It has finally happened!  For years I have been banging the drum for the NASCAR Hall of Fame to form a Veterans committee so that, when the time comes, the voters will know which of the older drivers should go in, in which order.

With all the talk about the 2021 car you could look at 2020 as a gap year.  But, there will still be trophies awarded and checks cashed.  And, someone will earn a championship that will count just the same as all the previous ones.

It's interesting how we mark the passage of time.  For me, not surprisingly, it runs through a sports calendar.

If you're relatively new to NASCAR, you have no idea how busy January used to be.  By this point in the month, we'd be wrapping up a week of testing at Daytona and have moved into the Charlotte Motor Speedway's Media Tour, which, if nothing else, was an opportunity to count how many times the word "excited" could be crammed into a 3 ½ day period.

Despite the endorsement of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Junior Nation was not willing to accept Alex Bowman as the heir to the #88 ride.  All they focused on was two full seasons in the Cup Series and just 3 top-20 finishes...none better than 16th. They ignored the fact that those years were spent in third-tier equipment.

There was the eight win season and the championship in 2017, but, beyond that, they ascension of Martin Truex, Jr. into NASCAR's elite has almost been under-the-radar.  With his second consecutive win at Sonoma, Truex, Jr. has now won 20 races in the last 3 1/2 years.

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone asks me about NASCAR's attendance and why this sport is struggling so much.  I could have retired with a nice nest egg.

Never has there been so much angst over something that, in the grand scheme of things, means so little.e  I mean, outside outside of pit selection, what do teams really get out of qualifying?  The pole-winner gets a check and a nice starting spot.  Everyone else?  Bump-kiss.

It's been interesting to watch the back-and-forth since Kyle Busch won his 200th national NASCAR series race.  While many, including myself, have praised it as a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment that will likely, never be duplicated.  Others have gone out of their way to nit-pick it to death, some venomously, to make sure everyone understands it's nothing like what Richard Petty did.

Every year has its moments that stand out.  The ones that we'll remember for years to come.  And the ones that we'll look back on years later and realize were watershed moments.