by Darrell Waltrip

Updated: January 22, 2008, 4:30 PM EST 88 comments

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My good news is that as I look toward the 2008 NASCAR season, I'm honest when I tell you folks that I am getting really excited about this year. I just think that this year there's a lot to get excited about when compared to the last couple of years and it has little to do with rule changes. Instead, there will be a lot more emphasis on what's happening on the track, and that's going to make this year one of the best ones we've had in a long time.

I don't think there will be any significant rule changes. Yes, NASCAR officials tweaked some of the pit road rules (to read more about those changes, click here), but those are safety issues so it's a good thing that NASCAR implemented changes there.

The only real "major" change made this year was the lumping of all the "go or go homers" together and having them qualify at the end of every qualifying session. I think that's a good thing. But, as I mentioned last week, I'd rotate when those guys trying to time their way into races qualify. That way you don't get guys complaining as much.

But at least NASCAR made a change, so things should be more equal for all those guys who aren't in the top 35 in owner points.

The other thing I really believe is that now that teams only have the Car of Tomorrow to work on, I think they will improve the car. I think teams will get more comfortable with the car design and drivers will quit complaining about it.

No matter what it is we do in the sport, whether it's rule changes or changes in race procedures — anything in general — if the drivers aren't happy, then the fans and the media tend to not be happy because they pick up on the derogatory things that the drivers have to say.

So if and when the drivers are happy with the COT, and stop complaining about it so much, I think that it'll be another one of those issues that will go away. Yeah, it's a hot topic right now, but I feel that the more we race the less complaining you'll hear about the car.

But you probably will hear some complaining about other things like engines. I think engines will be a bit of a challenge this year because basically that's all you have to work on. No matter what make you drive, you have the same car. So you have to get as much horsepower under the hood.

I actually think that's why Toyota tested as well as they did in preseason testing at Daytona International Speedway. They've got a year of development on their engine package, as they worked it all year long in 2007 and kept improving on it.

If you'll recall, Chevrolet came out about midseason last season with their R07 engine package. Some teams ran it a lot and some didn't run it very much. Chevrolet has a lot of potential, most of which is untapped, so we'll see what they can do next year.

Dodge has a whole new engine package that they are working feverishly to get parts and pieces together for, so they will have a new engine. And Ford's got a good engine package.

When all the manufacturers get their best piece under the hood, it'll make racing that much better, and that's where we are going to see a lot of effort this year.

I think that's a good thing. Horsepower, handling, not depending so much on aerodynamics and this car design doesn't have nearly the downforce of the old car.

Downforce is what pushes a car down into the racetrack. The harder the car gets pushed down, the tougher the tire has to be. I think what will help the COT, as much as anything, is to get the right tire combination on it and that's what Goodyear has been working on in the offseason.

I think they utilized the same tires last year on both the old car and the COT, and I think that was too conservative because the COT can handle a whole other tire package. When Goodyear and NASCAR change the tires used, it will help the cars handle better and that's going to make the drivers happier.

Yes, there's a fine line between what Goodyear needs to do and going overboard, but they can still soften up the tires a little bit and get the cars handling better — that'll be a real plus.

The other thing that's going to be fun to watch, and we've said this over and over again, is Dale Earnhardt Jr. To get him in a position where he can win races, that's good for him and that's good for everybody. As I've said before, I think he'll do very well at Hendrick Motorsports.

His teammates have agendas too, though.

Casey Mears wants to establish himself as a Hendrick star. He got the one victory at the Coca-Cola 600 last year and I said then that the triumph was his first step toward becoming a bona fide superstar in our sport. If you look at how he performed towards the end of last year, that team got better and better. I expect Casey to do pretty darn good this year.

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Of course, you've got his teammate Jimmie Johnson, who is gunning for his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. That's going to be interesting and fun to watch as he tries to pull off something that has only been done once before in NASCAR history by Cale Yarborough.

Then you've got Jeff Gordon who continues his "Drive for Five." As I told you all last week, Jeff's has to look at this point system and figure out how to maximize points. The easiest way to do that is by winning races.

A lot of top fives and top 10s are great, but it takes a lot of wins these days to win championships. Keep an eye on Jeff as he tries claim his fifth Cup championship. I know in my eyes, and a lot of other people's, Gordon has won the last two championships if you look at the way we used to do things.

But we don't do it that way anymore, and I constantly have to remind myself and I'll constantly keep reminding you: We don't do it that way anymore, so get over it. If I have to get over it, you have to get over it.

The Chase format is what we have now, so we all have to be happy to go with what we got. Drivers young and old have to learn how to race under those conditions and those circumstances.

Even though I am not a big fan of change — I hate change because I am old school — but I think the change to Sprint Cup next year won't be too difficult to get used to.

Switching from Winston to Nextel took a little getting used to, but since we have only been using "Nextel Cup" for a short period of time, Sprint Cup sort of rolls off my tongue so I should be okay with it. Now using Nationwide for what used to be the Busch Series might take a little time to get used to. But after all, Nationwide is on your side, so I imagine that all my trained broadcast buddies will keep me in check and before long it'll be old hat.

The other thing that I think is good news is the open-wheel guys coming to NASCAR. I don't know why people would complain about them coming into NASCAR, I see it as a compliment to our sport when you think about the series that they are coming from; whether it is Formula 1, IndyCar or any other series. Certainly Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish, Patrick Carpentier and Jacques Villeneuve are all very capable guys.

Give them the right equipment and right people around them, and I think they could all be contenders. It's going to make for a great battle for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year trophy this year. And, oh, by the way, don't forget about the other rookie in the battle, Regan Smith.

You are talking about world class drivers. This rookie fight will be fun to watch. As a matter of fact, there is likely to be more Indianapolis 500 winners in the Daytona 500 than there will be during the "Month of May" at Indianapolis with Juan Pablo Montoya, Hornish, Franchitti and possibly even Villeneuve — Isn't that kind of an odd scenario? But it just goes to show you how popular and healthy our sport is, and we should all look at it that way.

Also, it'll be fun to see if that year of experience under Montoya's belt will help his performance this year.

Another piece of good news is that my brother's teams, based on their testing at Daytona last week and the way they ran at the only COT superspeedway race at Talladega in the fall, that they will make a big improvement.

Michael has revamped his whole organization and he's got some money in there now that is helping him do things now that he couldn't before. But the plus, no matter what happened, how much money they spent or how much better Michael Waltrip Racing, Bill Davis Racing and Team Red Bull would have been, they would not have been anywhere near where they are now without the help of Joe Gibbs Racing. That's the Toyota way.

One of the things that I learned by working with them, and the thing that makes them successful even more so than some of the other companies I've worked with, is their ability to work together. They insist upon it and they won't tolerate it if you won't.

I was worried about that, but I've talked to Michael, and I know from Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hammond being down there at the tests in Daytona, that Ronnie Crooks, the shocks specialist and an intricate part for JGR, was running around building shocks and looking at data so he could help teams get their cars set up so they would drive as best as they could.

So obviously Gibbs has pitched in with engine technology and development, set up information, and Gibbs has a seven-post shaker machine, which combined with what Toyota engineers know ... I don't want to take a guess with how many races Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart may win for the manufacturer next year, but they are going to be really good.

And I know some of you will write to me and tell me "DW, it's your brother, don't say that," but I really think my brother could win the Daytona 500. Michael loves Daytona, it's his best type of racetrack.

All of MWR did well at superspeedways last year. I know David Reutimann has gotten better and Dale Jarrett really wants to go out with a bang before he retires. Oh yeah, Michael McDowell is waiting in the wings and he is a great new young kid.

This is going to be a very interesting year for MWR.

Speaking of Dale Jarrett, I'm a big fan of Dale's. I think once he steps out of the car, he will add a lot to the coverage of the races — even though I don't know where he will end up or what he is going to do — but if it were me, I'd give him a very significant role no matter where he goes or does next.