Could rivalries be going back to the way they were in the “good ol’ days?” Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison duke it out after the 1979 Daytona 500. Photo Credit: RacingOne Multimedia

During last month’s media tour in Charlotte, NASCAR announced that it would loosen the reigns of power a little to let drivers police themselves more and let their personalities shine through.

“We are going to have an eye on putting things back in the drivers’ hands,” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said during a press conference on Jan. 21. “They are going to mix it up a little bit differently, because we are going to loosen it up.”

This should make for more exciting racing action on the track, as well as possibly sowing the seeds for some rivalries and maybe even continuing rivalries that have already sprung up – Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, for example.

The move toward letting drivers show and act on more emotions should delight fans watching in the grandstands and at home. After all, was racing really meant to be a non-contact sport? You know what they say – “Rubbing’s racing.”

Fans have been complaining for years that drivers have become too politically correct, many of them even referred to as “vanilla.” Maybe a little bumping and rubbing will bring some of these drivers out of their shells.

Carl Edwards doing his trademark flip in 2008, before breaking his foot playing frisbee (Photo Credit: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images for NASCAR)

They remain etched in our memories forever. They make highlight reels for years to come. They churn the stomachs of the fans in the grandstands. Kyle Busch at Daytona, Carl Edwards at Talladega, Joey Logano at Dover, Michael McDowell in Texas, Ryan Newman at Talladega and countless other wrecks from the past few years (and beyond) are forever implanted on our minds.

All these wrecks had one thing in common: the drivers walked away.

Which begs the question…

Why do drivers keep finding creative ways to injure themselves?

On Sunday, the news broke that Denny Hamlin had torn his ACL playing a game of pickup basketball.

Pickup basketball? Really? Hamlin drives up to 200mph on a regular basis on any given weekend and he tears his knee up playing basketball of all things!

Photo Credit: flickr.com/old_boone

My last column talked about the offseason, and how miserable it is for race fans. While that still holds true, there’s no denying that January is a great month for racing. You have the Chili Bowl, the 24 Hours at Daytona, the Bodine Bobsled Challenge, the Polar Bear 150, the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale, the Dakar Rally, plus a few important and interesting races run here and there.

Why does it seem, then, that most of us remain so detached from racing?

Hello?! Because most of it isn’t televised!

While the Toyota All-Star Showdown and the 24 Hour Daytona race are televised, most of us are left to scrape up whatever morsels we can of the rest of them. Thankfully some radio networks pick up a few of the races, or some media outlets decide it’s worth reading about. However, it might help some of us get our racing fix if we actually had a TV to flip on to view some of these events.

Denny Hamlin at the Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil at Phoenix International Raceway. Denny Hamlin led a total of 91 laps, but finished 12th after a late-race incident with Brad Keselowski. Their ongoing feud has sparked interest and intrigue throughout the 2009 Nationwide season. (Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

In recent years, many NASCAR fans have complained that drivers have become vanilla — too politically correct with no personality, just talking heads for sponsors outside the race car. Race fans yearned for the days when drivers like Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt spiced things up when they got out of the car.

Tony Stewart came along in the late 90s and spiced things up in the NASCAR garage with the determination to speak his mind, critics be damned. Aside from Stewart, though, the NASCAR garage maintained that somewhat politically correct, boring feel as the new century began.

Then Kyle Busch came along a few years later with an attitude that illustrated how much he hated to lose. Even a second-place finish didn’t make the young driver happy. Unlike most of his fellow-drivers, Busch let everyone know when he wasn’t happy, even if he had just finished second.

While Stewart and Busch were willing to speak their minds, NASCAR fans still missed that two-man rivalry — two drivers who seemed to hate each other, each thinking nothing of getting in the way of the other’s success.

Fans just can’t wait for the first drop of the green flag at Daytona in 2010. Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

If this is the most wonderful time of the year, then why does everyone seem so miserable? After all, there are Christmas lights, holiday parties, gift exchanging, and family dinners going on this time of year. Though we are now into January and most of that is now behind us, it seems something is still missing.

This, fans, is the offseason. No matter how much activity there is going on around, there’s still that aching in your bones for some racing. Even with the shortest offseason, NASCAR still seems to leave fans wanting more and more to see all 43 cars back on the racetrack. The time between Homestead and Daytona seems like an eternity, and the silly season seems to get quieter and quieter every year.

So why is it that the NASCAR offseason is the shortest of all sports yet NASCAR fans seem to be the most miserable during the break?

Look out, Danica – Leilani Munter is the newest “it” girl in racing. She’s testing with IndyCar and ARCA. Photo Credit: leilanimunter.com

If Danica Patrick is the storyline now, diversity is the focus. Promoting diversity, and specifically women, in NASCAR has been going on for years now. That’s quite a leap from decades ago when women weren’t even allowed in the garage area. Now, both men and women are seen strolling in the infield together. Whether they are wives and girlfriends, PR folks, engineers, or reporters, the gals have just as much presence as the guys. However, the ladies have yet to make a prominent appearance on the racetrack.

The last time a female driver started a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was Shawna Robinson in 2002 and Jennifer Jo Cobb was the only female driver to start a race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series last year. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been a bit friendlier to the girls as five drivers competed in at least one race in 2009: Chrissy Wallace, Michelle Theriault, Cobb, Gabi DiCarlo, and Caitlin Shaw.

IRL driver Danica Patrick announces she will race for JR Motorsports in the 2010 Nationwide series. (Photo credit g3houdini)

As it turns out, the offseason isn’t so slow after all! The offseason, known to NASCAR fans all over as “Silly Season”, always seems to come too quickly for the fans (even if the season runs for all but two months of the year). The roar of the engines, the crowd, and the RV motors all fade away during the cold winter season. Yet, during the seemingly “quiet” offseason, some of the biggest storylines of the NASCAR year are brought before us on a silver platter.

One of the biggest stories of the entire 2009 season was whether or not IndyCar star Danica Patrick would move from open wheel to stock cars. As the season progressed, and it became apparent that Patrick’s entrance to NASCAR was a matter of “when” not “if”, rumors swirled about which team she would be heading to. Teams mentioned as a possibility for Patrick to race at included Stewart Haas Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Roush Fenway Racing after she was rumored to have toured all three shops. It was finally announced on Dec. 7th, 2009 that Patrick would race on a part-time basis for JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Look for this to be a big story throughout the entire 2010 NASCAR season.