Phoenix

Phoenix

February 24, 2014

NASCAR   Week of Feb. 24, 2014

Click!

That’s the sound of the first ticket possibly being stamped for the 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

The lucky recipient … none other than fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., who claimed his second Daytona 500 victory after managing to keep Denny Hamlin at bay during the final laps.

That louder-than-usual sound during qualifying, don’t fret. It’s just the sound of all 43 cars hitting the track at the same time, rather than individual qualifying runs of years past. The new knock-out qualifying format will be used for the first time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Phoenix.

Those collective groans you might have heard Sunday night during the Daytona 500? They emanated from some of the star drivers who struggled during the race, including Martin Truex Jr., whose engine blew up early in the race, and Tony Stewart, who hoped for a better outing in his return to competition.

It’s way too early to sound the trumpets or for teams to sound the alarms, but the rest of the NASCAR Nationwide Series should take notice: Regan Smith is making a strong case as to why he should be the favorite to claim this year’s championship as evidenced by his victory in Saturday’s race.

Next on the docket, however, is Phoenix International Raceway – a track at which Smith’s average finishing position in NASCAR’s three national series is 24.6. In addition, Joe Gibbs Racing is on a hot streak and looking to extend their consecutive wins to four at the track.

When the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series resumes at Martinsville in late March, after more than a month off, expect Timothy Peters and his fellow competitors to be primed for some action-packed short-track racing.