Brad Keselowski survives steamy shootout at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Much like dominoes falling, NASCAR's high-speed machines could not withstand the collective forces of nature in the sport's most bouncy race track.

Boom, boom, boom, cars kept dropping out on a muggy Sunday afternoon. Engines overheating. Cars bumping into each other. Unfortunate circumstances. Silly, stupid human error.

Only 19 cars remained on the lead lap when Kyle Busch couldn't chase down Brad Keselowski on a green-white-checker, two-lap restart in the Aaron's 499.

Keselowski, with Busch's aerodynamic push, first slid by the dual Roush Fords of leader Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle, who got disconnected and lost their momentum after surging ahead on the restart.

Then Keselowski held off the always-savvy Busch to win his second race of the season.

"I thought he might dump us at the end and slide underneath us," said Keselowski's team owner, Roger Penske.

Keselowski had other ideas.

"Once I saw the 17 [Kenseth] and 16 [Biffle] separate I knew this was our race," Keselowski said."You have to have the plan and you have to have the moves ready."

Next up was keeping Busch at bay. Keselowski got away from Busch with a move he said he had been plotting for a while. He went high on Turn 3, got away, and Busch had no chance of catching up.

"Once that happened, the race was over," Busch said. "It was all his."

"I wasn't too fast, I was just too stupid," said Kenseth, going for a restrictor-plate double-double after winning at Daytona.

So to review, Keselowski out-drove Kenseth, a former NASCAR Cup champion, and Busch, one of the top drivers on the circuit.

"Hell, it's my job to be good," Keselowski said. "That's what I get paid for. I don't paid to suck at this."

Most appreciative was Penske, who won for the first time in the Sprint Cup Series at Talladega.

The final restart came after a mental blip by A.J. Allmendinger — and that's a kind description — when he tried to block Denny Hamlin as Hamlin slid to the left trying to get through the pack on lap 186. Allmendinger managed to collect eight other cars and ruin the day for all of them.

"We didn't quite crash half the field, which is what we normally look to do here," Tony Stewart said sarcastically. "I was excited about it. … I made it further than I thought I would before I got crashed."

When crunched metal wasn't taking drivers out, blown engines were spoiling the day. The setups didn't allow cars to be engaged for very long without overheating issues, a situation that became exacerbated following morning showers. It caused a short delay in the start of the race, but most importantly, gave way to hotter temperatures and increased humidity.

It was a bad combination for drivers Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson, among others.

Newman was sidelined with engine failure on lap 43. Johnson lasted a little bit longer, but not much. He had engine failure on lap 65.

"It's just a bummer; we had such a great race car, up there leading the race and had something happen there," Johnson said.

It was a bummer for Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon too, whose string of unfortunate hiccups continued Sunday. He got caught up in the first bump-and-grind of the afternoon after Aric Almirola's No. 43 Ford ran out of gas, and collided with Dave Blaney's Chevy.

The ensuing chaos took out Gordon, the pole-sitter for this race, and 2011 Cup runner-cup Carl Edwards

Gordon, a four-time champion, has only two Top 10 finishes this season.

"Man this is just one of the most bizarre years that this team has ever gone through," Gordon said. "It's almost comical at this point. Gosh, I thought I was clear. …That's just the way this season has been going."

gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

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Talladega racing brings restrictor-plate controversy again

When they were children, NASCAR drivers probably got peeved when they asked for G.I. Joe dolls and Santa delivered exactly what they wanted Christmas morning.

"We wanted Batman and Robin!" they would scream at mommy and daddy, who no doubt took a swig of the spiked egg nog to take the edge off.

As adults, drivers are programmed the same way. When it comes to restrictor-plate racing, they never quite seem to know what they want.

NASCAR officials tinkered with the car setups to do away with the tandem racing style that had become snooze-city for many fans in Daytona and Talladega. The return to traditional pack racing has brought another chorus of boos because car temperatures are spiking and cars are overheating. This is happening because the modified setups don't allow the drivers to stay in contact for very long, thus breaking up the tandem packs.

Good? No. Bad!

Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson were among the drivers who got zapped with engine issues at Talladega. Others now worry about what will happen next.

"I don't know what we are going to do in Daytona in July," Jeff Gordon said. "There is just that fine line between getting the temperatures right and not being able to push. To me right now we are teetering on the side of having to be just a little too conservative. I'd like to be up there taking it three-wide, pushing cars and making some good exciting moves because I know we have a car that can be up front, but it's just too risky at this point in the race. That is why we were in the back where we were."

Gordon makes a valid point that drivers shouldn't be racing like nervous Nellies monitoring their temperature gauge. But the flip side is going back to snooze city, and that's the far worse of the evils.

Fans simply don't like it, and that's why NASCAR modified the setups during Speedweeks in February to do away with tandem racing.

"The most thankless job in sports is the referee because everyone wants an advantage,' said Joie Chitwood, president of Daytona International Speedway. "It's a competitive desire to be No. 1. NASCAR is in a really tough position because no matter what they do people are going to be unhappy."

The best advice for everybody is to embrace the lunacy of restrictor-plate racing. Strategy is pointless until the final laps because there are too many X-factors. Witness the events that transpired last weekend, when just 19 of 43 cars were left on the lead lap. Brad Keselowski pulled off two brilliant moves to outgun Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch at the end, but it was way late for a bunch of other drivers who got collected in the usual assortment of bumper cars or went down with over-heating issues.

"I made it further than I thought I would before I got crashed," said Tony Stewart, who got bumped off on Lap 187. "I call it a successful day."

Be careful what you wish for, boys. You just might get it.

gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

Earnhardt's impact

The tragic legacy of Dale Earnhardt continues to impact NASCAR — in a positive light these days.

Eric McClure is very likely alive today because SAFER barriers were in place at Talladega when he slammed into a an inside retaining wall during a Nationwide race in Talladega last weekend. There was an apprehensive silence for a while as McClure had to be cut from his car, but he escaped relatively unscathed.

McClure was released Monday evening from the UAB Medical Center in Birmingham. He was airlifted there after suffering a concussion and mild internal bruising and is expected to make a full recovery. McClure is expected to talk to the media in Darlington on Friday.

McClure's wife posted on McClure's Facebook page that the family is "so thankful that he survived. It is nothing short of a miracle that he was not hurt more than he is."

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Jimmie Johnson back chasing championships

It didn't seem that long ago that Jimmie Johnson was sputtering, his chances of taking back his Sprint Cup championship all but doomed after a disastrous Speedweeks.

Crew chief Chad Knaus got busted for having an illegal C-post — the pieces of sheet metal connecting the roof to the rear quarter panel — on the No. 48 Chevy. Johnson got docked 25 points from the get-go, which only added to the misery of a 43rd-place finish in the Daytona 500.

Johnson, it seemed, was only intent on chasing misery, not championships, this season.

But an appeals process reversed the penalties. And Johnson has since taken care of the rest.

His victory at Darlington last weekend moves him to No. 5 in the standings, up three slots from the previous week (which ended with a blown engine at Talladega). Johnson now has five Top 5 finishes and seems fully locked and loaded to resume his habit of winning titles. He snagged five consecutive ones until Tony Stewart snapped the streak last season.

Johnson added a historic notch in Darlington by claiming the 200th career victory for Hendrick Motorsports.

"My focus really has been on making sure the 48 does the best job that it can," Johnson said. "If we're able to win, we'd hopefully be able to be the guy to get the 200th win. We've been very close, especially through the start of the season.

"I'm so glad to have it behind us and glad for this moment to be here for Rick [Hendrick], the company, all the people that have contributed to the 200th win. It's a special day."

Johnson has celebrated a bunch of those during his illustrious career. He's a consummate professional, which coincides with the fact that the NASCAR media named him as the driver to beat in 2012 — not Stewart, or anybody else.

He took some extra time to decompress following the 2011 season, choosing not to race in the Rolex24 at Daytona. He wanted to come back, he said, "refreshed and excited."

"There is just an energy you have when you walk through those gates as a rookie and every veteran comes in excited and hungry," he said in Daytona in February. "There is something a little different when you come in and you are early in your career. I feel like I have found those things again.

"I'm walking in here with a different set of eyes than I have the last five or six years."

Right now, those eyes are focused on another Cup title.

Wouldn't bet against him.

Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego or e-mail him at gdiaz@orlandosentinel.com

Busch burnout

It's official: We have our first Busch brouhaha.

Most skeptics figured it was only a matter of time before one of the Busch brothers — Kyle or Kurt — went over the edge despite promises to be on their best behavior this season.

Congratulations if you had Kurt in your Busch Brothers pool.

To review, Kurt Busch cut a tire and wrecked with six laps to go in Darlington last Saturday night, collecting Ryan Newman's car as he lost control. But inexplicably, Busch did a burnout and went through Newman's pit box after the race, bumping Newman's car. Busch claims he didn't do it on purpose.

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Jimmie Johnson tames Darlington for third career win at track

DARLINGTON, S.C. ? Darlington Raceway is known as "the track too tough to tame," but Jimmie Johnson had little trouble doing just that, holding off Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart to capture Saturday night's Bojangles Southern 500.

Johnson grabbed the lead in the closing laps and made it look easy as he cruised to the checkered flag and his third career win at Darlington and also snapped a 16-race losing streak for the former five-time Sprint Cup champion.

"There really was a lot of drama," Johnson said. "In a fuel mileage race, when you see that 14 (Stewart), you always second-guess yourself because he's so good at it. I was really concerned. I was just pacing myself based upon what he was doing and hoped I had saved enough (fuel).

"There are a lot of hungry drivers out of there that want to win this race. This race is so special, so great and Darlington is such an awesome race track."

The win also earned Rick Hendrick his 200th career Cup win as a team owner.

"This is special, without a doubt," Johnson said. "You've got to love that man (Hendrick). He just said 200's reached, let's go get 250."

Kyle Busch finished 4th, followed by Martin Truex Jr. Rounding out the top 10 were Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Marcus Ambrose and Joey Logano.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 17th, while Danica Patrick wound up 31st in only her second career Sprint Cup race.

After an almost sedate first two-thirds of the race, things began to heat up around Lap 235 of the 367-lap event as drivers who had sat back early-on to watch how the race would unfold suddenly and collectively began to make aggressive moves to the front, a trend that would continue all the way to the checkered flag.

Of note, Jeff Gordon's string of bad luck this season continued on Lap 193 when he made contact with Denny Hamlin, prompting an unscheduled pit stop for fresh tires. The damage initially appeared minor and Gordon was able to get back on track after a pit stop to change tires, while Hamlin's car suffered no damage and continued on.

Just over 10 laps later, Gordon was forced to pit road again when the left rear tire on his Chevrolet went flat, causing him to go two laps down to the race leaders. Unfortunately for the seven-time Darlington winner, Gordon was eventually forced to take his car to the garage so crew members could repair an issue that caused that second flat tire.

Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne pushed his way up through the pack following Gordon's problems to assume the lead, but would eventually give it up as his car's handling went away.

Greg Biffle, who started from the pole and has led the Sprint Cup points standings for the past eight weeks, was in command from the start of the race, leading the first 48 laps before pitting for fuel on lap 49 of the scheduled 367-lap event. Biffle's biggest challengers were Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

Kyle Busch took over the lead and held the rest of the field at bay for 23 laps before Biffle, who was seeking his third career Sprint Cup win at Darlington, regained the top spot.

Biffle gave up the lead for a second time on Lap 99 for his second pit stop, with Denny Hamlin briefly taking over the top spot of the 43-car field before Johnson found his way to the top of the leaderboard and remained in command as the race transitioned from the first third to the middle third. Johnson came into Saturday night's action not having won a race in his last 16 starts.

Danica Patrick, making only the second Sprint Cup start of her stock car racing career, chose to race conservatively, essentially feeling her way around the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval that has the reputation of being one of the toughest tracks in the sport.

Patrick qualified 38th, worked her way up to 20th during the first series of pit stops, but by lap 75 had fallen back to 34th place, one lap off the lead lap. By Lap 115, she had fallen to two laps off the lead lap.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., meanwhile, started 24th and was unable to climb any higher than 17th during the first 100 laps. Earnhardt had complained about his car following Friday's mediocre qualifying session. Earnhardt came into Saturday's race with a winless streak of 139 races, and just one win in his last 215 Sprint Cup starts.

Surprisingly, the race almost reached the halfway point caution-free until Lap 171 (for debris), at a track known for lots of banging, beating and crashing and caution flags. Kyle Busch grabbed the lead on the restart in a race that was on target to potentially set a track record for fastest event and fastest average speed.

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NASCAR fans should show up for trailblazing black driver Wendell Scott

Dear NASCAR fans:

You have less than 48 hours to cast your ballot for this year's 2013 Hall of Fame nominees on NASCAR.com. Some of your options are quite glamorous and obvious, such as Richard Childress, Rusty Wallace or Rick Hendrick.

But I'd challenge you to be bold and vote for the late trailblazing NASCAR driver Wendell Scott.

I realize this choice scoffs at statistics, for Scott finished his career with only one victory in the top NASCAR series at a small track in Jacksonville in 1963. This, of course, pales in comparison to the hefty accomplishments of fellow ballot nominees such as Fireball Roberts, who racked up 33 top-series wins, including the 1962 Daytona 500.

There are statistically stronger choices.

Woody Allen once said 80 percent of success is showing up. And in Scott's case, you could argue that 100 percent of his success was in just showing up.

After all, NASCAR races weren't exactly booming with black men in the 1960s. Unfortunately, they still aren't today.

Scott's simple presence — where it was allowed — was a victory in itself, given the insurmountable odds he faced to compete in a sport he adored.

Aside from the obvious dangers of traveling across the Jim Crow south during a time when blacks could be lynched or beaten for even looking at a white person in the "wrong" way, Scott raced with inferior equipment.

He rarely had the newest tires, best engines or latest-model cars. Sponsors were nearly impossible to come by even for white competitors, given how young the sport was and the limited media coverage it received in the '50s and '60s.

The best exposure a sponsor could hope to get from a driver would be through corporate appearances. You can imagine why Scott was not considered an ideal candidate for these kind of opportunities.

He didn't have much money, but he possessed a resolute love for this sport and won the respect of fans and peers such as Ned Jarrett.

Jarrett, a 2011 Hall of Fame inductee, would give Scott his used tires and sold him the car — at a discounted rate — Scott drove in his first and only top-series win.

"I really was having a hard time myself trying to make it to the higher level of the sport," said Jarrett, who once worked on his dad's sawmill and lumber yard to help make ends meet. "That part of it I could relate to — how tough it was trying to make a living from it."

"I always felt that Wendell had the ability, but if he would have had some of the equipment that the rest of us had, he could have won more races. But there's a lot to be said for what he did with what he had."

Jarrett was so taken by Scott's story that he influenced former Ford Vice President Lee Iacocca over lunch to give Scott a new race car so he could compete with his peers on an equal playing field.

"Unfortunately, they gave him one of their worst cars," Jarrett said. "That was not what Lee Iacocca had in mind when he made that call."

Despite the constant hurdles, Scott always found a way to make the best of what he was given. It's a part of what makes his one career win in Jacksonville so memorable.

The other part is less thrilling. Scott finished a full two laps ahead of second-place finisher Buck Baker, but Baker was declared the winner before race officials reversed the decision and named Scott the victor.

Stories abound as to whether it was due to an honest miscount or an intentional slight, but the case certainly wasn't helped by the fact that the winner's trophy from that 1963 race was not awarded to Scott until 2010 — 20 years after his death.

Amends were eventually made, and in the spirit of Scott, I won't dwell on the bitter past.

Instead, I'll focus on the future that could include NASCAR's first African-American Hall of Fame inductee.

He was a better man and a better driver than his opportunities presented.

You can honor that by doing what he did so well: Show up. And vote Scott into the Hall of Fame.

sjowens@tribune.com

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Tony Stewart quickly silences crew chief critics

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Danica Patrick Darlington dilemma: Blame qualifying rules

The GoDaddy Girl may have to tangle with the Lady in Black on a qualifying run next month.

Danica Patrick vs. Darlington Raceway.

Oh-oh.

The controversy over David Reutimann driving a clunker around Martinsville late in the race last weekend has long tentacles. They involve the archaic standard that NASCAR has in place, which allows the top 35 cars in points standings to qualify automatically.

It renders the concept of qualifying virtually meaningless, but don't blame me. Please contact your local NASCAR official if you think NASCAR's qualifying process is pointless.

That gets us back to Reutimann in Martinsville. His clunky car eventually stopped on the race track, forcing a caution and setting up yet another controversial scenario when Clint Bowyer dive-bombed into Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

But that doesn't happen without the caution and restart caused by Reutimann.

"It ruined a good race for the guys up front," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., a Hendrick Motorsports teammate of Gordon and Johnson.

But the reason Reutimann was still chasing laps was simple: He was also chasing points, too, and hoping to stay in the top 35 for a ride he shares with Patrick. After the car stalled, Reutimann was black-flagged by NASCAR and finished 35th, 79 laps down.

"It's ugly," ESPN analyst Ricky Craven said. "It doesn't reflect well on them but they are battling for their professional lives."

The No. 10 Chevy is now 36th in the standings and, if it doesn't move up at least one slot, Patrick — a NASCAR newbie on the Cup circuit — will have to try to qualify at the toughest track on the circuit for the race on May 12.

It will only be the second time that Patrick has officially driven a Cup car after her debut in the Daytona 500 in February.

Good luck with all of that.

"I just hate it," Reutimann said. "I just hate that I was involved in anything that changed the complexion of the race, so I've got to apologize to the guys that it affected. It broke a tie-rod or something like that. I was just trying to limp around there. We needed to finish the next couple of laps to try to stay in the top 35 [in points].

"I know it sucks. I hate it for everybody that it affected, but I mean I can't get out and push the thing. You know, it shut off. It's that simple."

Don't blame Reutimann. This is the dysfunctional standard that NASCAR has imposed upon the drivers, and it can have some unintended negative consequences such as what happened at Martinsville. The sad fact is that based on research done by NASCAR insiders, the chances of a top 35 car not qualifying at a race are virtually non-existent.

NASCAR wants to have a dog-and-pony show in terms of qualifying. And that's what it is — a circus every week.

It can get a little freaky at times.

gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

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Cheating Knaus simply following company policy in world of sports

At first blush, it's easy to label Chad Knaus a no-good, low-down cheating scoundrel.

It's true he didn't play fair. It's true he tried to rig the car of his driver, Jimmie Johnson, to gain a competitive edge while prepping for the Daytona 500. It's true that he's not new to this shame game. Knaus has been suspended four times in the past 11 years, and has been penalized for technical violations nine times in the past 11 years.

And it's also true that Knaus was doing something that is ingrained in the fabric of American sports:

We are a nation of cheaters.

Some subtle, some dubious, others despicable.

But the common thread here is that Knaus was simply being true to the roots of a sport that has historically pushed the envelope. "If you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'" is a phrase commonly associated with NASCAR, but it's also a mantra that has been embraced universally by the stick and ball boys, too.

Long before baseball players juiced up on all sorts of goodies, including the cream and the clear, pitchers would scuff balls and throw spitballs to make the little white ball do all sorts of nasty things. Hitters got even by corking their bats.

Football players not only have embraced the 'better living through chemistry' method of operation, but coaches have embraced the new technology (see "Spygate", in which the New England Patriots were caught taping the New York Jets' sideline).

The Olympics gave us blood-doping, judging scandals in figure skating, and of course, the infamous 'let's whack Nancy Kerrigan in the knees' craziness involving Tanya Harding and her henchmen.

And just this Monday, we had former New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams getting called to the principal's office in New York, to explain to Roger Goddell the concept of placing bounties on players' heads.

To be clear, I don't condone any of this. This isn't a blanket get-out-of-jail free column for every single cheater in sports history. Bu the highly-competitive nature of sports breeds this type of warped thinking. If you get too caught up in moral outrage, we might have to shut down most professional sports in existence.

It's easy to go all Pollyanna on Cheatin' Knaus and his goody-two shoes sidekick, Jimmie Johnson.

Was Jimmie an innocent bystander or in on the action?

It's hard to believe that a sharp guy like Johnson could be so naive when it comes down to X's and O's of the car.

But even if Johnson was just a passenger on Chad's journey of chicanery, he should commend his crew chief for pushing the envelope, because chances are that most people who are calling Knaus a scoundrel are hypocrites.

Open up your NASCAR history books, kids. Smokey Yunick _ who used to own Daytona's Best Damn Garage in Town _ once installed an 11-foot long fuel line on his car. Darrell Waltrip's team was once accused of filling the car's frame rails with buckshot in order to pass inspection. Then once the car got up and running, Waltrip supposedly would release the BBs from a trap inside the frame rail.

And younger brother Michael Waltrip to caught in the crosshairs of a cheating scandal when his team used a fuel additive in preparation for the Daytona 500 in 2007.

Heck, there is even a book about NASCAR's no-so-dirty little secrets called: "Cheating: An Inside Look at the Bad Things Good NASCAR Winston Cup Racers Do in Pursuit of Speed."

"As far as my reputation goes, I'm not too concerned about that," Knaus said last week. "What we want to do is go out there and do the best thing we can for Hendrick Motorsports and the best things for [sponsor] Lowe's and try to win races and championships."

Don't blame Chad Knaus for cheating.

I suspect he was simply following NASCAR company policy.

gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

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NASCAR adds extra pace car after fiery Daytona 500 crash

NASCAR officials reacted quickly to try to prevent the fiery chaos that marked the 54th running of the Daytona 500.

All three series — Sprint Cup, Nationwide and the Camping World Trucks — now will feature an extra pace car with flashing lights behind the last jet-dryer truck on the track in all races.

The decision, announced during the Sprint Cup drivers' meeting Sunday morning at Phoenix International Raceway, is a proactive way of dealing with the incident at Daytona, in which Juan Pablo Montoya's car crashed into a jet-dryer truck during a caution period.

In addition, the drivers of the jet-dryer trucks also will wear helmets and firesuits during each race. Duane Barnes, the driver of the jet-dryer truck hit in the crash, was treated and released from a local hospital the night of the accident.

"No. 1 is I'm really glad to see they are already taking measures," Jimmie Johnson said. "I couldn't believe that guy got out of the truck without a helmet and a firesuit on. I don't know what kind of harness he had on, but trying to take measures to make that aspect of it safer will be a good thing.

"I would like to see them think about the structure and how that tank with all that fuel is built in and what's surrounding it in case of an impact. It doesn't necessarily have to happen from a race car at high speed, it could happen from a lot of different things. I think obviously there are a lot of lessons to be learned, and am so thankful that nobody was seriously injured in that. "

Back at Daytona, the track has undergone some cosmetic surgery, if you will, but it is uncertain whether more repair work will be necessary. The next major event scheduled to be staged on the track is the Daytona 200, a motorcycle event on March 17 that kicks off the AMA Pro Racing season.

"We have done some very minor work on it and are well-prepared for the motorcycles on March 17," said Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood. "Following the completion of that event we will look at the next steps to see if we need to do something more significant. Some solutions are already in place."

The incident certainly didn't hurt NASCAR in a lot of ways. The sport was able to capture a new wave of fans who tuned into an unusual start time at 7 p.m. Monday after all the rain delays. And the fire allowed the suits at Tide to come up with a brilliant marketing plan.

Nothing like touting the cleansing power of Tide laundry detergent in a commercial by featuring a clip of the infamous 2012 Daytona 500, in which workers had to use Tide to help clean up the mess.

Kudos to Tide, which first aired the commercial during Sunday's telecast of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. As the announcer says, "Whatever it takes."

Cell phone common sense

NASCAR officials were wise to come to their senses and not penalize Brad Keselowski for carrying a cell phone in his car during the Daytona 500.

Keselowski picked up 160,000 Twitter followers after making the jet-dryer crash and the ensuing two-hour delay an interactive experience.

NASCAR officials understandably were concerned about the message that Keselowski may be sending to fans: It's OK to text while driving. But that was never his intent.

He was simply thinking about his mom.

Keselowski recalled a crash in a 2007 Nationwide Series race at Fontana when he was airlifted by helicopter to a Los Angeles hospital. Without a cell phone, he couldn't contact his mother for hours.

"That's why I keep the phone with me now," he said. "I had the team put a little pocket for it in the car. It has a practical purpose. ...The phone wasn't there for a red flag at Daytona and a jet-dryer explosion. I don't have that much foresight. You can't plan moments like that. They just happen."

And here's the bottom line: It was good — no, make that great — for business.

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Kenseth prevails in crazy Daytona 500 after jet-fuel fiasco

DAYTONA BEACH — Daytona under water Sunday. Daytona on fire Monday.

Fire and rain, bringing chaos to the 54th running of the Daytona 500.

For 24 hours, a steady drizzle prevented the field of 43 cars from revving up and going for a ride.

And then, in a flash Monday night, Juan Pablo Montoya slammed into a service vehicle, and the Daytona International Speedway went up in flames.

Only 40 laps remained, with 29 drivers on the lead lap, when Montoya lost control of his car after a caution flag came out. He avoided the first jet dryer, but slid up and into the second dryer — full of jet fuel — along turn three.

Two-hundred gallons of jet fuel, breathing fire into a night that already had ignited in chaos from the get-go.

The race was red flagged while workers tried to put out the rush of flames. It took a while: two hours, five minutes, 29 seconds.

Finally, mercifully, Matt Kenseth won the race — perhaps with a little blocking help by Roush teammate Greg Biffle — who kept Dale Earnhardt Jr. at bay. At least that's what to looked like. Biffle said he was going for it and couldn't get to Kenseth in time.

A two-lap sprint finish to a three-day marathon. A race that was supposed to start on Sunday, got pushed to Monday, and finally finished on Tuesday. The Rolex 24 at Daytona, a warm-up act to the Daytona 36.

Kenseth, who lost radio contact with his team during the race, became a two-time Daytona 500 winner.

" I'd like to have won. ... I waited until the last minute for him to pass Matt but nothing happened," Earnhardt said.

Said Kenseth: "I have to thank Greg. We worked together really good all day long. He had a really fast car all day as well."

"We needed a gap between us on the 17 [Kenseth]," Biffle said. "It wasn't meant to be."

By day or by night, the Daytona 500 always seems to come down to a sophisticated game of rock, paper, scissors.

Or, as Brad Keselowski said a few days ago, "We'll see who wins the lottery."

Eventually, Keselowski went bump in the night too, although he became a Twitter sensation after sending out a picture of the track in flames with a cell phone he had in his car.

Attrition is always arbitrary here. Two laps into the first official evening race in Daytona 500 history, Elliott Sadler must have suffered night blindness: He smashed into Jimmie Johnson, causing a chaotic chain-reaction that took out Johnson, Kurt Busch, defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne and Danica Patrick.

Talk about a NASCAR serial killer.

Sadler was the ultimate buzz-kill on a night where NASCAR's signature race had already turned into an endless commercial for NoDoz, 5-Hour Energy, double-cappuccinos from Starbucks, anything that keeps you up and running.

We waited. We waited some more.

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Kenseth prevails in wild Daytona 500 after jet-fuel fiasco flames up

DAYTONA BEACH — Daytona under water Sunday. Daytona on fire Monday.

Fire and rain, bringing chaos to the 54th running of the Daytona 500.

For 24 hours, a steady drizzle prevented the field of 43 cars from revving up and going for a ride.

And then, in a flash Monday night, Juan Pablo Montoya slammed into a service vehicle, and the Daytona International Speedway went up in flames.

Only 40 laps remained, with 29 drivers on the lead lap, when Montoya lost control of his car after a caution flag came out. He avoided the first jet dryer, but slid up and into the second dryer — full of jet fuel — along turn three.

Two-hundred gallons of jet fuel, breathing fire into a night that already had ignited in chaos from the get-go.

The race was red flagged while workers tried to put out the rush of flames. It took a while: two hours, five minutes, 29 seconds.

Finally, mercifully, Matt Kenseth won the race — perhaps with a little blocking help by Roush teammate Greg Biffle — who keptDale Earnhardt Jr. at bay. At least that's what to looked like. Biffle said he was going for it and couldn't get to Kenseth in time.

A two-lap sprint finish to a three-day marathon. A race that was supposed to start on Sunday, got pushed to Monday, and finally finished on Tuesday. The Rolex 24 at Daytona, a warm-up act to the Daytona 36.

Kenseth, who lost radio contact with his team during the race, became a two-time Daytona 500 winner.

" I'd like to have won. ... I waited until the last minute for him to pass Matt but nothing happened," Earnhardt said.

Said Kenseth: "I have to thank Greg. We worked together really good all day long. He had a really fast car all day as well."

"We needed a gap between us on the 17 [Kenseth]," Biffle said. "It wasn't meant to be."

By day or by night, the Daytona 500 always seems to come down to a sophisticated game of rock, paper, scissors.

Or, as Brad Keselowski said a few days ago, "We'll see who wins the lottery."

Eventually, Keselowski went bump in the night too, although he became a Twitter sensation after sending out a picture of the track in flames with a cell phone he had in his car.

Attrition is always arbitrary here. Two laps into the first official evening race in Daytona 500 history, Elliott Sadler must have suffered night blindness: He smashed into Jimmie Johnson, causing a chaotic chain-reaction that took out Johnson, Kurt Busch, defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne and Danica Patrick.

Talk about a NASCAR serial killer.

Sadler was the ultimate buzz-kill on a night where NASCAR's signature race had already turned into an endless commercial for NoDoz, 5-Hour Energy, double-cappuccinos from Starbucks, anything that keeps you up and running.

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Jet dryer driver involved in NASCAR explosion returned from hospital for race ending

Duane Barnes, the driver of the jet dryer truck that was involved in a crazy Daytona 500 crash and explosion, proved his dedication to the sport Monday night.

Sammie Lukaskiewicz, the director of communications at Michigan International Speedway and one of Barnes' co-workers there, said Tuesday that Barnes went to the hospital after the accident only as a precaution and tried to hurry through his examination as quickly as possible.

"He wanted to make sure he got out of the hospital with enough time to go back and watch the race," Lukaskiewicz said.

He did, returning to see Matt Kenseth take the checkered flag in front ofDale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle.

With 40 laps remaining Monday and the race under caution, Juan Pablo Montoya was running by himself to catch up with the rest of the pack. As he neared turn three, he suddenly lost control of his car and clipped the Barnes-driven dryer truck, which was on the track during the caution to help clear debris. The collision caused a small explosion, and jet fuel sprayed onto the pavement and ignited.

NASCAR was forced to red-flag the race, with all the cars returning to the pits, to put out the fire and clean the track.

Barnes, a 52-year-old maintenance worker at Michigan International Speedway, declined interview requests on Tuesday. A MIS worker for 24 years, he often travels to assist other International Speedway racetracks with the jet dryer, which is used to quickly dry racing surfaces, Lukaskiewicz said. His services were much-needed this past weekend as rain Sunday and Monday forced the race, originally schedule for 1 p.m. Sunday, to be postponed until Monday night.

Once the race did get under way, it was marred by cautions — 10 in all. Besides Montoya's crash, the biggest came on just the second lap when Elliott Sadler bumped five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, causing Johnson to lose control and crash into the wall. Danica Patrick, David Ragan, Kurt Busch and defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne also got caught up in the crash. While Patrick and Bayne returned to the race later, Johnson, Ragan and Busch were out.

Later, former NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon blew an engine and was unable to finish the race.

In all, it made for a long night. The race, which started at 7:15 p.m. Monday, didn't end until 12:56 a.m. Tuesday.

Through it all, the track workers, like Barnes, performed admirably. NASCAR president Mike Helton said that is no accident. Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR work with fire-safety crews to practice emergency protocols. More than 700 track workers from around the world attend a three-day summit filled with refreshment courses to help train first responders at racetracks.

"Every year for the past several years we've hosted a summit that supplements our attrack visits with a group of NASCAR officials who focus on working with the tracks to address unusual situations that may happen at the racetrack that we know from experience," Helton said.

"But what we do know from experience is that we came prepared for everything, and this evening was one of those incidents that everybody had to collectively react to."

As for Barnes, Lukaskiewicz reported that, as of Tuesday, he seemed unaffected by the accident with Montoya.

"Yeah, he's doing OK," Lukaskiewicz said. "He was back to his old self."

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Danica delirium gets pelted by rain, wrecks

DAYTONA BEACH — Just call it the James Taylor 500.

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain."

It was already bad enough for sad, soggy race fans that the Daytona 500 was postponed by rain Sunday for the first time in its 54-year history.

But who would have ever imagined that the race would be delayed again late Monday night because of a jet fuel fire?

It's only appropriate that the No. 1 song in America right now is Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain." Who knew she was a NASCAR fan?

In one of the most bizarre incidents in racing history, driver Juan Pablo Montoya lost control of his car and collided with a safety truck carrying jet fuel. The collision caused a huge explosion as 200 gallons of jet fuel poured out of the truck and caught fire on the track.

Said NASCAR President Mike Helton: "Just when you think you've seen it all, you see something different."

Two years ago it was potholes that ravaged the track, causing the race to be postponed until maintenance workers filled in the holes with Bondo. On Sunday, it was a deluge that postponed the race until Monday. And then on Monday, a jet dryer was blowing debris off the track during a caution when Montoya's car spun out of control and collided with a truck carrying a jet dryer and its tank of jet fuel.

In every way imaginable, this Daytona 500 will go down as one of the most disappointing of all time. This was supposed to be the Danica 500, but morphed into the Downpour 500 and then ignited into the Detonation 500.

Coming into the weekend, Danica Patrick was the big story, but, sadly for NASCAR, the Danica Delirium never materialized. Instead, fans endured two days of rain delays and Danica was involved in three wrecks in as many races. Moments after the 500 started Monday night, Jimmie Johnson lost control of his car on the second lap, causing Danica and defending race champion Trevor Bayne to wreck. Even though she eventually returned to the race, her car suffered heavy damage and was never a factor.

"Not exactly what we were hoping for," said Timmy Higgins, a Danica fan who came down from Atlanta. "She had some rotten luck this week."

So did the entire Daytona 500. Time and again, the race was delayed and pushed back by inclement weather. It reached a point when the race finally got underway Monday night when you expected the opening command to be, "Gentlemen, start your windshield wipers!"

Imagine how race fans must feel. Thousands and thousands of them save their money all year just so they can go on vacation to Florida and watch the Great American Race. Many of them had to leave to go back to work after rain postponed the race on Sunday. The ones that stayed Monday had to endure another seven-hour rain delay and then the bizzaro jet fuel delay.

Who would have ever thought that just two days ago we were talking about the Daytona 500 and the NBA All-Star Game constituting the greatest sports weekend in Central Florida history? The All-Star Game certainly held up its end of the bargain, but the same certainly can't be said for the James Taylor 500.

As Taylor himself might sing about this bizarre race,

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain,

I've seen jet fuel burning down by victory lane,

And I always thought I'd see Junior win one more time again."

mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740 AM.mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740 AM.

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Fire and rain wreck Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH – Just call it the James Taylor 500.

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain."

It was already bad enough for sad, soggy race fans that the Daytona 500 was postponed by rain Sunday for the first time in its 54-year history.

But who would have ever imagined that the six-hour race -- finally and mercifully won by Matt Kenseth just before 1 a.m. -- would be delayed again late Monday night because of a jet fuel fire?

It seems only appropriate that the No. 1 song in America right now is Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain." Who knew she was a NASCAR fan?

In one of the most extraordinary incidents in racing history, driver Juan Pablo Montoya inexplicably lost control of his car late in the race and collided with a safety truck carrying jet fuel. The collision caused a huge explosion as 200 gallons of jet fuel poured out of the truck and caught fire on the track.

Two years ago it was potholes that ravaged the track, causing the race to be postponed until maintenance workers filled in the holes with Bondo. On Sunday, it was a deluge that postponed the race until Monday. And then on Monday, a jet dryer was blowing debris off the track during a caution when Montoya's car spun out of control and collided with the safety truck carrying a jet dryer and its tank of jet fuel.

What next: A giant flying octopus swooping in to sabotage Tony Stewart's restrictor plate, hijack the entire Hendrick Motorsports team and steal Kyle Busch's pacifier?

"You'd think after 65 years of running NASCAR races that you've seen about everything," said NASCAR President Mike Helton. "But tonight it got to a point where you said to yourself, "Ohmygosh, if that can happen, what else could happen?"

Give Kenseth credit for masterfully winning his second Daytona 500 in the last four years. Kenseth held off a last-lap charge by the paired-up duo of Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"We had a great horsepower, pretty unbelievable speed and it just came down to whoever was in the front at the end," Kenseth said.

"We couldn't ever get to Matt," said Earnhardt, who finished second and now has gone 130 races without winning. "I kind of waited until the last minute. I thought it was a great race. I want to thank the fans for sticking around on a Monday night and everyone who tuned in at home. Sorry about the delay and everything."

Despite the relatively close finish, this Daytona 500 will go down as one of the most disappointing of all-time. This was supposed to be the Danica 500, but morphed into the Downpour 500 and then ignited into the Detonation 500.

Coming into the weekend, Danica Patrick was the big story, but, sadly for NASCAR, the Danica Delirium never materialized. Instead, fans endured two days of rain delays and Danica was involved in three wrecks in as many races. Moments after the 500 started Monday night, Jimmie Johnson lost control of his car on the second lap, causing Danica and defending race champion Trevor Bayne to wreck. Even though she eventually returned to the race, her car suffered heavy damage and was never a factor.

"Not exactly what we were hoping for," said Timmy Higgins, a Danica fan who came down from Atlanta. "She had some rotten luck this week."

So did the entire Daytona 500. Time and again, the race was delayed and pushed back by inclement weather. It reached a point when the race finally got underway Monday night when you expected the opening command to be, "Gentlemen, start your windshield wipers!"

"It's frustrating," said a dejected Joie Chitwood, president of the Daytona International Speedway, during Monday's rain delay. "What makes it even more frustrating is we were building to this great Daytona 500. You could just feel it in the air. We were getting ready to knock it out of the park."

He shook his head.

"That's what makes this even more deflating."

Who would have ever thought that just two days ago we were talking about the Daytona 500 and the NBA All-Star Game constituting the greatest sports weekend in Central Florida history. The All-Star Game certainly held up its end of the bargain, but the same cannot be said for the James Taylor 500.

As Taylor himself might sing about this bizarre race:

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain,

I've seen jet fuel burning down by victory lane,

And I always thought I'd see Junior win one more time again."

mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740 AM.

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Testing Resumes in Spain; Trulli Rejected Ferrari

Formula One cars took to the track in Spain again Tuesday after a week’s break, this time outside Barcelona. The Mercedes team arrived with its 2012 car, which it revealed to the world this morning before handing it over to Michael Schumacher to drive all day.

The talk of the day this time was not about the Lotus, which looked surprisingly good last week in Jerez, because Romain Grosjean was only able to run seven laps before the team had to send the new chassis back to the factory in England for an unspecified problem. On Wednesday, Grosjean will drive the same chassis used in Jerez, which is being sent from England to Barcelona.

The fastest man of the day Tuesday was the world champion, Sebastian Vettel, in the Red Bull. But his lap time was only marginally better than the second fastest driver, Nico Hulkenberg of the Force India team, who was 0.1 second behind. Schumacher managed only the sixth time, 0.8 seconds behind Vettel.

The most interesting news of the day came not from the race track, however, but from an article in an Italian magazine. Jarno Trulli, the Italian driver who has just been let go by the Caterham team, revealed for the first time that while he was racing for Toyota from 2004 to 2009 he received an offer to drive at Ferrari from Jean Todt, the former Ferrari director who is now president of the International Automobile Federation.

“Nobody knows this, but at this point I think I can publicly thank Jean Todt for having been one of the few top team managers to consider me during my career. No one knows this, but Todt offered me a seat at Ferrari,” Trulli told Autosprint magazine.

“I won’t tell you when exactly: I was racing for Toyota and I was doing very well. But I had signed a rather long contract with the Japanese, and in my career I’ve always honored my commitments. In 15 years of F1 I’ve never needed lawyers.”

That really attests to Trulli’s extraordinary character. For any driver, Ferrari is the holy grail of Formula One teams, the most coveted destination. For an Italian driver, it is even bigger than that, especially since Ferrari has for so long avoided using Italian drivers. The team did turn to an Italian, Giancarlo Fisichella, briefly in 2009 to replace Felipe Massa after he injured himself in a crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix — so come to think of it, it would be a good guess that Trulli was invited at that time. Unfortunately, Toyota suddenly pulled out of Formula One at the end of that season, and Trulli found himself without a drive, although he immediately signed with Team Lotus, which became Caterham.

Tuesday’s lap times in Spain:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Vettel Red Bull 1m23.265s 79
2. Hulkenberg Force India 1m23.440s +0.175 97
3. Hamilton McLaren 1m23.590s +0.325 114
4. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.618s +0.353 76
5. Alonso Ferrari 1m24.100s +0.835 75
6. Schumacher Mercedes 1m24.150s +0.885 51
7. Perez Sauber 1m24.219s +0.954 66
8. Senna Williams 1m25.711s +2.446 97
9. Kovalainen Caterham 1m26.035s +2.770 31
10. Grosjean Lotus 1m26.809s +3.544 7
11. Pic Marussia 1m28.026s +4.761 121

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A Few Surprises, But No Conclusions in First Testing Session

The first four days of testing of the Formula One season, which ended Friday, created a few surprises. Best of all was a clear lack of domination by the usual suspects — the Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari teams. The biggest surprise was probably the sudden appearance of the Lotus team with the fastest of the 2012 cars.

Nico Rosberg may have set the fastest time of the four days in his Mercedes, but that was last year’s car. Same goes for Michael Schumacher in the other Mercedes, who was fastest on his day and third fastest overall. So we can exclude them until they try the new car at the next session, not this week but the next.

So the bright moment came with Kimi Raikkonen setting the fastest time on the first day in the Lotus, and then his teammate Romain Grosjean set the fastest time over all of the new cars. For a team that struggled last year after the loss of its star driver, Robert Kubica, to injury, this is exceptional news. Eric Boullier, the team director, said that Raikkonen had united and inspired the team.

The other surprise was the strength of the Toro Rosso team and its two young drivers, including the rookie Jean-Eric Vergne. They set nearly equal times, with Daniel Ricciardo coming out slightly ahead. But the relative times are difficult to compare since the drivers drove on different days. More interesting was how Vergne finished second fastest on Friday, behind Alonso, but ahead of the world champion, Sebastian Vettel, of Red Bull.

Still, there is very little that can be concluded from a first winter testing, and if the Ferrari looked a little sluggish at the hands of Felipe Massa, it looked better with Fernando Alonso driving, especially on the last day when he set the fastest lap of the day — no doubt helped by the support of his home fans on the Jerez circuit in Spain. Alonso said the Ferrari would perform better at the next test, in Barcelona.

The Autosport web site has published a valuable chart, below, of the combined lap times of the four days.

The next test session is in Barcelona from Feb. 21-24. (In the meantime, here is a podcast interview with me that was published on the F1 Weekly web site.)

COMBINED JEREZ TIMES

Pos Driver Team Best time Total laps
1. Rosberg Mercedes 1m17.613s 174
2. Grosjean Lotus 1m18.419s +0.806 212
3. Schumacher Mercedes 1m18.561s +0.948 174
4. Alonso Ferrari 1m18.877s +1.264 106
5. Webber Red Bull 1m19.184s +1.571 151
6. Vettel Red Bull 1m19.297s +1.684 146
7. Hamilton McLaren 1m19.464s +1.851 166
8. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m19.587s +1.974 157
9. Vergne Toro Rosso 1m19.597s +1.984 159
10. Raikkonen Lotus 1m19.670s +2.057 192
11. Perez Sauber 1m19.770s +2.157 116
12. Di Resta Force India 1m19.772s +2.159 170
13. Kobayashi Sauber 1m19.834s +2.221 182
14. Hulkenberg Force India 1m19.977s +2.364 90
15. Senna Williams 1m20.132s +2.519 250
16. Bianchi Force India 1m20.221s +2.608 46
17. Massa Ferrari 1m20.454s +2.841 164
18. Button McLaren 1m20.688s +3.075 147
19. Maldonado Williams 1m21.197s +3.584 122
20. Kovalainen Caterham 1m21.518s +3.905 167
21. De la Rosa HRT 1m22.128s +4.515 108
22. Trulli Caterham 1m22.198s +4.585 117
23. Van der Garde Caterham 1m23.324s +5.711 74

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George Diaz: Top 5 storylines for 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season

DAYTONA BEACH — The quiet calm of the short NASCAR off-season ends tonight with the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway.

Be prepared for a lot of noise.

As with any sport, there were some significant and interesting changes that evolved in the off-season, since Tony Stewart edged Carl Edwards to win the Sprint Cup title in Homestead last November.

A quick look at the top five storylines as everybody tweaks their restrictor plates to get ready for the Big One — The Daytona 500, on Feb. 26:

Danica-mania: Consider us guilty-as-charged in fueling the hype. But resistance is futile. No driver drew more interest during the Media Day scrum than Patrick, who will drive full-time in NASCAR's Nationwide Series, and 10 select races for the Stewart-Haas race team on the Sprint Cup circuit.

Is she nothing more than some Go Daddy eye-candy? We'll find out very quickly, as she prepares to rumble with 42 boys in the Daytona 500.

Sponsorship woes: NASCAR is not immune from feeling the economic pinch, as drivers and teams are still scrambling to find sponsors that can fill up the 36-race schedule. Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne has secured sponsorship for 18 races, but that's only half a season.

Other prominent drivers are having to piecemeal sponsors. Ryan Newman, for example, will have eight primary sponsors in 36 races.

Will Jimmie jam in 2012?: Johnson won five consecutive titles before losing the way last season. Johnson finished sixth in points, his lowest point since he began running full-time on the Cup circuit in 2002. That won't happen again, according to the media soothsayers. Members of NASCARMedia.com picked Johnson to win the Sprint Cup title. Johnson received 147 votes in the annual preseason poll, just two more than Carl Edwards, who finished second in last season's championship points.

"I'm just upset at the way we lost the championship last year," Johnson said. "At points within the chase, we had momentum and things going our way. When I look back on it, I find the way in which we lost it is the tough thing. If we get beat, we get beat and I just don't want to, we beat ourselves, and I just don't want to do that again."

Squish the love bugs: NASCAR officials are determined to curb the tandem, or 'love-bug' style of racing that the majority of fans considered boring. The plan is to return to the traditional cluster of cars on the restrictor-plate tracks at Daytona and Talladega. The changes in the car setups include a smaller rear spoiler, softer springs and a slightly larger restrictor plate.

It remains a work in progress. Several cars were involved a chain-reaction wreck during practice early Friday night. The wreck took out Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, among others. Busch, now driving for Phoenix Racing, will have to go to a backup car for tonight's shootout.

Who is where? NASCAR's "silly season" got a little sillier in the off-season, with a number of key driver changes. Kasey Kahne is now driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Mark Martin joins Michael Waltrip Racing. Clint Bowyer is there too, after leaving Richard Childress Racing. Kurt Busch is with Phoenix Racing after getting bounced from Penske Racing.

The changes will make for compelling stories that will evolve as the season progresses. Stay tuned.

gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

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George Diaz: Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick: NASCAR's new power couple

DAYTONA BEACH — She is the perky princess of auto racing, a hot-bod casting herself in an extreme makeover involving stock cars and a whole new vocabulary, surrounded by a polarizing fan base still conflicted about her driving ability.

He is the sometimes-petulant prince of NASCAR, a guy who likes his fast-food fix, the occasional joust with the media, and has no worries about his driving ability. Check out the crown on his head.

Danica Patrick and Tony Stewart are NASCAR's new power couple, a perfect fit for a cyber-obsessive world. They've got it all: Looks, talent, charm and renegade appeal.

Patrick will making her official transition from open wheel to stock cars, driving full-time in NASCAR's Nationwide Series, and 10 select races for the Stewart-Hass race team on the Sprint Cup circuit. Stewart — a three-time Cup champion — is her mentor and confidant, sharing a wisdom etched over a span of 13 seasons and 133,675 Sprint Cup laps.

Don't be surprised if the Internet blows up.

Patrick was surrounded by one of the largest group of reporters in the history of NASCAR Media Day on Thursday morning, reflective of her star-power. That's how they will roll all season, as Stewart and Patrick lead the rumble of cars on the NASCAR Nationwide and Cup schedule.

The media appeal is obvious: Does Danica have the competitive mojo to run with the big boys in NASCAR? Does Tony has the competitive juice to repeat as NASCAR Sprint Cup champion?

They will have no issues dealing the media crush. Witness their first formal meet-and-greet of the season during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Tour in Charlotte last month, when they stepped on the stage accompanied by the booming pulse of the The Heavy's "How Do You Like Me Now?" (Think Kia commercial).

"I think we both enjoy the banter that comes in a setting like this," Patrick said Thursday.

They banter with each other, too. She laughs at his refusal to drink wine. Beer only for Tony, please. She is a wine connoisseur.

She works out to keep in shape for all those Go Daddy commercials. Tony doesn't do the gym.

She is 29 and married. He is a 40-year-old proverbial bachelor, committed only to a handful of pets.

"A dog, two cats," Stewart said, "and they don't care if I go race seven days a week as long as they get fed, they are happy. That's my deal. That's where my lifestyle is a little different. I look for every race that I can run during the off-season., It sounds like I would wear myself out doing it but that's my workout plan. I don't go to the gym. I go to the racetrack and race."

"I think we have the same sense of humor," Patrick said. "He's a little more. We were at the race shop and he decided he was going to take brake cleaner and a propane tank and light people on fire. He has a lot of fun with the things that he does. He's a little more aggressive with his fun."

Excuse the NASCAR pooh-bahs for jumping out of their fire suits in unbridled joy. The sport was able to recast itself somewhat last season, with a thrilling Chase that came down to the last race of the season, but it needs Tony and Danica's marketing juice to help connect with a broader audience.

Together, they can bridge those demographics. Stewart represents NASCAR's old-school. Patrick is still a newbie, still somewhat frustrated by the odd chatter she hears over her car radio. Now that she's figured out the difference between "loose" and "tight," it becomes a question of whether she can drive the thing.

"What's surprised me is how much I truly enjoy driving these cars," she said. "I know it sounds super-cheesy, I'm sure. You all probably think I am lying. But I never thought I would enjoy driving these cars as much as I do."

True dat, Danica.

May NASCAR hoist a glass of wine to welcome you. And a beer chaser for Tony.

diaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

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Look for Jimmie Johnson to get his NASCAR mojo back in 2012

Every driver is motivated. Every one each believes he has a shot. Everybody is excited.

That's all hunky-dory. The 2012 NASCAR season has yet to start and the optimistic rumble from the garages always precedes the realistic rumble on the track, when the usual suspects rise to the top and the pretenders finish 28th or worse every week.

It's not hard to predict which guys will be chasing NASCAR championships in 2012:

Defending champion Tony Stewart has huge momentum after a thunderous finish in 2011. Carl Edwards is due to bust out of his Buffalo Bills-esque two-time second-place finishes. And somebody somewhere will predict that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will finally break free from the shadow of daddy dearest and win a title.

But there's a guy who is motivated, has a shot and is excited, and he should rise above the rest.

Say hello to your 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson.

You should know the story. Johnson — accompanied by wing man/crew chief Chad Knaus — won five consecutive titles before losing their way last season. Johnson finished sixth, his lowest point since he began running full-time on the Cup circuit in 2002.

This year, expect him to find his way home: Back on the big stage in Vegas, celebrating another championship.

"Yeah, I mean, I've spent a lot of time through the off-eason thinking about the way I'm involved with the race team, the responsibilities I have, just the way I've gone about work for the last five years, and it's hard to argue with the last five years and what had happened," Johnson said during a testing session in Daytona Beach recently. "Last year was the sixth year and we didn't get the results that we wanted. But I really felt like we were competitive in a lot of areas. Chad and I made some mistakes in the Chase and took ourselves out of it."

Look for them to be back in it. In all sports, the most dangerous competitor is a talented one who is motivated to succeed and redeem himself.

Johnson fits all that criteria.

"It's been a very good off-season for me to internalize some things and to really evaluate what goes on from my standpoint and my involvement with the team and how good of a teammate and team member I can be for the 48 car, and I'm making changes," Johnson said. "I feel like even though I tried over the five-year run to not stall out and tried to continue to evolve and challenge myself and recreate myself, it's hard to do it. You have a roadmap that's working, and it's hard to get too far from it. This winter has been really good for me to really dive down and understand the areas where I feel like I can do a better job and be a better member of the 48 team.

"So I know I'm stronger and better today."

Yikes. Consider yourselves served, everybody else.

gdiaz@tribune.com Read George Diaz's blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/enfuego

Plenty of energy

Michael Waltrip will make a historic run in this year's Daytona 500.

He will make his 75th start on the fabled super-speedway — the most of any driver — on Feb. 26. He will drive the No. 40 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota for Aaron Racing.

"When I was a kid thinking about racing in Daytona, I never dreamed I would start more NASCAR races there than anyone," Waltrip said. "That's amazing."

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