nascar 2009 <> guarantee

in sunday's pre-race rant ... i said "nascar needs a spark right now ... they need kyle busch to win today's race in a way only this young superstar can do it ... nascar needs kyle busch to sweep the race weekend" in southern california ...i probably could have suggested a win by jeff gordon or tony stewart would also have ignited nascar nation ... what i didnt say was a win by jimmie johnson or one of the strange collection of rousch-fenway drivers just wasnt gonna do the job

two weeks in ... im not sure nascar's high speed extravaganza has been much more than alot of turning left ... zzzzzzzzz ... kyle busch gave it a best shot ... he won the camping world truck race and the nationwide stock car race on saturday ... a record setting feat in itself ... then he finished 3rd at california ... starting 10th, kyle seemed stuck in 6th position most of the day ... he finished 3rd but was never a real threat to win the sprint race ... not exactly the fix nascar junkies were hoping for

jeff gordon hasnt won a sprint cup race since early october, 2007 ... when he won back-to-back at talladega and charlotte ... but after what i have seen at daytona and california ... i will GUARANTEE right here and right now ... jeff gordon will win a points bearing sprint cup race this season ... he will win one soon ... he will win more than once ... and his winning races once again will be really good for nascar nation

ahhh ... evidence you want ... evidence to back up my guarantee ... sure ... i have some

• jeff gordon is a winner ... 4-time champion as a driver and 3-time champion as an owner
• jeff is once again focused on racing ... fatherhood is not new any more
• jeff has now had a full year to find his comfort zone in the car of today
• jeff ran very strong in this year's bud shootout ... finishing 4th ... my now faded memory of the race ... jeff drove very aggressively ... like he had nine lives and used every one of them ... like a man on a new mission
• jeff won his qualifying duel at daytona ... finishing ahead of tony stewart, a 2-time champion ... and jimmie johnson, a 3-time champion
• jeff finished the daytona 500 in 13th place ... a tire issue identified during his first run put him a lap down on the 3rd run ... the lucky dog happened ... and when the rains came jeff had his car in position to race for a win ... in the end all of jeff's appearances at daytona featured a consistently strong car
• in his last great season ... 2007 (6 wins) ... jeff won his qualifying duel ... and finished 10th at daytona
• jeff finished 2nd out in fontana last week ... again a powerful machine kept him up front throughout the race ... only the "clean air" thing kept him from overtaking matt kenseth for a win
• in 2007 jeff finished 2nd at california ... just behind matt kenseth

for me ... this is the kind of evidence ... performance ... that grows confidence ... jeff gordon will be back in the winner's circle soon ... count on it!