Author: SM Staff

[media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Happy Hour in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series usually determines who made serious changes on their cars and who didn’t make serious changes on their cars. Take a quick look at how the first practice session ended for these race teams. We didn’t even mention Martin Truex Jr. at all during the first practice and now we definitely are. The #56 NAPA Toyota was 22nd fastest earlier.

Clint Bowyer impressed as well as he was the runner-up in our afternoon session and he was 32nd quickest earlier this morning. Juan Montoya, Kurt Busch, and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 5.

Jeff Gordon looked pretty bad during Happy Hour until the very end. The #24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet was only 32nd quickest on the track. Gordon went back to the garage and his crew stayed there for about 15 minutes. The time in the garage definitely proved worthwhile as Jeff posted the 4th fastest time before falling to 5th. Gordon ran 59 laps.

Now, what happened to Tony Stewart? Well, he struggled. He ran over 54 laps, but only made it up to 23rd. Rounding out the rest of the Top 10 were Paul Menard, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, and Brad Keselowski.

Ryan Newman found success with his backup car as you can see he posted the ninth quickest time, but unfortunately you don’t see me mentioning Matt Kenseth do you? Kenseth ran one lap with his backup car originally. It was the slowest lap of anyone on the track. He went back to the garage, then ran another lap. It was still terrible. Kenseth went back out and posted the 38th quickest lap of 43 cars.

So, who is the man to beat this weekend? In my opinion, it is going to be a Roush vs. Hendrick weekend! I can’t wait to share the race with you guys. Follow me on Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/SirRyanTheOHara

[media-credit name=”Credit: NBC” align=”alignright” width=”226″][/media-credit]During that gap of NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers and team members trying to leave Daytona to get home just long enough to repack suitcases to leave for Phoenix there were several comments that deserved to be repeated. It was a time when one needed a sense of humor to get through a schedule that had been hopelessly complicated by rain delays in Florida and intense fog in North Carolina.

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Let’s start with Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth. Equally as large as winning the Great American Race is the national media tour that comes with it. Kenseth’s travels eventually found him in Los Angeles where he video taped a segment for “The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno.”

Leno had the Daytona champ performing the duties of a stand up comedian. The famed television host played the straight man and set up Kenseth’s comedy lines. The topic was the current price of gasoline. Leno repeatedly yelled “how high are gas prices?” followed by a one line response from Kenseth.

One of my favorites one liners was Kenseth saying “the last time Tim Tebow filled his tank, he fell to both knees.”

I keep hearing and reading about how stoic this driver is while, at the same time, I keep seeing examples supporting the fact that Matt Kenseth is actually very funny.

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Mother Nature demolished the Daytona 500’s original Sunday green flag starting time and sent the start to late Monday and the finish into the wee hours of Tuesday morning. It also created havoc with travel and personal appearance schedules. Adding insult to injury was the fact that airline flights bound for Charlotte-North Carolina, the home turf of the majority of the NASCAR teams, were delayed to the presence of intense fog.

That just added to the frustration of getting home but many of the weary travelers still managed to keep a sense of humor. That was evident in a “Tweet” sent by Joey Logano that read “just finally got home, the Daytona hostage crisis 2012 is over.”

However, the Daytona related weather delays weren’t quite done for Logano. The very evening he returned to North Carolina, he had to honor an obligation to have dinner with some Toyota representatives. This was following by repacking his suitcase, a short power nap and then back to the airport to catch a flight to Ohio for a scheduled personal appearance at the Cleveland Car Show. Afterwards, it was back to airport for a flight to Phoenix because it was time to return to the serious business of driving a race car.

Following their extended stay at the Daytona International Raceway, many team members checked out of their hotels completely unaware that airline flights were delayed and even cancelled due to intense fog in Charlotte. Many of the stranded travelers found themselves catching power naps in airport lounges during the long wait.

Taking a more philosophical approach to the situation was driver/team owner/TV broadcaster Michael Waltrip who sent out a tweet that read: “when you own the plane, it’s okay to be late.”

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The one group of weary travelers that everyone felt sorry for was, without question, the drivers of the Sprint Cup team’s car haulers. They rolled out of Daytona during the pre-dawn hours and arrived in Charlotte late Tuesday morning. During the process of unloading Daytona cars and equipment, and then replacing them with Phoenix equipment, these drivers managed to catch a little sleep before it was time to make the cross country run to Arizona.

Earl Barban, aka “BigEarl48,” wanted to let his Sprint Cup driver know that everything went just fine. Barban took a picture of the #48 Hendrick Motorsports’ car hauler parked in front of the race track backed with a tweet that read: “Jimmie Johnson, your race winning car has safely arrived at the Phoenix International Raceway.”

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There’s more than enough evidence the indicate that the social media has become a way of life in NASCAR. Even the sport’s officials are encouraging the drivers to use “Twitter” and “Facebook” to reach out to their fans. The theory really hit home during the two hour red flag delay, in the Daytona 500, following that now famous accident with the jet dryer.

That’s when we discovered that Brad Keselowski had a smart phone in the pocket of his driver’s uniform that he used to snap a picture of the burning jet dryer. After sharing his pictures and comments on “Twitter,” it was later reported that Keselowski actually tripled his “Twitter” followers who wanted to see his photo gallery.

In the aftermath, Jeff Gordon sent a tweet that read: “just like most of u I was entertained by Keselowski’s tweets during the red flag but always knew NASCAR didn’t approve of Smart Phones in the car.”

Then, later, Gordon changed his mind about telephones inside of a race car and, referencing his wild wreck during the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, wrote “spoke 2 soon about phone in race car. I’ll be sure to have mine w/me in case I’m hanging upside down again so I take a pic and tweet it.”

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NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr has been offering his racing colleagues elaborate gifts for their help in improving his status with the social media. This was confirmed via a Tweet from Danica Patrick who said: “Stenhouse Jr said he would get me a really nice belt buckle if I could get “any”, (his quote), followers. Please help my friend and me.”

Driver Casey Mears was very happy to get away from the rain and fog from the east coast and found the Arizona weather much more to his liking. He confirmed that in a tweet that read: “gotta like the weather out here in AZ. Anywhere you can wear shorts, a T shirt and flip flops is a good place.”

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The down time, albeit brief, between Daytona and Phoenix did provide at least some opportunity for the drivers to enjoy some quality time with their families. When Jimmie Johnson returned home from Daytona, he took his daughter to her swim lesson. Sharing the Dad moment with his “Twitter” followers Johnson wrote: “I just got home from Evie’s swim lesson. It’s always interesting to be the only dad, (in attendance). I’m sure a few husbands will get an ear full tonight.”

Ryan Newman was yet another driver running a tight schedule due to a scheduled appearance at the aforementioned Cleveland Car Show. But, during the airline connections, Newman was able to share some good news with his fans. A “Twitter” message informed us all that he and his lovely wife, Krissie, are expecting a baby girl in July.

On the topic of sharing with the fans, have you read “Delana’s Baby Blog” yet? It’s a chronicle of Delana and Kevin Harvick waiting for the arrival of their baby boy. The blog is a blend of cute, heart warming and often very funny. You can follow the baby’s arrival on www.kevinharvick.com.

In the week 19 blog, Delana talked about being stuck at a Florida airport, due to the Charlotte fog, and not getting home until 630 am. She managed to get a few hours of sleep and, while singing the praises of window covers, wrote: “man, black out shades kick ass! ”

Delana also noted that normally she takes extreme travel issues in her stride but, being five months pregnant, long waits in an airport can now be extremely draining. In fact, she said it took her most of the week to recover from the Daytona schedule and wrote: “I’m pretty sure the black circles under my eyes were a dead give away to Kevin that he should avoid pushing my buttons, (and that can be extremely hard to do). Fortunately he’s gotten good at reading me and he was on his best behavior this week.”

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”248″][/media-credit]Daytona 500 Champion Matt Kenseth got his first dose of reality this weekend here at the Phoenix International Raceway. The party of winning his 2nd Daytona 500 trophy is over. Kenseth hit the wall during final practice for the Subway Fresh Fit 500 and will be forced to go to a backup car for Sunday.

Kenseth has been racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series full-time since 2000 and has one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship that he won in 2003.

He comes into this weekend as the points leader and has one victory here in Phoenix which he won back in 2002.

Last season, he didn’t find much success here.  He triggered a 14-car accident in the spring that involved Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Travis Kvapil, David Ragan, and numerous others. He finished that race in 12th, but during the Chase in the fall he was wrecked by Brian Vickers stemming from their altercation a week prior at Martinsville. He led early in the race, but finished 34th, effectively ending his hopes at a second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship.

Happy Hour is currently taking place and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is currently on top of the charts followed by Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, David Reutimann, and Juan Montoya.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photography, Inc.” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Ryan Newman had the fourth quickest car during the first practice session of the day here at the Phoenix International Raceway, but he won’t be using that same car for Sunday. Newman got loose near the end of the session going into turn 3 and slapped the wall pretty hard.

“I opened my entry up a little too far. I got a little aggressive and just got loose getting in, and that was it. Our WIX Filters Chevrolet is really good.  I see that (Tony) Stewart is on top of the board now. We’ll just plug-in the same game (to the back-up car), and we’ll be alright.” Newman said.

Shortly before Newman’s accident, Michael McDowell also had trouble going into Turn 3, but he had cut a right-front tire. McDowell will also be going to a backup car.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart was the fastest man during the first practice session here at the Phoenix International Raceway earlier today. Stewart, who comes into this race after a disappointing 16th place finish at the Daytona 500, has one victory at this track which he claimed during his rookie season back in 1999. Stewart also has three runner-up finishes at Phoenix where he finished behind Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, and Mark Martin respectively.

Speaking of Mark Martin he was our surprise of the day. Martin was second quickest in his #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota. It looked like Martin would leave on top of the sheets, but Tony Stewart unloaded his fastest lap just before the red flag flew to end Session 1. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are both coming off disappointing finishes during the season-opening Daytona 500. They led 1-2 at the beginning of the session for about ten laps, but the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates ended up 17th and 24th fastest.

Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth was tenth quickest just behind his Roush-Fenway teammate Greg Biffle who had the fastest car for the majority of the practice but ended up in third position.

Other notables include: Newman (4th), Kahne (5th), Montoya (6th), Kyle Busch (7th), Logano (8th), McMurray (9th), Edwards (16th), Jr. (31st).

Greg Biffle will be a man to watch on Sunday. Teammate Carl Edwards was just in the media center and noted that Biffle looks like he has a really great car for Sunday. “It looks like Biffle is extremely fast in practice, so we’ll lean on him a little bit.”

Jimmie Johnson knew this was coming, but he got a question from me regarding the penalties. “How much did Knaus’ previous infractions have on the current penalty? His answer: That’d require me to speculate. Take that question to NASCAR.