It's interesting, the emotions that a new year can bring, especially in sports.

There's that burdenless feeling of a fresh start.  Everyone has a clean slate.  And, no matter what your goals are, at this point, they're attainable.

There's optimism.  All the tweaks and changes and personnel moves you've made were all the right ones.  And, they're all going to pay off for the best year yet.

And, depending on your position with the team, the flipping of the calendar is met with either excitement or anxiousness.  The drivers are excited.  They're competitors at heart who haven't competed for anything meaningful in about 6 weeks.  Now, they're less than 6 weeks from doing it again.

The crews, on the other hand, suddenly realize that it's only 6 weeks until Daytona.  All that time they thought they had, doesn't seem like so much anymore.

Then, there's boredom.  That's the fans who already enjoy the longest professional sports season, who can't believe it's still 6….more…weeks…until Daytona.