NASCAR Cup Series

No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota driver Clint Bowyer gets his first chance to drive NASCAR’s new Gen-6 Toyota on a mile oval this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. Bowyer said racing the new car on the flat Phoenix track will be far different than racing on Daytona’s high banks where he finished 11th in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

The ending to the 55th annual running of the Daytona 500 turned out to be pretty exciting. It just took 180 laps to get to that point. We watched a five time champion become a two time Daytona 500 champion and then watched him wreck his car during the post race victory burn out. Oh yeah, Danica was there and her presence loomed larger than usual during Speedweeks.

No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driver Mark Martin enjoyed a memorable Sunday. Not only did the 54-year-old Martin finish third in his 29th Daytona 500, but the Michael Waltrip Racing driver spent time with some of his favorite musicians.

Elliott Sadler heads to Phoenix International Raceway in the No. 11 OneMain Financial Toyota looking to earn Joe Gibbs Racing's first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of 2013. The OneMain Financial driver has eight Nationwide Series starts at the one-mile track with one win, two top-five finishes, 79 laps led and holds the race record of 116.317 mph from March 2012. Sadler also brings experience from the Sprint Cup Series with 18 starts, one top-10 finish and 17 laps led.

He's back. A.J. Allmendinger is returning to Phoenix Racing to compete in the Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix International Raceway. He'll be piloting the No. 51 Guy Roofing Chevrolet in his fifth Sprint Cup Series start with team.

Alex Bowman will pilot RAB Racing with Brack Maggard chassis No. 44 in Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. This Toyota Camry made its debut in 2012 at Iowa Speedway in May, where Travis Pastrana recorded a 26th-place finish after experiencing a part failure in the closing stages of the event.

The Quaker State race oil under the hood of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet helped Jimmie Johnson earn his first victory of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. By taking the checkered flag at the 55th Daytona 500, Johnson has captured his second career victory at ‘The Great American Race’ and 61st career win in his 400th Cup start. The win was the seventh Daytona 500 crown for team owner Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports.

Debuting in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) at Daytona International Speedway, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Larson performed flawlessly and put himself in contention for the win in the closing laps of the DRIVE4COPD 300 on Saturday afternoon.

Jimmie Johnson has his second Daytona 500, Chad Knaus has his first, and Dale Earnhardt Jr finished second again. Some will remember the race more for Danica Patrick starting at the pole, leading some laps, staying up front all day, and finishing eighth. Still, even more people will remember the weekend at Daytona for what took place the day before at the end of the Nationwide race.