Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

NASCAR 2009 has officially begun.  I’m quickly realizing that it is going to take a few races for me to get used to all of the new teams and also who is driving for who and in what car.  Even Hendrick Motorsports had a driver change in the off-season.  Mark Martin is now the driver of the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet.  (The 2009 HMS team is pictured above with their HMS 25th anniversary cars.)  The new HMS team and Tony Stewart’s new team – Stewart-Haas Racing – are going to make for one great group of drivers in 2009 (and great unofficial teammates at Daytona & Talladega).

Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

The first race (albeit a non-points awarding race) was last night.  Kevin Harvick won the 2009 Budweiser Shootout.  I wasn’t able to watch the race last night because my family went out to celebrate my mom’s birthday (which was actually during the ice storm last week).  It looks like Dale Jr finished 18th after a bit of run-in with Paul Menard (actually, PM running into him).  On to qualifying this afternoon, the Gatorade Duels Thursday, and finally the Daytona 500 next Sunday!

What do you think about the race last night?

What are your predictions for 2009?