Some interesting quotes throughout the '07 season (cont'd)

The fact that teams can race and win without their number one guy on the pit box is a true tribute to leadership and organizational skills. Reiser grades out high in both. And in Victory Lane at California, Kenseth did not forget that.

"Robbie Reiser built this team. If it wasn't for Robbie none of us would be here," Kenseth said.

Kenseth even thanked Robbie over-the-air on his team radio while celebrating after the win. Kenseth added, "If you're watching."

It was a humorous jab at Reiser. Kenseth knew he was watching. Those two have come a long way since they were racing rivals in Wisconsin.

Do you remember the guy who almost won the Daytona 500? He had a strange number on the side of his car and was driving a Chevrolet instead of a Ford but that was Mark Martin charging toward the checkered flag. The place was going nuts! Martin had the lead heading into Turn 3 on the final lap. Here was a Hall of Fame driver who basically got the boot from Roush Racing, shocked everybody by announcing he had signed with Bobby Ginn and was trying to convince anyone who would listen he was only going to run a 20-something race schedule and spend the rest of the time with his family. Sure thing, Mark. Then with less than a mile to go in the season-opening race, it looked like he was going to begin the year with a win.

Remember how it all came about? Caution flags; a red flag; the intensity of those restarts, and every lap it looked like Mark Martin was finally going to become a Daytona 500 champion. And all this was happening in his first race with a new team and his new crew chief Ryan Pemberton.

"Yeah, I thought about that during the red flag," Pemberton told us the following week. "That would be pretty cool. The emotions were something else. We were leading, then there's a caution. We're leading, then there's a red flag. Then it's green-white-checkers and Mark gets a great start, for the third time. On the final lap, when they disappeared into [Turn] 3, I thought, 'Holy smokes, we got this thing.' Then, in the last few seconds, disbelief. I was kind of in a daze."

Then another one of my favorite quotes of 2007 when Pemberton said, "I think it's probably the best Daytona 500 ... that didn't have a fight at the end of it."

Martin stuck to his plan. He got out of the car while leading the Nextel Cup point race. He spent the Bristol weekend at home, barbecuing Saturday night and "replaying the wrecks" on Sunday.

Martin has not won this season. I really thought he would. But do you remember what he told us before the Bristol race?

"Over the past year, through the change of teams, the fans have been overwhelmingly supportive and that means more to me than any Nextel Cup trophy or any Daytona 500 ever would," Martin said. "The respect they have shown me, the feeling of love. I guess I have done something right, and that's the highest tribute."

One word, baby: Class.

That's part of how it all started in the early weeks of the 2007 Nextel Cup season.

We raced on through the spring and into the summer. The Hendrick teams got stronger. There were a lot of fun races. We got to Charlotte at the end of May and the 600 turned into a wild fuel mileage affair won by Casey Mears. Finally, right? How happy was that guy?

I got to work with Kyle Petty this year on the TNT races. KP has the gift for colorful conversation and he shared it with everyone during our six races. But his story after Charlotte had some of my favorite lines.

"The team was joking about having to tear down after the race," Petty said. "'Oh, we're going to have to tear down'. They were grinning from ear-to-ear."

So was he.

It was a fun night for a lot of people, and the Petty bunch was right in there with them.

Do you remember at the start of the season that so many people thought this would be the year for Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Instead it turned into his Farewell to Teresa Tour. Earnhardt joins the Hendrick Yankees in 2008 and while he hasn't won a race this season, he did leave behind some winning quotes about fans throwing stuff onto the track at Talladega.

"Go out in the parking lot with two or three beer cans and wail 'em at your car," Earnhardt said. "Don't throw them at my car. C'mon. It's a serious situation. Throw toilet paper. It's hell to clean up but it won't hurt anybody."

And when talking about all the talent within the Hendrick organization, Junior sees nothing but good things coming from the fierce but friendly competition among the four teams. Of course, he said it a little better.

"You can't sink half a ship," Earnhardt said. "Sure, nobody wants to finish second to a teammate, but with all the people there, it's good. No one or two is as smart as six or eight."

Strength in numbers, right?

I could go on, as I usually seem to do, but maybe in couple of weeks we'll take another look at what some of the guys said during the 2007 season.

But as we get ready for Homestead, think about this for just a moment. Isn't this sport fun? Drivers make fans feel like part of the team and fans make drivers feel like part of the family. We get to watch races where you really don't know what's going to happen next and what the guys are going to say about it. I don't know if it is more fun to tell the stories, or listen to them. I'm lucky, I get to do both.

I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Now let's sit back, put the feet up and watch the last event of the season and see who wins the race and who the 2007 Nextel Cup champion is.

To accomplish either one of those feats it's going to take a little luck, and as Earnhardt Jr. said, "Ain't no store where you can buy that."

The opinions expressed are those solely of the writer