Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is some other dude as Champ.

- It's more than half a year away, but Marty Reid will take over the lead-announcer slot for ABC/ESPN next year. It's the pits for Dr. Jerry Punch, so to speak.

- Kurt Busch had a successful season with Pat Tryson last year. Now Tryson is gone and Steve Addington, who previously worked with Kurt's brother Kyle, is in charge of Kurt's program at Penske Racing.

- Wonder how many fans are thinking that all they want for Christmas is a Sprint Cup champion not named Jimmie Johnson?

- Who's the biggest threat to Johnson as he bids for five in a row? Unlike past years, there's really no heir apparent.

- Kyle Busch won't defend his Nationwide Series title, but he'll still be a contender in the major races. Now that he owns his own team in the Camping World Truck Series, perhaps he'll concentrate a bit more on that series. After all, he only won seven Truck races this year.

- Don't worry about a full field for the Daytona 500. Last place pays $350,000 or thereabouts.

- Juan Pablo Montoya needs a victory. In fact, he needs several. It's hard to blossom into superstardom without an actual race win since 2007. But few would be surprised if Montoya had a big year in 2010. More would be surprise if he didn't.

- Danica Patrick is very fortunate to have Kelley Earnhardt to assist her transition to NASCAR.

- One driver facing pressure to deliver is Sam Hornish Jr., whose NASCAR experiment is in stall mode.

- If NASCAR is going to make any major changes - in the Chase, the cars, etc. - expect an announcement in mid-January. Traditionally, changes are rolled out during the annual media tour in the Charlotte area.