DATE VENUE TV/Start (ET)
02/07/09 Bud Shootout at Daytona*
02/15/09 Daytona International Speedway
02/22/09 Auto Club Speedway
03/01/09 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
03/08/09 Atlanta Motor Speedway
03/22/09 Bristol Motor Speedway
03/29/09 Martinsville Speedway
04/05/09 Texas Motor Speedway
04/18/09 Phoenix International Raceway
04/26/09 Talladega Superspeedway
05/02/09 Richmond International Raceway
05/09/09 Darlington Raceway
05/16/09 Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's*
05/24/09 Lowe's Motor Speedway
05/31/09 Dover International Speedway
06/07/09 Pocono Raceway
06/14/09 Michigan International Speedway
06/21/09 Infineon Raceway
06/28/09 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
07/04/09 Daytona International Speedway
07/11/09 Chicagoland Speedway
07/26/09 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
08/02/09 Pocono Raceway
08/09/09 Watkins Glen International
08/16/09 Michigan International Speedway
08/22/09 Bristol Motor Speedway
09/06/09 Atlanta Motor Speedway
09/12/09 Richmond International Raceway
09/20/09 New Hampshire Motor Speedway
09/27/09 Dover International Speedway
10/04/09 Kansas Speedway
10/11/09 Auto Club Speedway
10/17/09 Lowe's Motor Speedway
10/25/09 Martinsville Speedway
11/01/09 Talladega Superspeedway
11/08/09 Texas Motor Speedway
11/15/09 Phoenix International Raceway
11/22/09 Homestead-Miami Speedway

CONCORD, N.C. (Jan. 21, 2009) -- Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson earned his third consecutive SPEED Performer of the Year award, edging out NHRA Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher and Formula One phenom Lewis Hamilton to earn the prestigious Mario Andretti Trophy, a unique bronze sculpture by artist Elie Hazak depicting Andretti's career and heritage.

The award, part of the annual SPEED Performance Awards (air date Feb. 5 at 10 p.m. ET), was voted on by a 15-member SPEED panel, headlined by Andretti, "Wind Tunnel" host Dave Despain, veteran broadcasters Bob Varsha and Ralph Sheheen, SPEEDtv.com writers Robin Miller and Tom Jensen and versatile racers Tommy Kendall and Dorsey Schroeder.

Andretti, named the "Driver of the Century" by the Associated Press, and SPEED President Hunter Nickell surprised Johnson with the award during today's Lowe's Motor Speedway NASCAR Media Tour stop at Hendrick Motorsports.

Buried in that compelling read is a blast Dale Earnhardt Jr. took at NASCAR track promoters who want drivers to do more to promote the sport.

This from Martin:

Earnhardt would also be happy if less were expected of drivers. Case in point. At a recent round-table discussion involving the track promoters of Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI), several stressed that they’d like to see drivers do more to help the fans and the tracks in order to sell more tickets at those facilities.

Upon hearing that during a break in his commercial shoot, Earnhardt fired back with a message of his own.

“The race track owners want drivers to do more? Yeah, right. They need to go back to work,” he said. “They forgot what it’s like to sell tickets. That’s their problem. They ain’t had to sell tickets for a long time and none of them remember how or knew how or ever learned how.

“They need to get back to working hard and doing their promotions and putting packages together for race fans. They don’t want to cut the ticket price but they probably should and get these hotels to quit gouging these people. They can dump that responsibility on drivers all they want but the responsibility really lies in their hands to sell race tickets and they have to get creative in doing it. We already do a lot. We do [bleeping] plenty and they are full of [bleep].”

Jimmie Johnson - Jarit Johnson
* Ralph Earnhardt - Dale Earnhardt Sr. - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
* Lee Petty - Richard Petty - Kyle Petty - Adam Petty
* Terry Labonte - Bobby Labonte - Justin Labonte
* Darryl Waltrip - Michael Waltrip
* Bobby Allison - Donnie Allison - Davey Allison
* Ned Jarrett - Dale Jarrett - Jason Jarrett
* Rusty Wallace - Steven Wallace
* Kenny Wallace - Mike Wallace - Chrissie Wallace

Are we seeing a pattern here?

Other than the first example, the rest probably look pretty familiar to most of you. They are all racing relatives. Jarit Johnson is Jimmie Johnson’s younger brother. Oddly enough, he is married, has two children and no Sprint Cup Championships. In fact, Jarit has never raced in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race. As I type this, he is trying to work on acquiring a ride in a feeder series. As he puts it, he has to, it’s in his blood.

Many of us have seen the movie “3” about Dale Earnhardt Sr, (and to a lesser degree) Ralph and his grandson Dale Jr. Ralph had a talent on the race track, but he raced predominantly dirt tracks. Dale Sr started on the dirt tracks but excelled on the exact opposite. He could “see” the draft on the Superspeedways. His son Dale Jr seems to have “inherited” that talent.

Lee Petty won the very first Daytona 500 - although he had to wait several days to have that victory confirmed. His son, Richard, also won the Daytona 500, seven times in total. His son, Kyle, struggled mightily on the racetrack. He managed eight Cup wins in total. The comparison somewhat boggles the mind, 8 total Cup wins to 7 Daytona 500 wins. Kyle’s son, Adam, inherited his grand and great-grand daddys’ talents on the track, and seemed poised for greatness. All he needed was time. Sadly, that was the one thing he didn’t have, dying at an all too young age.

There are so many other families with the talent to drive. The Allisons, the Labontes, the Wallaces all have proven themselves and competed in NASCAR’s top level series. Then we have the up and comers, or, in some cases, the up and leavers. Ned Jarrett and his son Dale both won championships. Dale’s son Jason petered out before he really seemed to get the chance to prove himself. Likewise with Terry Labonte’s son, Justin. Rusty Wallace’s son, Steven, and Mike Wallace’s daughter, Chrissie, are both competing in the NASCAR series, Steven in Nationwide and Chrissie in Camping World Truck series. Both seem to have the talent, but is that all it takes?

We have so many drivers now that have the families that have been involved in NASCAR, maybe up front as drivers, maybe behind the scenes, for many, many years. There are so many “Juniors” out there, it sometimes seems like as if the name isn’t complete without it!

But, is that what it takes? Is being the son (or daughter) of a successful NASCAR driver enough to guarantee success? Apparently not, as Justin Labonte and Jason Jarrett don’t currently have rides in any of NASCAR’s premiere series (at time of writing - subject to change by the hour!). And believe me, I think they both deserve it, they do have talent!

Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Terry Labonte will attempt to qualify for the Feb. 15 Daytona 500 in a Toyota fielded by Prism Motorsports, co-owned by former NASCAR driver Phil Parson and Randy Humphrey. Humphrey said the new team plans to compete in the full Cup schedule in 2009, with Dave Blaney taking over the driving duties after Daytona. “Like Terry, Dave is not only a talented, competitive race driver, he is also a first-class guy off the track,” he said. “He’s someone that we believe we can build a great team around.” The team has formed a technical alliance with Michael Waltrip Racing and will buy engines from Joey Arrington. Bill Henderson, car chief for Hall of Fame Racing last year, will be the crew chief.