While watching the big game on Sunday, I thought about how the Daytona 500 is always called the “Super Bowl of auto racing”. I personally have never liked this moniker, as a sports season never starts with the most important event of the year. If anything Homestead’s championship weekend should carry a mention of the “Super Bowl” of our sport.

The business of NASCAR looks to be on an upswing heading into the 2012 season as many sponsors, including Cup Series backer Sprint, announced extensions while a number of solid companies will make their first appearance in the sport this season.

World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series drivers and teams are busy preparing for a grueling 83-race schedule in 2012 that begins with the invasion of Florida's Volusia Raceway Park on February 17th.

The races at Watermelon Capital Speedway this weekend had a lot of NASCAR flavor involved in them. Bill Elliott’s son Chase was the fast qualifier in the Pro Late Model 150 lapper on Saturday, and parlayed that into a win Sunday over seasoned veteran Mike Garvey and youngster Daniel Hemric. The Super Late Model portion of the event had a great deal more NASCAR involvement, as at least 25% of the field had some ties to the upper echelon of NASCAR.