when Matt Kenseth crossed the finish line at Homestead.

Maybe one of the biggest things is that the "regular car", the car that we all like, was used for the last time ever. Now they're running the boxier, unglier, but safer, COT for every Cup event from here on out. Unless someday they change the car again.

The Nextel Cup Series will be called the Sprint Cup Series, and The Busch Series will be the Nationwide Series and the Craftmans Truck Series... well, that'll just be the Craftmans Truck Series.

Robert Yates has stepped down and handed his team off to his son, Doug. RYR driver, Ricky Rudd has now officially retired after a very long, but good career of racing.

Dale Earnhardt Jr bade his DEI team good-bye, racing for them for the last time at Homestead. Driving for the team his father, Dale Earnhadt, built, he announced earlier this year he was moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008.

Gibbs Racing has been driving with Chevrolets for several years now, but will be switching to Toyotas in 2008.

Matt Kenseth will be loosing his crew-chief, Robbie Reiser, as Reiser is moving up in the team. Kenseth and Reiser, long time friends and a driver/crew-chief combo, won many races and a Cup Championship together before picking up one last win at Homestead. Next year Chip Boland will be Kenseth's new crew-chief.

So as we look ahead to 2008, I can't help but wonder what will happen. Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. find the success he's looking for at HMS and get some wins? Or maybe even contend for/win the Championship?

Will JGR be able to crack the code for Toyota and find sucess with Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and the new addition to the team, Kyle Busch? Or will they find themselves faltering with a car that showed little promise in the 2007 season?

Will Evernham Motorsports be able to get back on their feet after a very disappointing season?

Will Johnson be able to 3-peat with another Championship and be the first driver to do so since Cale Yarborough and only second in NASCAR history? Or will someone finally beat this 48 team?

There are many unanswered questions. But sit back and relax, as before we know it a new season will begin, and all questions will be anwered.