It’s time for the 2008 NASCAR season to begin. Technically it’s already under way with Todd Bodine winning the first Craftsman Truck Series race, The Chevy Silverado 250.

There have been some changes. The Busch Series is now the Nationwide Series. Despite the name change, I fully expect massive quantities of Augustus Busch’s product to be consumed during today’s “Camping World 300 presented by Chevrolet”.

Other changes are the Nextel Cup has changed to the Sprint Cup, and the Car of Tomorrow is now The Car. Tomorrow will be the 50th running of the Daytona 500. Not bad for a sport that basically started with a bunch of good ol’ boys and moonshiners with time on their hands saying, “shoot, my car’s faster than yours.”

One thing I do admire about the NASCAR circuit, the fans, and the coverage of the events is that they unashamedly participate in and broadcast the prayer and National Anthem. Enthusiastically.

So, while Daytona is only about two and a half hours away, I’ll be finding some couch time today and tomorrow. (Do you have any idea how hard you good folks would have to hit the tip jar to score me a couple of tickets?)

I’ll be pulling for the Sammenhold/Mohamed/Dateline Ford.