ICYMI: Notable Nuggets from the NASCAR Media Tour

Look, you’re a busy person. You don’t have time to stay up to date on every single freaking thing that happened on the NASCAR Media Tour.

So ICYMI, here are some quick takeaways from this year’s two-day event.

Everyone seems to love the new NASCAR changes

Nothing close to a bad word was spoken about the new format — which normally doesn’t mean anything since drivers could get fined if they criticize the sport.

However, I got the sense they actually meant it in this case and weren’t just trying to be politically correct. Drivers seem to be very optimistic and positive about the upcoming changes, and so am I. The fans are, too:

Do you like the NASCAR changes announced last night?

— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) January 24, 2017

Danica Patrick might have some sponsor trouble

This was odd because it didn’t come up in her news conference at all, although the absence of a Nature’s Bakery firesuit tipped off reporters that something was amiss. Shortly afterward, there were several reports about how Nature’s Bakery might be backing off its sponsorship for this season.

Furthermore, there was no Nature’s Bakery patch on Patrick’s firesuit — even as an associate sponsor. Hmm…

Carl Edwards’ decision is still a mystery to everyone

No one pretended to really “get” Edwards’ exact reasons for retirement, even friend Matt Kenseth (who said he had talked to Edwards). Former teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch sounded similarly clueless (and less than thrilled) about it.

But then a Missouri political columnist speculated Edwards could run for U.S. Senate, a notion Edwards didn’t exactly shoot down via a text message conversation with the AP’s Jenna Fryer.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to go

It was nice to see the sport’s most popular driver looking happy and healthy — and he’s clearly anxious to get started again.

In an excellent but all-too-brief media session (where Earnhardt said he wished he could have stayed longer), the recently married driver spoke of the perspective he gained while being out of the car and said he eventually wanted to retire on his own terms — not because of poor health.

Bubba Wallace needs some funding to run a full season

The Roush Fenway Racing Xfinity Series driver said he’s good for the first six races of the year with sponsor Leidos, but then needs some help to run the rest of the schedule. However, Wallace said he’s optimistic that will happen.

No pizza allowed

Box lunches weren’t cutting it for the aforementioned Jenna Fryer, who did everyone a solid on Tuesday and ordered four pizzas from Papa John’s (they were half price because the Charlotte Hornets scored 95 points the previous night).

But the Charlotte Convention Center was like OH HELL NAH, and Wednesday morning’s session opened with a reminder that no outside food is permitted on the Media Tour.

Lesson learned.