Among my favorite pastimes is researching and discovering quality companies.Im 50 years old, have done most of my own investing my entire adult life, and Ive established criteria for judgment and stick with that formula.Most of what I require from a company today is built on the mistakes I have made, and the knowledge Ive acquired.The net of this is I own stock in eight companies in my retirement account, each pays a dividend, and each has a history of raising the dividend annually.The most important thing I look for is if a company is well managed.It is the absolute most important element of any investment you make.Always Invest in the people before you invest in the company.One component of investing I enjoy is watching how great leaders navigate tough times. Its the true litmus test of any company employing hundreds or thousands of people.What you learn in this process is how did the company adjust, how did it manage its capital, deal with its debt. Did it eliminate waste, and evolve in growing areas? Just like auto racing, how did it gain on the competition or extend its lead?I believe the companies I invest in have their best days ahead, and I believe the same for NASCAR.While I have no shares of NASCAR it is without question the greatest investment I have ever made, and its provided me with my greatest returns.Anyone familiar with my responsibilities with ESPN the last 10 years knows what my allegiance is to NASCAR. I am an analyst, it receives nearly all my attention, and I approach all topics as objectively as I possibly can.I also view all NASCAR decisions from the viewpoint of an investor in the sport, meaning whats good for the company is also good for me, so our interests are aligned in the sense that I want the sport to grow. I would enjoy several more years in the sport and its popularity contributes to that becoming a reality.NASCAR made a decision this week to dock Ryan Newman 15 points (15 positions on the track essentially) from the championship standings, on the eve of establishing which 16 teams represent this years Chase. The bottom line from the decision is Newman will create less drama headed into the final regular-season race than he otherwise would have.To be clear, from a fundamental standpoint NASCAR execs made the correct call because of the precedent set in the past.From a business standpoint the decision was horrible, bad for NASCAR, bad for the network carrying the race, and bad for the track trying to sell more tickets than the year before.There is no arguing my next point; we have talked about rules ad nauseam in 2016.It has become as unentertaining a discussion as Hillary Clintons emails or Donald Trumps tax returns.The most critical component to being in business is knowing really well what you are selling and being certain its what your customers want.I can assure you NASCAR customers of any longevity care very little about inspection tolerances measured in thousandths of an inch (unless their favorite driver lost 15 points because of it between the 25th and 26th races).Fans want action, drama, feuds, rivalries, and anything else associated with 40 drivers, 40 teams doing battle.NASCAR has done a remarkable job this year rebalancing the field. The parity is as good as its been for a long, long, time.So -- in the spirit of bringing this board meeting to a close -- Im suggesting we vote to eliminate postrace inspection! Eliminate postrace inspection?Yes. But before you panic, hear me out.NASCAR has done its job, and done it very well.It created a platform over several years of effort that requires all cars arriving at the track to meet nearly identical standards.Each of these cars passes through an inspection at least three times (before practice, qualifying and prerace).Thats enough to establish all cars starting the race are as evenly prepared as this sport has ever seen. And thats enough!Let the drivers, teams, pit crews and spotters determine who wins the races, and who earns the championship.Im not suggesting cars do not roll across the scales; they should. I firmly believe every race requires each top-5 finishing team surrender their car to NASCAR to be returned to the R&D Center, because NASCAR must keep teams honest.What Im campaigning for is that NASCAR loosen the tolerances postrace, give consideration to the adverse effects of competing at Bristol, Darlington, Martinsville, etc., and acknowledge there is no reasonable way to evaluate cars to these standards after more than three hours of competition. Its silly actually.The teams have done whats been asked, so when the green flag drops let them compete. If one cars rear housing is an eighth of an inch off postrace ... who cares! Better yet, who the hell would know?To be clear, if its determined at the R&D Center a team blatantly discovered a way around the rules and capitalized by winning the race, then take the damned race from them!The day is gone when we whistle down pit road at over 100 mph, and we now restart races double file. the HANS device is mandated in all NASCAR sanctioned races.These are examples of how we have evolved and progressed and our product is better because of it.Lets eliminate postrace inspection as we know it. Penalties for minor violations are divisive for fans, viewers and they are the paying customers. Cheap Baseball Jerseys Authentic .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. Wholesale Jerseys China . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. http://www.nflcheapchinajerseys.com/ . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. NFL Cheap Jerseys . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. China Jerseys Online . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott keep winning for the Dallas Cowboys, even with Kirk Cousins setting records for the Washington Redskins.Prescott accounted for two touchdowns , Elliott ran for a pair of scores and the Cowboys extended their franchise regular-season record with a 10th straight victory, beating the Redskins 31-26 on Thursday.Prescott tied Don Merediths club quarterback record from 50 years ago with his fifth rushing TD and the NFL-leading Cowboys (10-1) won despite 449 yards passing and three touchdowns from Cousins, the first Redskins quarterback with two 400-yard games in a season.You know youre talking to someone who knows how hard this is to win 10 games in a row, and I do, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. I know how were getting it done, and were getting done by hard work and Daks a great example.The Redskins (6-4-1) got swept by their NFC East rival, and the defending division champions fell 3 1/2 games behind Dallas with five games left. It was their seventh loss in eight tries on Thanksgiving against Cowboys, who had never won more than eight straight in the regular season.Weve been in third place for a while, so we have to understand where we are what its going to take to get an opportunity to come back here in the future, Washington coach Jay Gruden said. The last five games of the year are critical.Elliott, the NFL rushing leader, had the fourth score on five straight second-half touchdown drives between the two teams with a 1-yard run for a 31-19 lead midway through the fourth quarter. The 21-year-old had 97 yards to give him 1,199 for the season.After getting 43 yards on the first Dallas possession, Elliott had just 13 yards before a 21-yarder to start Dallas last TD drive. It was the second straight week he finished with 97 yards after some difficulty in the first half.Over time, you keep running the football, youre going to wear them down, Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. He made some big runs late that were critical. It really broke their back.The Cowboys had an eight-game streak with at least 400 yards snapped, finishing with 353. But Dallas answered with touchdowns each time the Redskins got within a score on Cousins passes of 5 yards to Jordan Reed and 67 yards to DeSean Jackson , who had 118 yards receiving.After Cousins second scoring toss to Reed, an 8-yarder with 1:53 remaining, Dustin Hopkins onside kick went out of bounds. The Cowboys ran out thee clock.ddddddddddddThe way Dallas was able to come back and put points on the board in those situations is part of the reason why they are such a good football team, said Cousins , who was 41 of 53 and finished 8 yards shy of his career high.As an offense, whenever we got the football, it was pretty much the same. Move the football, put points on the board, make good decisions and manage it well.Cousins took the Washington career lead with his third 400-yard game and became the first Redskins quarterback with consecutive 350-yard games since Jay Schroeder in 1986. He had 375 last week against Green Bay.Reed had 10 catches for 95 yards after missing most of the first half when he injured his left shoulder leaping for a pass over his head in the end zone.Prescott was 17 of 24 for a season-low 195 yards and one touchdown, a toe-tapper to Terrance Williams . He had eight carries for 39 yards, including a career-long 18-yarder. Dez Bryant led Dallas with 72 yards on five catches.BACK TO THE PACKUndrafted rookie running back Robert Kelley of the Redskins was held to 37 yards on 14 carries a week after getting a career-high 137 yards with three touchdowns against the Packers. He was averaging more than 100 yards per game the previous three.SUN FIELDThe late-afternoon sun shining through the glass doors on the west side of the stadium was an issue in the opener when Dallas tight end Jason Witten admitted that the glare contributed to a pass he dropped in the New York Giants 20-19 win.Cousins had to battle it during a second-quarter drive that ended in the second of Dustin Hopkins two missed field goals: a 55-yarder.Prescott threw away from the sun to Williams for the touchdown on the subsequent possession, and the glare wasnt a factor after that.UP NEXTRedskins: Washington gets the 10-day break before the second of three straight road games in Arizona on Dec. 4. The trip ends with another crucial NFC East game at Philadelphia on Dec. 11.Cowboys: Itll be a regular seven-day week with a visit to Minnesota next Thursday. Then Dallas gets the longer break before a Dec. 11 visit to the New York Giants that is likely to be a battle of the top two teams in the division.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Schuyler Dixon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apschuyler Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '