Ever since the beginning of time, man was born with a strong desire for competition and the need for speed in his blood. This desire can be traced back to the days of Moses, when the people of Egypt became furious because it took them 40 years to reach the promise land.
They never expected that when their journey first began, that it would take as long as it did, but you could see how frustrated they were when they began to question Moses why it was taking so long.
Even today we find ourselves trying to get from point A, to point B, in the shortest amount of time.
The only way that can be accomplished is by mashing our foot on the gas peddle, and holding on for dear life.

Another example comes from the Roman Empire era, and who could ever forget the movie Ben Hur.
The desire for competition, as well as the need for speed was more then inevitable during the infamous chariot race, which was the highlight of the whole movie.
When you look back to the way these warriors fought, and battled their way around the dirt arena, this was actually the first time in racing history that bumping and grinding a fellow racer took place.
Yul Brenner reminded me of Dale Earnhardt Sr, as he bumped, and fought his way around the arena trying to knock Charlton Heston out of the race.
This type of b a n g-em up, rough style of racing still goes on today.

These are just a couple of highlights that we can look back to, and relive whenever we have that feeling of days gone by. NASCAR has also followed the same footsteps ever since the first race was run, way back over 50 years ago.
The drivers have picked up where their forefathers left off, and have continued to bring us fans some of the best racing that we have ever set our eyes upon.
Highlights play as big a role, and sometimes even go beyond what we actually see on race day, because we know that all it takes is to fire up our recorders, and for the rest of eternity we have those highlights at our disposal.

Because NASCAR has such a diverse fan base, and diversity runs wild in our sport.
So do our desires, as well as our individual tastes to the different highlights that we choose to hold onto? So what made the 2008 season so much different then let's say the 2007 season, or even going back to the 2006 season?
Even though we had the same champion each of those years, but he also took a different road to win each one of them. Not every driver can have that stellar season, but they can still stand out in one or two categories and not be overshadowed by the driver who runs consistent all season long.
The list of our own personal highlights that stood out, could probably go on and on for many pages.
These were our special moments, our special times that we shared with our driver the thrill of victory, as well as the agony of defeat.

So now that the New Year is already breathing down our hungry backs.
The holidays are behind us, and its time to once again put our focus and look ahead to the month of love.
It's not the love that cupid brings with him on Valentines Day. But instead it's the love that NASCAR fans from around the country have been waiting for, and that is the Daytona 500.
So as we quietly stash those highlights away in anticipation of what our next season will bring. We always know that no matter what happens in the years to come, they are deeply instilled right where they belong, in the bottom of our hearts. Im Out