NASCAR O'Reilly Series

Dakoda Armstrong goes into this weekend's race at Phoenix International Raceway with optimism. While the Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender only has one start at the one-mile track in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS), he comes from a long career in open wheel racing. He looks to his success in open wheel, as well as his short track experience in NCWTS and the ARCA Racing Series, to guide him through this weekend.

Team owner Richard Childress has five victories at Phoenix International Raceway, ranking him third on the all-time car owner victories list at the Avondale, Ariz. facility.

Elliott Sadler and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 OneMain Financial team are geared up for the second race of the 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series season at Phoenix International Raceway. Sadler has 10 career Nationwide Series starts at the one-mile track with one win in 2012, three top-five and four top-10 finishes with 26 laps led.

Coming off a 16th-place finish in the season opening event at Daytona International Speedway, James Buescher and the RAB Racing No. 99 Rheem team will shift their focus to the one-mile tri-oval of Phoenix International Raceway (PIR).

Chad Boat showed tremendous poise and patience in his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. The 21-year old rookie safely qualified the No. 84 Billy Boat Motorsports Chevrolet into the 40 car field and would go on to survive a few different obstacles during the course of the DRIVE4COPD 300 to safely come home with a 24th-place finish in the season opening event.

NASCAR team owners and fans both expressed the fact that they did not tandem drafting at Daytona so a solution was drawn up. NASCAR outlawed the act, saying that if a driver locked bumpers with another, they would be brought to pit road to serve a pass-through penalty.

RAB Racing and driver Scott Lagasse Jr. felt right at home Saturday for the DRIVE4COPD 300 at the Daytona International Speedway. Lagasse Jr. from nearby St. Augustine, FL and the No. 29 Florida DOT's 'Alert Today, Alive Tomorrow' Toyota Camry finished in the 26th position after a pit road incident on lap 11.

Danica Patrick had a strong start to the beginning of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season, taking the green flag from the third position after an impressive 1-2-3 qualifying effort by Turner Scott Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway.

Making his first start in the No. 99 Rheem Toyota Camry for RAB Racing, a rain shortened qualifying session had James Buescher rolling off the starting grid for the DRIVE4COPD300 at Daytona International Speedway in the 14th position.

Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Reed earned an 18th-place finish in the opening race of the season and his first race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. “It was a battle all day,” said Reed.