I've never done this, and I picked a heck of a year to start. It has been an edge of your seat off season if you are a junkie for NASCAR news like me. I'd like to think I'm an up to date kinda guy when it comes to NASCAR. If a NASCAR question comes up at he office, I'm the guy they ask (not very regularly, and usually it's a joke like,"Which way do they turn again?"). Hope they don't ask too many for a few months as I get used to new drivers in new cars with new sponsors.

I guess the easiest prediction would be to say that the Jimmie Johnson Juggernaut will continue to roll. What's to say he can't go on winning as long as the combination of him and Chad keep at it? I used to give the majority of the credit to Chad for Jimmie's success, but I'm beginning to believe in the chemistry thing a bit more. The unspoken words between the two are worth a thousand spoken. The ability to be best friends/family and professional business partners is something very few can pull off. Sorta like a mullet. You know; business in the front, party in the back. Jimmy and Chad have that. Maybe even better than Tony and Zippy or Jeff and Ray had it.

Along that same line, I believe that Jr. will have another mediocre year. He'll win a few and make the chase, but I don't believe he'll progress in his quest to win a Cup championship. His relationship with Tony Jr. is just not what it needs to be. I can't describe it to you, but I hear it in there voices when they talk on the radio, and so can Mr. Hendrick. We'll see how many times he has to step in on their conversations this year before he decides this has got to change. It's not going to be easy, and the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the Jr. Nation will be huge. But I believe after a few sleepless nights, he'll wake up one morning and smell the proverbial coffee. They'll be a nice niche for Tony Jr. somewhere else in HMS.

I about wrote the season off as a test session for Tony's new team until the announcement of Darien Grubb as his crew chief. I can only hope that their level of chemistry is somewhere in the rang of the three mentioned above. If they can get near that level of communication, I believe there's a chance for Tony to get into the chase. We know that Darien has seen these HMS cars before, and Tony has the raw talent. Lets hope that the last peice falls into place.