Ok, so I've seen enough ill informed, poorly thought out points predictions for 2009 that is makes me sick. Both ESPN and Foxsports.com have David Gilliland in the top 25 WITHOUT A RIDE. I mean seriously, do they understand how this works? Foxsport's Mike Harmon also has AJ Allmendinger 27th despite only having sponsoship for 8 races this year. duh. So, not to say that my predictions are perfect, I thought I might give my input on the subject and put it out in cyber space. Feel free to disagree

1. Carl Edwards -finally closes the deal
2.Jeff Gordon- big bounceback year
3. Jimmie Johnson- regresses back to the norm (somewhat)
4.Matt Kenseth- bouces back strong
5. Kyle Busch- still a year or 2 away from a championship
6. Kevin Harvick- wins 2 races
7. Mark Martin- back to victory circle 1 or 2 times
8. Jeff Burton- consistancy pays off again in chase birth
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr- continues to underacheive
10. Kurt Busch- performs better this year
11. Greg Biffle- 1 win, up and down all year
12. Jamie McMurray- regains consistancy with Donnie Wingo
13. Kasey Kahne- still up and down 2 wins
14. Juan Pablo Montoya- back to victory lane at the Glen
15. Denny Hamlin- bad luck and bad attitude hamper team
16. Martin Truex. Jr.- on his way out of EGR
17. Clint Bowyer- first year blues with new team
18. Tony Stewart- good first season as an owner, wins at talladega
19. Bobby Labonte- bounces back with some strong runs
20. David Ragan- not as good as advertised
21. Casey Mears- more of the same
22. Brian Vickers- continues to run well at intermediates and struggle everywhere else
23. Ryan Newman-decent first year with SHR
24. David Stremme- best equipment he's driven, still not good enough
25. Robby Gordon-bounces back and earns win at Infineon
26. David Reutimann- continues to overacheive and run well here and there
27. Scott Speed- up and down rookie season, occasional brilliance-ROTY by a slight margin
28. Joey Logano- will start out slow and finish strong
29. Paul Menard- more of the same
30. Sam Hornish Jr.- some improvments in 2nd year
31. Elliott Sadler- will have 3rd and 4th best stuff at RPM
32. Marcos Ambrose- will be strong on the roadies
33. Reed Sorenson- one and done
34. Michael Waltrip- last season driving
35. Scott Riggs- lowest man to start every race
36. Travis Kvapil
37. AJ Allmendinger- could replace Sorenson or Sadler if one of them struggles early.
38. Bill Elliott
39. Brad Keselowski
40. Regan Smith
41. whoever else shows up....

Silly Season

Kurt Busch leaves and replaces Vickers at TRB
Vickers replaces Sorenson
Allmendinger replaces Sadler
Truex replaces Kurt Busch at Penske
Jamie McMurrays team is transferred to Yates but McMurray and Crown Royal depart for the Penske 12
Hornish is back to the IRL, replaced by Allgaier
Sadler brings Best Buy to the 1 car to replace the departing Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro enables SHR to expand to 3 teams with Brad Keselowski in the third car
Reuitmann moves to the 55 and Josh Wise moves into the 00
Robby expands to a second team with Freecreditreport.com and Geico sponsoring David Gilliland
Travis Kvapil takes over the #26 car with Irwin Tools as sponsor
David Stremme pilots 4th part time ride at RPM