By Mike Smith

Published Monday, April 20, 2009 | 10:33 p.m.

Updated Monday, April 20, 2009 | 10:43 p.m.

Before we get to the sketch pad from the race, there were a few things I noticed while wandering around the garage area at Phoenix.

The Cup cars are pushed through the inspection process in the infield by crew members, which means that one crew member from each team is responsible for steering a car while also pushing the car. It takes some muscle to crank on the steering wheel without the assistance of power steering while the engines aren’t running. But the No. 43 team has come up with a way to make this process a little easier. Instead of installing the steering wheel used by the driver, the No. 43 team had a much larger, white wheel, which would make it easier for a crew member to have some pulling power.

Mike Smith

Here’s a photo of the extremely sharp 2010 Chevy Camaro pace car. Now isn’t this a cooler looking car than the COT? NASCAR should put a splitter and wing on the car and start racing it. I don’t care if it’s used first in the Nationwide series or not, let’s get this machine and the Mustang on the track.

Mike Smith

Arizona is the Grand Canyon State and given how well Mark Martin and the No. 5 car performed, who knows what could have been possible.

Mike Smith

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car had a split personality most of the race.

Mike Smith

Nevadans always joke that the insects in Las Vegas are huge because they’ve spent years being exposed to radiation from the Nevada Test Site. But the bugs at the Phoenix track make our bugs look insignificant. I even heard drivers complaining on their radios that the massive number of large bugs that had committed suicide on their windshields impaired their vision.

Mike Smith

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