The new NASCAR season has arrived and in the garage area, teams come to Daytona — NBC airs the Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at 2 pm/ET — with healthy quantities of anticipation and optimism. Tony Stewart intends to build on the greatness he achieved last season, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon hope to accelerate their way back into the top 10, Jimmie Johnson is getting a little tired of the bridesmaids dresses and the new crew at Roush — hello, Mr. McMurray, don't let the door hit you on the way out, Mr. Busch — is set for a few more backflips.
While this preseason gave drivers lots of opportunity to offer reasons why they're on the fast track, it also raised a number of topics that will affect the sport for years. The "Car of Tomorrow," a pet project of NASCAR Research and Development czar Gary Nelson that rolls out in 2007, is supposed to remake the common tempread more