Another year in NASCAR is about to begin

2014 was an exciting year in NASCAR. Hopefully 2015 will see much of the same action. There will also be changes in the form of Comcast Xfinity replacing the Nationwide Series, the new Fox-NBC television contract that runs through 2024, a new Toyota Camry model, Darlington going back to Labor Day weekend, several drivers with new teams, new specifications for cars, and much more. 2015 is being promoted as the beginning of a new era with the new television contract. It will also be a new era for many drivers and fans. NASCAR has every reason to look forward to 2015 and it should be another great year for stock car racing.

Past national series tracks in trouble

Many auto racing tracks across the United States that previously hosted NASCAR national series races have now fallen on hard times. One track that has been in the news lately is the 1-mile oval Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. Rockingham, after having two Cup dates for many years, hosted its last Sprint Cup Series race in February of 2004, which was won by Matt Kenseth. The track's spring date went to Phoenix, Arizona and its fall date to Fontana, California. After being purchased by former driver Andy Hillenburg, Rockingham hosted a Camping World Truck Series race in 2012 and 2013. Another round of financial troubles caused the bank to attempt to take control of the track, with Hillenburg eventually agreeing to put it up for sale again. Fans have been asking NASCAR for a decade to put Rockingham back on the Cup schedule, but at this point it's little more than wishful thinking.

Wood Brothers hope to run full-time again someday

Wood Brothers Racing is one of NASCAR's all-time most famous and most successful teams. Their legendary #21 car, currently a Ford Fusion, has been a fixture in the Sprint Cup Series for decades, and has been piloted by such drivers as David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd and Bill Elliott. But in recent years, sponsorship issues have forced the family from Virginia to cut back on the number of races in which they compete. The Wood Brothers did tend to run part-time schedules in their early years, like most teams in that era, although that was before teams running for the series championship were required to enter every race.

But the #21 team is hoping to eventually return to a full-time schedule and get back into the NASCAR spotlight. The Woods last visited victory lane in 2011, when 20-year-old Trevor Bayne shocked the motorsports world by winning the Daytona 500 in just his second Cup series start. It was the first win for the famed #21 machine since Elliott Sadler's 2001 Bristol win. The team last ran full-time in 2007 with a split between Elliott, Ken Schrader, Jon Wood and Boris Said. They did get more sponsorship following Bayne's Daytona 500 win, but they continued to run part-time with him, while at the same time entering into an alliance with Roush Fenway Racing, where Bayne was a research and development driver at the time.

Bayne is now going full-time to the Sprint Cup Series with Roush in the #6 Ford, which will take the place of Carl Edwards' #99 car from the past decade. The #21 will be taken over by three-time Truck and two-time Xfinity race winner Ryan Blaney, and the Woods have entered into a new Ford alliance with Team Penske, with whom Blaney is a development driver, and which Blaney's former truck team Brad Keselowski Racing is also aligned with since Keselowski is a Cup driver with Penske. The #21 will probably be most closely associated with Penske's part-time #12 car. It could be the first step toward the Wood Brothers going back to full-time competition, but we'll have to see how Blaney performs as the legendary team's newest driver.

Are Carl Edwards' JGR expectations too high?

Carl Edwards really thinks his first year with Joe Gibbs will be better than his last year with Jack Roush. In 2014, Edwards gave the Roush team its only two Cup victories. In 2015, as Edwards said recently, "I plan to win 10 races and the championship." Some people think Edwards is referring to his former Roush teammate Matt Kenseth's first season at JGR in 2013, in which he won seven races and finished second in points behind Jimmie Johnson. Kenseth has not won a points race in the Cup series since.


Similarly, Edwards finished second in points behind Johnson in 2008 after winning nine races, and then went winless in 2009. He then tied with Tony Stewart in 2011, but was credited with second place due to Stewart having won more races, and then endured another winless season in 2012. But people are expecting Edwards and Kenseth to work together and both find victory lane in their first year as reunited teammates. And while it does sound like a crazy thing for Edwards to say, maybe he might manage to win ten races and finally win the Cup championship in this coming season if he feels really determined.

New sponsorships abound for races in 2015

Along with the new Xfinity title sponsor for NASCAR's number two series, some races across NASCAR's top three series will also have new names. Perhaps the most notable is the withdrawal of Aaron's from the Talladega race weekend in May, meaning no more Aaron's 312 or Aaron's 499.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas today. I have a whole post about it on my other blog. For this blog, here's a picture of a Christmas-themed car I made in NASCAR Racing 2003 Season.

Drivers have fun at Christmas parties

Many NASCAR drivers have hosted or been guests at Christmas and holiday parties during the past several days, and shared their experiences to social media. Drive like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne from the Hendrick bunch sported ugly Christmas sweaters, with Earnhardt's depicting Jesus with "birthday boy" written underneath, and Kahne's filled with little kittens hiding in Christmas stockings. Users were asked which sweaters were the "worst," in this case meaning the best. On another side of the celebrations, Michael Waltrip posted a picture of an epic shrimp table at his race team's Christmas party at the shops in North Carolina.

My favorite Cup paint schemes, part 4

My favorite Cup paint schemes, part 3

My favorite NASCAR paint schemes, part 2

Sam Hornish Jr./Ryan Blaney/Juan Pablo Montoya #12 SKF Ford, Team Penske, 2012-2014

Mike Bliss/Rick Mast/Ron Hornaday/Stacy Compton/Mike Wallace #14 Conseco Pontiac, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, 2000-2002

Tony Stewart #14 Burger King Chevrolet, Stewart Haas Racing, 2009

Michael Waltrip #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Inc., 2001-2005

My favorite Cup paint schemes, part 1

Mike Bliss #0 NetZero/Best Buy Chevrolet, Haas CNC Racing, 2005

Haas CNC Racing was car owner Gene Haas' first foray into NASCAR's top series. The #0 car sponsored by NetZero went full-time in 2003 as a Pontiac with three-time Truck Series champion Jack Sprague. After releasing Sprague midway through the season, Haas hired Jason Leffler, John Andretti and finally Ward Burton, who remained with the team in 2004 but left near the end of that season. That's where Bliss came in, followed by the beginning of 2005 by Best Buy as a new sponsor. The resulting paint scheme contained a black background with purple, yellow, orange and red lines containing a gradient pattern. Bliss almost took the #0 to the last spot in the 2005 Nextel All-Star Race but was spun by Brian Vickers coming to the checkered flag in the Nextel Open.

Bliss left the Haas team after the 2005 season, as did NetZero. 2006 saw Jeff Green pilot the renumbered #66 machine. Best Buy pulled their sponsorship after 2007 and for 2008 Scott Riggs took over as driver. Haas joined forces with former Joe Gibbs driver Tony Stewart to create Stewart Haas Racing in 2009. The #66 became the #39 driven by Ryan Newman, which then became the #4 of Kevin Harvick for the 2014 season. Harvick took the car to the Cup championship in his first year with the team.

Regan Smith #01 Principal Financial Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Inc., 2008

The #01 team at DEI had its roots in the #36 Pontiac at MB2 Motorsports, which opened in 1997. That car became the #01 U.S. Army car in 2003, and the following year they switched to Chevy. In 2006 MB2 became known as Ginn Racing. Midway through 2007 the team merged with DEI, and the result was the closure of the #13 and #14 teams at Ginn and the transfer of the #01 and the #14's owner points to DEI. Regan Smith had been lined up to replace Sterling Marlin in the #14, but after the merger he ended up in the #01.

This is the paint scheme that appeared on Smith's #01 Chevrolet Impala during his 2008 rookie Cup season. It was predominantly black with the Principal logo appearing in blue. The numbers also have a blue shadow underneath them. The car's look is completed by the "E" stripes on the bottom left, which added a nice touch to every DEI car. This simple, unique scheme almost went to victory lane at Talladega in October of '08, but Smith was disqualified because he was below the yellow line when he took the checkered flag, and the win was handed to Tony Stewart.

2008 would ultimately be DEI's last year as an active NASCAR race team. During the 2008-09 offseason, they merged with Chip Ganassi Racing to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Along with the #01 team, the #15 team at DEI and the #41 team at CGR ceased to exist after this second merger, leaving DEI's #1 and #8 cars and CGR's #42 car to enter 2009 as a three-car stable. The #8 team would also disappear before the end of '09, and after the 2013 season Teresa Earnhardt sold her share of the team to Chip Ganassi. Meanwhile, Smith ended up at Furniture Row Racing driving the #78 Chevrolet, winning at Darlington in 2011 before going back down to the Xfinity Series with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Clint Bowyer #07 DirecTV Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing, 2006-2008 (some races)

The #07 car at RCR started in 2001 as the #30 AOL car. Richard Childress picked up Jack Daniel's whiskey as a sponsor during the 2004-05 offseason, and changed the number to #07 as a reference to Jack. Below is the main paint scheme on that car from 2005 to 2009.

In 2006, rookie Clint Bowyer replaced Dave Blaney in the #07, which quickly became one of the best-known NASCAR cars of the period. But one lesser-known special paint scheme was the DirecTV scheme that Bowyer drove in a few races during his three seasons driving the car. The blue-and-white paint job on the DirecTV car stands out a lot from the black Jack car. The top and back contain baby blue, while the bottom is a darker blue. There is a medium-blue stripe on either front quarter panel and plain white on the hood behind the DirecTV logo and the rear quarter panels, which still contain the Jack Daniel's logo. The numbers are also outlined in blue.

After 2008, Bowyer moved to the #33 car at RCR, giving the team four full-time cars. The new driver of the #07 machine was Casey Mears. DirecTV did not appear as a primary sponsor at all in 2009. Mears was released from RCR after a mediocre season and the #07 team was shut down after Jack Daniel's pulled their sponsorship. After taking 2010 off, the team was revived in 2011 as the #27 driven by Paul Menard and sponsored by his father's hardware store Menards. The #27 and #30 iterations of this car will also be covered in other posts in this series.

Dale Earnhardt #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing, 1988-2001

One of the best-known and most recognizable cars in NASCAR history, the black #3 car of "The Intimidator" will always be regarded along with Richard Petty's #43 as one of the sport's best paint schemes. After driving it as a special scheme in a couple of races, Earnhardt picked up Goodwrench as the replacement for the blue and yellow Wrangler paint scheme on his Richard Childress-owned Chevy in 1988. He took the black car to four of his seven Winston Cup championships in the 1990s. Earnhardt also took Goodwrench to victory in the 1998 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt died in a crash with Ken Schrader on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 with two of his Dale Earnhardt Inc. drivers, new recruit Michael Waltrip and son Dale Earnhardt Jr., running first and second. "The Intimidator" was my first favorite NASCAR driver, and I as an almost six-year-old had the misfortune of watching him die on live television, while at the same time I was helping driver-turned-commentator Darrell Waltrip cheering on his brother Michael to the win. Even at my young age I knew Dale was dead when he didn't get out of his car, and ever since then I have rooted for a long succession of Cup drivers; my current favorite is Joey Logano. Meanwhile, Dale's replacement at RCR was Kevin Harvick, and the #3 car became the #29 car with an inverted paint scheme. Goodwrench was replaced by Shell/Pennzoil in 2007, which in turn gave way to Budweiser in 2011. This year, the #3 car came back as Richard Childress' grandson Austin Dillon began his full-time Cup career. Nearly 14 years later, the memory of Dale Earnhardt and that black #3 car still live on in NASCAR.

#4 Kodak Oldsmobile/Pontiac, Morgan-McClure Motorsports, 1986-2003

The #4 Kodak car stood out in the Cup series for nearly two decades. It had a solid yellow-orange background with red numbers and various Kodak fixtures, including a rainbow pattern at the bottom that existed in a number of variations. Early drivers included Phil Parsons and Rick Wilson. In 1989 Ernie Irvan was hired to drive the Kodak machine, and won several races including the 1991 Daytona 500. Late in 1993, he moved to the #28 of Robert Yates Racing to replace the deceased Davey Allison. In 1994, Sterling Marlin took over and won the '94 and '95 Daytona 500s along with four other races, before departing for Team SABCO after the 1997 season. Marlin's successor was Bobby Hamilton, who won at Martinsville in 1998, and left after the 2000 season for Andy Petree's team. A series of drivers followed, including Robby Gordon, Kevin Lepage, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Mike Skinner and Stacy Compton.

In 2004, Kodak moved their sponsorship to the #77 Dodge of Jasper Motorsports, owned by Doug Bawel. The #4 at MMM subsequently picked up Lucas Oil as a new sponsor and Jimmy Spencer as their driver. Spencer was eventually replaced by Mike Wallace, who then gave way in 2006 to Scott Wimmer. In 2007, now sponsored by State Water Heaters, the #4 was piloted by Ward Burton during most of the season. MMM shut down during the 2008 season after failing to qualify for a few last races.

Kyle Busch/Casey Mears/Mark Martin #5 Kellogg's/Carquest Auto Parts Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports, 2005-2009

The #5 Chevrolet was Rick Hendrick's first Cup car back in 1984 with Geoff Bodine driving. The car was then driven by Ricky Rudd, who was succeeded in 1994 by Terry Labonte. This is when the car got the famous Kellogg's Corn Flakes paint scheme. It was changed to Frosted Flakes in 2001. Labonte, the 1996 series champion at Hendrick, switched to part-time driving after 2004.

Replacing Labonte in the #5 car was rookie Kyle Busch, the 19-year-old brother of then-defending series champion Kurt Busch. Kellogg's remained a sponsor with Tony the Tiger on the car, and the car also picked up Carquest Auto Parts as another sponsor. This began a series of schemes that were slightly varied over the next few years. All of these schemes contained a mix of blue, red and yellow, with the number decals usually yellow as well. The hood contained either Tony the Tiger, Carquest or sometimes Cheez-It crackers. Busch left Hendrick for Joe Gibbs Racing after 2007 and Casey Mears moved over from the #25 car to make way for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008. Veteran Mark Martin, after two part-time seasons, took over the #5 full-time in 2009 and won five races.

In 2010, Kellogg's moved over to the #99 Ford of Carl Edwards at Roush Fenway Racing. The #5 at Hendrick got GoDaddy.com (made famous by Danica Patrick) as a new primary sponsor. Martin left Hendrick after the 2011 season and was replaced by Kasey Kahne, who is currently signed until 2018. Current sponsors include Farmers Insurance and Pepsi.

Mark Martin #6 Pfizer Ford, Roush Racing, 2001

Mark Martin was Roush Racing's first full-time driver in the #6 Ford in 1988. After going through a series of sponsors, Pfizer and their drug Viagra came on board in 2001 to replace Valvoline, with whom Martin had enjoyed great success. The number decals also had a new look. One variant of the Viagra/Pfizer scheme only had Pfizer logos on it. Both with and without Viagra, this version of the Roush #6 car, at the time a Taurus, contains a grey-silver top and hood with medium and dark blue shades zig-zagging across the hood and sides, with white at the bottom, white side number decals and a blue top number.

The Viagra schemes went through a few more variations before the sponsor left following the 2005 season. Replacing them as the main sponsor of the #6 car was AAA auto insurance, with Mark Martin driving for Roush for one last year.

Mark Martin/David Ragan #6 AAA Ford, Roush Fenway Racing, 2006-2008

Mark Martin signed an extension with Roush for 2006, with the #6 car becoming a Ford Fusion and with AAA insurance as a new sponsor. The resulting paint scheme had a mostly white front with the AAA logo on the hood, a half-white, half-blue setup on the side panels with a streak of red at the bottom and a red spoiler (later a black wing). In 2007 martin went to Ginn Racing to drive part-time and was replaced by rookie David Ragan. The main sponsor of the #6 car became UPS in 2009.

Michael Waltrip/Mike Wallace/Robby Gordon/Ted Musgrave/Kevin Lepage #7 NationsRent Chevrolet/Ford, Ultra Motorsports, 2000-2001

The Ultra Motorsports #7 Cup team evolved out of the late Alan Kulwicki's self-run operation. Kulwicki won the 1992 Winston Cup championship as a driver-owner, and died in a plane crash the following April. The #7 Chevrolet team was eventually bought out by Geoff Bodine, who went on to win a number of races, his last win coming at Watkins Glen in 1996. Bodine went to another team after the 1998 season, and the #7 team was rebranded as Mattei Motorsports. Michael Waltrip was the new driver, while Philips Light Bulbs came on as a new sponsor. In 2000, with the addition of Nations Rent, the #7 car got a new look with a yellow and black paint job. The Nations Rent logo appeared in a yellow diamond on the hood, while the number decals were featured in black in the same diamonds on the sides, as well as on a solid yellow top. The look was completed by a yellow and black construction-type pattern along the bottom.

Midway through 2000, future Truck Series champion Jim Smith purchased the #7 team and renamed it Ultra Motorsports. Waltrip left for Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2001 and was replaced by Mike Wallace. The #7 car also became a Ford Taurus and Philips left, leaving Nations Rent on its own. Robby Gordon piloted the car at Sonoma and came close to pulling off a win, while Ted Musgrave took over at Pocono. Wallace was released late in the season (he found a ride briefly at Penske Racing as a replacement for the fired Jeremy Mayfield) and Kevin Lepage drove the #7 for the rest of the season.

Casey Atwood #7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge, Ultra-Evernham Motorsports, 2002

After the aforementioned 2001 Winston Cup season, Jim Smith and Evernham Motorsports owner Ray Evernham formed a partnership named Ultra-Evernham Motorsports. Smith's #7 car became a Dodge, for which Evernham had been a flagship team a year earlier, and in 2002 sophomore Cup driver Casey Atwood moved over from Evernham's #19 Dodge, which Jeremy Mayfield took over, to drive the #7 car, which picked up Sirius satellite radio as a new sponsor. Sirius gave the #7 Ultra-Evernham Dodge a black hood with the Sirius logo on it outlined in orange, a blue body and top with the number decals now in Evernham style in orange, and silver-white lines on the edges of the hood and body with an orange line below the grille.

Atwood returned to drive full-time in the Busch Series in 2003, although he competed in the Brickyard 400 in the #91 Dodge before formally leaving the Evernham team. Jason Leffler drove the #7 in the last two Cup races of 2002, after which Smith and Evernham ended their partnership and Smith's team reverted to the Ultra Motorsports banner. Jimmy Spencer drove the #7 Dodge, featuring a new light blue, black and white paint scheme, in 2003 and part of 2004. By 2005, Robby Gordon had purchased Ultra Motorsports and began driving the #7 car under the name Robby Gordon Motorsports.

Johnny Benson/Scott Riggs #10 Valvoline Pontiac/Chevrolet, MB2 Motorsports, 2001-2004

Jason Leffler/J.J. Yeley/Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx Chevrolet, Joe Gibbs Racing, 2005

Darrell Wallace Jr. going to the Roush Xfinity team

Darrell Wallace Jr. will drive the #6 Ford Mustang in the upcoming Xfinity Series season at Roush Fenway Racing. Wallace is replacing Trevor Bayne, who went full-time in the Sprint Cup Series with Roush and brought the #6 back to that series. Wallace asked out of Joe Gibbs Racing, with whom he had a driver development contract, about two weeks ago. This year he drove the #54 Toyota truck for Kyle Busch, who has an alliance in that series with Joe Gibbs, to four wins, including the most recent race at Homestead last month. Wallace also made his Xfinity debut driving for Gibbs at Daytona in July. Wallace joins Elliott Sadler as newcomers at Roush.

Sprint leaving as Cup title sponsor after 2016

The Sprint phone company will end its tenure as the title sponsor of NASCAR's top series after the 2016 season, which will make the "Sprint Cup" era a total of nine seasons. Sprint took over from Nextel in 2008 following the 2005 Sprint-Nextel merger. The Nextel Cup era, following the 2003 departure of tobacco company Winston, took place between 2004 and 2007, making the Sprint Cup name essentially an extension of the Nextel Cup brand. Sprint took over from Nextel by heavily promoting mobile phone usage in NASCAR, leading to a rule that caused car sponsors AT&T (as a Cingular rebrand) and Alltel to pull out. This will be the series' third title sponsor change in what will be 13 years after the end of Winston's sponsorship.

Back in June, Sprint and fellow mobile phone service T-Mobile were considering a merger under the T-Mobile name, which would have forced the NASCAR series to be renamed the "T-Mobile Cup Series." The merger was ultimately called off in August, leaving Sprint as the title sponsor originally through 2018, but now only through 2016 as announced on Tuesday. A rumor has been flying around the internet that Budweiser has already been lined up to replace Sprint starting in 2017, but this is likely little more than a speculative fan-made logo, and there are a lot more potential sponsors for the series as well.

NASCAR expands Sprint Unlimited lineup

NASCAR has changed the eligible drivers for this year's Sprint Unlimited exhibition race at Daytona in February. Along with polesitters of the 2014 season and past winners of the race, the field will now include all 16 Chase drivers regardless of whether they won any poles (most Chase drivers did in 2014 or are past race winners).

The eligible drivers:

• #1 - Jamie McMurray
• #2 - Brad Keselowski
• #3 - Austin Dillon
• #4 - Kevin Harvick
• #5 - Kasey Kahne
• #10 - Danica Patrick
• #11 - Denny Hamlin
• #14 - Tony Stewart
• #16 - Greg Biffle
• #18 - Kyle Busch
• #19 - Carl Edwards
• #20 - Matt Kenseth
• #22 - Joey Logano
• #24 - Jeff Gordon
• #31 - Ryan Newman
• #33 - Brian Scott
• #38 - David Gilliland
• #41 - Kurt Busch
• #42 - Kyle Larson
• #43 - Aric Almirola
• #47 - A.J. Allmendinger
• #48 - Jimmie Johnson
• #55 - Brian Vickers*
• #78 - Martin Truex Jr.
• #88 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

*Brian Vickers will miss the early part of the 2015 season after heart surgery, and his teammate Clint Bowyer could be lined up to replace him in the Unlimited.

Update 1/8/15: Bowyer has been confirmed as Vickers' replacement in the Unlimited.

Brian Vickers has heart surgery

Brian Vickers had surgery on Saturday to repair a hole in his heart caused by an aid for blood clots he has suffered on multiple occasions. The surgery will cause the driver of the #55 Toyota at Michael Waltrip Racing to miss the beginning of the upcoming Sprint Cup season. Vickers was talking to media about his surgery on Monday.


Vickers' blood clots, which appeared in his legs and lungs, were first discovered in 2010, during his tenure behind the wheel of the #83 Toyota at Red Bull Racing Team. He ultimately missed much of that season. In 2012 and 2013, Vickers drove full-time in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs while driving part-time in the #55 at MWR with Michael Waltrip and Mark Martin. He was named the full-time driver for 2014, but before that was sidelined for the last four races of 2013 and replaced by his Nationwide teammate Elliott Sadler.

Joey Logano gets married, social media has a field day

Joey Logano got married to his girlfriend fiancee wife Brittany Baca on Saturday. The date, 12/13/14, was chosen intentionally because Baca said the sequential numbering would be the best way for Logano to remember it for years to come. Among the guests at the wedding was Brad Keselowski, Logano's teammate at Team Penske. Keselowski, an expert of social media, made several posts to Twitter and Facebook. Logano and Baca also took pictures for Instagram. Some of the NASCAR media was on top of the wedding as well.

This caps a thrilling year for the 24-year-old Logano, who gave car owner Roger Penske five of his eleven Cup wins in 2014, made the final round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Homestead and finished fourth in the final standings, making it his best season in the series by far. Logano said more than once about the wedding that it was the "best day of his life." That could change, however, if he wins a championship or major race in NASCAR, which fans hope his new wife won't get in the way of too much.

More tire testing opportunities provided to Cup drivers

It was previously announced that Sprint Cup testing at Daytona in January would no longer be held in 2015, no would any private testing for that matter. However, there will still be many more chances for Cup teams to test their Goodyear brand tires at other tracks. There are also plans for general team and Goodyear testing lined up at several tracks throughout the year.

The first testing session will be held on January 19 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and participants will be Stewart-Haas Racing (#4, #10, #14, #41), JTG Daugherty Racing (#47), Team Penske (#2, #22) and Joe Gibbs Racing (#11, #18, #19, #20).The next group session will take place at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 2 and 3, the day after the Cup race, and will feature Richard Childress Racing (#3, #27, #31, #33), Chip Ganassi Racing (#1, #42), Roush Fenway Racing (#6, #16, #17) and Michael Waltrip Racing (#15, #55). The last initial group session will be on March 10 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, featuring Hendrick Motorsports (#5, #24, #48, #88), Furniture Row Racing (#78), Richard Petty Motorsports (#9, #43) and BK Racing (#23, #26, #83, #93).

Drivers get new paint schemes for 2015

A number of Cup drivers will have new looks on their cars in 2015.

Kasey Kahne #5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet: This new look was designed by a fan.

Greg Biffle #16 Ortho, Cheez-It Ford: The longtime Roush Fenway driver has picked up some new sponsors to replace 3M. Biffle debuted Ortho on his car in September.

Kyle Busch #18 M&M's Crispy Toyota: Busch will carry this predominantly light green paint job in 24 of 36 races to celebrate the return of this M&M's variety after nearly a decade away. This also comes with a new body style for the Camry.

Matt Kenseth #20 DeWalt Toyota: The tools company reunites with Kenseth after several seasons at Richard Petty Motorsports.

Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe's Chevrolet: The dark blue scheme that is entering its fourth season will be joined by some grey.

Brian Vickers #55 Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine:  The addition of baby blue coincides with a new look for the Camry.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 Nationwide Chevrolet: Earnhardt, an official spokesman for the insurance company, is helping Nationwide move into the Cup series after they left as the title sponsor of NASCAR's number two series. Earnhardt debuted this scheme in September.

Cale Conley signs with TriStar Motorsports in Xfinity

Cale Conley will drive full-time for TriStar Motorsports in the Xfinity Series in 2015. This year, Conley drove part-time in the #33 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing, which will be mostly piloted by Austin Dillon this coming season. Although Tristar has gained a reputation for being a start-and-park team, they appear committed to attempting every race in the Xfinity Series in 2015.

Bobby Labonte to appear at Daytona with Go FAS Racing

Bobby Labonte will compete during Speedweeks at Daytona in February and attempt the Daytona 500 driving the #32 Ford of Go FAS Racing. This is the car that his older brother Terry Labonte drove in his final Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega in October after a three-and-a-half decade career. The champion Labonte brothers both made the 500 last year with come-from-behind finishes in the second Budweiser Duel after avoiding a big crash along the frontstretch. Bobby Labonte, whose 2000 series championship makes him eligible for a provisional, was driving a second car for Harry Scott in that event.

Ty Dillon to attempt Daytona 500 with Richard Childress

Ty Dillon will attempt to qualify for his first Daytona 500 in February in the #33 Chevrolet at Richard Childress Racing with sponsorship from Cheerios. Dillon made his Cup debut at Atlanta in August, and appears to be following in the footsteps of his older brother Austin Dillon, a rising Cup sophomore in the #3 Chevrolet. Ty Dillon took his own #3 car to his first Nationwide Series win at Indianapolis in July, and will keep running for points in what will soon be known as the Xfinity Series in 2015.

The #33 car has been shared between the Dillons' grandfather Richard Childress and Joe Falk since early in the 2012 season. Before that, the #33 was a full-time car at RCR driven by Clint Bowyer. This year, besides with Dillon at Atlanta and fall Phoenix, Childress' version of the #33 was piloted by Nationwide/Xfinity driver Brian Scott in the Daytona 500, Aaron's 499 (where he won the pole), the spring race at Phoenix and  both races at Charlotte. It is not known if Falk will turn full control of the car back to Childress so he can field a four-car Cup team again, but for now he seems content using the #33 as a development car for drivers like Dillon and Scott.

Darrell Wallace Jr. leaves Joe Gibbs Racing

Darrell Wallace Jr., who drove one of Kyle Busch's Camping World trucks to four wins this year, is out of his contract at Kyle Busch's alliance Joe Gibbs Racing, it was announced Monday. Kyle Busch's truck team is experiencing sponsorship and funding issues, which is standing in the way of Busch trying to expand the team. Busch has signed ARCA driver Justin Boston, who like Wallace has a driver development contract with Joe Gibbs. Boston will likely be regarded as Wallace's replacement in trucks. It's an unfortunate situation for a driver who has showed real talent and skill in NASCAR's number three series over the past two seasons.

John Hunter Nemechek wins Snowball Derby

John Hunter Nemechek won the Snowball Derby race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida on Sunday, beating Dalton Sargeant, Derek Thorn and a variety of other drivers. The Snowball Derby is a famous dirt track late model race that has been held every December since 1968, and has featured drivers from all levels of stock car racing such as Darrell Waltrip, Kyle Busch, Rich Bickle, Johanna Long and Chase Elliott, just to name a few.

Nemechek, the 17-year-old son of four-time Sprint Cup race winner Joe Nemechek, led 68 of the 323 laps in the Derby, and had to hold off several more experienced drivers during the final laps. He had competed in the Snowflake 100 event the night before and was running on little sleep. But Nemechek stayed focused on racing and was able to take the victory. He ended Erik Jones' streak of victories in the race. Jones and Elliott were expected to be among the top contenders, but ran into problems and ultimately finished near the back of the field. Also running into trouble was Matt Kenseth's son Ross Kenseth, who suffered a mechanical problem and was disappointed about his early exit.

My predicted vs. actual Sprint Cup winners in 2014

I made predictions of who I thought was going to win before every race this year. Quite a few of my predictions turned out to be right. Here is a full list of my predicted winners and the actual winners of each Cup race this year.

Drivers shine at Sprint Cup awards

The Srpint Cup Series awards banquet was held on Friday evening at the Wynn hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Host Jay Mohr started it off with a comedic monologue that made fun of many of the happenings this year, such as Denny Hamlin missing Fontana due to a piece of metal in his eye, the fights involving Brad Keselowski throughout the Chase, Michael Waltrip's stint on Dancing With The Stars, and the mistake made by Joey Logano's pit crew at Homestead. There were also some other humorous and satirical pieces that Mohr made with the drivers.

After Mohr's introduction, the first four drivers eliminated from the Chase - A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch, gave short talks. They were followed by the next four eliminated drivers - Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne. Then, third group of four eliminated drivers (Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski) went up to the podium to give individual speeches. This was followed by the presentations of some other awards, including Most Popular Driver, which Dale Earnhardt Jr. won for the 12th year in a row, Rookie of the Year to Kyle Larson and manufacturer's trophy to Chevrolet. There was also a couple of musical performances and a tribute to those who died during the year.

Finally, it was time for the final four championship drivers - Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and champion Kevin Harvick. They each all got even longer speeches, and Harvick naturally had the grand speech complete with the official presentation of the champion's trophy. Harvick remarked about his championship, "If a kid from Bakersfield can do it, so can anyone." Car owners Tony Stewart and Gene Haas were also there to celebrate with Harvick, whose speech closed out a wonderful night for NASCAR in Las Vegas.

Lower series teams struggling to find sponsors, funding

Several teams in the Camping World Truck and Xfinity series are scrambling to find sponsorship for 2015. A number of drivers are uncertain whether they'll have rides next year. This is especially evident in the Turner Scott Motorsports stable, whose drivers include Kyle Larson, Dylan Kwasniewski and Ben Kennedy. There have been rumors that TSM will shut down or merge with Chip Ganassi Racing, with whom they have an alliance that formed with Larson's signing to the team in the Sprint Cup Series. TSM already shut down their #30 Truck team in August, leading driver Ron Hornaday to eventually go back to his old team from 2013 for a short stint.

Furniture Row, Joe Gibbs switch up crew chiefs

There will be some new driver-crew chief pairings at Furniture Row Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup series in 2015. Canadian engineer Cole Pearn has been named as the new crew chief of the #78 Chevrolet at Furniture Row driven by Martin Truex Jr., replacing Todd Berrier in that position. Pearn has been a crew member at FRR since 2010 when he moved there from Richard Childress Racing. Next year's plans for Berrier, who was previously Kurt Busch's crew chief when Busch drove the #78 from late 2012 to the end of 2013, are not yet known.

Meanwhile, JGR president J.D. Gibbs has overseen a crew chief shakeup in the newly expanded four-car Sprint Cup team as well as the Xfinity Series. Darian Grubb has been moved from the #11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin to the new #19 Toyota team created for Carl Edwards, who came from the #99 Ford at Roush Fenway Racing. Dave Rogers is going from the #18 Toyota driven by Kyle Busch to Hamlin's team, and Adam Stevens has been promoted from Xfinity as Busch's new crew chief. Jason Ratcliff is staying with Matt Kenseth and the #20 Toyota. JGR's Xfinity division has Eric Phillips going to the #18 Toyota of rookie Mexican driver Daniel Suarez, while Mike Wheeler is going to the #20 car that has a long list of drivers signed on for the season, and Chris Gayle has been sent to the #54 car that also has multiple drivers, but primarily Kyle Busch.

Joe Gibbs Racing had somewhat of an off-year in Cup in 2014, as the team won just two races in the series in the spring, Busch at Fontana and Hamlin at Talladega, which were also Toyota's only two wins in the series all year. Hamlin did make the final four of the Chase at Homestead but ultimately finished third in the final standings. Matt Kenseth, who won the most Cup races (seven) last year, failed to visit victory lane in the series this year, although he did pull off a win in the Homestead Nationwide finale. Coincidentally, this was previously done by Carl Edwards in 2009, who gave Roush its only two Cup wins in 2014.

Tony Stewart has fourth leg surgery

Tony Stewart has had a fourth surgery on the leg that he broke in a sprint car crash at an Iowa dirt track last August (2013). Stewart had his first two surgeries in quick succession right after the crash, followed by the third a few days later. Stewart was forced to miss the rest of the 2013 Sprint Cup season (Watkins Glen to Homestead) but came back for Speedweeks at Daytona in February. Since his return, Stewart has sat out three more races after the sprint car accident on August 9 in Canandaigua, New York, again before the Watkins Glen race, that killed fellow competitor Kevin Ward Jr. Since Stewart was believed to be fully healed when he was cleared to return to racing in February, it is unclear what necessitated this fourth surgery. Stewart will show up at Friday's Sprint Cup awards banquet in Las Vegas on crutches as he celebrates his driver Kevin Harvick's championship.

Kevin Harvick takes California media tour

Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick is currently going around California with the championship trophy and making visits with various people. He made a surprise trip to his hometown of Bakersfield and went to his old high school, North High School, to visit with students there. Harvick, who brought crew chief Rodney Childers along with him, took pictures with the students and the trophy in front, behind a shrine in the gym of the school's famous alumni that included Harvick's 2007-10 Shell/Pennzoil firesuit. Aside from Bakersfield, Harvick is going to other cities such as Los Angeles to participate in media events leading up to the Sprint Cup awards banquet in Las Vegas on Friday.