Leading up to last Saturday nights Budweiser Shootout, I thought I had it all figured out. The 2009 Daytona 500 was going to be the year of the haves and the really have-nots.

You know, little or no practice for many Sprint Cup teams during the off-season, a nasty economy providing deep cuts into the garages and really, who was actually going to show up to hang it out there for the 500 miler. All valid concerns and a sure fire recipe to blow up the Great American Race.

News flash to self, what the freak was I thinking?

I breathed a sigh of relief after I saw the swarm of twenty-eight Sprint Cup pilots bounce along for the seventy-five lap Shootout on Daytona Speedway. They were slamming it at a tick shy of 200 mph for the first race of the season and there is no doubt these dudes came with barrels blazing. Not one runaway or dud drive by. It was such madness that the end of the race left only half the field to collect their winnings.

Another stroke of genius I had in lue of the aforementioned landmines was that the only chance anyone had of challenging the motherload of Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs and Childress for a 500 win was to place a couple of underfed snipers in Robby Gordon jersey’s on top of the Daytona media center.

Guess what army boy, there will be no need for such a dastardly act, we’ve got us a rip snortin’ ride ready for the ages.

The Shootout was hellacious and the first day of qualifying was nuts. Only .817 of a second separates first from forty-sixth and three of the top seven were all Earnhardt Ganassi Racing drivers. That’s right, not one Roush, Gibbs or Childress in the mix.

For freaks sake, Bill Elliott driving for Wood Brothers Racing, and who holds Daytona’s qualifying record of just over 210 mph in 1987, was fifth fastest. Fortunately for Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, that five spot did guarantee him a start in the 500 as his past champion’s provisional may not have cleared NASCAR customs this year.

You see, it’s nuts man. Flat out craziness. Someone got into the NASCAR garage water cooler and junked it up with a little bit of mayhem, a touch of stock car voodoo and a whole lot of suspense because that is what we have headed into the 51st Daytona 500.

I can’t figure it out. Can you? It’s whacky times in NASCAR’ville and I’ve quietly hoped for this a long, long time. Not the uncertainty but the unpredictability of the races.

Want more? I’ll take a page from the script of my friend Captain Thunder.

In 1998 Dale Earnhardt Sr. won his first Daytona 500 and the place erupted. From the pits to the nosebleeds, it was pandemonium.

Now, back for a full year, giving it one more shot is another big-time Daytona 500 bridesmaid, Mark Martin. He lost to Kevin Harvick in the blink of an eye two years ago. How fitting would it be for Martin to round turn four on the final lap leading the herd of 3500-pound stock car bull riders to grab his first Daytona 500?

This might be the first year where the most standup guy in NASCAR breaks the rules to get what was his.

Remember, Martin’s had a lot of time to sip from the NASCAR water cooler.

That's what I freakin' think. You? Drop me a note at kennys@speedfreaks.tv…holmes.