Next four turns offer Cup series fans tons of excitement

The next four races on the Sprint Cup Series schedule should have fans excited.

Over the next month NASCAR's top division will visit four tracks that are about as diverse as they come. But they all have one common denominator -- a reputation for exciting racing.

Jimmie Johnson waved the checkered flag in both Phoenix races last year. (Getty Images)

We kick off the post-Easter stretch this Saturday night under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway. PIR has always been a track that suits nearly every kind of competition imaginable.

Whether it's open-wheel midgets and sprints, late-model stock cars, trucks or NASCAR's top two divisions, the desert oval allows for side-by-side racing and close competition.

Since the inception of the new Sprint Cup car, Phoenix is one of a handful of tracks where the COT regularly puts on a good show. Although technically a superspeedway at a mile in length, PIR drives like a higher-speed short track with multiple grooves and different lines for drivers to choose.

"You put whatever kind of car you want to put on Phoenix, you're going to have a good race," Jeff Burton said. "The shape of the racetrack, the size of the racetrack is gonna put on good races. Two different corners, entrances, means one car is going to be good in this corner, the next one in that corner. That means they're going to have a lot of cars that are competitive."

After the checkered flag flies in Arizona, the traveling circus heads to Alabama for the second restrictor plate race of the year at Talladega Superspeedway.

Although the 2.66-mile track shares the distinction as being one of only two plate tracks on the schedule with its sister in Daytona, that's the only similarity between the two.

Since Talladega was resurfaced two years ago there's much more grip than the old worn out pavement used to provide allowing the already tightly packed groups of cars to fan out even further.

"We were running four wide nearly all the way around the place last fall," Greg Biffle said. "It was pretty wild."

Getting out of Talladega in one piece sends you on the way to Darlington, another grand old venue that underwent a recent facelift.

But although the pavement may be new at "The Lady in Black," the track is still narrow and as tight as any on the circuit.

Now things are just faster.

"It's awesome," Martin Truex Jr. said. "I've always been a fan of Darlington. I've just never been this fast."

The spring odyssey ends at Richmond International Raceway on the second Saturday night in May. The .75-mile bullring has become a favorite of drivers and fans after it was converted from a flat half-mile layout more than twenty years ago.

There may not be a more competitive stop on the calendar.

"You could race shopping carts at Richmond and it would be a good race," Tony Stewart said.

Four weeks, four races and four tracks. Every one of them completely different than the next and all with a personality of their own.

It is always one of most interesting stretches of the season.

Garage Chatter

• Stewart's success as an owner/driver has several other prominent names considering that option, including Dale Earnhardt Jr. He has made it known he would elevate his JR Motorsports Nationwide Series team to the Sprint Cup level if the proper sponsorship and funding is found. Earnhardt recently stated the cost of running a Nationwide team is not far from a Cup level operation and that a move to the top division might make better business sense. Former star and current broadcaster Rusty Wallace is also making noise about transforming his two car Nationwide team into a Sprint Cup effort by 2010. Again sponsorship is the key, but Wallace is prepared to elevate current NW drivers Stephen Wallace and Brendan Gaughan to the Cup Series if everything falls into place.

• Don't pencil Kentucky Speedway into the Sprint Cup Series schedule anytime soon. Despite Speedway Motorsports Inc. head Bruton Smith saying he was committed to bringing a Cup race to the track by 2010, the current lawsuit against NASCAR by the previous owners hasn't progressed at all and until some kind of determination is made in the case, NASCAR will not allow a Sprint Cup event at the facility.

• Defense attorneys for embattled Indy 500 winner and Indy Racing League champion Helio Castroneves made a motion for a mistrial at the driver's tax evasion court case this week. Castroneves is charged with deferring $5 million of his salary from Penske Racing into an annuity account that he planned to hide and avoid paying taxes. If convicted Castroneves could face more than six years in prison. Will Power will again pilot his Penske ride this weekend in the IRL's Grand Prix of Long Beach.