This is the Statt Mann Baby!!  Time to Scatt a little bit.

Speed Weeks starts Monday.  That will launch a 40 week barrage of NASCAR news, views and reviews.   We got a taste this weekend with the launch of a new NASCAR website.

As an aside, I’d love to question the person who decided to list the drivers by car number as a default.  Maybe it was the same person at Turner Media who decided to hang signs in Boston this week.

But while the world disappears behind the Cup Curtain, look at another motorsports headline generator that revs up this week: the Winternationals in Pomona.

Instead of wondering which of five drivers will win the Cup title, think about: Kenny Bernstein’s return to National Hot Rod Association competition or the debut of Ashley Force in Nitro Funny Car.  Wouldn’t it be great to see them in the finals next weekend?

It’ll be fun this year to see if J.R. Todd is for real.  It’ll be equally fun to see Jeggie Coughlin return to the top of Pro Stock.  Or what about Tony Schumacher and Doug Kalitta standing up to a 23 round heavyweight title fight in Top Fuel?  Can Ron Capps get over the hump?  What about a 15-time John Force? 

Racing is much bigger than manufactured headlines made in an Internet chat room or a Moorsesville or Madision Avenue board room.

Enjoy the season and don’t let someone else decide what you should be thinking.  About anything!

Peace.