Do I Really Have to Wait so Long For 2010?
It’s only the second day of the NASCAR off-season and I’m already having some pretty serious withdrawal pains.
Please tell me I really don’t have to wait more than 80 days before Daytona International Speedway opens for Speedweeks on Feb. 4.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait more than four months before I can see Bristol Motor Speedway again.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait six months before the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Museum officially opens.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait nearly three months to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. try to put 2009, his worst season ever in Cup competition behind him, and hopefully have a much-improved 2010 season.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait nearly two months before my annual trek to the NASCAR preseason media tour in the third week of January, when reporters from around the country get a chance to find out what’s new with most of the teams in the sport.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait three more months to see Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski go at it again on the racetrack.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait more than seven months before NASCAR returns to my home racetrack, Chicagoland Speedway.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait another 10 months or so to learn the members of the second annual NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class (if David Pearson isn’t in it, I’m going to burn my NASCAR media hard card in protest).
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until next September before the lawsuit between NASCAR and Jeremy Mayfield finally goes to trial.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until next September again for the seventh 12-driver field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup is finally determined (will it really be the seventh edition? Yep, time certainly has flown since the inaugural Chase in 2004).
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until February to see Kyle Busch come back from a dismal 2009 and prepare to kick some serious butt in 2010 with new crew chief Dave Rogers.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until next April before NASCAR makes even more improvements and changes to make the racing even safer at Talladega Superspeedway.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until next July before my first book, “Trading Paint, 101 of NASCAR’s Great Debates” hits bookstores across the country.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until next June to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until next May to see the first of my three kids finally graduate from college.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait until next November to see Jimmie Johnson continue to make NASCAR history by winning his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup championship.
Please tell me I don’t have to wait much longer before TV ratings and at-track attendance numbers start to go back up.
Heck, I’m ready to start the 2010 season tomorrow. No, wait, make that today. No, on second thought, I’m ready to start it yesterday.
But being the realist I am, I know I’ll have to cool my jets and sit on my thumbs for another 11 weeks. It’s a dirty job, but one we all have to put up with.
Hey wait, whatever happened to that idea about NASCAR racing indoors during the winter? If there ever was a time for that, it’s now. I’m already suffering excruciating withdrawal pain – and it’s only going to get worse before it gets better.
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