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Chad Knaus has been the best crew chief in NASCAR over the past decade-plus, but he didn't always seem like the happiest. That has changed, making his Daytona 500 win icing on the cake.

The new Gen-6 car didn't make a big splash in Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500. But that's OK. It was a good race -- and no one got hurt.

Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola aren't just part of the fitness movement among NASCAR drivers, they're taking it to a higher level, running a half-marathon Sunday morning before Daytona 500 qualifying.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been to the Chase party before. But performance breeds confidence, and Junior's performance in 2012 has been championship caliber.

Kyle Busch didn't need many words to evaluate the surface change made at Bristol Motor Speedway in an attempt to bring beating and banging back to the half-mile track after the spring race.

Carl Edwards isn't sure more stringent policies by Pocono Raceway or NASCAR would have helped avoid the tragedy that left one fan dead and nine others injured when lightning struck following Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

It looked like Jeff Gordon needed a miracle to get into Chase contention a few months ago. What he got Sunday at Pocono was rain and a desperately needed win.

NASCAR free agency wasn't supposed to get silly in 2012, what with all of the top Cup drivers expected to return to their teams in '13. Then Matt Kenseth dropped a bombshell.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is starting to make a habit of having run-ins with former and current teammates.

Hendrick Motorsports has dramatically shuffled its lineup by moving three crew chiefs to new drivers.

Not since the late Dale Earnhardt was wheeling the black No. 3 has one man evoked such angst in drivers. The fear factor simply is lacking in today's NASCAR.

NASCAR's finest have a million reasons to win Saturday night's All-Star Challenge at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But first they have to get into the show. And that's no easy task.

If Hendrick Motorsports really is slipping, many fans seem to be more than happy to see a changing of the guard away from four-time champion Jimmie Johnson.

What does Hendrick Motorsports -- inarguably the best team in NASCAR -- have to fear? Complacency, comfort, thinking it will always come so easy. Unfortunately for his competitors, Rick Hendrick knows that all too well.

Was the wreckfest in Bud Shootout practice what NASCAR had in mind when league officials told drivers to mix it up on the racetrack? We'll find out Saturday night.

Mark Martin has finished second for the championship before, and he's very likely to finish there again next Sunday. But he can live with that. Besides, there's always hope.