Newman!

Flyin' Ryan Newman wins the 50th running of The Great American Race. With a little (OK, a lot) of help from his Dodge friends Newman powered past Tony Stewart on the backstretch and kept the Blue Deuce behind him to give "The Captain" Roger Penske his first Daytona 500 win.

My personal pick Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished 9th, but he was the top finisher for Hendrick Motorsports. Jimmy Johnson crashed and Jeff Gordon dropped out with mechanical problems.

Besides winning the purse for the race, Ryan Newman collected a cool One Millllllllion dollars from Dodge.

OK, time to head out west to the land of swimmin' pools and movie stars.

Countdown to TMS: 49 days