NASCAR Cup Series

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What is your approach this weekend? “We are obviously excited to get out here and see what we’ve got on our short track program. Really struggled a lot at the end of last year as an organization over the last two or three short tracks -- we definitely were not competitive."

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BASS PRO SHOPS/MOBIL 1 CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed how he feels, gaining chemistry with his new crew chief and other topics.

JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PEPSI MAX CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway, and discussed the new Pepsi Max video, new qualifying format and other topics.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Phoenix International Raceway and discussed his whirlwind week following his Daytona 500 victory, his thoughts on the new qualifying format, what he has learned about being on Twitter and many other topics.

RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 QUICKEN LOANS CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed the new qualifying procedure, testing at Las Vegas, and more.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, DRIVER OF THE NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with media today at Phoenix International Raceway to discuss being back at PIR, differences in setup from last year’s race here, his influence on Dale Earnhardt Jr., and more.

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 4 JIMMY JOHN’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his approach to the new qualifying procedure, testing at Las Vegas, working with Stewart-Haas, and more.

Doug Yates is nervous. Not because he knows something, but because he isn’t quite sure what to expect. The engine builder has worked extensively in the off-season with his team and the Ford teams to be as prepared as possible for the new NASCAR qualifying format, a format Yates believes will definitely impact engines. Yates discussed how NASCAR’s qualifying change has impacted engines and what he and his team have done to try to ready for today’s debut at Phoenix International Raceway.

Chevrolet is looking for more fun in the sun this weekend when it shifts its focus from the beaches near Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway to the valley of the sun surrounding Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, where Team Chevy has 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, more than any manufacturer, and has won 13 of the last 17 series events held at the 1-mile track.

Welcome to Rookie Watch. This is the weekly column that I will be posting each week, between Tuesday and Thursday, discussing the Sprint Cup Series rookies and how they did the previous weekend. With the rookie list being the biggest since 2002, there will be lots of yellow bumpers to keep an eye on each week as these young drivers continue to learn.