And it begins. The 2010 NASCAR season officially got underway with the running of the Daytona 500 today. Forty-three of America’s best drivers took to the track and showed the rest of us what the excitement of driving about 190 miles an hour for 200 laps, 500 miles is all about. For those of us going through NASCAR withdrawal, all I can say is . . . it’s about time! And thank heavens it’s on FOX.

          My dilemma was the fact that the XXI Olympic Games were going on at the same time. My solution . . . two televisions . . . duh. (Sure could use three though, there supposed to be an NBA game on later).

          I had to hear all the racing news that I’ve been missing for the last couple of months, and I couldn’t bear to miss an instance of the Olympic athletes going for the gold. At the same time, my editor is on maternity leave and I have hours and hours of work to put in before I get to the office in the morning, so my computer desk is full of notes and stories that I’m working on and both TV’s are blasting. How I’m going to find time to do everything, take everything in, yell at the TV and root on America and Tony Stewart at the same time is beyond me.

          But I’m working on it as we speak.

          The big news in NASCAR, of course, is the addition of Indy Car driver Danica Patrick to the ranks of stock car racing. Don’t even ask me about it, I’m not in her camp, not rooting for her and don’t think she’ll last more than two years. I could be wrong, but I just don’t think she can run with the big dogs. In the Nationwide Series yesterday she went out the hard way, involved in a 12-car crash. But, we’ll see.

          And who do we have to thank for Patrick’s addition to the ranks of the big boys? Why Dale Earnhardt Jr. of course. He signed her to his own company, JR Motorsports and she’s driving the #7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, (woooooo, sexy - I guess). Jr’s old crew chief, Tony Eury Jr. is now her crew chief, and he’s a good one, so I’d say she has all her ducks in a row. Now, she just needs to drive.

          NASCAR drivers and fans really don’t care if she comes to the game fresh off a third place finish at the Indianapolis 500, or that she arrives with Rookie of the Year honors for the IndyCar Series in her pretty little pocket. Mainly, they care that she can hold her own, learn quickly and drive . . . and of course that she won’t marry Jr., Stewart or Carl Edwards. (She’s already married by the way, so that eases some tension right there.)

          As always, Jr. tops the headlines as he does every year. Unfortunately, same old questions: Will he win the Daytona this year, will he win a championship, will he ever go back to his Budweiser sponsor, how is he coping with his team change, sponsor change, and father’s death . . . and what are his plans for marriage and a family. Same questions for the poor guy every single year . . . actually, every single race.

          He has his dad’s reputation to live up to, is NASCAR’s most popular driver, is sponsored in part by Amp, Mountain Dew and the National Guard, and is a huge military supporter.

          While I’m not a huge fan of Jr. on the track, I’ve got to say he’s a likeable character off the track. He’s got that little boy/bad boy impish look about him and has adopted the attitude that whatever is in his mind might as well just come on out of his mouth in that deep boyish North Carolina drawl of his. Will Jr. win the Daytona 500 . . . ummmm, doubt it. Will this be the year he takes the championship? Well now that’s just anybody’s guess isn’t it?

          Tony Stewart, of course, made the headlines as the season began, mainly because he won the Nationwide series the day before the Daytona 500. And in case you didn’t know, or haven’t heard, I’m a Stewart fan. I hated when he dropped his Home Depot sponsorship and trademark #20. That almost cost him this particular fan because that little stunt did serious damage to my wardrobe, because I refuse to be a Joey Logano fan.

          Tony will make NASCAR headlines several times this year, either for his wins, his driving, his crashes, his foundation, his track ownership or for the little throwing fits he tends to have from time to time in particularly stressful moments. Nobody can throw a helmet quite like Tony Stewart. Now THAT’S why I’m a fan.

          Other "big" NASCAR news revolves around engine changes, restrictor plates and can Jimmie Johnson possibly make it five in a row. On this one, I gotta say probably not. His wife is pregnant now, and Johnson seems to be overly involved in whatever he is involved in. I look for him to be more preoccupied in being a daddy in July than being a five time championship driver. But I’ll give him his props, he’s a great driver and was the only NASCAR driver ever to be named as the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. I’d be a fan . . . but he’s just to clean cut for me. Sorry dude.

          Kyle Bush, the "bad boy" of the circuit always finds a way to make the headlines. This time around it’s all about him winning the Nationwide Series championship last year, and likely gaining more maturity to do well in the Sprint Cup Series this year. Again, I doubt it, at least . . . I hope not. Enough said.

          As for now, I’m caught up in the race that is only 93 laps along where Biffle is running first, Stewart is seventh, Jr. is 17^th and Johnson hasn’t made his move yet and is biding his time in 19^th. The Olympic Biathlon is riveting me to NBC channels more and more, causing me to wonder if these guys ever get to take a drink of water . . . and what in the world would possess a person to ever participate in such a grueling sport as this. I don’t think the USA guy stands a chance against those Russians and Austrians. All the while I’m doing my best to focus on writing this blog and two other stories that I have up on the computer at the same time. I’m trying folks, I really am, but it sure is hard to be a Stewart fan, USA fan, NASCAR fan, a sportswriter and the cook for four dogs all in the same instance.

          I know this has probably been a boring read for the majority of you, but I had to write about something . . . I was pretty tired of reading that snowman stuff for the past few weeks, weren’t you? And I am a fan . . . of a little bit of everything . . . just not a know-it-all Superfan of it all.

          And hey, I’m a sports writer . . . what did you expect my blog to be about on the first day of THE season?