TonyTimes: My Boy!

I never really reported on the comings and goings of NASCAR all last year on the blog. I sort of alienated my boy, my driver Ryan Newman -- the stud who drives the #12 alltel/Mobil1 Dodge Charger for Penske Racing South.

As of today, there's only 24 days left 'til this year's Daytona 500. That's not even counting Speedweeks -- the running of the Bud Shootout and the Gatorade 125 duals.

Now, besides the Busch Series (in which Newman started 9 races -- and won 6 of them), he adds a new racing schedule to his series, the Crown Royal IROC Series.

This was a last minute replacment, as fellow NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Carl Edwards had to back out due to scheduling conflicts with his full-time committment to the Busch Series. This will be Newman's third year driving in the IROC, driving in '03 and '04.

The IROC consists of 4 races a year, starting at Daytona. What makes this so fun and interesting to watch is that the cars are so aero-dependent on one another, so at your typical restrictor-plate track, a car (which takes its body after the Pontiac Trans Am) can go from first to dead-last (12th place) in a matter of one lap.

Newman won the opening race at Daytona in 2004 by a gutsy, last-second pass around Kurt Busch as the cars entered the tri-oval on the last lap. He went on to finish 2nd in the total point standings, finishing behind champion and fellow NASCAR Nextel Cup driver, Matt Kenseth.

Luckily for me, the SPEED Channel will be televising these exciting races!