It’s time for the rednecks and hillbillies to get excited. It’s almost time for NASCAR to begin, and with a lot of new rules and regulations for the sport, the upcoming season is going to be interesting.

Now, personally I am and will always be an Earnhardt Jr. fan. Now after a good year for the Hendrick Motorsports team, I am expecting nothing less than a championship that comes from the team this year.

Without having legendary racer Jeff Gordon, Hendrick’s team will suffer greatly after his retirement from last year. Gordon went on to win 93 races over the course of his 24 year career in NASCAR.  To me that amount of races won is pretty amazing, obviously nowhere near close to Richard Petty’s 200 win career.

What I like and always have liked was the term “rubbins’ racin’”. The term came out back when NASCAR was actually fun to watch, where crashes and wrecks were common and exhilarating, and NASCAR as a sport was very popular.

With the legendary Daytona 500 waving the green flag at 1 p.m. on February 21, Earnhardt Jr. and 42 other drivers are racing for their first victory of the year. NASCAR has made a few adjustments for the safety of the drivers including a fire suppression system activation cable routed to the dash or right-hand side leg board and a seat belt restraint system that meets SFI 16.6 safety specification.

NASCAR officials also created the new rule regarding the size of the spoilers to limit the amount of downforce on the cars. NASCAR also has changed the rear gear ratios will be adjusted to maintain a maximum engine speed of 9,000 RPM and a 1.38 third gear ratio will be used at all tracks smaller than 1.25 miles. And there will be different engine and transmission configurations depending on the kind and size of the track that is being raced at.

With all these changes to NASCAR, the sport is losing its meaning as a whole. I hear the same thing all the time about how NASCAR isn’t the same because people would only go to the races to see someone spin out or hit the wall. To an extent I understand that but I think of the pure fact that these drivers are going 200 plus miles per hour on these race tracks and only racing a couple inches apart. That is true talent.

The real question is who is going to win the race? Well, if I were to go by an average of wins per season, my pick would be Kyle Busch driving the #18 car. But if I am to go by history, my choice would definitely be Dale Earnhardt Jr. because last year he was robbed out of the victory because Joey Logano won the race in a green-white-checkered flag.

If everything goes as planned for the #88 team, Jr. should have no problem taking his team to the top and winning the race. Earnhardt was tweeting earlier this month about the upcoming race and his plans and nothing can describe them more than just to dominate the lanes. If he can manage to stay on the outside on turns one and two, he won’t have a problem keeping a lead.

I also think the key for a Hendrick Motorsports team victory, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne all need to work together in order to maintain some sort of victory for the team. The way the team will put out is what they will get back for it.

Recently I read an article about Earnhardt Jr. and his retirement. And when I put those two in the same sentence I get eerie. It’s tough getting attached to a driver and they end up leaving or are forced to leave the sport. But luckily in the article from FoxSports, Jr. stated that retirement isn’t even an option for him and the team. Earnhardt doesn’t plan to hang up the suit and helmet for a long time since he is performing so well in the past couple seasons. In the past two years, Earnhardt has won seven races which is great, mentioning that he only won twice from 2007-2013.

Obviously, over the past few years there has been a lot of improvement so for Jr. to be doing so much better, everything gets better for the team, it will bring in more money, a bigger fan base, and can help motivate the #88 driver to continue to win races.

Despite the new changes in the NASCAR Nation, Earnhardt Jr. will have a good run at Daytona. The 200 lap, 500 mile long race will be long, but I am ready to see what Hendrick Motorsports team has to hold. Will Earnhardt Jr. get the first of the year win?