It’s only Friday morning at Phoenix International Raceway for an all-NASCAR weekend, and already the cars are crashing and the rumors are flying.
This is the second-to-last weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase, with JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.48 Chevrolet leading contender BRAD KESELOWSKI/No.2 Dodge by a mere seven points.
The hottest rumor to surface and be repeated and retweeted is that MARTY SMITH of ESPN is reporting that KEVIN HARVICK, currently running No.29 Chevrolet with RICHARD CHILDRESS, will move to the Stewart Haas Racing in 2014. Not next year, but in a year and a half. Smith told me that it’s already been signed for a multi-year contract. There is no confirmation from anyone else. Smith also said it’s not that unusual for a driver to sign that far ahead to switch teams. His case in point, or Kasey in point, was KASEY KAHNE signing in 2010 to run this year with Hendrick Motorsports.
Another rumor was put to rest Thursday afternoon with the announcement that GoDaddy will again have its NASCAR driver, DANICA PATRICK, again in the Super Bowl commercials in 2013. This will make her the longest-running personality to appear in consecutive Super Bowl commercials. Now that’s settled, we can all pay attention to the racing at hand.
Early on in the first Friday 90-minute Sprint Cup practice, SAM HORNISH, Jr/No.22 Dodge hit the wall hard on the right side. Hornish was alright and went to his backup car.
Also going to backup cars after crashing in the session were JEFF BURTON/No.31 Chevrolet and GREG BIFFLE/No.16 Ford.
Penske Racing Dodge teammates, Hornish and Keselowski are also running in the Nationwide Series race. Other Cup/NNS crossover Sprint Cup drivers include Kahne/No.28 Chevrolet, JOEY LOGANO/No.18 Toyota, DANICA PATRICK/No.7 Chevrolet; JOE NEMECHEK/No.87; MIKE BLISS/No.19 Toyota; and JJ YELEY/No.47 Chevrolet.
Hornish, Bliss and Patrick are NNS full-season regulars. The NASCAR rules prohibit the cross-over drivers from earning points in more than one series.
This Phoenix weekend will have four NASCAR Series competing: 25th Annual AdvoCare 500 Sprint Cup race with 44 entrants; 14th Annual Great Clips 200 Nationwide Series race with 35 entries; 15th Annual Lucas Oil 150 Camping World Truck Series race with 38 entrants; and K&N Pro Series – West race with 31 entrants.
The weather forecast is changing quickly and greatly. The week’s early blazing hot spell was broken Thursday with warm but cloudy weather and a few spritzes, causing a double rainbow at the Chevrolet Media Day at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. It rained some Thursday night.
Friday was warm and sunny midday. Stay tuned. Much cooler weather is predicted for the race weekend, with really cold (for Arizona) temperatures forecast for the evenings.