CHEERS to engines loud and fast, and SPEED opening the season with a full day of TV for race fans.

CHEERS to all the looks back at early Daytona history, especially to Buz McKim, who every time he spoke, made me wonder if he was Terry Labonte’s cousin. If you didn’t see it, watch the replay at 8pm eastern, Monday night on SPEED.

CHEERS to NASCAR Live, and Dillner interviewing Steve Addington. Even before the first race, he's already been asked about the difference in brothers.

JEERS to the SPEED desk sponsored by Aliens vs. Predator, and in the chairs we have Despain and Ken Squier.

CHEERS to the 1:00, 3:00, 7:30 commercials with the voice-over “Same start times all season long.”

CHEERS to Steve Byrnes in the fan zone at SPEED Stage number two. Hermie and Jimmy are there, too, but nobody anchors a show like Byrnes.

JEERS to “There are enough girls over in the garage to form a glee club.” That was Ken Squier’s answer to what caught his eye in the lower series. I wonder how long until NASCAR catches his ear about that.

CHEERS to Speed Stage number three, this one in the booth at the track, and Phil Parsons and Rick Allen.

JEERS to just 25 minutes into NASCAR Live and already having discussions about Danica at two different desks, complete with on-track video, Danica climbing into the car, and her walking through the garage. I wonder if “all your eggs in one basket” means anything to everyone that’s hyped the ARCA race built around Ms. Patrick. And I also wonder what her first excuse for crashing out will be.

CHEERS to seeing Michael Waltrip and Ken Schrader hanging out and smiling. So great to see Schrader in a fire suit!

JEERS to hearing that Kevin Harvick is very ill, and not at Daytona. CHEERS to Clint Boyer practicing Kevin’s car, though.

CHEERS and Prayers to Lynda Petty. On World Cancer Day, it was announced that she is fighting Central Nervous System Lymphoma. I hope she’s feeling the prayer support from the NASCAR community and that someone is showing her the messages of support. One writer aptly called her “The First Lady of NASCAR, bar none.” Michael Waltrip told Elliott Sadler, “When I lived there, she kept the King from kicking me out for almost a year.” RP is optimistic, as all should be, but prayer is important.

CHEERS to the signature panel on Schrader’s car. VERY cool!!

CHEERS to Mike Joy, Larry Mac, and DW on board in the booth for practice. It’s SPEED Blue Shirt Day, and it’s nice to see all of our favorite talent against the background noise of cars on the track!

CHEERS to showing drivers climbing in their cars while Kyle Busch has to run back to the sign-in desk. Classic goof right there.

CHEERS to Junior’s skeleton gloves that we love seeing grasping the wheel. This year we collectively hope again…

CHEERS to Dick Berggren and Matt Yocum in the garage. And Matty’s blue shirt only visible under his warmer outerwear. So far no electric clothing spotted, though.

CHEERS to three-wide practice. This IS practice, right? It looks awfully race-like to me!

CHEERS to the amusement of new uniforms and drivers being mistaken one for another. Jamie McMurray is being asked if he’s Martin Truex, and Matt Kenseth is being mistaken for Jamie McMurray.

JEERS to news that there will be not two, but now THREE Miss Sprint Cups. Now I know it would make for a very busy schedule, but our vote is that Monica should just be named Sprint Cup Queen, and we don’t need anyone else.

JEERS to “the big one” in practice. I told you it looked more like a race. Denny maybe could have opted to lift rather than wreck Mark Martin. Last I knew, he was still using his good leg for the gas pedal, though even if he’d lifted, would Logano have been able to lift in time? Probably not.

CHEERS to not just explaining, but a little bit of a consolation hug from Denny to Mark Martin.

CHEERS to enough time to get a third car to Daytona from Charlotte. And I wonder if seeing his car smashed up just made Kevin Harvick puke again.

CHEERS to Joey, “We got lucky and drove right through the smoke.” Anyone else amused by that choice of words? I didn’t think Tony was even involved.

JEERS to the onboard camera as Mark Martin’s car was being towed. Creaking and moaning as that car was being dragged… not good sounds for a race car.

CHEERS to the massaging of metal in the garage, and the way the M&Ms crewman seemed to be petting “Red” as if to say, “It’ll be okay… don’t worry…”

CHEERS to Dale, Jr’s beard that “…started off as a disguise, but everybody hated it so much, I decided to keep it.” He may not score more wins or points than his champion teammate, but he can surely grow a better beard!

CHEERS to Mike Joy pointing out one car was unharmed in the wreck: Derrike Cope. Undamaged because it’s so far been undriven, but still.

JEERS to Denny knowing that he’s about to be on TV for an interview, and still put something in his mouth. You couldn’t wait five minutes on that snack?

CHEERS to interviewing Greg Biffle and hearing in the background the unmistakable sounds of barking dogs. Give them a little bit of fame with a calendar and next thing you know they want all the TV time, too!

CHEERS to the highlight reel of sideways practice, called “getting used to their new rides.” I wonder how many saves like that we’ll see once we dump the wing and go back to the spoiler.

CHEERS to the newest married woman in the garage, Krista Voda! Off season well spent, I’d say!

CHEERS to standing around in the dark, and seeing cars unloaded in what appears to be stealth fashion, but really is just of necessity.

CHEERS to the rush to get back-up cars on the track so they can keep their starting position.

CHEERS to hearing that Jeff Burton is now practicing Kevin Harvick’s car. So who is practicing that 31 CAT car? I vote we call Ward.

CHEERS to seeing JPM having infiltrated the garage of the blue deuce. So far seems unable to have spoken to the offending driver, but at least there’s a big crew chief on hand to keep the peace.

JEERS to hearing that Derrike Cope still has yet to practice. When you think of those that are most in need of practice, do you think of guys like Burton, Gordon, Johnson, and other big names like that, or do you kinda wish guys like Derrike Cope would practice? I mean, at least practice for the five laps you’re going to run during the race.

CHEERS to Mike Joy who, in a polite Mike Joy way, flattened writer Shawn Courchesne of the Hartford Courant for implying that Schrader shouldn’t be in the shootout because it’s past his time. Schrader is a racer and hasn’t exactly spent the last two decades out on the front porch rocking the afternoons away with a glass of sweet tea. Oooh, and then Larry Mac jumps in, “Sounds to me like that guy didn’t have a whole lot to write about.” HA!!

CHEERS to John Roberts and Wendy Venturini on Speed Stage number four, what appears to be the Victory Lane set, and there’s our man Rutledge!!  We can’t tell if that’s a gray streak in JR’s hair, or a blond highlight.

CHEERS to Wendy and Mark Martin talking yoga. I think. Kinda weird, but at least John Roberts didn’t get sucked in.

CHEERS to Jamie Mac’s driver suit contribution to help Haiti.

CHEERS to Matt Kenseth in purple. I’m not a big Crown Royal drinker, but I do like the color. Maybe I’ll buy a bottle for the RJO staff just to support the 17 team.

CHEERS to the brighter blue on JJ’s Lowe’s uniform, but JEERS to the attempted facial hair again.

JEERS to Juan Pablo’s sunglasses. If you missed them, picture white 3D glasses that you get at the theater, and that’s what they looked like. And despite it being dark outside, he had them atop his head like he was going to use them again as soon as he was off stage.

CHEERS to Travis and Rut talking Long John Silvers. Nice to see Travis Kvapil smiling like that with a full-time ride!

CHEERS to Danica being so small that the white helmet makes her look like an alien.

CHEERS to Mike Helton on stage. Always nice to see him. Better to see him off-guard and smiling, but still nice to see him addressing issues.

CHEERS to the “Fan Council”. How do I get into that club?

CHEERS to a second child on the way in the Gordon household. Just has to stay ahead of Jimmie in at least one area, eh?

CHEERS to AJ Allmendinger who realizes he’s not ready to be a dad, but he does have a dog.

CHEERS to Tony reminding us all that he’s been very successful at Daytona. It’s just the one race he hasn’t won. Let’s hope Tony doesn’t have another “quiet ride” home on Valentine’s Day.

CHEERS to Tony’s RC car company. Didn’t know about that, but JEERS to his open disdain for the print media. I guess nobody ever told him not to pick a fight with people who buy their ink by the gallon.

CHEERS to John Roberts delicately staying out of Tony’s tirade. Wendy can’t make anyone mad, I don’t think, but JR just hung his head and laughed quietly to himself.

CHEERS to Rutledge’s great idea to break the world record for people eating breakfast together. A bowl of Cheerios for everyone at the Daytona 500? Yes, two weeks is definitely enough time to make that happen!!

Bud Shootout Draw:

CHEERS to Steve Byrnes as Bartender, and Kenny Wallace as “Norm” at the other end of the bar.

JEERS to not picking your own bottle, but CHEERS to getting a 16 because of it.

CHEERS to Mark Martin drawing #6, but if he has to start in the back anyway, why is he drawing?

CHEERS to a lady bug being lucky for Brian Vickers. And it was the number he wanted!  First and second have to stay for media, and he wanted #3.  There it is.

CHEERS to Carl on the pole. And to Kenny Wallace being more excited than Carl Edwards.

CHEERS to Tony’s quote (and follow up): “Racing here on restrictor plates is like a high speed game of chess, and I’m only smart enough to play checkers.” And following up today with “I’m STILL only smart enough to play checkers.”

CHEERS to Kenny Wallace trying to console Smoke after his unlucky draw of 13.

CHEERS to “YDKQ” on Carl’s shirt. You Don’t Know Quack. I like that!! And CHEERS to Carl’s interview with Rut, and happy that “We haven’t crashed yet.”

CHEERS to Bobby starting 12th. Tony got 13, and Bobby says, “See? I’m already better than him.”

CHEERS to Gil Martin sitting in for Kevin Harvick, and also that KH is feeling better. He’s already had to deal with three drivers in one day, so we hope he draws well for the 29 team. And he drew #2, but will have to start in the back anyway.

CHEERS to the huge fan reception for Schrader. And CHEERS to Schrader supporting the product that supports the Shootout. After drawing 14, he says, “We were second quick, and when you start in the middle, you can definitely be involved in whatever the hell happens.”

CHEERS to Junior never losing that southern thing. Not only does he say “smash the gas”, but when he didn’t hear Steve Byrnes’ question, his natural response was, “Do what?”

JEERS to the rules that allow for Derrike Cope to walk up on stage. We have a guy writing that Schrader is in this race, but never mentioning that it’s been 20 years since Derrike Cope won the 500, and who knows how long since he’s driven more than 20 laps on a Sunday, and here he is on a barstool?

JEERS to Joey having to bring along his big brother to draw for him. It’s not a real bar; it’s not a real beer bottle; there is no alcohol involved in the event. I know it’s sponsored by Budweiser, so I guess we should just be glad they didn’t ban the boy completely, but it’s just ridiculous (though admittedly endearing) that he had to bring along a “guardian”.

CHEERS to Zippy, though, drawing a 21 and giving a free public service announcement that 21 is the age you have to be to draw your own number. Not the age to drink legally, mind you; but to draw your own number.

CHEERS to Steve Byrnes finding something nice to say about a guy no matter who he is. To Derrike Cope, “You won the 1990 Daytona 500 and it was a great win. It really helped define your career.” Generic enough and never mentioning the two decades since that fluke of a win.

CHEERS to Kenny Wallace, though, for asking Derrike, “Do you dress yourself?” Yes, he really did ask that question. “Every morning you dress yourself?” You can’t beat a good follow-up question.

CHEERS to Michael Waltrip drawing #15. And for the first time, telling us the reason he did the 51 was to honor his friend Dale Earnhardt. We knew there was something else behind it than just his win. It’s his tie to Dale, and his last Daytona 500. Now it makes more sense.

CHEERS to the bottle that Bobby DIDN’T draw (he touched it, but apparently we aren’t using the official rules of chess, and he changed his bottle), giving Jamie McMurray a number 9.

CHEERS to whatever precipitated Jeff Burton saying to Jamie Mac, “Man, don’t touch me there.” And following up, “Get away from me!” and then “Would you please leave me alone?” These relationships are why we love NASCAR.

CHEERS to the smile of John Andretti, and even as he smiles, he called Kyle Busch a jerk. One more reason we like John Andretti!

CHEERS to the Budweiser Party Porch and watching the race with Rutledge. That would be a fun afternoon indeed!

And finally,

CHEERS to SPEED for a whole day of entertaining race shows to officially kick off the first day of the racing season. We saw racing, we saw wrecking, we saw interviews with drivers and crew chiefs and even Mike Helton. We laughed, we cried…no we didn’t. I just made that up. We laughed, though, and the whole day was a fantastic event of “opening ceremonies” where everyone still likes everyone else, and everything is new (though some slightly smashed, repaired, and/or replaced) again! Welcome to Daytona in February! The season has begun and those three months behind us seem as though they were merely three weeks. Even the snow outside can’t damper the excitement of the season beginning again!

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