by Long John Silver… In a bar in South Australia, I tried to sit still in the last 10 laps for Interlagos. As much as I wear Scarlet on my sleeves and heart, I have watched that clip for a 100 times and I have to be honest, I can’t make up my mind either way.

The Scarlet in me says, Glock slowed down to let Hamilton through. The racing fan in me tells, it’s murky and slippery, anything could have happened in that one corner.

Glock could have made a mistake, Hamilton could have been ragingly unstoppable – may be a combination of both. You never know, at least to me it’s not cut and dried, not even close.

As my heart aches and goes out to Felipe, his dad and wife…I was just as happy for Hamilton. Losing this time around would have been suicidal for his career, the term “Choker” would forever linger on.

The facts don’t lie, for like I have always argued with Griffy in here, Hamilton won the driver’s crown and hence he deserves it. Felip and Kimster won the revered constructors for us, and that’s well deserved too.

My argument is not about whether Glock did it on purpose or not. I actually could not care less about his intentions, for your guess is as good as mine.

He could have, he could have not, no one other than him will ever know, that’s a moot point (similar to the “Who Deserves” argument), even trying to prove or refute the same is futile.

What I do care about is the fact that I strongly feel, he could have been a better darned driver than he is.

With three corners to go in the last race, after Silver and Scarlet have scrapped tooth and nail the entire year, how ironic it is that a driver with no significant role in the championship until now has the ability to decide it. Luck, fate (potato, potaaato), you would call it depending on what color you wear.

That’s all I wished, that he was a better driver than he was. If he represented anything other than concentrated mediocrity, he should have been able to keep (even a raging) Hamilton behind for three darned corners in murky conditions.

Just wished they had someone with the defensive skills of a M. Schumacher or F.Alonso in the cockpit of that car (I present San Marino 2006 and San Marino 2005 as evidence, and rest my case).

Well, that did not happen, and chips fell Hamilton’s way this time around. Good for HIM.

No Regrets, and consummate congratulations for Hamilton and Scuderia Ferrari. Both are Well Deserved. Being a part of Scarlet, we revere the constructors as much as the drivers; for us, it’s as much about Ferrari as it is about the individual drivers’ crown.

Independent on where my allegiances lie, I do know when to put down the sword, and say congratulations, mate. That’s the very essence and core value of competition, just because am trying to beat you, does not mean I don’t love and respect you (Pierce Brosnan says it right in “Laws of Attraction” – Vevo-de-chivo).

I think it’s unfortunate Glock missed on some incredibly elegant most over-prized, dry red Chianti (wine) from Northern Italy for the entire Christmas 2008.

Pull out a fortune cookie next time you are at a dinner party mate, Glock. The picture says what it would emphatically say.

Cheers for all the Hamilton fans and Scuderia in here. Well Deserved, Mate!

by Hollis Warren… This is turning into one of the stranger Silly Seasons I can recall. Of course, Silly Season is one of the more youthful NASCAR traditions, so I have a greater recollection of each and every one. When the term really burst onto the scene in the mid-’90s, Silly Season practically coincided with the offseason.

Most deals for new sponsors and drivers were reached between Atlanta in early November and Speedweeks in mid-February, with a little time off to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s in between.

Over time, it has evolved into almost a year-round tradition, and 2009 deals were being talked about as early as March, when Cheerios announced they would not return to Petty Enterprises.

However, the 2009 Silly Season has been intriguing. We had the typical blockbuster deals that stole headlines during the late spring and summer months (i.e. Martin to Hendrick, Tony Stewart leaving Gibbs, Cheerios to RCR, etc.), but the sponsorship and driver contracts reserved for some of the lesser known teams, which usually come during the fall, have been noticeably absent.

Obviously, the economic situation is scaring a lot of potential partners away from sponsoring a team. When the stock market tanks the way it did in October indicating a bear market, it is probably pretty difficult to justify spending $20+ million on a car going around in circles to shareholders. As a result, we may be in for a blast from the past: a Silly Season that goes well into the new year.

This is going to be a situation that bares close observation. It appears as if the powers of the sport (JGR, RCR, Hendrick, and Roush-Fenway) are all set for the new season. Most of the second-tier teams (Penske, GEM, Red Bull) are getting there as well.

Where it really gets interesting is the so-called third tier teams, who in addition to having to find sponsors in a difficult market, are having to explain to them why they are performing so poorly. Desperation to keep racing may be starting to set in, as rumors of several mergers have surfaced.

Regardless, how these teams fare in the acquisition and/or sponsorship hunt will determine exactly how many cars run full-time in 2009 (hint: it will definitely be less than 43). Just for the heck of it, here is what I see when I look into my imaginary crystal ball for the teams on the fringe. Listed first, however, are the teams who are squared away on the driver and sponsor front:

Hendrick Motorsports:
Mark Martin (Kellogg’s/Carquest/Cheez-It)
Jeff Gordon (DuPont/Pepsi)
Jimmie Johnson (Lowe’s)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard)

Roush-Fenway Racing:
David Ragan (UPS)
Greg Biffle (3M)
Matt Kenseth (DeWalt Tools/USG/Carhartt/R&L Carriers)
Jamie McMurray (Crown Royal/Irwin Tools)
Carl Edwards (Aflac)

Richard Childress Racing:
Casey Mears (Jack Daniel’s)
Kevin Harvick (Shell/Pennzoil)
Jeff Burton (Caterpillar)
Clint Bowyer (Cheerios/Betty Crocker)

Joe Gibbs Racing:
Denny Hamlin (FedEx)
Kyle Busch (M&Ms/Mars/Interstate Batteries)
Joey Logano (Home Depot)

Penske Racing:
Kurt Busch (Miller Lite)
David Stremme (Alltel)
Sam Hornish Jr. (Mobil 1)

Stewart-Haas Racing:
Tony Stewart (Old Spice/Office Depot)
Ryan Newman (US Army/DirecTV?/Burger King?)

(Note on Newman: I read on another blog somewhere (unfortunately I forget which blog it was) that a picture of Stewart and Newman’s 2009 die-casts showed DirecTV and Burger King stickers on the B post)

Gillett-Evernham Motorsports:
Kasey Kahne (Budweiser)
Reed Sorenson (TBA)
Elliott Sadler (Best Buy/Stanley Tools/Siemens)

(Note on Sorenson: I don’t think GEM will have trouble piecing together sponsorship for the 10 car in 2009 like they did in 2008)

Red Bull Racing:
Scott Speed (Red Bull)
Brian Vickers (Red Bull)

Michael Waltrip Racing:
David Reutimann (Aaron’s)
Marcos Ambrose (Little Debbie/Clorox/Kingsford)*technical alliance with MWR through JTG-Daugherty Racing
Michael Waltrip (NAPA)

Furniture Row Racing:
Joe Nemechek (Furniture Row)

Now the teams with uncertain futures:

Petty Enterprises
This is a sad situation. David Zucker and Boston Ventures were brought in as part-owners to take this team back to prominence, and they cannot even sell the Petty name or the 2000 series champion to obtain sponsorship for 2009.

Marathon Oil will likely be back with whoever drives the second car, while Kyle Petty takes Wells Fargo somewhere else after an apparent falling out with the new ownership. Talks of a merger with either Ganassi or TEI persist, but I think this team will tough it out as an independent entity at least for one more season. They just need to do a better job selling the association with the King.

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Chip Ganassi obviously has no idea of what he is doing when it comes to his NASCAR teams. Either that, or he is just too busy taking care of his other racing enterprises. Texaco ends their long-standing sponsorship in NASCAR at the end of the year, leaving Target to sponsor one car and Wrigley for half on another.

You’d think Ganassi and Sabates could pull something together for half a season with a Hispanic-friendly sponsor on JPM’s car, with a yet-to-be-named driver in the 41 (Allmendinger has to be the favorite, but don’t count out Mayfield or Yeley just yet). As for a merger, there may be talks right now, but I fail to see anything materializing. Chip is a demanding fella after all.

Yates Racing
Doug Yates has to consider it a coup to land Paul Menard and his daddy’s deep pockets, but sponsorship has still been hard to come by for Gilliland and Kvapil. Gilliland’s stupidity in the closing laps at Texas last week was the latest in a long line of evidence that shows he does not belong in Cup, but if anybody doesn’t return, it would be the unsigned Kvapil.

Still, I think Yates will be able to use this season’s successes to pull in just enough money to run three full-time outfits in 2009.

Dale Earnhardt Inc.
On the day Teresa dies, I am sure Dale Sr. will greet her at the gates of Heaven with the one-finger salute he gave so many drivers in his days as a driver. She has royally screwed up her late husband’s biggest dream. Junior is gone, Mark Martin was there (albeit for only a year) and is leaving, and Truex won’t be far behind.

Right now, they have one fully sponsored car with Truex and three blank ones, which is a problem. I’d think Almirola would be an easy sell because he is young and Hispanic-American, but apparently people are not that high on him.

Losing Menard’s money hurts, and Smith has yet to show much. TEI is struggling to hang on, and will probably be lucky to field two fully sponsored machines in 2009. Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s fans have always cherished the team he built for his son, but now that Dale Jr. has moved to Hendrick and Teresa has successfully run the place into the ground, I’m sure they won’t mind if the team merges with Ganassi or someone else.

But pulling off a deal will be difficult, and I do not see it happening, at least yet.

Hall of Fame Racing
Surprisingly, this team is apparently not fully sponsored for 2009. I thought Texas Instruments was locked in for another year. Their performance indicates finding additional backing will be tough, and with the way the car has ran with everyone from J.J. Yeley to Joey Logano and Ken Schrader, I’m not sure of too many drivers who will be desperate enough to head there. This team may be on the chopping block before the end of ‘09.

The Wood Brothers
I’ll echo what I said about Petty Enterprises: this is sad. A technical alliance with JTG went awry, and a year later, the team is losing longtime sponsor Little Debbie and a potential future driver in Marcos Ambrose. The Air Force may also not be returning. Motorcraft apparently will be back, but with Ford making budget cuts to their racing programs, I find them being able to foot the bill for a full season unlikely.

Driver-wise, Elliott is supposed to be retiring for good, but is now leaving the door open to run a few races with the team in ‘09. Jon Wood is simply over his head in Sprint Cup. I wonder if Scott Riggs and State Water Heaters would come as a package deal to the 21 team? State and Motorcraft would likely be enough to run a tightly budgeted full-time effort next season.

If something doesn’t come together in a hurry, we may not be seeing one of the series’ longest standing supporters at the track every week in 2009. What a freaking shame.

Bill Davis Racing
Caterpillar sponsored this team through thick and thin, including a 2002 win in the Daytona 500 with Ward Burton. Now, they will be leaving to sponsor his younger brother at RCR.

Dave Blaney is not yet re-signed, and a lot of what happens will depend on not only sponsorship, but also if Davis is able to sell the team as has been speculated. There was rumors of a GEM/BDR merger, with a four-car outfit under the Toyota banner, but nothing has evolved yet. If that were to happen, I could see Allmendinger sliding into the 22 car, or whatever number it would become.

Davis is planning on running four truck teams in 2009, but I think he may have to sell out to someone else if he wants to stick around on the Cup side.

by Sheiban Shakeri… There has always been a rift between sports and politics. In 2006, Kirk Shelmerdine received an admonishment by the United States Federal Election Commission for placing a “Bush-Cheney ‘04″ bumper sticker on his Nascar racer for four races during the 2004 season. Shelmerdine says it was a publicity stunt in order to receive sponsorship money.

In 2008, Barack Obama has found a way to gain exposure in the sporting realm without having to deal with the FEC. This afternoon, he announced to the world media that he was buying the Williams team for this weekend’s season finale in Interlagos, Brazil.

The way he managed to get around this was that according to the Campaign Finance Reform of 2002, since the Williams team are not based nor racing in the United States, he is able to work his way around that issue and thus gives himself an international audience.

The sum has been undisclosed, but according to Sir Frank Williams, it is enough to keep the team going strong for next year.

For this weekend, the Williams team will be known as Williams-Change; Change being the party line for Obama’s campaign. All the sponsors agreed that their logos would be removed in place of Obama and Change decals.

Even though Obama’s campaign has more than enough money to pay for their logo on the likes of McLaren, Ferrari or BMW, Obama emphasized that the Williams’ cars were already blue, similar to the colour that the Democratic Party signifies themselves with, and were also a middle team.

“Williams used to be a top team but because of the global economic crisis, they have fallen on hard times. They are a true middle-tier team” said an Obama campaign spokesperson. “We hope that under a President Obama, we can have a team like Williams win again.”

The reaction of the John McCain campaign has been muted; however, rumour has it that he might be interested in buying space on the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen because they are red and signify the lives of the rich.

When asked about a possible Ferrari deal, John McCain said “it’s expensive, but I’ll have to ask Joe the Plumber and Joe Six-pack” without further elaborating.

Speed TV, a subsidiary of Fox and the broadcaster of F1 races for audiences in the United States and Canada was furious about this saying that even though the qualification and the race will be slightly delayed, they will be spending all their time blurring out the Obama/Change logos whenever they are showed.

Recent statistics show that Barack Obama outspent John McCain almost two to one on campaigning, from television to radio and even internet ads as well as space on Microsoft’s Xbox Live interface. With the rental of the Williams F1 team this weekend, this could set a new precedent.

by Hollis Warren…  A couple years back, I did a “special report” on ways to make NASCAR a better sport. I am revisiting the topic again today, but this time around, I am focusing more on the procedural aspects of the sport.

Back then, I talked about items such as driver pensions, cutting costs (for both teams and fans), and stop throwing so many damn needless debris cautions. So think about it for a minute: pretend you are Brian France, and have actually acquired a brain.

Or that you have attacked Daytona Beach and seized control of NASCAR (don’t say you’ve never dreamed about it after the latest of their boneheaded moves). What would you do, procedures-wise? Eliminate the Lucky Dog? Bring back racing to the yellow? Others? Here are a few of my ideas.

Revamp the points system for Chase participants
Jimmie Johnson and the Lowe’s team are obviously unbeatable, and barring an act of God or someone having the foresight to slip him a mickey 30 minutes before the green flag at one of the three remaining races, they will be the first back-to-back-to-back champs since Cale Yarborough in ‘78.

When a team such as the 48 has seemingly made a deal with the Devil and never has any bad races during the Chase, one bad event ruins it for everyone else and makes me keep the television on football for the most part. Since the points were reset, what was an 80 point stretch between 1st and 12th seven weeks ago is now 465.

One bad race should not decide who wins the championship and who does not. Revamp the Chase system so that the 12 title contenders receive points based on their finish relative to each other (i.e. the best Chase driver in the finishing order, whether he won the race or finished 10th, would receive 185 points, while the lowest finishing one would get 127).

In addition, in what may seem like a radical move that challenges the notion that consistency wins championships, drop the lowest finish for each team from their points total after Homestead. And if you wanted to make it really interesting, revert back to the normal points system at Homestead, where finishing 43rd would mean losing 156 points instead of 58.

Lock in only the top 20 teams
Locking in the top 35 may be a moot point next year if the economy continues to tank (and it will), and several teams do not line up sponsorships. But when the starting field is 43 cars, basically spoon feeding 80 percent of them a spot each week is going too far.

I know it gives sponsors a guarantee that they will see their car out there on Sunday each week, but it is basically a form of NASCAR welfare. And welfare is bad, children. Taking the top 20 and giving them a spot each week would lock in the big names, and create some interesting qualifying sessions when we see more than 43 cars showing up. I’m not sure how often that will be the case in 2009.

Bring back two-day qualifying
Friday qualifying has been canceled the past three weeks, essentially giving the 48 bunch the best pit stall and clean air at the start of the event. While NASCAR certainly cannot control Mother Nature, they can provide contingency plans to allow part-time teams trying to get experience for younger drivers (i.e. Joey Logano with JGR) a chance to get in the event in the case Friday is interrupted by the wet stuff.

When qualifying is rained out, use Saturday morning as a time when all of the teams outside of the top 20 (not locked in) can run two qualifying laps, and set the starting field from 21st on back. If it rains again, revert to the rulebook. As for days where Friday is dry, how about we go back to two qualifying sessions?

That would certainly make it more interesting for both the teams locked in to the field and those who are not. My earliest memories had NASCAR locking in the top 20 on Friday, before bumping that number up to the top 25 in the late 90s. Run everyone on Friday afternoon, and lock in the fastest 20, regardless of their status for the race.

Saturday morning would set the field for the remaining portion of the field, and give crew chiefs the difficult choice of standing on their lap or trying to go faster. And with the number of go-or-go-homers locked in on Friday being variable between zero and twenty, each week would feature a different number of spots available for the taking during Saturday qualifying.

If the go-or-go-homers collectively were weak on Friday, more spots would be on the line on Saturday. If they tear it up on Friday, very few spots would be left for teams not in the top 20 in the first session.

Eliminate the Lucky Dog/Free Pass
This is the dumbest rule not only in NASCAR, but in all of auto racing and potentially in any sport. If you aren’t fast enough to: a. stay on the lead lap, or b. get your lap back the hard way, you don’t deserve to be on the lead lap.

Now you may be wondering my thoughts on how things worked before racing to the caution was eliminated (where the leader often slowed down to allow a lapped car or two to pass him before getting back to the start/finish line). That was outright dangerous. It’s a wonder Ernie Irvan didn’t ever kill himself or someone else doing this.

Thankfully Greg Sacks wasn’t injured when one of these attempts by Irvan blew up in his face at Texas in ‘97. The moral of the story: be fast or clever enough to get your lap back without help from Big Brother, or stay a lap down.

Stop allowing EVERY lap down car the opportunity to line up on the inside line during a restart
This basically forces the 10th place car to be starting 20th on restarts late in the race, and with clean air the important factor it is, it makes it impossible to make any kind of headway, regardless of the strength of one’s car. I’d suggest allowing the top three or four cars one lap down (and one lap down only) the opportunity to line up on the inside of the leaders.

That way, they would at least be allowed the chance to get their lap back. For years, many pundits have suggested also moving the lapped cars to the outside line so the leaders get the preferred line on the restarts for a change. That would be an option under my plan as well.

Tougher minimum speed standards
With having 43 competitive cars each week looking like it may be a problem in 2009, the start-and-parkers will surely beging to infiltrate the Sprint Cup garage again. While 43 cars each week makes the big wigs happy and gives everyone the impression that the series is strong, I think it is a farce when five of them are behind the wall after 10 laps for bogus excuses.

If you want to pick up a paycheck that easily, I’m sure the government can help you out on that one. One way to keep the dreaded start-and-parkers away in tough economic times is to toughen minimum speed standards. A car has to go so fast in practice/qualifying (don’t ask me the exact method for determining the minimum speed) to be allowed to start the race.

The full-time teams are essentially even anyways these days, and even at a track like Daytona, are within a second of each other. Proving you can run a lap within a second of the fastest car could be a good benchmark, and may scare away many of the teams looking for an easy pay day.

Eliminate the champion’s provisional
This rule was put in after Richard Petty DNQ’ed at Richmond in ‘89, and has been abused ever since. I love Bill Elliott, and think he was one of the best drivers of his generation, doing it all as classy as possible. But if you aren’t fast enough to make the field, you aren’t fast enough.

I’m for going back to the “old days” of pre-1989 where there were no provisionals. 43 cars starting based on their starting times. Bringing back a second-day of qualifying would give teams another chance if something happened on Friday.

Scale down the fields at Bristol and Martinsville to 36 again
I know NASCAR originally bumped the field sizes at short tracks to ensure they didn’t have a bunch of fully funded teams going home. But let’s face it: having 43 cars on a tight half-mile track creates more problems than it fixes. If a driver starts in the back, he is often a half lap down at from the get-go.

After an early caution where basically everyone is still on the lead lap, and it is even worse. Keeping the field at 43 for Richmond and the one-milers would not be a problem in my opinion, and if there were the cars available to do so, increasing the starting field to 46 or so at the restrictor plate tracks could be doable.

I am sure there are more suggestions, but in my pre-bedtime state, I cannot think of any more off the top of my head. But I believe I hit all of the major points. And I didn’t even get started on potential rule changes I’d like to see.

Just for the record in the rules department, some of my suggestions include suspensions for entire teams if caught with a serious infraction, more flexibility in adjusting the COT, finding ways to give more manufacturer identity to the cars again (aka getting away from common templates), and eventually finding a way to do away with restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega.

by Miah D… The last time the Canadian Grand Prix was not a figure on the annual Formula One Calendar was in 1987; thank God I wasn’t born yet then! At that time, as history tells, the argument took place between the organizers and F1 concerning sponsorships.

This time, it seems the misunderstanding stands between the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and F1 Management’s commercial rights.

The calendar will, nevertheless, hold its 18 races, with some slight changes. The Turkish Grand Prix will move to June, and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be added one as the last race of the season.

Every June in Montreal, the entire city unveils the colors of Formula One (hockey is usually long gone by then!) and several events are organized downtown to the joy of car racing amateurs.

Concerts, contests, and showoffs are among the listed activities. They attract much of the city’s population to Crescent Street.

As you imagine, the businesses building their revenues around such events as the race are numerous; there is no need to explain how shocked they currently are. This race also surely brings notable revenue for the city of Montreal.

The last Grand Prize raised a lot of concerns from the drivers, but concerning the quality of the circuit. Those concerns raised a few eyebrows among the local organizers, as they defended the case with the temperature situation in Montreal: long winters, drastic temperatures drops, etc.

But the technical aspects are apparently not what brought up this decision.

Some think it was to cut team expenses, as it removes an “unnecessary” trip to North Amercia with the U.S. Grand Prix already gone. Others talk about the three-week break during the summer, giving room for a possible new venue in the future. The thing is, Formula 1 won’t be anywhere near North America, except in our dreams!

Concerning the circuit itself, Bernie Ecclestone already made a point in 2007 concerning the improvements that had to be made to welcome a decent Grand Prize. In 2008, the organizers gave the circuit a new look, costing them nearly $5.5 million dollars.

The Canada Grand Prix Committee declared it won’t issue any comment before a meeting is held with Formula One Management, and the FIA.

by Kara Martin… As a NASCAR fan, how many times have you heard, “racing isn’t a real sport, those drivers aren’t athletes, anyone can drive fast and turn left!” Why do we as fans constantly have to defend our favorite pastime?

Top Things on Alonso’s Mind (Over a Guinness with his amigos in Singapore)

Ohhhh Jeez, if only this stupid thing goes a lil’ faster, I would have woken up an hour early for practice today morning, my motivation is nada.

Is that Flavio in the corner table? I thought he was having a meeting with the engineers tonight?  Wait … is that Heidi with whom he is having dinner with, I thought they split? Whatever …

Should I kiss and make up with Ron D? Or buy him some good Spanish cava?

May be I should kiss and make up with Lewis? Oohhhh. no. Am losing my mind?

May be I should BMC (bitch, moan and complain) less?

I heard Singapore women are hot … and kinky

Or maybe, I should ask Pedro to send some more of that Ferrari technical data, this time to Heikki? Use Fed-Ex overnight … but the envelope should be a bright red color.

May be I should call Bernie and tell him Mclaren are doing dodgy things again. He bought it the last time, may be he will this time too, and shut them down. But, that does not help me now does it? (I need one more Guinness).

(He orders another Guinness).

Ross Brawn thinks I can do for Honda what Michael did for Ferrari. But, he won’t even share some of his bananas with me. Wait, that’s irrelevant … I’m even more confused (where is that darned Guinness?).

I think Red Bull ROCKS; it will go well with my bull impersonation after the race, every time I win, but will I win?

People think I won’t get along with Kimi—how can’t I? Try picking a fight with someone whom you have to pay for him to say some words. Kimi is as dead as a door knob. Get him drunk on vodka, maybe he will talk then …

I am all for Felipe, Bravo—Bravo Felipe, beat the kids’ ass… he screwed me over last time.

Oh wait—I am torn. If Felipe wins a championship, I will never be able to wear Scarlet? (Darn it, where is that Guinness?).

Kimi should really retire in life. I told him so last year when he won the championship… even offered to buy him vodka for the rest of his life if he retired

(As his cell phone buzzes), is Michael texting me again? Is telling me “I really should have not won the 06 championship?” He told me if he won, he would’ve gotten me into Ferrari…. Darn it

(As he gazes over), she is hot? Maybe hah …. Maybe tonight …

Fernando Alonso: (In his vintage Spanish accent) – excuuz me, I ordered a Guinness 10 minutes ago?

Barman: Sorry Sir – the bar is closed

Fernando Alonso: Bravo—Bravo … this is beautiful, now am horny, sober and… even more CONFUSED!

The heralded 18-year old Joey Logano finally got to make his Sprint Cup debut on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and while the 32nd place finish doesn’t pale in comparison to the second garnered by Rusty Wallace in his first start back in 1980, I am sure the lessons he learned will go a long way in helping his drive to become an elite driver at the top level of the sport.

As a young man barely old enough to be in college, don’t expect miracles overnight, but before long, this kid will be a regular visitor to victory lane.

As we all know by now, Logano will replace Tony Stewart in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota beginning in 2009, and at least temporarily rehashes memories of Smoke bursting on the scene in that car nearly a decade ago.  Obviously, considering the talent of Stewart and Logano, the No. 20 has been used by two of the sport’s greatest young stars in their rise to fame.  Unfortunately, that could have been three.

In the few years prior to Stewart’s rookie campaign in 1999, the No. 20 was seldomly  used on the Cup tour.  Outside of a few races run by Harry Ranier’s team in 1997, the last owner to utilize the number was Dick Moroso, father of Rob Moroso.

The 17-year old Rob, a resident of Connecticut like young Joey, burst onto the scene during the 1986 Busch Series campaign, and by the 1989 season, was able to narrowly defeat Tommy Ellis, Tommy Houston, and L.D. Ottinger for the series crown with his father there every step of the way.

Dad and son decided to make the jump the Winston Cup in time for the 1990 season, and like any rookie in the pre-driver development program era, it was a struggle.  Moroso’s No. 20 Crown Petroleum Oldsmobile failed to finish many races due to mechanical failures and crashes, with the highlight being a ninth place run at the Pepsi 400.

It all came to an abrupt end after a 21st place run at North Wilkesboro on September 30, with just four races remaining in Rob Moroso’s inaugural Cup campaign.  After consuming too many adult beverages, Moroso got behind the wheel, and as it does all too often, ended tragically.

Making the story worse, he collided with a car in the other lane, killing that vehicle’s female driver.

Two families left to pick up the pieces (an aside: Dick Moroso would continue to field a part-time team for a few seasons after his son’s passing, before dying in 1998 of brain cancer).  A sport left without a potential star.  All because of the perils associated with alcohol consumption.  It’s unfortunate someone was not there that night to take the keys from Rob Moroso before he made an inexcusable, stupid mistake, ending his life just two days after his 22nd birthday.  Two lives could have been saved.

Now Moroso is no saint.  I have no pity for anyone who drives intoxicated.  But I often find myself reflecting on past events (especially in the world of sports) and wondering, “what if?”

The fact that we are two weeks shy of what would have been Moroso’s 40th birthday, a couple of days after a race at what would have been his hometown track, and just witnessed the first potential star to come out of New England since Moroso made his Sprint Cup debut compelled me to write this entry, even though I had just started my kindergarten year when Moroso was killed and have no recollection of his career.

Moroso was posthumously awarded the rookie of the year award in New York that December, but since, has largely been forgotten.  That can largely be contributed to the arrival of Jeff Gordon in the Busch Series the following year, and as everyone tried to block Moroso’s self-inflicted passing from memory, Gordon quickly proved he had what it took to be a great stock car driver.

1993 rolls around, Gordon is tapped to drive for Hendrick Motorsports in Winston Cup, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Today, Gordon is viewed as the father of the driver development era, as he showed the NASCAR world that a youthful, inexperienced driver could hop behind the wheel of great equipment and almost immediately succeed.

No longer would a young driver have to toil in second-rate equipment hoping to get noticed by a big money owner by the time they hit 30.

Moroso, on the other hand, was the beginning of the end to that “old school” era.  He was driving for his father’s team, which did not have the resources as the Rick Hendricks and Junior Johnsons of the world at the time.  All Moroso was trying to do was perform well enough to get noticed, and secure a top ride after a couple or three years in the series.

But we never found out if he was capable of doing so or not, unfortunately.  Talk to many people, and they will tell you Rob Moroso was destined to be the next big thing in the Cup series.   Some will even say he could have been better than Gordon himself.

Here we are nearly two decades later with no answers to those questions, and a heralded young man from Connecticut barely old enough to shave is trying to make a name for himself in the top echelon of stock car racing the world has to offer.  The cycle of history repeating itself continues.

This time, let’s hope and pray Joey Logano fulfills his immense promise behind the wheel of the number 20 car.  And I have no doubt that he will.   When he does, I know I will think of Rob Moroso and what could have been.  It’s my nature as one of those people who wonders “what if?”