Phoenix "News" and Notes

--Finally back to real racing!  No, seriously, for real this time!

--After a soggy few days at Daytona, Sprint Cup & Nationwide head out to the desert...where they're calling for torrential rains on Saturday.

--Weather-permitting, this weekend is the debut of group qualifying, thus adding to the drama of who makes the race: Dave Blaney, or Parker Kligerman?

--Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be without his usual spotter this weekend.  The special guest spotter?  Bill Elliott.  Here's hoping Junior doesn't mind hearing the word "awesome" about 400 times.

--This will also be he first race weekend in years that will not have Bobby Labonte involved, for reasons other than "Getting Dingered"

--Oh, and prepare for plenty of "Why are they cutting across the dogleg?" questions.

Spade Racing Movie Previews: Moving into Spring

With a particularly rough winter likely to lead to a particularly damp spring, people everywhere are looking to spend a few hours at the local multiplex.  Here's a few movies coming out with a Nascar-theme.

300: Rise of an Empire:  The star of the Nationwide Series band together to beat back the "Double-Duty" drivers taking away their chances to win, like Joe Nemechek and Landon Cassill.

Need for Speed:  An elite group of racers join for--wait, no, this isn't about racing per se.  This is the Jeremy Mayfield biopic.

Bad Words:  Brian France wages a one man war against the phrase that saps him of his powers--"Things are staying the same".

Enemy:  Richard Petty tries to survive the onslaught by Danica Patrick's biggest fan-base--people who don't watch racing.

One Chance:  Can Kurt Busch go an entire season without pissing everybody off?  Considering that he showed up on Nascar RaceHub with a custom-embroidered sport coat, I'm going to say 'No'.

Noah:  A raucous comedy about how a mid-afternoon rainstorm ruined the plans of tens of thousands of race fans at Daytona--what a hoot!

Sabotage:  The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers star in this modern-take on the classic Beastie Boys video.  With Kyle Busch as Nathan Wind as Cochese.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earns Chase for the Cup Berth

CLICK HERE FOR MY RECAP OF THE FIRST HALF OF SUNDAY'S ACTION

It took a long wait and a wild finish, but Dale Earnhardt Jr managed to race his way into the 2014 Chase for the Cup late Sunday night.

"Making the Chase, that's what it's all about!" a jubilant Junior said in Qualified for the Chase Lane, doused in confetti. "We went into his thing knowing that we had a shot to get one of those coveted Chase berths, and we really proved ourselves today!"

Earnhardt Jr. has been one of the most-successful drivers on the circuit the last few years, knocking off Chase berths at a record pace. However, he conceded that this one was special.

"To be able to make the Chase in 2014, the first year of the new Chase Grid system, that puts it up there with my all-time Chase qualifiers", said Dale Jr.  "To know that we have a 1 in 16 shot to lift the Sprint Cup trophy in November, it just doesn't get better than this."