Just 7 little days into the new year and already the Motorsports headlines are HUGE! Happy Freakin’ 2008, eh?

So let’s back up to New Year’s Eve where… YES!! He did it! Robbie Maddison braved the Vegas wind chill and set the world record on a dirt bike by jumping more than the length of a football field! Yes sir, The Red Bull Experiment was a success… though Robbie wants more. In practice, Maddo was jumping 350-360 feet. Thanks to the wind in Sin City, he was only able to jump 320. Hey Robbie, it’s a new world record (enter Tom Carnegie voice there)! Yeah right, tell that to a true competitor… he’s not only ultra competitive, but also an ultra dare-devil… so you can pretty much count on him aiming for the 350 mark on next year’s New Year’s Eve… note to all SpeedFreaks: book the hotel NOW.

After Maddo’s great leap, Rally Driver / Stunt Driver / Drifter Rhys Millen was scheduled to backflip a truck for the first time in history, but suffered some injuries in a testing accident on Christmas Eve and was unable to perform. Though if it were up to Rhys, he’d have been there in full gear ready to go! Yes, the great news is that Rhys is healing fast and is quite eager to do the stunt for next year’s Red Bull Experiment… another HUGE reason to book your freakin’ hotel room NOW.

So after the excitement of the New Year and the relaxation of cozying up to some lopsided Bowl games, all seemed right with the sports world. Until…

Terrorism attacked again. I’m not kidding here folks; terrorism forced the cancellation of the world’s largest, longest, most competitive, most dangerous race, The Dakar Rally. For the first time in the 30 year history of the event, the entire course was scrapped, on the Eve of the race nonetheless, after all scrutineering was complete and everyone was ready to go. Some of us are still not over the shock of this massive event just ‘going away’ after millions of dollars and millions of man-hours went into it’s preparation, as it does every year. In Dakar Rally races of the past, individual segments have been cancelled or rerouted due to terror threats, but never has the entire race been called off completely. For Dakar updated info, hit www.dakar.com … We’ll dig further into the stories behind the scenes of the now non-existent ’08 Dakar Rally on our show next weekend, Jan. 19. Stay tuned…

Later in the week, Grand Am testing kicked off in Daytona in preparation for the 24 Hours of Daytona sport car race at the end of this month (a MUST SEE race for all motorheads… put this race on your To Do list if you haven’t already done so… the best from IndyCar, ALMS, Grand Am, NASCAR and even Celebrities all drive it, and are all accessible… truly a one-of-a-kind event). The fastest times of each day belonged to defending winner Scott Pruett, then AJ Allmendinger and Johnny O’Connell… the fastest overall going to Pruett.

Up north in New York, another round of the Bodine Bobsled Challenge went off without a hitch! Even Mother Nature cooperated this year and provided tons of snow… and well, a lot of cold, too. But nothing could cool the talents of one Mr. Boris Said as he took the crown for a second consecutive year. Check out his interview with us Sunday night as he talked about the Bodine Bobsled US Olympic Team, Geoff B’s brother Todd Bodine taking a skeleton run ‘just for fun’ and how that has turned into Todd’s next business venture and much more: Boris Said with SpeedFreaks

And for more information on how you can donate to the Bobsled team and help fellow racers like the Bodine family, click here: www.bodynbobsled.com

But no opening January weekend in Motorsports can go without the hype of the first round of the Supercross season… Anaheim One! Of course media preparation for the event was focused on either the damp weather or defending champ James Stewart and how no one can compete with his speed. Then the race itself made some folks shake their heads. In Supercross we are used to James falling at times, but always flying back through the field to land in the 1 spot. Yes, he’s THAT good. Though on Saturday night, even after falling in Turn One, he was only able to manage the 2nd highest rung on the podium. ’04 Champ Chad Reed took the win, a strong win I might add. So Freaks, the season is wide open now as Chad looked VERY strong and seemed to be running similar lap times to James… Chad claims he has a much better bike this year and that he has been working out harder than ever to prepare for 2008. Hmmm, could this be a better year than some have predicted? You better go buy your seats now for when Supercross comes to a city near you!

For some SX insight, click here for our Chad Reed interview (b-4 the race)

Click here for our Kevin Windham interview Sunday night

And always check out www.sxgp.com and www.supercross.com for the most up to date info.

So I guess it’s safe to say I’m satisfied with week one of 2008… upset about the Dakar Rally, but also upset for the families who lost loved ones in the African attack that led to the cancellation of the event. I’m also excited as heck for Supercross… and oh yeah, so ready for the Chili Bowl next weekend! Though Tulsa, OK in January may not sound like a hot spot, on Jan. 12 of this year it definitely is!!

For a preview of the event coming up, click here for our Kasey Kahne interview from Sunday… and click here for our entire Sunday show to hear more from race promoter Cary Agajanian.

If you can’t be at the Chili Bowl in person, set up a racing watching party NOW… and order the event on HBO Pay-Per-View! Send me the pics of your race party with evidence of the broadcast in the background and I’ll send you back some swag! … … … Better yet, send me some pics of your race party with evidence of the broadcast during one of my Crash Gladys segments and I’ll enter you into a drawing for one lucky winner to receive an exculsive BONUS!! 

Get on it Freaks! Here’s to a sweet 2008!