NASCAR season is here! Many of you folks think that NASCAR is just a bunch of rednecks driving around in circles for three hours, but it's much more than that. They have to stop once in a while for gas and tires. Sometimes they crash. If you're lucky, they even fight or throw things at other cars after they crash. Half of the casual fans watch just for the crashes. But seriously, NASCAR has grown way past the Days of Thunder days of rough driving and become more of a corporate power in the sports world. The Yankees pay jason Giambi $17 million to hit a 95 mph fastball 400 feet. Sponsors like Home Depot, Budweiser, Target, and even Viagra pay up to $20 million to have their logos put on cars going 180 mph for 500 miles. NASCAR advertising works on fans like me. When choosing brands, I tend to support the sponsors of drivers I like. Watching NASCAR will help you become a better consumer. For those of you that do not yet follow auto racing, I will help you out with a few tidbits on the sport. (Yes, NASCAR counts as a sport. They even have an official prayer before the events.)

Daytona 500: The Super Bowl of NASCAR. Where other sports try to end with a bang, NASCAR starts off with one. A week-long event consisting of an exhibition race (Bud Shootout) and qualifying races (Gatorade Twin 125's) leading up to Daytona 500. One of the big money races.

Tony Stewart: Defending NASCAR champion and driver of the #20 Home Depot car. Some consider him to be a bad boy, but still very popular. Danny's favorite driver.

Jeff Gordon: 4 time NASCAR champion and driver of the #24 Dupont Chevy. Best driver in NASCAR. Holds all kinds of youngest-to-something records. Part owner of the #48 Lowe's Chevy. The unofficial Jeff Gordon collectible museum is located on my bookshelf.

36: Number of points races in the NASCAR season that count toward the championship

43: Cars in each race. All going at speeds up to 200 mph. And you thought it was tough to pass someone on the Bay Bridge during rush hour.

110: Octane level of the Union 76 gasoline used in NASCAR.

770: Average horsepower in a NASCAR engine.

450: Horsepower in NASCAR engines at Daytona and Talledega becasue of the use of a restrictor plate. The plate limits the amount of air that can enter the engine and slows the cars down on the super-speedways (tracks over 1 mile long). They used to go over 220 mph on these track, but now it is closer to 200.

Pits: Where the cars stop to get gas, change tires, clean their windows, or fix a dent caused in a collision. A good pitstop takes no more than 16 seconds, a great one takes less than 15 seconds. Races are often won or lost due to work by the pit crews.

Yellow flag: Signaling caution on the track, meaning a crash or unsafe situation had occured. Cars continue driving and can make pit stops, but cannot pass on the track.

Red flag: Dangerous situation, stop all cars. Used when raining or when a big wreck takes place.

Green flag: Used to start the race and to resume racing after a yellow or red flag.

Black flag: Tells a car to pull into the pits because of a rules or safety violation. The equivelent of the flashing red and blue on the highway.

Checkered flag: Signals the end of the race.

With that, this is the end of NASCAR primer. (You can still join my fantasy auto racing group on Yahoo fantasy sports. Only 3 people are in it so far, so there is a very high chance of victory. League #7356, password: fast) Don't miss the Daytona 500 on my favorite network FOX this Sunday.



Non-racing random note: During our house prayer meeting, I learned that Jason once spent $130 on a pair of Nike shoes he says was endorsed by John Stockton. Research is now being done to see if John Stockton had ever endorsed any pair of Nikes