Flashman's Take

It is common for this writer to say I love Martinsville Speedway. Some say it’s because my home is only 150 (give or take) miles from the speedway. Some try to get into my mind and say it’s because it was the first speedway I ever visited, but the truth of the matter is that little paper clip-shaped track is exactly how the whole phenomenon we now call NASCAR started.

Despite the wringing of hands and the nervous comments of many in fan forums, not much ever changes in NASCAR. The teams with great funding always rise to the top. That’s been the case since people began racing cars.

As the cars and drivers head to Atlanta to test, just one more comment about Daytona wouldn’t hurt, would it? Never has there been a more insane Speedweeks. We saw a period when two stars, brothers to be honest, get eliminated from competition.

They were supposed to qualify for the Daytona 500 on Sunday, but what happened was really not qualifying. The tradition of the sport of auto racing is that the fastest car starts first and the slowest car starts last.

It’s almost time. Late in the week and over the weekend, engines will roar at Daytona International Speedway as Speedweeks continues. Of course, it’s a little different this year. It will be the last Speedweeks for Jeff Gordon and the first for Mike Helton with his new position at NASCAR.

Richard Childress Racing will come back with the same drivers in 2015. Sprint Cup runner up Ryan Newman in the No. 31 Chevrolet, Paul Menard in the No. 27 Chevrolet, and Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Newman said the second place season almost didn’t happen.

here was lots of news during Hendrick Motorsports’ presentation at the 2015 Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour on Thursday. The biggest news of the day was what we all knew was going to happen. Chase Elliott will be driving the No. 24 Chevrolet in 2016. It’s a year off yet, but that was the buzz around the Charlotte Civic Center.

Joe Garone, Furniture Row Racing's general manager, said the team has also made new hires to strengthen the engineering staff. "In an effort to continue to move the team forward we feel the personnel changes and new additions will yield positive results on the race track," said Garone in a statement.

It was a breakout year for RPM. Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 43 Ford, won his first race in July at Daytona International Speedway and Marcos Ambrose decided to head back to Australia to drive at home after nearly winning a race and joining Almirola in the Chase.

The Wood Brothers will be celebrating their 65th year in NASCAR this year. NASCAR has certified that they are the oldest continuing team of all time. Eddie Wood spoke to the media on what he expects in 2015.