The Fourth NASCAR Day of Christmas: Four for Ganassi

When Jamie McMurray returned to the Earnhardt-Ganassi fold, he brought a wave of good karma with him.

Coming off a lackluster 2009, McMurray was visibly thrilled to have a full-time ride in 2010.  And his EGR homecoming proved a boon not only to McMurray's career, but to team owner Chip Ganassi's as well.

Ol' Jamie Mac didn't just win for Ganassi - he won the biggest, most prestigious races on the schedule.

McMurray kickstarted the season with a tearsoaked victory at the Daytona 500.  His next win came at Indy's venerable Brickyard.  He then snagged the trophy at Charlotte Motor Speedway - eight years after winning his first Cup race there, also with Ganassi.

Talk about being the comeback kid.

And McMurray wasn't the only star in Ganassi's crown.  Juan Pablo Montoya added to the team's win column with his dominating victory at Watkins Glen. 

Montoya led 74 of 90 laps at the Glen, rebounding from two weeks of poor pit calls and a tiff with his crew chief, which had kept him out of contention during previous races.

My NASCAR New Year's prediction?  Look for both McMurray and Montoya to make the chase in 2011.

An Early Prediction for a Win at the Glen

The race at Watkins Glen International Speedway couldn't be coming at a better time for Tony Stewart.

It's a place where Stewart seems to have the magic touch.

Since 2002, the NASCAR Cup series has visited The Glen eight times.  Stewart has won five of those contests

In fact, in 11 career starts at WGI, Stewart has emerged victorious 45.5 percent of the time.  That's his best win percentage at any track on the circuit.

Most drivers would kill to have those kind of numbers - at any track.

And when you consider Stewart's second-place pole run at Pocono Sunday and his top five showing at The Brickyard a week prior, a good run at WGI by the No. 14 team seems practically inevitable.

Yep, Smoke is definitely catching fire ... and he's my pick to win at The Glen.

Photo info: Tony Stewart chats it up with Mark Martin prior to the April 2010 race at Talladega.

McMurray to Drive a Car of a Different Color

Jamie McMurray became one of the few NASCAR drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year this weekend.

And during the upcoming race at Pocono, McMurray will turn heads again with a first-ever paint scheme.  During the Sunoco American Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, McMurray's AXE Twist car will sport brand-new technology.

Simply put, his car will change colors on the track.

Fans should be sure to look for the bold, yet primarily black No. 1 Chevrolet with neon green and neon yellow accents, much like the packaging of AXE Twist.
The vinyl on the hood uses liquid crystals that can be accurately set to show color at specific temperatures and was specifically engineered to meet the exact temperature range needed to show changing colors on the hood of a Sprint Cup Series car.

The idea is that McMurray's car will visually simulate how the AXE Twist fragrance changes over time.

Check it out -

Ultimate Summer Job Winners Share Their Brickyard Experience

Jason Zone Fisher and Adam Ward are two lucky guys.  The pair recently won the ProGlide Ultimate Summer Job contest and, as a result, they're being paid $50 thousand to document their summer which they're spending at major sports and entertainment events across the country.

On Sunday, the guys hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Brickyard 400 where they had the chance to ask Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman a question for us. 

More specifically, they asked the question that's on everybody's mind after that Mullet Nation commercial first aired.  Namely, would either driver ever consider growing a mullet?

Said Kyle Busch, "I think it would take me a long time to grow it. [Points to Adam] You’re on your way though … except you don’t have enough 'party' in the back."

And does Newman see long hair in his future?  "I think that Joey’s (Logano) mullet was better than mine," Newman said.