Rheem, Menards and Richard Childress Racing (RCR) are committed to championing the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) charge to be the series where "names are made," and each have long histories of supporting aspiring drivers from local short tracks to NASCAR's feeder series.

Ben Kennedy will be the latest up-and-coming driver to be given that opportunity when he climbs into the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for nine NXS races, the first of which will be at Talladega Superspeedway this spring. Kennedy has worked his way up through the NASCAR development ladder. In 2016, he competed full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and secured his first NASCAR national touring series win at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. He also finished 10th in his NXS debut last season at Iowa Speedway, driving the No. 2 Ruud Chevrolet for RCR.

I always think of the beginning of Days of Thunder this time of the year. The sun coming up. Fans filing in. The drivers walk out to their cars, surrounded by beautiful women and small armies of handlers. Meanwhile, back in North Carolina, Harry Hogge is out on a field on his tractor.

Five years have passed since I spent Speedweeks in Daytona Beach. I don’t have a tractor, but I have this laptop, and I’m sitting in this living room. My guitar leans against the couch, and a 24-hour news channel is on TV, and a long string of Andy Griffith Shows has run its course.

When I was growing up, there wasn’t much farming to do this time of the year, but Hollywood seldom lets reality get in the way of the story. And … NASCAR comes to mind, too.

In the winter, NASCAR officials turn to thoughts of change.

Change! Change! Never sit still. Fans might get used to it.

Never mind that, until NASCAR started splitting the last 10 races from the rest of the season and then split them into four segments, and designed generic cars with wings on the back, and then decided brand identity wasn’t so bad, and took the wings off and made them look more like real cars again … the sport was booming.

After a season of milestones for NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduates competing across NASCAR national series, the industry’s flagship development program for multicultural and female drivers has announced that six drivers will join its 2017 class. The drivers were selected after a competitive combine held last October at New Smyrna Speedway and will compete for Rev Racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

The 2017 class features a former NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion, the granddaughter of one of the sport’s female pioneers, and NASCAR Drive for Diversity’s first sibling teammates. The drivers will attempt to follow in the footsteps of program graduates and current national series drivers Kyle Larson, Darrell Wallace Jr., and 2016 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Daniel Suárez.

NASCAR, in collaboration with industry stakeholders, announced today an enhanced competition format that will be implemented in all three of its national series – the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR XFINITY Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Increasing the sense of urgency and emphasizing aggressive racing and strategy, the race format will deliver more dramatic moments over the course of an entire race and season, with playoff point incentives on the line throughout.

This is the height of longing and anticipation, don’t you think?

NASCAR teams are testing here and there, but not much is on TV. The great preseason media spectacles are starting up, but they aren’t what they used to be. I had a long conversation with one of my few close friends still on the beat, and he was as wistful on the scene as I sometimes get in my living room. Maybe he was just trying to make me feel better at being away. If so, it didn’t do the trick.

I’ve been gone for four years – my newspaper job was eliminated on January 4, 2013 – and I haven’t been at a track that was longer than 3/8 of a mile and coated with anything other than red clay since. What really amazed me was that I didn’t miss it. 

​Five of NASCAR’s legendary competitors – three owners and two drivers – were enshrined into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, tonight during the Induction Ceremony held in the Crown Ball Room at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Mark Martin, Raymond Parks and Benny Parsons make up the eighth Class of The NASCAR Hall of Fame – a shrine of the sport’s history that now houses 40 inductees.

Officials from Rick Ware Racing (RWR) announced today the team’s intent to compete in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series as an "open non-chartered" team beginning with next month's 59th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

RWR's return to the elite level of NASCAR will have Timmy Hill aboard the No. 51 Chevrolet for Speedweeks with a rotating list of drivers to follow throughout the season including longtime RWR drivers Stanton Barrett, Cody Ware and road course veteran Kevin O’Connell to name a few.

Gaunt Brothers Racing, owned by Triad Racing Technologies president Marty Gaunt, will return to NASCAR competition in 2017. Participating in four restrictor plate races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, GBR's select schedule begins with the 59th running of the Daytona 500, when D.J. Kennington will take the wheel of the team's Toyota Camry.

"With the recent unveiling of the 2018 Toyota Camry, we feel that now is the right time to return to the racetrack," said Gaunt, whose Triad engines powered five championship-winning Toyota drivers and contributed to multiple manufacturer championships at the NASCAR national level.

Gaunt Brothers Racing, owned by Triad Racing Technologies president Marty Gaunt, will return to NASCAR competition in 2017. Participating in four restrictor plate races in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, GBR's select schedule begins with the 59th running of the Daytona 500, when D.J. Kennington will take the wheel of the team's Toyota Camry.

"With the recent unveiling of the 2018 Toyota Camry, we feel that now is the right time to return to the racetrack," said Gaunt, whose Triad engines powered five championship-winning Toyota drivers and contributed to multiple manufacturer championships at the NASCAR national level.

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The 2011 season was heaven for me. The two Sprint Cup drivers with whom I had the best working relationship dueled it out for 10 weeks in the greatest Chase there ever was and likely will be.

Now, apparently, as these words are written, both are Cup drivers no more. In a minor note, I haven’t been an on-site beat reporter since 2012. I haven’t talked to Tony Stewart, the 2011 champion, since I left. Carl Edwards called me on the phone once.

I was here today, gone tomorrow. The two drivers will be long remembered.