I've lived in Florida just under a year, but I'm easily adapting to the local ways. It should come as no surprise, but I am going to the Daytona 500 this weekend. It's only a 2.5 hour drive from the office so what could keep me away? Better still, I'm going under the umbrella of work so I can expense the mileage.

This will be my third Cup race, the first two when it was called the Winston Cup. Back when I was in high school, my cousin and I drove from North Jersey to Dover, Delaware, for the 1978 Mason-Dixon 500. He was driving a ’66 Dodge Dart at the time and was pulling for Richard Petty and my father drove a Mercury Montego so I was all about David Pearson and the Purolator Merc. When the checkered flag dropped, it was Pearson in the winner's circle so I was happy. That was when stock cars were built off real cars and fans could truly get into the whole "Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday" deal. You could relate to the cars on track.

My next race was also at Dover, in June of ’89. I was a hardcore Chevy guy at this point and was rewarded with a Dale Earnhardt victory. The cool thing was I had a photographer's credential and from my vantage point at Turn 4 you could see Earnhardt and Mark Martin banging off each other. The finish was like a five-lap bumper car/drag race combo. Everyone at the Monster Mile was on their feet. It was electrifying.

Who will win at Daytona? Hmm...