2008 PREDICTIONS - FORECASTS - PROGNOSTICATIONS
REFLECTIONS - WISHES - GUESSES

Every year we try and try to predict the outcomes of racing events, for the past two years only Kathy Beth has come up with the Chase Winner, but even she has to admit... she's a little prejudiced for JIMMIE JIMMIE JIMMIE Johnson! Hopefully, for the rest of us who have different Favorite Drivers, the outcome will be less painful! Whoever wins - we just can't wait for the season to begin - Let's Go Racin' Boys!!

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Well, Sylvia Brown never returned any of our calls, so we did the next-best-thing... consulted the Tarot Cards! On New Years Eve NASCarla, James, Judy Kay and Shannon gathered 'round the kitchen table and asked the Cards the following questions...

Will Dale Jr. make the Chase?
Four of Swords
"The card is suggesting it is time to digest what has past. Through reflection, retreat and introversion, energies can coalesce into a more coherent and organized plan. Meditative time is needed to assimilate the disconnected threads left hanging after a stressful and pressurized period."
Our interpretation: YES, he will! Go Jr.!

I don't even know how to say it: The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup? It's all changing so fast. But the bottom line is the same: It's alot of fun. No matter how much things change, I'm addicted to the speed, strategy and spectacle. I like to think that these are "educated guesses" on how this next NASCAR season will unfold: - Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin will struggle with their new ride. I'm not sure if the pressure is more squarely on Gibbs or Toyota. JGR has a reputation that it needs to upheld, but you have to give them credit for not standing pat. Toyota has had success in the Truck Series, and limited in the Busch (Nationwide) series. They have a lot of work to do to be successful in the highest profile series in Racing. I'm not sold on this chemistry of these Gibbs teammates. It's possible Tony will win a Cup championship in three different makes: Pontiac, Chevy and Toyota. Don't count him out. Denny needs to get a grip on where he is: You're at the top, act like it. Kyle Busch is all over the place: focus Kyle, focus. - Dale Earnhardt, Jr., will make the Chase, and will contend for the Championship. Anything less would be disappointing. He deserves this shot, he really does. - Surprisingly, Jeff Gordon seems to be in his prime. I wish every race was a restrictor plate race. - Jimmie Johnson will likely three-peat. (Way to go out on a limb, Judy) He is a racer that's comes along once in a generation. Let's enjoy him, and be glad that we were able to witness it. Some reflections: - Matt Kenseth is an enigma to me. Just when you think he's underachieving, there he is, contending for every race. But sometimes he seems content with second. It's hard to win a championship that way, with the Chase format. Drive like you got a pair, Matt. - Now that the Busch Series is the Nationwide Series, a whole new set of rules will be in effect. My dad is very serious about his conviction that Cup drivers not be eligible for the Nationwide championship. And apparently NASCAR feels the same way, because they have limited the Cup drivers access to the Nationwide Championship. That's ok with me. I think drivers like Brad Keselowski, Brad Coleman and Landon Cassill will be exciting to watch, and I look forward to that unique type of racing. Personally, I don't want to see Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards or Matt Kenseth going through the motions. - The Rookie class in the Cup series will be made up of open wheel drivers who have seen where the future is, and it's Cup racing. Racers want to race, and in Indy and Formula One, if you're not out front, it's really kind of boring. Not so in stock car racing. Anything can happen at any point, and they want to be a part of that. It just goes to show you that nothing is more important than parity in any sport. Judy Kay

Will this be a relatively safe season in NASCAR?
3 of Swords
"When this card appears it suggests that love and loss are intertwined and to experience true love, loss and grief must also be acknowledged."
We wish we hadn't of asked that question, so will just say Rubbin's Racin', and wish everybody a safe 2008!

KATHY BETH'S 2008 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES PREDICTIONS...

For obvious reasons, my #1 pick is JIMMIE JOHNSON, if for no other reason than Pam H. and I won't be the only ones chanting "Jimmie Jimmie Jimmie!!" (and...because I LOVE him!). Seriously, it's not just because he's my favorite driver, but for racing reasons; I believe Jimmie and the #48 team will be on a mission and try to accomplish something that has only been done once in the history of the sport - by Cale Yarborough in 1976, 1977 and 1978. I believe they have the tools and the talent to repeat. I predict that Jeff won't lose a beat either, and it will continue to be a #1-#2 shoot-out at Hendrick.

There are so many team changes for '08, many fans from their toughest competition, that I think that will actually help Jimmie and Jeff to just keep on rolling: Gibbs teams going to Toyota will probably turn out to be OK, but I don't think so in the first year - unless our theory of Toyota "laying back" the first year proves to be true.
Jr. to Hendrick: same as above - I think it's an excellent move for him, and I predict he will win a race or two, make the Chase, but too much of a learning curve to take the Championship the first year at Hendrick.

Matt and his new crew chief: I think Matt's a seasoned enough veteran to not lose much ground because of Robbie Reiser stepping down, and maybe a more aggressive strategy will get him more wins than 2nds this year!
I predict that the top 12 will remain much the same, possibly lose a Gibbs driver, and replace him with Jr. I believe RCR will continue to be strong, and that Kasey Kahne will rebound with at least

a Chase berth. I don't believe any of the new open wheel drivers will fare too well, but that Juan Pablo will continue to improve. I believe Kyle Busch will be a better fit at Gibbs, until he makes Tony mad and then the "Shrub" will be "Mulch"! Let's go racin'!

I guess it's my turn now - even though I'm drawing a blank, as usual! 2007 was not the best year, at least as far as the race season went... Lakeside Speedway was rained out 7 times!!! That's a lot of racing to miss out on! Our 3 Sisters Racing group dynamics were put to the test by one nasty b*%#h, (you know who you are)... Tornado watch started out the Kansas Speedway races - barely got the ARCA race in before dark... and the Cup race was almost a washout, ending finally with a controversial finish, Biffle won? Or not?... Good thing I'm generally optimistic - fortunately there were still plenty of good things that happened! Like Shannon (my daughter) going to the Pits at Kansas AND Texas - and I'm predicting that she'll be there again in 2008, more than once. The best thing, my Bodyguard James Bivins finally asked me to marry him, right after the first lap of the Kansas race - I said yes, of course - he's awesome!
Terry Bivins will dominate the Modified class at Lakeside, he's got the formula figured out on his new cars already! As far as the Sprint Cup Championship goes, I see Tony Stewart holding up that big Trophy at the end of the racing season - you can 3-peat even if it isn't three in-a-row! Even though he's behind the wheel of a Toyota - Tony can drive anything! I'm disappointed that one of my Favorite Drivers, David Stremme, lost his ride - I guess cuteness doesn't count? No, otherwise Buckshot Jones would still be racin'! I'm hoping that no other racing series changes it's name, it will be tough to switch from Busch to Nationwide Series... I'm predicting this year that Pontiac is feeling left out, and they will decide to get their cars back into Cup racing. And my wish is that Scott Riggs will be driving that Pontiac... Another wish is that somebody somewhere figures out a way to limit the Bushwackers - I guess we have to come up with another term since Nationwide-wackers just doesn't sound right... As far as the Chase goes - I'm feeling that Clint Bowyer will give Tony a run for his money, and Kyle Busch will make it a three-way battle for the number 1 spot. Dale Jr. will spend a lot of time searching for Shannon at the beginning of the season, but when he finally meets up with her, will settle down and make a late charge, ending up 4th in points.

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Well, I'm back again, it's the beginning of a new year - getting ready for an exciting new racing season at our favorite local dirt track, Lakeside Speedway. My Dad (Terry Bivins) has a great sponsor who has bought a new modified for Dad and a local favorite driver, Danny Charles. So we will have a competitive race team this year with two new Dirtworks Genesis Mod's in the stable. Everyone is very excited to start the '08 season at Lakeside. I will be in my Dad's pit working on the car. I predict we will have some success making the A-features and have a lot of fun being teammates with Danny. NASCarla and I really enjoy our Friday nights at the dirt track. Our weekends will be full of racing with the Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup races. The COT cars will run all the tracks which will be a challenge for all the teams and drivers. This new '08 season should be very interesting with all the team changes along with Toyota having top drivers behind the wheel. I predict Tony Stewart will bring Toyota to the top, and even make the Chase. I predict Jeff and Jimmie will be in the Chase, and that Dale Jr. will do great with Hendrick, and be in the Chase as well. But I do know anything can happen in racing, good or bad - so let's get ready for a fun and safe season. Boogity Boogity Boogity - Let's go racin'! James Bivins

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Dan Bellaire: I think Brian Keselowski is a better driver than his brother Brad. I haven't talked to Brian since that deal went bad between us but I don't hold a grudge about that. I think that Brian will do real well in Busch or whatever it's called this year. Brad will have the Hendrick equip to get the job done but Brian does all his own work on the car and has the drive I think to do well. If Brian runs ARCA he will be competitive everywhere except the superspeedway's because they don't have a good Dodge plate program but he will be hard to beat at Berlin [2 wins], Toledo [track champion], Salem, etc. To compete in the Daytona/Talladega ARCA races I would run Chevy with a

Jeff Collins/Bobby Gerhart engine for sure. In Cup Toyota will come out and win lots I believe. I think they just played a game last year and laid low and now they will come out and do good after all, they use the same engine in the NCTS and they do well there. I think Dale Jr. and Jimmie Johnson will have a power struggle and Dale Jr. will crash Jimmie. I think the only race or track that Dale Jr. cares about is Daytona. I think the Rockingham 500 ARCA debut race in May will be a huge success for Andy Hillenburg the track owner. Kyle Busch will do well on the tracks where you have to actually drive the car rather than sitting there like a dummy and feeding the car a little steering wheel, LOL! I think Terry Bivins will do well because he is "old school" and won't take no BS from nobody.:) I think Juan Montoya isn't so welcome in the series and might get punted out of a couple of races, maybe by Stephen Wallace if Stephen is there. I met Stephen Wallace @ MIS a couple of years ago. Rusty Wallace is alot more mellow now than when he ran in ASA a long time ago. I don't care for Kenny Wallace. I met him at Cayuga Speedway and he is not my fav. I don't care for any of the Bodine brothers. I have no use for Robby Gordon. I would like to see Mark Martin get more aggressive rather than racing like he has a "crash clause" on the car. Tony Stewart is always cool because there's no BS with him and he'll sit with you @ Toledo in the pits or kick your ass if you mess with him on the track. I think Clint Bowyer will win another race this year since he got a taste of it already and he races Go Karts - I like Clint. I think Jeff Gordon is back and will win his share too. Ray Evernham needs to either get married or get Erin Crocker out of the pic. I'm not sure if Ray made Erin look bad or Erin made Ray look bad but they both sure look bad. Erin should have won a race but if the team members don't like you then you will never get the right setup from them no matter what they tell you. Hendrick Motorsports has the best equip hands down so they will always be competitive. I think Joe Gibbs will have a power struggle there and Denny Hamlin will have to go. I think Roush has a problem with Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth and maybe Carl will leave and start his own team. Did I forget anybody, lol? I might send ya more later. TTYL, Dan!!!;-)

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Reflections of 2007 - I guess all of you Hendrick Motorsports haters can join Richard Petty, a man who won 7 Championships and 200 races, and say it's not good for the sport for one team to dominate. Get used to it. I think NASCAR has finally put a stop to the guys that like to call themselves Champions (Harvick - Edwards seem to think they are...) running in the Busch races. My way of thinking is that they will have to do it in the Cup Series. Neither one of them made much of a show in the Chase. I think NASCAR more or less tried to prove Tony right: the big fines and point losses only affected one driver, Dale Jr. The 100 points they took from Jeff, Jimmie, Busch - didn't slow them down much. Also thought if you missed the drivers meeting you went to the back of the field. Was not a problem for the #1 Whiner Denny Hamlin - the only good thing about that race was that they didn't give him the win... so much for the sponsor running the show, probably hurt the sponsor more than it helped. For me it sure did. So much for all these negative comments, on to bigger and better things!
2008 Predictions - I think it is safe to say that 2008 will not be a whole lot different than 2007, except a different Chase winner. I think Jeff Gordon has figured out that NASCAR is not going to let consistency win. So I look for him to be aggressive instead of going for the points. He will make the Chase along with Jimmie and Junior. Junior will win 3 or 4 races but don't believe this is his Championship year. Also wouldn't count out Casey Mears from the Chase either - so it looks like another Hendrick year. I think also you shouldn't overlook JJ Yeley - he is my pick for a dark horse.
Also - would everybody who believes that Tony, Denny and Kyle will get along please raise your hands? Kyle thought Jeff and Jimmie didn't show him any respect. He hasn't seen anything yet! Tony will certainly not put up with Kyle Busch's ego... All Denny wants is to whine and blame someone else for his shortcomings. All in all, I hope it is a good year for all drivers. Looks to be about the same Chase drivers as last year. I think Toyota will take up second place over Ford. Toyota will win some races. It will probably be a Gibbs driver, more than likely Tony. I do believe Mr. Joe Gibbs will be a reckoning force at the races this year. I think he senses there is going to be problems.
So - I do predict Jeff will win his Championship this year. As far as I am concerned, he has already won six... it doesn't really matter, it will be a Hendrick driver on top! See ya! (The opinions expressed above are mine only...) Carl Russell