NASCAR Cup Series

One week after tempers flared at Martinsville between Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch, tensions eased at Texas, where neither driver showed signs of hunting down the other on-track or elsewhere. A wide gap in car performance between the two drivers during Monday’s race allowed the rolling boil of anger to slow to a simmer, even if only temporarily.

Sometimes when you mess with the bull, you get the horns. This past weekend, there was one ornery Texas Longhorn who made his displeasure known. First to be gored were those fans who mosied on down to Dallas for a Sunday race.

We now have seven different winners in seven races. I’m sure no one at the sanctioning body dreamed this would happen, but it did, and I’m sure we will see repeat winners as the season goes along. The trouble is Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Kasey Khane, Clint Bowyer, and a couple of surprises haven’t won.

Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet SS team travel to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway this weekend for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) race.

Power Of Bleach: “It's great to have Clorox return to our No. 47 Chevrolet SS at Darlington Raceway,” Allmendinger said. “I don't know about you guys, but I'm so ready for spring after a long winter and Clorox is on our car at the right time. We know things are going to get messy at Darlington Raceway and there are bound to be a few Bleachable Moments during the race, but we are confident that our Clorox car will clean up the competition.”

No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine driver Brian Vickers grew up in Thomasville, N.C. about 140 miles from Darlington Raceway in South Carolina where the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races Saturday night.

DID YOU KNOW? … Ford Racing driver Joey Logano is the only current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to advance to the final round of qualifying for every event this season.

The No. 43 team wants to win every week, but this week, they have an additional incentive. Crew Chief Trent Owens grew up just a few miles from Darlington Raceway and says a win at the track "Too Tough To Tame" would rank up with a Daytona 500 win. Aric Almirola will look to continue Owens' success at the track. With consecutive top-10 finishes in the last five seasons as crew chief, Almirola would like to add a Sprint Cup Series top-10 to the list.

What a difference a year can make. Last season, Marcos Ambrose and the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) team didn't score a top-five finish. In the first seven races this year, the team has earned two and have been in position to make the "Chase". The improvement has the team looking to avenge a difficult race last year at Darlington where they finished 34th.

Biffle has 13 Sprint Cup career starts at Darlington, earning two wins, two top-five and five top-10 finishes.