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For Jimmie Johnson, winning the Daytona 500 was a piece of cake — compared with the four days that followed. (Photo: Jeffrey R. Staab/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc.)

GLENDALE, Ariz. — For Jimmie Johnson, winning the Daytona 500 was a piece of cake — compared with the four days that followed.

From green flag to checkered flag last Sunday, Johnson spent three hours, eight minutes and 23 seconds behind the wheel of his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet SS.

Johnson spent the next 96-plus hours criss-crossing the United States, visiting eight different states and flying over perhaps a dozen more. The non-stop tour that started with the traditional Champion’s Breakfast at Daytona International Speedway included an appearance on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and ended with a visit to the Phoenix Coyotes-Minnesota Wild National Hockey League game in Glendale, Ariz.

"Our sport is hopefully transitioning into mainstream."

— Jimmie Johnson

The term "media blitz" doesn’t adequately describe the grueling schedule that took Johnson completely out of his normal routine. From Daytona he flew to North Carolina and from there to Connecticut for appearances on ESPN.

The New York stint came Tuesday, with his day divided into 10-to-15 minute segments with an array of media outlets,. That night, after the Letterman taping, Johnson flew to Dallas for a series of media hits at Texas Motor Speedway on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson flew to Los Angeles for more media appearances and a trip to Auto Club Speedway before leaving for Las Vegas and sales meeting for sponsor Lowe’s that night.

Then it was back to L.A. for more media before flying to Phoenix for the hockey game on Thursday night. After dropping the ceremonial puck before the game, Johnson took questions from a crush of TV reporters in one of the sky boxes.

You can forgive Johnson for being a little frayed around the edges by the time the last interview at the hockey game was over.

"I’m so freaking tired," Johnson told the NASCAR Wire Service on the way out of Jobing.com Arena on Thursday night. "Last night we had our national sales meeting with Lowe’s so we had 3,000 store managers in a huge, huge venue in Las Vegas.

 

Johnson is a creature of habit. Typically, his days are regimented, with time allocated for a rigorous workout regimen and consultation with crew chief Chad Knaus. The Champion’s Tour, however, obliterated his normal schedule.

Understandably, he felt a bit behind the curve heading to Phoenix International Raceway on Friday morning.

"I haven’t had a chance to train, do my team debrief, get prepped or our team prepped for this race," Johnson said. "Chad’s cut me some slack, clearly, for obvious reasons, but it’s weird to be completely out of your routine. I’m a routine guy."

Naturally enough, Johnson wouldn’t trade places with the 42 other drivers who didn’t win the Daytona 500, and he was gratified to sense the buzz that attached to his victory and to NASCAR racing in general. 

"It was awesome," he said. "To be a part of all of it … honestly, through the championships that I’ve won and the ’06 500, there was always great excitement and buzz surrounding our sport attending these events. 

"But there was a buzz that I haven’t seen before. I’m excited for our sport right now. There are a lot of great things going on. TMZ chased me down twice. Our sport is hopefully transitioning into mainstream, and the whole TMZ factor says that to me more than anything." 

And how much of the buzz is attributable to the arrival of Danica Patrick as a full-time Sprint Cup driver?

"I don’t know how much, but yes, absolutely (she is a factor)," Johnson said. "I think the Gen-6 car and the positive thoughts of the drivers, the owners, the manufacturers—there’s a lot of momentum. 

"We were seeing some good momentum through the end of last year with the ad buys increasing on TV and all that. I don’t know what’s solely responsible for it, but I like it. It’s a great shot in the arm for our sport."

Even though Chad Knaus was part of an official announcement at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Johnson was so wrapped up in his media activities that he hadn’t heard about changes to the format of the Sprint All-Star Race in May. Johnson is the defending champion of that event, too.

"I saw there was an extra million bucks (for winning all five segments)," he said.  "They’re going to make me think to figure this out. Hopefully, I win."
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Abraham Calderon takes Toyota 120, the first NASCAR Toyota Mexico Series race on U.S. soil

AVONDALE, Ariz. — On one side of the stage was a U.S. color guard comprised of an ROTC unit, on the other was a contingent from the local Mexican consulate flanking that nation’s flag. The invocation was offered in Spanish and English, and the Mexican and United States national anthems were performed by Latin singing stars. Eventually, the sky over Phoenix International Raceway was filled with the sound of one common language — the rumble of race car engines.

And with that, the first NASCAR Toyota Mexico Series race on U.S. soil was underway — although it was quickly halted under caution when pole winner Jorge Goeters was spun in the first turn. But nothing could diminish the sense that something new and different was unfolding on the 1-mile track, a feeling that began during opening ceremonies and lasted through Abraham Calderon’s celebration in Victory Lane.

For NASCAR, it was an opportunity to spotlight an international effort that also includes a fledgling circuit in Europe and a more established tour in Canada. For the Toyota Mexico Series, it was a chance to perform at a major American motorsports facility. And for many of the drivers, it was an opportunity to fulfill one dream — and perhaps take a step toward realizing much larger ones.

"This track, I’ve only seen it on TV, and now I’m here."

— Abraham Calderon

“This track, I’ve only seen it on TV, and now I’m here,” said Calderon, a 24-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico, who scored his first career victory Friday night. “I think in the future, we can do it. This is a dream being here, and I plan in the future on racing on the big ones, Daytona and Talladega and all of the tracks that are amazing and awesome for us. Hopefully, I’ll be there sometime.”

NASCAR’s Mexico Series has been in existence since 2004, and is operated in partnership with the Mexican entertainment conglomerate OCESA. Since its founding the league has gradually expanded to more and better tracks, and this year’s schedule is comprised of a 15-race slate that opened Friday in Phoenix and ends Nov. 10 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where the Nationwide Series competed for several years.

But the Phoenix race is clearly a crown jewel, both because of its location in a major U.S. market and its connection to the Sprint Cup Series competing at the same facility on the same weekend. Asked what he hoped to get out of this experience, Goeters — a Mexico City native who also won the pole for the first Nationwide race in Mexico City — was succinct: “Hendrick Motorsports,” he said.

“Maybe like a spotter or something. I’d love to be that,” he added, tongue only halfway in cheek. “Honestly, we are very excited. We know our level is growing. We want to race for our country, we want more races here in the States. We enjoy the facilities and everything they give us every race. So we never know. So I’m ready for my life to change.”

Although that may seem a lofty goal, three-time Mexico Series champion German Quiroga is now in the Camping World Truck Series, and Goeters and Juan Carlos Blum are among those who have competed in a handful of Nationwide events. Others hope to use the Mexico Series as a springboard to something like an American late model tour or the K&N Pro Series, on which Monterrey native Daniel Suarez has made 19 career starts.

“I think NASCAR Mexico does a good job to develop drivers, to support drivers who want to come to America to do like a K&N or a super late model, or some of the national series,” said Suarez, whose vehicle hit the wall and suffered damage early in Friday’s race. “I think it’s our goal in a few years to be one of those, or to be in the national series.”

Clearly, it meant a great deal for the Mexico Series drivers to compete in the U.S. “I can’t explain to you how emotional all the teams and drivers are,” Suarez said. That much was evident throughout Friday, whether it was crewmen posing for photos in front of cars in the Sprint Cup garage, team members buying souvenirs, or the enthusiasm that surrounded the event’s opening ceremonies. Before he gave the command to start engines, San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo bounced up and down as if he were on the mound.

“It just opens up an opportunity for them to come here and showcase their abilities,” said Arizona Diamondbacks great Luis Gonzalez, who was an honorary race official. “NASCAR continues to grow, and just with every other major sport, everybody’s looking to go global now and expand. You’ve seen this grow so much in the last 10 to 15 years.”

Most Mexico Series teams are based around Mexico City, and the voyage to Phoenix entailed a convoy that crossed the border at Nogales, Ariz., where the team transporters were switched onto tractors that met U.S. trucking regulations. To cut costs, some teams shared haulers. The race was also designed to maximize cost effectiveness, with the event split into 50- and 25-lap segments separated by a 10-minute break that allowed teams to bring only skeleton crews.

To those involved, though, the travel was more than worth it. “This is a dream come true. We are doing history,” said Enrique Contreras, director of the Toyota Mexico Series. “First time crossing the border. It was a little difficult this first time, but we now know the way to do it, and I hope we can do it a little more frequently. It’s a really big opportunity for our series.”

Raceway president Bryan Sperber sounded hopeful that the event would return.  “I’m hoping this is the beginning of a very long relationship,” he said. “… They absolutely would have a home here at PIR for as long as they want to race with us.”

Sitting at the same table, Contreras was quick to accept the offer. “We are ready,” he said. “Whenever you guys invite us, we will be here.”

Calderon, who dominated the event by leading 62 of 75 laps, might not want to leave. After taking the checkered flag, he unleashed a massive burnout that enveloped the frontstretch grandstand in smoke — and blew the engine in his No. 05 car in the process. A giddy Calderon laid on the roof of his vehicle, then stood and saluted the crowd, and then needed a tow truck to push his vehicle into Victory Lane.

“It’s amazing,” said an elated Calderon, whose car was backed by the World Baseball Classic. “I can’t believe it. It’s unbelievable. I can’t even describe it with words.”

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Danica implements late season Phoenix experience to spark hot 2013 start

PATRICK PLACES 40th IN SUBWAY FRESH FIT 500 QUALIFYING

AVONDALE, Ariz. — There were no national headlines, no appearances on network morning shows or the evening news. It didn’t generate the seismic waves of interest and publicity that followed her pole-winning run last month at Daytona International Speedway. But to Danica Patrick, it might have been a breakthrough every bit as important.

The last time NASCAR visited Phoenix International Raceway, Patrick recorded what to that point was her top finish in the Sprint Cup Series, one day after posting her best-ever result at the track on the Nationwide tour. Those modest accomplishments were completely overshadowed by mayhem elsewhere, most notably contact that had Clint Bowyer chasing after Jeff Gordon in the garage area. But they were signs of progress that buoy Patrick now that she’s back at the 1-mile oval in the desert.

“Phoenix is one of those places that, man, even in the Nationwide car, I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I came here many times, and continued to kind of suck,” Patrick said Friday. “I feel like at the end of the year was more of a breakthrough in the Nationwide car, and also in the Cup car. It was a good weekend.”

"This is when the real season starts."

— Danica Patrick on the Subway Fresh Fit 500

The numbers bear that out. Patrick was running 13th on the final lap here last November when she was caught up in an accident that also involved Jeff Burton. Even so, the eventual 17th-place result stood as her best result on NASCAR’s premier series until she finished eighth last weekend in the Daytona 500. Her 10th-place finish in the Nationwide race one day earlier marked a personal best at the facility.

So Patrick would have reason to return to Phoenix full of good feeling, even if last weekend’s events at Daytona had unfolded differently. As it happened, though, it was one positive experience building on another, and it all leaves the Rookie of the Year candidate in a confident frame of mind entering the bulk of her first Sprint Cup season, though still very cognizant of the differences between Daytona and most everywhere else.

“I feel like it will give us a good baseline of where we need to start setup-wise for the weekend, so we can kind of pickup where we left off,” she said, referring to her runs at Phoenix last fall. “I feel like we were pretty decent at the end of the race. Is qualifying on the pole, and leading laps what we should be thinking based on last weekend? No. I need to keep realistic expectations, and I think everybody else does too. Daytona is a very unique place, and this is kind of where the bulk of the season really starts.”

And clearly, she’s starting this season in a much better place than the last one, which began with a Speedweeks where she wrecked three times — one each in the 150-mile qualifying event, the Nationwide opener, and the Daytona 500. Patrick will admit, she stewed over that experience perhaps too long, and let it affect her performance in the ensuing weeks. This year there was no such adversity at Daytona, which could portend better things in its aftermath. But she believes she learned valuable lessons in that regard nonetheless.

“I feel like last year, maybe that frustration and exhaustion kind of spilled over into a couple of days of work during Phoenix week that I had to do to the weekend — coming here again in the Nationwide car for the third or fourth time, and being like 20th, and just feeling really kind of bad about myself, and storming off from (the media) on pit lane, and deciding that I didn’t finish well enough to answer any questions. It is a different perspective,” she said. “I feel just a little more mature. I feel like even if it would have been a bad weekend, I was more prepared to handle it. But at this point in time, understanding that it is a whole new race, completely different track, and this is when the real season starts.”

That said, Patrick was clearly miffed at herself following the Daytona 500, disappointed that she didn’t have a better grasp of what to do to record a higher finish. “If they had just thrown that yellow, you know? Third,” she joked. It helped when car owner Tony Stewart told her she had more to lose than gain by pulling out of line and trying to make a move at the end.

“I thought she did a great job last week,” Stewart said Friday. “She played a very, very smart race, because it’s very easy to get over-anxious and want to do better than where you’re at and cause yourself to have a worse day. And I thought she displayed a lot of patience and that’s really hard to do sometimes. So, I thought she did a great job.”

Race winner Jimmie Johnson also helped her put things in perspective, telling Patrick he thought her options were limited with eventual runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. charging in on the final lap. “I said I had wished I had a better plan,” Patrick said. “… (Johnson) said that the two wins he had, he didn’t have a plan, and sometimes you just have to take it on the fly and work with what happens in the moment.”

Johnson also congratulated Patrick on having a solid day. “I’m happy that she performed like she did on Sunday,” he said. “It could have set her up for some criticism if she had a poor race and fell to the back and didn’t run right, but she didn’t. She stayed up front all day long and raced for the win, and I think on plate tracks she’s convinced me that she’s capable of winning the race.” Now the focus moves off plate tracks, and on to more traditional layouts like Phoenix, where Patrick made such progress a season ago. “Last weekend was what it was,” she said. “But we’re moving on.”

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"Ironhead" finished sixth in Watkins Glen event despite dangerous injuries

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Sitting in a motorhome at Watkins Glen International along with Richard Childress and Teresa Earnhardt, Dr. Jerry Punch looked at a certain seven-time NASCAR champion and delivered a message — don’t do it.

Two weeks earlier, Dale Earnhardt had suffered a severe crash at Talladega that had broken his collarbone and dislocated his sternum. The bottom part of his fractured breastbone was sticking up about an inch beyond the site of the break, making it difficult for Earnhardt to breathe, and nearly impossible for him to raise his left arm. And yet, he had competed the week after the accident at Indianapolis. And now he wanted to drive at Watkins Glen.

They called him “Ironhead” for a reason, after all.

“In spite of us telling him how dangerous it was, and how painful it was, he wanted to be in that car,” Punch said. He was reminded of that episode from 1996 by the crash last weekend at Daytona that left Nationwide Series driver Michael Annett with a fractured and dislocated sternum. Annett had the injury repaired Thursday with screws and a metal plate, is currently resting at home and could miss up to two months. For a 26-year-old driver with a long career potentially ahead of him, it was the safe and sensible approach.

"Are you kidding me? You’re Dale Earnhardt. I can’t tell you you’re going to hurt my race team by being in my car."

— Richard Childress

But 17 years ago, NASCAR didn’t have the medical liaison system it does today. And that kind of layoff didn’t seem an option for a driver whose legendary toughness had become an entrenched part of his persona. The crash at Talladega had been a frightening one — the black No. 3 car turned over after being struck from behind, skidded through the tri-oval on its roof, was struck by other vehicles and rolled down the frontstretch. Earnhardt climbed out, and refused to be loaded onto a stretcher.

The next week at Indianapolis, he also refused to get out of his race car. It was Punch who pulled the straps down on Earnhardt’s harness that day, the driver’s bones popping as the tight belts were affixed around him. “I don’t see how he withstood it,” said Punch, a trauma physician who also serves as an ESPN reporter. “I told him he was ridiculous.”

He was also human. Earnhardt made just six laps at the Brickyard that day before turning his car over to relief driver Mike Skinner, then a Truck Series regular. “I wasn’t in much pain driving along out there,” he told reporters that day at Indianapolis. “Our plan was to get (Skinner) in there in case something happened so I wouldn’t hurt myself any more.”

Which was a distinct possibility, given that the pieces of a fractured sternum can endanger other vital body parts — including the heart, lungs and aorta — located in the vicinity. The following week at Watkins Glen, a road course that demanded so much gear-shifting and so much turning of the wheel, Childress and Teresa Earnhardt summoned Punch to the motorhome lot to try and talk Earnhardt out of starting the race.

Needless to say, it didn’t work.

“He couldn’t raise his left arm and he couldn’t breathe,” Punch recalled. “… Richard and Teresa were getting me to help convince him to not get in the car, for his own safety. He looked right at Richard and said, ‘If you tell me, Richard, I’m going to hurt this race team by being in your race car, I won’t get in it.’ Richard said, ‘Are you kidding me? You’re Dale Earnhardt. I cant tell you you’re going to hurt my race team by being in my car.’ And Dale said, ‘All right, it’s done.’”

What happened next became a fixture in NASCAR lore. Punch was calling qualifying on ESPN along with Benny Parsons, and before Earnhardt went out turned off his microphone. As a physician, he knew the risk Earnhardt was taking. “Let’s hope he doesn’t slide off this course and hit something,” Punch told his broadcast partner. “He might not make it back.”

He did more than that. Shifting and steering with one hand, sometimes using his knees to work the wheel, Earnhardt blitzed around the road course in a track-record time. “When you’re going after something like we were in qualifying … you don’t feel the pain that much,” he told reporters then. David Green was there as a standby driver on race day, but Earnhardt didn’t need him. He went the distance and finished sixth.

“It hurts,” the Intimidator said then. “But it’s a good hurt.”

 

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Richard Petty Motorsports team still behind No. 43 driver

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Michael Annett was at the Richard Petty Motorsports shop Monday morning, taking part in the organization’s competition meetings. His No. 43 Nationwide Series car was on its way to Phoenix International Raceway, with his seat installed inside. No question, Annett was hurting after his big crash two days earlier at Daytona, but the former hockey player still showed all signs of participating this weekend on the 1-mile desert track.

“He was in pain, but he’s a tough young man,” said Sammy Johns, director of operations at RPM. “He played hockey a lot of his life, and you can’t take his toughness away from him. We were still planning on him coming here and racing. We were just working on getting the clearances we needed. Unfortunately, we ran into this.”

“This” would be the fractured and dislocated sternum Annett was diagnosed with Wednesday, which could keep him out of the car for up to two months. The 26-year-old Iowa native complained of chest pain immediately after his head-on collision with the wall last Saturday, and spent a night in a Daytona Beach hospital for observation. But it wasn’t until a Wednesday follow-up visit that the injuries were discovered, and Thursday morning Annett had surgery in which a metal plate and screws were used to repair the sternum and return it to its natural position.

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The normal recovery time for such an injury is two months, said Dr. Jerry Punch, a trauma physician who also serves as a pit reporter for ESPN. But early signs are hopeful, given that Annett spent only a brief amount of time in intensive care following the surgery, is already able to gingerly walk around some, and was released from the hospital Friday afternoon.

“He’s a tough kid. He’s in great physical shape,” Punch said. “It just goes to show you — people don’t realize what good athletes these NASCAR drivers are. For him to come out of surgery with a plate and screws in his chest, and basically just do a drive-by in the ICU, that says a lot. He’s a tough kid.”

Punch said it can take time to diagnose such an injury, which occasionally goes undiscovered following highway automobile accidents, and would heal on its own over the course of several months. In Annett’s case, a desire to speed up recovery and avoid further complications led to immediate surgery, in which the sternum was pulled back into place using a plate. The recovery time is so long because the pieces of the fractured sternum can endanger other vital internal parts in the area, such as the lungs, trachea, esophagus, aorta or even the heart — not to mention the discomfort of being strapped into a race car with such an injury.

“Imagine if you had a broken arm and you’re trying to throw a baseball,” Punch said. “… That’s what happens when you try to use that sternum when you breathe. You’re using that fracture site whenever you’re breathing or turning or twisting or brushing your teeth.”

For RPM, the severity of Annett’s injuries came as a shock. Aric Almirola, a Sprint Cup Series driver for the team, is handling the No. 43 Nationwide car this weekend at Phoenix. Johns said Friday the organization was still working on lining up a driver as a longer-term replacement.

“We really weren’t expecting that,” Johns said of the injury. “The race car, everything was on the way out to Phoenix with Michael’s seat in it, ready for Michael to come here and race it. We really weren’t planning on this, because he was there. He was walking around the shop Monday talking to guys and everything. But every guy who drives one of these race cars is tough. It hit us unsuspected, but everybody’s done a good job out here getting everything swapped out for Aric. All of our race cars interchange real well, so the changeover was easy. But we were geared up for Michael to come out here.”

The injury was especially crushing given that Annett was coming off a breakout year in which he recorded a career-best 17 top-10 finishes, and his first top-fives on the Nationwide tour. Prior to this season, his goals were to win races and contend for the title. Now, his team can only hope to vie for the Nationwide owners’ championship, and gamble for a race victory when he returns.

“The biggest thing I’m dealing with is just the disappointment not only on Michael’s end, but everybody’s,” crew chief Philippe Lopez said.  “We were on such a roll at the end of last year. I think we were the only team that didn’t want to see the season come to an end. To say that we were looking forward to this year — everybody was. And for it to end like that … technically our season, it’s not over. But we can’t run for the driver’s championship any more. It’s not like were putting in a driver for the rest of the year. … We’re just going to try to minimize point damage, call not-too-conservative races because we’ve got nothing to lose, and really just focus on when Michael’s coming back.”

Lopez said he’s already circled Annett’s hopeful return date on the calendar, and realizes that he’s now effectively preparing for 2014. News that he’d be out of the car for so long was a difficult blow for the driver as well. “He was really down,” Lopez said. “Not hurting, just down emotionally. He was really pumped up about this season, coming off a career-best year. We all were. We’re just in shock.”

For now, RPM is focusing on the positives. Johns praised the work of Daytona’s Halifax Medical Center and NASCAR’s medical liaison team, which in the wake of the accident were also dealing with fans injured by debris from a final-lap crash that sent pieces of Kyle Larson’s car through the catchfence. With nothing to lose, the team can go for broke and chase race victories. And Annett seems to be recovering quicker than expected, getting out of the hospital in less time than doctors originally envisioned he’d spend in the ICU.

“He’s beating all the odds,” Johns said. “He’s in great shape. He’s an athlete. The guys who drive these race cars are athletes. I think that’s going to help his healing process. Of course, we’re hoping for a lot sooner, but we’re going to make sure he’s fully recovered before he gets back in a race car.”

And Annett’s name remains above the door of his yellow No. 43 car, waiting for that day when he comes back.

“His name definitely says above the door,” Johns said. “It’s Michael’s race team. It’s his race car.”

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Embattled Sprint Cup driver working his way back one step at a time

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Eight months removed from the biggest mistake of his life, AJ Allmendinger understands just how extraordinary second chances are – especially coming from the man who was forced to fire him.

Before the 2012 season even started, Allmendinger had attained a lifelong dream. He was hired to drive team owner Roger Penske’s No. 22 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

After 17 races in the Penske ride, his career was in shambles, as Allmendinger fell victim to a singular lapse in judgment and to a random drug test, administered at Kentucky Speedway, that discovered amphetamine in his system.

Penske had no choice but to dismiss the 31-year-old driver after a "B" sample confirmed the results of the initial test. But Penske did so reluctantly, and since then the car owner, convinced that Allmendinger’s mistake was a one-time occurrence, has been working to help his former driver repair a shattered dream.

"There are times at home, sure, when you wake up, and it feels like Groundhog Day every day."

— AJ Allmendinger

After completing NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program last year, Allmendinger earned reinstatement to NASCAR competition and competed in four Cup races in James Finch’s No. 51 Chevrolet. In that same car, Allmendinger will make his 2013 Cup debut Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway.

Allmendinger also is scheduled to drive Finch’s car on Mar. 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway and Mar. 24 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. But the five-time Champ Car winner has other options, thanks to Penske. When details are finalized, Allmendinger will drive for Penske in IndyCar races at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala., at Long Beach, Calif., and in the Indianapolis 500.

To this day, Allmendinger is astounded by the level of loyalty and good will from his former — and perhaps future — boss.

"Let’s be honest. He didn’t have to keep talking to me," Allmendinger said, as he was preparing to defend Michael Shank Racing’s title in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in late January. "There was no reason for him to. Through the process and after the process, just calling me and making sure I’m good — it’s more than I ever expected or imagined or even felt like I deserved."

While Cup drivers were practicing for the Daytona 500, Allmendinger was two hours away in Sebring, Fla., testing an IndyCar with Penske drivers Will Power and Helio Castroneves. In a matter of hours, he was running competitive lap times.

Thankfully, the trend line is up for the young driver, who is at the same time gregarious and unpretentious. The offseason, on the other hand, had been a rough one.

"There are times at home, sure, when you wake up, and it feels like Groundhog Day every day," Allmendinger told the NASCAR Wire Service. "You go to the gym for a couple hours, and you’re like ‘All right…’ Hit some golf balls — ‘Sweet. All right, it’s 1 o’clock. I’m done now, and I don’t know what to do.’ That’s been tough, a little bit, throughout the winter.

"I’ve been so used to being at a race shop, getting ready to go, and January comes, and your life is chaos — and now it’s not. But at the same point, the phone’s still ringing, so that’s a good thing. I look at this season…it could be a tough year, or it could be one of the best years of my life. I could go drive a lot of race cars throughout the year and have a good time doing that.

"The way I look at it , I’m doing everything I can throughout a daily process to just know that whatever ride I get in, whatever opportunity I have, I’m ready to go, and I’ve given everything that I have."

Though Penske recognizes Allmendinger’s talent behind the wheel, the car owner feels a fondness for the driver that goes far beyond lap times and race wins. For his part, Allmendinger has difficulty believing his good fortune.

"It means the world to me," Allmendinger said. "It still kind of blows me away that he cares about me that much. I feel like I’m one of the luckiest people in the world, because that’s a guy that you want on your side.

"I’ve learned in this world that you have no idea what’s going to happen from day to day. I just know that I messed up really bad last year — like really, really bad — and I’ll never get over the fact that I disappointed Roger Penske.

"Even if my career skyrockets, and everything is great, that will always bother me, because I never wanted to do that. But if anything ever works out where we’re working together in the future, I will never take that for granted or mess that up again."

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54-year-old picks up his 56th career Coors Light Pole Award

STARTING LINEUP: SUBWAY FRESH FIT 500

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Mark Martin may not be the oldest driver to win a pole in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series — yet — but with his top qualifying effort Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, the seemingly ageless driver remains the second oldest on the list.

Martin, 54, was the only driver in time trials for Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 to top 138 mph. Martin’s lap at 138.074 mph, a record for the spring event at PIR, was good enough to edge Kasey Kahne (137.862 mph) for the top starting spot.

Jimmie Johnson was late to the grid after his car had issues on NASCAR’s newest inspection process, the laser platform, but that didn’t prevent the Daytona 500 winner from knocking out a lap at 137.804 mph to secure the third starting spot for Sunday’s race.

Kyle Busch (137.673 mph) qualified fourth, followed by Jeff Gordon (137.164 mph). Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman will start from positions six through 10 in the second Cup race of the season.

The chassis Martin drove to the pole position was the same one that qualified fastest in the Sprint race at Phoenix last year. Even with the new body style of the Gen-6 race car, his Camry was still fast.

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“We did bring a different car here last fall,” said Martin, who won his third pole at Phoenix. “We thought it was the cat daddy, and we didn’t run as well as we might have, and so it didn’t come back. I didn’t know until we were standing out there qualifying, and he (crew chief Rodney Childers) mentioned that this was the car from the spring.”

The pole was Martin’s 56th, breaking a tie with Bill Elliott for seventh on the career list. Driving a 24-race Cup schedule, Martin won the Coors Light pole award four times last season, and Kahne looks to the No. 55 Toyota Camry as one of the top contenders every time Martin is on the track.

“I watch everybody qualify, and when he goes out, he’s probably the guy, more than anyone else, that’s probably going to beat me — or it’s going to be close,” Kahne said. “That’s just the way it is with Mark right now. Last year it was the same way.

“He has a really good connection with Rodney, and the situation he’s in, and they’re fast when it comes to qualifying — every week.”

After his car passed inspection, Johnson’s crew pushed the No. 48 Chevrolet to the front of the grid in plenty of time to make the qualifying run.

“It’s really different now, because the machine (laser platform) runs its course, and everybody stands around waiting, and the lasers do what they do, and you’re either ‘pass’ or ‘no,’” Johnson said. “We had a couple of ‘No’s’ to start, and then it was right.

“It was something in the back of the car. That’s what the guys were saying.”

A week after leading the Daytona 500 field to green from the pole position, Danica Patrick will start 40th after a disappointing qualifying lap at 132.890 mph (27.090 seconds).

“It was just loose, Patrick said. “I just couldn’t turn the car… We really tried to chase that. We knew that from last year being here, that it was going to get loose in qualifying, and in practice, at the end, we made a change, and the car was dancing all around on top of the track.

“We thought we fixed it for qualifying, but we had the same problem again. It’s really disappointing. I know it’s good to qualify further up on these short tracks to stay on the lead lap. We know we always get better in the race, and that’s the strong part of the weekend usually for us, but to have a really great weekend all around, you’ve got to qualify better.”

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Kyle Busch clinches Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2 on Phoenix practice sheet

Matt Kenseth vaulted to the top of the speed chart Friday in the first practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Phoenix International Raceway.

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Kenseth, in his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing, turned a lap of 137.023 mph in preparation for Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500, the second race of the season for NASCAR’s top series. That speed edged teammate Kyle Busch’s 136.976 mph lap by a margin of nine thousandths of a second.

LEADERBOARD: Sprint Cup practice

Mark Martin was third-fastest with JGR’s Denny Hamlin, the 500-kilometer race’s defending champ, fourth in a top-four sweep by Toyotas. Carl Edwards completed the top five in a Ford.

Daytona 500 champ Jimmie Johnson turned in the sixth-fastest lap on the 1-mile oval.

Rookie Danica Patrick, fresh from her historic eighth-place finish at Daytona, was 30th-fastest of the 43 cars — more than half a second off the leader’s pace.

Kasey Kahne ran the most laps — 31 — in the practice session, notching the ninth-fastest time.

The session was slowed by a yellow flag 18 minutes into practice because of debris in turn three.

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Joe Gibbs Racing driver up one spot on Phoenix speed charts

RELATED: Friday practice speeds

Kyle Busch, second in the first practice, upped his game to first place on the speed charts in the second and final NASCAR Nationwide Series practice Friday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway.

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Busch posted a lap of 132.115 mph on the 1-mile oval in preparation for Saturday’s Dollar General 200 fueled by AmeriGas. His Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was just ahead of Daytona 500 champ Jimmie Johnson’s 131.791 mph lap.

Star rookie Kyle Larson was third in a Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet at 131.555 mph. Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott completed the top five.

Austin Dillon, tops in the first practice, was 13th in the second session.

Aric Almirola — filling in for the injured Michael Annett, who had surgery Friday on his broken and dislocated sternum — was 15th-fastest in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Mustang.

Ryan Sieg, racing in place of the suspended Jeremy Clements, was 29th in the No. 51 Chevrolet.

The 50-minute session was slowed once by a caution period, caused by debris in the first turn 10 minutes in.

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RCR driver sets bar high in early prep at Phoenix

Austin Dillon led the way Friday in the first practice for Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.

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Dillon, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, clocked a fast lap of 133.087 mph late in the session in preparation for Saturday’s Dollar General 200 fueled by AmeriGas.

LEADERBOARD: Nationwide practice

Dillon’s fast lap knocked Kyle Busch’s 132.173 mph lap to second place on the speed chart. Busch, driving the No. 54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, is seeking his first Nationwide win since Sept. 2011.

Dillon’s RCR teammate Brian Scott (131.699 mph) was third on the speed charts in another Chevrolet. Rookie Kyle Larson, involved in last weekend’s severe crash on the final lap at Daytona International Speedway, was fourth-fastest at 131.109 mph. He was just ahead of Regan Smith, who chimed in at 131.071.

Daytona 500 champ Jimmie Johnson, scheduled to make just his second Nationwide start in three years, was sixth-fastest with a best lap at 131 mph flat. Aric Almirola, Justin Allgaier, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick completed the top 10.

Rookie Travis Pastrana was the first driver on the track, logging the most laps — 53 — in the opening practice on the 1-mile oval. He wound up 20th out of 38 drivers on the speed list.

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