Lessons learned - NASCAR News FOX Sports on MSN

Legendary stock car driver Darrell Waltrip — winner of 84 career NASCAR Cup Series races and three-time champion — serves as lead analyst for NASCAR on FOX. Want more from DW? Become a fan on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

Well it’s the start of the New Year, and as I do every year at this time, I’m sitting back and reflecting on things I learned from the previous year. I am a big believer in life lessons and that you can’t have a testimony unless you’ve been tested. A lot of things jumped out at me — things that I and others learned in 2010.

One of the lessons I learned was the power of Twitter. I am still relatively new to Twitter. In the beginning I approached it like a text message or an email. I learned Twitter is much bigger than that. I made a couple rookie mistakes and made a couple comments I wish I hadn’t. I didn’t realize the power of Twitter. I had to learn how to temper what I say. It’s a lesson learned.
I think a lot of people across the board learned to never underestimate that No. 48 vehicle. It’s amazing how so many people were predicting that Denny Hamlin was going to take Jimmie Johnson down. I maintained then, and I still do today, that until someone beats the champion, then the champion is your odds-on favorite to repeat. There still were doubters even when we got to Homestead in February. Now he’s made NASCAR history yet again with five championships in a row.
Like I have said for years, the No. 48 simply has its act together on a level much higher than the competitors. When it comes to that No. 48 team, well, everything is just about perfect. Jimmie Johnson is obviously a great driver. Whatever area he may lack in is made up for by his great crew chief, Chad Knaus. Behind those two is world-class auto owner Rick Hendrick and all the resources of Hendrick Motorsports.
If you want to talk about lessons learned, then I think Denny Hamlin learned his this year. Like I have said the past couple stories, you have to lose one to win one. If you don’t believe me,Office 2007 Key, go ask Denny Hamlin or go ask Jimmie Johnson back when he tried and failed to win his first championship. This is an area in which I speak from personal experience. Back in 1979,Windows 7 Ultimate Sale, I had the championship all but won — unfortunately I didn’t close the deal, and Richard Petty ended up beating me by 11 points.
You have to have had that experience — that old cliché, “been there, done that.” I got that experience and was fortunate to come right back and win multiple championships. Jimmie did, too. Now that Denny has that valuable experience, the key will be to see if he can come right back in 2011 and close the deal. Denny got a valuable life lesson in 2010. I am excited to see what he does with what he learned.

Another lesson we all learned: Potholes on a superspeedway sure are hard to fix. Go back to February 2010 — we had one heck of a great Daytona 500 going on. Then the pothole developed and things came to a screeching halt. After repeated attempts to fix it, we finally were able to finish the race.
The good news is we won’t have to worry about that this year. Daytona has a brand new surface and all the teams will give her a spin in about three weeks. My prediction: Come Speed Weeks in February, if this is not the best, then this Daytona 500 will rank right up there as one of the best races we ever witness.
Another lesson learned in 2010: Teammates don’t always get along. Look at the ruffled feathers between Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. What about Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin? We also saw it happen between Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton,Windows 7 Starter Sale, plus Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray. Sure they have problems,Office Standard 2010 Key, but it was interesting to watch how they worked it out amongst themselves when they had to.
Speaking of Jamie McMurray, what a perfect example of a great life lesson he is. You have to go back to the end of 2009; the young man didn’t even have a job for 2010. No one wanted him to drive for them. Jamie never gave up. He persevered though it. With the support of his family and the power of faith, he came out the other side with simply amazing results.
Vehicle owner Chip Ganassi decided to hire Jamie back and give him a second chance with his organization. Jamie rewarded that faith with huge wins in 2010, starting off with our biggest race, the Daytona 500.
You also have to tip your hat to Chip and his company. Early on in his stock car career, the knock on the company was they didn’t have what it took to be competitive week in and week out. People said Chip’s focus was on series other than NASCAR. Well in 2010, whatever they were lacking, they sure found in a big way.

Also when you look back, who could have predicted the power and long-reaching effects when NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, Robin Pemberton, said, “Have at it, boys.” He probably didn’t give it a second thought when he said it. Boy, did it stick. We quickly saw the effects in Atlanta when Carl Edwards sent Brad Kesolowski airborne in retaliation for earlier on-track incidents.
You saw it play out almost the entire season; for that matter,Buy Office Professional 2010, you saw it at our very last race in 2010, between Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. It’s safe to say “Have at it,List of countries by GDP (nominal) - Wikipedia, th, boys” had a huge impact on 2010. I am curious to see if this year it will come with a few more restrictions. It got pretty ridiculous a times, with guys going to the garage and fixing their cars simply to go back out and take out the guy who had wrecked them. That kind of deliberate action needs to be addressed. They shouldn’t allow that to happen.
The Chase in 2010 finally produced the kind of excitement and down-to-the-wire drama NASCAR had hoped for. Everyone realizes it simply can’t happen that way every year, despite hopes that it will. I still think there are some areas that need to be tweaked that will improve it.
I still believe they should run the first 26 races and then reset all the teams for the last 10 to let everyone have a shot. If they are going to continue under the current format, I still believe they need to have the winner of the first 26 races be the points leader starting the final 10 races. I also think if you can win a race in 2010, then you should be automatically qualified for the Chase. If you win, you’re in. That would add people to the field as well.
I am going to keep beating my drum about the Nationwide series. Leave it alone. I think they are making a big mistake by messing with it and I believe there will be unintended consequences. I’ve seen that series messed with before, and in the end they had to put it back the way it was originally. Let it stay the way it is.
I am looking forward to testing in three weeks, and then Speed Weeks begin shortly after in February. Trust me, business is about ready to pick up.