There’s a new rivalry in town and it’s not what you’d expect. No, it’s not Hendrick Motorsports vs. Everybody or Tony Stewart vs. Everybody. No, this is between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Carl Edwards. Dale signed a kinda big deal with adidas last year and Carl is promoting Under Armour.

Under Armour is shelling out big bucks for a Super Bowl ad, in which Carl appears with other notable professional athletes like the New York Giants’ Brandon Jacobs and the Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano, to promote its brand new performance trainers (aka sneakers). This is a big deal because with this new non-cleat shoe UA will now battle the big boys like Nike and Dale’s sponsor adidas in the footwear market. “I am really looking forward seeing the commercial. I’m going to the Super Bowl and I hope that they show the commercials at the game,” said Carl. “The scale of the production was huge and I’m looking forward to seeing the end product.” Apparently news of the purchase of this huge Super Bowl ad caused the company’s stock price to fall down, way down.

Things look much cooler, literally, for Dale and the folks at adidas. The Daytona 500 will serve as the debut for Dale’s three stripes, the symbol of adidas apparel, on his new race suit that also incorporates ClimaCool technology.

With extreme temperatures in the car, ClimaCool will lower Dale Jr.’s body temperature and combat fatigue, allowing him to be more alert and responsive in those final laps.

Two days prior to the debut of the three stripes on the track, Dale Jr.’s exclusive adidas fan gear will go on sale at The Sports Authority available first in Daytona. Dale Jr.’s official adidas fan apparel line, which includes a variety of men and women’s clothing such as t-shirts, jackets, hats and jerseys, will be available at The Sports Authority in Daytona on February 15 in conjunction with Speed Week. The fan collection features the same adidas ClimaCool technology that allows Dale Jr. to stay cool on the track.

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My prayers have been answered!

ESPN announced today that they’re moving Rusty Wallace from race commentator to NASCAR Countdown lead analyst. Dale Jarrett will replace Rusty in the booth, to call the races with Dr. Jerry Punch and Andy Petree.

What that really means is that we won’t have to suffer through anymore of Rusty’s inane comments and regurgitations of points made by others. This is such a relief, just the other day I was thinking about how annoying it would be to have to sit through another half season of Rusty and his lame observations.

And to make this so much better Allen Bestwick will take over as the host of NASCAR Countdown from Suzy Kolber. Suhweet. I like Suzy, I really do, but she just wasn’t making it for me in the world of NASCAR. I love Bestwick, he knows his stuff and he sounds like it too.

Check out the photo below. It is of the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates open wheel and stock car drivers for 2008. Now, is it just me or do they look like waiters? Or maybe service dudes from my local dealership? I’m just sayin’…

Ok, so have two very random things to share with you today.

The first is this: On my personalized Google homepage I have the NASCAR.com RSS feed and one of the headlines for today was “GEM’s test gains end with Kahne as fastest of the fast.” Upon seeing the acronym for Gillett Evernham Motorsports I immediately thought of Jem. Jem is the 80’s cartoon about a singer, Jem, and her band, The Holograms. Jem had this ability to transform into her regular girl alter-ego, Jerrica, with the help of this big computer thing named Synergy. Anyway, the point is that I found this to be funny and from now on whenever I think of Kasey Kahne I will also think of being a “Jem girl,” (not to mention the color pink and big 80’s hair) which I don’t think is what they had in mind.

On the other side of things, I was looking through my traffic stats for my personal website and I found something amusing when I browsed the search terms people used in navigating to my site. Someone searched for “What does ‘Boogity, Boogity, Boogity’ mean?” So funny. Unfortunately I didn’t have the answer on my site; I just used the phrase for a headline, so they were out of luck. At any rate it’s still a timely search because just the other day Darrell Waltrip wrote his annual column about whether or not he should continue to use his now infamous catchphrase.

Ya know, I’m not quite sure which I like better. I’m usually a big fan of dudes with long hair but I don’t know how I feel about it on Tony.

At any rate, here are more fantastic photos from the second week of testing at Daytona. These were taken yesterday.

Tony Stewart shares a laugh with the media during a Preseason Thunder news conference following Tuesday morning’s test session. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Sam Hornish Jr. signs autographs for fans on Tuesday morning during the second week of Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Dario Franchitti puts on his balaclava as he gets ready to test on the second day of the second week of Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett will go for gold in his final Great American Race on Feb. 17 at the Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. poses with the special 50th running of the Daytona 500 edition of the Harley J. Earl Trophy during Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

It’s like he’s staring into your soul. Great photo.

Bill Elliott takes a break from testing the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford during the second week of Preseason Thunder testing at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Back in August I wrote about my plans/desire to spend 2008 following NASCAR Sprint Cup racing around the country. Since then I have spent my time thinking of and working on every conceivable angle that would allow me to get out there and make this dream happen. It wasn’t until last Friday when my hopes of working my current day job AND setting out on this road trip were dashed by my employer.

I was down about it for the rest of the day until the next morning when I decided that I would just start the trip at the end of June of this year. That will give me 19 races to attend and I can spend the time between now and June saving money and figuring out other ways to earn a living whilst on the road. Hmm, that sounded weird, but you know what I mean!

Over the past couple weeks I’ve been given a chance at an amazing opportunity to grow this site. I’ll have more specific details once everything is finalized. It’s very exciting and I’m so stoked about it.

In other news…

The testing continues in Daytona and here are some photos from yesterday’s sessions.

Richard Petty and flames adorn the No. 43 Petty Enterprises car driven by Bobby Labonte. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

Kasey Kahne takes over the Budweiser ride as the Gillett Evernham Motorsports No. 9 car gets a new primary sponsor. (Photo Credit: Sam Greenwood / Getty Images for NASCAR)

David Ragan has taken off his rookie stripe and prepares for his sophomore season during Preseason Thunder at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)

No. 88 crew chief Tony Eury Jr. talks with Dale Earnhardt Jr. as they begin their first season together at Hendrick Motorsports. (Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images for NASCAR)