This Just In ...

by Guest Blogger:  Karen

Okay, Jeff Gordon and Tom Cruise you got, right? Cole Trickle… is a bit trickier. If you knew that name instantly, you are either a Tom Cruise fanatic or a NASCAR fan.

If you are still not sure, you’ll have to read on.

Last Friday, NASCAR held its annual Championship Banquet in New York City. The televised portion was three hours long. Being the good NASCAR fan that I am, I recorded it on my DVR and watched the majority of it on Fast Forward mode.

The night was full of speeches given by nine drivers that were seriously pi**ed as hell that they didn’t win the Championship and would have rather been anywhere else but there and one guy that was on cloud nine.

As I am fast forwarding along I knew to stop at Kyle Busch’s 10^th place speech knowing that it would once again be painfully funny to watch. He did not disappoint. He can drive the wheels off the car but once he takes the helmet off… never mind.

Then came the others one by one and somewhere in between I see a flash of…. Cole Trickle???? What… Was that Cole Trickle from “Days of Thunder” sitting in the audience? (You remember that NASCAR movie that Tom Cruise starred in with Nicole Kidman.)

Quick, rewind, yes, there he is, Cole - I mean - Tom Cruise sitting right there next to Jeff Gordon and his wife. See for yourself:

Hmm, interesting. What on earth is Tom Cruise doing at the NASCAR Banquet? Maybe a new NASCAR movie in the works, or perhaps Tom was bored and he decided to go hang out with real men for a few hours. Or, could it be that Jeff and his wife are the newest targets for Tom to convert to Scientology? Oh please- no. The last thing we need is a NASCAR driver thinking that aliens are after him. Yikes!

Regardless, the fact that Tom Cruise was at the banquet almost overshadowed the real highlight of the night.

Which was this:

That moment came when Cale Yarborough presented Jimmie Johnson with his third consecutive NASCAR Championship title. Cale Yarborough is the only other driver to have ever won three championships in a row, and that was thirty years ago.

What Jimmie did this year was amazing. Having been a Jimmie fan since the beginning, I still think his first Championship run was the most fun to watch, but this year’s title run was really impressive.

He started off the year struggling and slowly and methodically climbed his way past the other drivers that dominated the majority of the season. In the end, while they struggled and made mistakes, Jimmie and his team were flawless.

All in all, the NASCAR season was so -so. There were a handful of really incredible races, but there were a number that were really boring and way to long.

What is there to look forward to in 2009?

-NASCAR’s new “no testing” policy which was put in place due to economic strains on the teams, should make things interesting and will likely be just another rule that the crew chiefs will skirt around.

-Tony Stewart now playing the role of team owner and driver after leaving Joe Gibbs Racing. Will we see him yell at himself when he struggles?

- Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards, will they continue to dominate?

-Jeff Gordon in his new 2009 paint scheme. Fan or not, this paint scheme is really cool.

-Dale Jr. - Now that he has had his year of adjustment over at Hendrick, it is time to see if he is the real deal or just over rated. No more excuses!

- Finally, Jimmie Johnson, could he possibly do it again and make history winning four titles in a row?

Daytona and the start of the 2009 season is just 65 days away.

(P.S. I am not sure if these images will show.  The NOW blog software is having an attitude problem.  Also, I have promised not to post on here again until the Christmas Tree is decorated.  Have a good Friday!)