By Jared Turner Tony Stewart is mending Guess who showed up on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the first time since injuring his back in a recreational incident late last month? If you guessed Tony Stewart, you nailed it. The three-time Sprint Cup Series champion provided one of the truly feel-good stories of the weekend when he was spotted in the AMS garage talking with his substitute driver, Ty Dillon, moments after Friday’s rounds of Sprint Cup Series qualifying. While Stewart has not been medically cleared to race, his presence at the track can only mean one thing: His recovery is…

By Jerry Bonkowski Jimmie Johnson sailed through the 2015 26-race Sprint Cup regular season, winning four races, starting with a triumph at Atlanta in the second race of the campaign. Then came the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup. Johnson, based upon both what he had done in the regular season, as well as his prior six Cup championships, was considered one of the favorites to win the title yet again. But somehow, some way, Johnson became the biggest first round casualty, so to speak, being eliminated at a track (Dover International Speedway) where he had won a career-high 10 races in…

By Jared Turner ▸ Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a two-time Daytona 500 winner and finished no worse than third in last year's four restrictor-plate races. He'll be loaded for bear when the green flag drops on the 58th running of The Great American Race. ▸ Joey Logano won the two restrictor-plate races not won last year by Earnhardt Jr., going to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500 and the fall Talladega race. Expect Logano to be strong again. ▸ Sure, he's just a rookie, but Chase Elliott is no ordinary rookie. As driver of the No. 24 Chevy made famous by Jeff…