Stewart Goes Rockstar

Tony Stewart was recently spotted with his good friend and celebrity, none other than Robert James Ritchie himself, or as you may know him, Kid Rock. Stewart was at the Motor City Casino in Detroit, Michigan earlier in the week to promote NASCAR’s upcoming race in Michigan, and Kid Rock just happened to be in the neighborhood, so he thought he’d stop by to say hello.

Stewart and Kid Rock have been friends for many years now, ever since they met at a concert in Charlotte, and Stewart even once raced a “Kid Rock” paint scheme on his [then] Busch Series car. The two shared a few laughs and threw some good natured ribbing at one another in front of the cameras, and then Stewart got to talking about his modified attitude this year.

He attributed his ability to play nice with the rest of the guys in the garage so far this year to, pretty much, everyone just keeping it clean out on the race track. He also stated that he’s having some of the most fun and running some of the best races he’s ever had, despite not having a Sprint Cup victory to his credit in 2008. When asked about his future plans with Joe Gibbs Racing following this year, he insisted that it has always been his intention to remain with the team since day 1.

In Other News:
- Mark Martin led the field in Sprint Cup Happy Hour practice on Friday with a quick lap of 27.843 seconds. This was good news for Martin fans, as he ran his no. 8 Chevy Impala only 13th fastest in the second practice session after qualifying 4th. Jimmie Johnson – the last race winner at Phoenix – ran second fastest in Happy Hour, and led the 2nd practice session with a lap of 27.630 seconds. Johnson will start Saturday night’s race from the 7th spot. Martin Truex Jr, Greg Biffle, and Casey Mears completed the top-five quickest in Happy Hour.

- Speaking of Mark Martin, he was recently posed with the question of whom he considered to be the best race car driver of all-time. His answer? Well, it wasn’t a simple one … instead of dropping just one name, Mark decided to offer up a small list that included racing legends Dale Earnhardt, Larry Phillips, and Al Unser Jr, as well as current starts Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Whose name didn’t he give? His own, as he admittedly doesn’t consider himself to be in the same class. He went onto talk about how you can’t judge the greatness of a driver based on their trophies, you have to base it on their ability to be able to drive any racecar on any day.