The fourth and final day of the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway was bittersweet.

The whole experience was amazing, very tiring, but amazing. I was sad to realize there were only four events left until we all parted ways.

The Showtime Sports breakfast featuring the stars of the new Inside NASCAR was very entertaining! With the personalities of Michael Waltrip, Brad Daugherty, Randy Pemberton and Chris Myers the show will be a new “provocative” source of entertainment for hardcore race fans.

After breakfast, we went on to our press conference with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Team co-owner Felix Sabates was the plucky, comic-relief for the day and it was good to see Juan Pablo Montoya actually cracking a smile a few times, especially when Chip Ganassi called him his “little Columbian friend”.

The new Bass Pro Shops paint scheme for Jamie McMurray is awesome and I particularly like the “Kiss My Bass” statement on the rear-end. I’m sure his competitors will enjoy that on race day.

From there we boarded buses for the short trip to zMAX Dragway for an announcement with 14-time Funny Car champion John Force who is also the namesake for the main grandstands at the new facility.

I can tell you that I will be attending the inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at the unique, four-lane strip in March.

The final stop on the tour was to NASCAR R&D. After a lot of speculation, the switch from the wing to the spoiler was confirmed and the no bump-drafting policy will no longer be enforced. I was very glad to hear that. Rubbin’ is racin’, right?

Now, the Tour has ended and it is back to the real world. The season looms large on the horizon and, especially after this experience I personally cannot wait for Daytona!

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