Christmas wishes to make NASCAR merrier in 2009

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good 2009 season!

As 2008 comes to a close, it's time to put a few presents under the ol' Christmas tree for NASCAR that would make this coming season even better than the last.

So with tongue firmly in cheek (at least a good part of the time), it's time to play Santa Claus and give the sport some things it really needs. Here is the wish list:

A new champion

No offense to Jimmie Johnson, but enough is enough. Johnson is a fine champion who represents himself and the sport well. He's funnier than folks think, at least when he allows himself to be (he was about the only one in a tough media room at Martinsville to get one of my lame jokes, when I introduced myself as Joe the Journalist at the height of the Joe the Plumber election-campaign hype). And kudos to him for becoming the first driver in 30 years -- and only the second ever -- to claim three consecutive points titles.

But with all of that said, mainly to clarify to all the No. 48 backers who are sure to e-mail and claim that there is some sinister anti-Johnson bias going on here, wouldn't it be nice to see someone new break through and win the next Sprint Cup championship? Maybe Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick or -- gasp! -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.?

Congrats, Jimmie ... now give someone else a chance.

It would be more interesting and better for the sport. Another popular new champion would be one of the old champions, such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart in one of his own new cars (not likely to happen as Stewart-Haas Racing feels its way in its inaugural season) or Matt Kenseth.

More fun finishes

Just when everyone was getting down on Bristol Motor Speedway, wondering whatever happened to the fantastic finishes there, a classic unfolded during the night race in August.

First Edwards gave Kyle Busch a little tap, moving him out of the way to take over first place. But it wasn't until after the race when the real fun started, as Busch rammed Edwards to show him how much he didn't appreciate the earlier bump-and-run. That led Edwards to retaliate and turn Busch sideways (watch video).

It was exactly the kind of finish and post-race antics that once were more commonplace in NASCAR, accompanied by all the requisite post-race whining, posturing and finger-pointing between the drivers and teams involved. It also appeared to be the birth of what has the potential to develop into a long-running, honest-to-goodness driver rivalry between arguably the two most talented young wheelmen (sorry Jimmie, but at 33, you're now in the "veteran driver" category) in NASCAR's balky new car.

It was great in '08, and more of this type of all-around drama would play just fine in '09.

A shorter season

OK, so the schedule is out and nothing is going to change -- not for '09 and not for the foreseeable future. Plus this is an old topic.

But NASCAR needs to face the facts as the economy continues to struggle. A shorter race schedule would save race teams enormous amounts of money. To lessen the blow on existing tracks that obviously would lose some races in the scaling-back process, the governing body could start alternating which tracks get two races a year based on who is doing the best in attendance and, yes, television ratings.

No matter how they do it, cutting about six weeks out of the schedule would help everyone -- and keep fans more interested down the finishing stretch. Consider this a wish for the long-term future, but a topic that needs to be taken more seriously by the powers-that-be if the economy within the sport, and outside of it, fails to improve significantly as 2009 unfolds.

Here's wishing Marcos Ambrose and Brad Daugherty good will in 2009.

Real progress on diversity

So the Mauricia Grant $225 million lawsuit that alleged sexual and racial discrimination against NASCAR officials has been settled out of court. That's good news, but the fervent hope is that the incident serves to move the sport closer to not only making certain racial and gender harmony exist in the garage area, but also as a catalyst to improve and accelerate its overall diversity efforts.

In 2009, former NBA standout and current ESPN NASCAR analyst Brad Daugherty will increase his role in the ownership arena as a partner with JTG Daugherty Racing, which will field the No. 47 Toyota to be driven by Marcos Ambrose. Daugherty, like Grant, is black. It would be great to see his team, which will partner with Michael Waltrip Racing for technical support, enjoy some success as it also fields two teams in the Nationwide Series.

And hey, if nothing else, some success by the seemingly talented Ambrose would spice up the '09 season as the sport continues to wait on a competitive black driver to emerge in some decent equipment. At least Ambrose is Australian.

Tuned-in TV

Speaking of the good folks at ESPN, and more specifically at their parent company, ABC, here's wishing that they avoid taking any more of the stupid pills that led them to switch television coverage from ABC to ESPN2 with 39 laps remaining in the Chase race at Phoenix.

The reason? The race was running long because of an earlier rain delay and a spate of cautions, and the network wanted to honor a commitment to televise an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos in the time slot it was encroaching upon.

Um, this was a playoff event in a major sport. At least ABC had insisted to everyone that it was a major sport when it agreed to televise its races. Can anyone imagine a network opting out of a World Series game or an NFL playoff game for an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos, just because the game in question was running long?

That just wouldn't be very funny, and wasn't.

The Wood Brothers' 21 and Petty's 43 are two iconic car numbers.

Send out a thank you

Their days as major competitors in the sport are coming to an end, but no one should ever forget what the giants known as Wood Brothers Racing and Petty Enterprises have done to pave the way for everyone else.

As the Wood Brothers contemplate running a part-time schedule with limited funding, Petty Enterprises braces for "a merger" that is likely to be more like an absorption of the famed No. 43 car into the stable at Gillett Evernham Motorsports (the only other option, to run it as a single-car entity at a scaled-down-to-the-bones Petty operation, is less appealing). No matter how it plays out, these organizations represent the foundation upon which today's NASCAR was built.

They should be getting appreciative Christmas cards wishing them well from everyone in NASCAR, now and forever more.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.