"I tell you Martin, those carrots were this big!" (Getty)

If you were going to think of a NASCAR diet, the first things that come to mind are definitely not healthy. Unless you think the funnel bacakonator is healthy. If you do, you have issues. And I want to be your friend.

Anyway, during his press conference on Friday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was asked about his newfound consumption of carrot juice. Yes, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was drinking carrot juice. We'll let him explain. (The topic first came up on a Junior Motorsports podcast earlier in the week)

[Also: Danica Patrick, crew chief make for odd couple]

"A buddy of mine was talking about this detox diet, it’s like a 15 day deal and for the first eight days you drink prune juice and then the last half of it you drink carrot juice, so they were just picking on me, somebody that was talking in that podcast, I guess it was (JRM spokesman) Mike Davis," Junior said. "Just misinformed, I’m not drinking it all the time, but just during that little detox thing."

As a fitness professional, when I hear the

One last reminder to join our Fantasy Auto Racing group if you haven't had a chance to already. To join, simply click here or go to the Fantasy Auto Racing section on Yahoo and enter the following info:

Group ID: 32
Password: marbles

Need another incentive? The winner of our group gets a free door Wallhauler from TheRealArtofRacing.com. Thanks to the TheRealArtofRacing.com for the prize.

(Courtesy of Wallhaulers)

That Wallhauler will look pretty sweet next to your TV, don't you think?

New season, new Happy Hour! You know the drill. Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com or @NickBromberg. We'll post them here, have a good time and everyone's happy. Right? Oh who are we kidding, this is NASCAR. No one is ever happy.

So, last week. Daytona. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. It was damn fun to be a part of a pretty special crew with some pretty special stories throughout the week. A big part of that coverage? You-know-who. But she did her part to earn that coverage. We'll start with her. (P.S. that's the face I imagine Erin Andrews made as soon as she got a chance to react to her encounter with 50 Cent.)

Can we please give Danica enough respect and stop bringing up she's a girl and start referring to her as just a racer? I don't see the same ooh-and-ahhs for Johanna Long and I think she's hotter.
- Jimmy

I understand the Danica hype. This was one of 4 races she legitimately

Jeremy Clements. (Getty Images)On Tuesday, NASCAR suspended Nationwide driver Jeremy Clements for what it termed an "intolerable and insensitive remark." On Thursday, Clements gave ESPN's Marty Smith the broad outlines of the remark, without explicitly repeating it.

Apparently Clements was walking through the garage with an MTV reporter and a representative from NASCAR. According to Clements, he was escorting them to Johanna Long's hauler and was not in a specific interview situation. During the walk, he was talking with the reporter and made the remark. The remark was not recorded, and conversation continued afterward.

So what exactly did he say? He would not disclose the exact word or phrase. Here's the breakdown:

In a one-on-one interview with ESPN, Clements would not verbalize the specific comments he made, but when pressed for clarity about whether or not it was racial, he paused. Asked again, "Was it racial or not? Maybe not in context, but in term?" Clements replied: "Correct."

"When you say 'racial' remark,

Jeremy Clements (Getty)NASCAR announced Tuesday that it had suspended Nationwide Series driver Jeremy Clements for comments he made in an interview on Saturday.

What interview that was or what Clements said is unknown, however.

“During the course of an interview, Jeremy Clements made an intolerable and insensitive remark,” NASCAR Senior VP of Racing Operations Steve O'Donnell said in a release. “NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that’s explicitly spelled out in the 2013 NASCAR Rule Book. We fully expect our entire industry to adhere to that Code.”

Tuesday evening, Clements posted the following statement to his team's Facebook page:

“I apologize and regret what I said to the NASCAR writer and to NASCAR, my sponsors, my fans, and my team. NASCAR has a Code of Conduct that everyone must follow and I unintentionally violated that code. I will not get into specifics of what I said but my comment to the writer was in no way meant to be disrespectful or insensitive to anyone or to be detrimental to NASCAR or the

Michael Annett will miss Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Phoenix and will be out indefinitely after he was diagnosed with a fractured and dislocated sternum from a crash at Daytona International Speedway.

Annett was in an 11 car accident on lap 116 of the season-opening Nationwide Series race when his No. 43 got tagged and went head-on into the wall. After the accident, he was taken to Halifax Medical Center, where he was kept overnight for evaluation and further observation. According to a Richard Petty Motorsports release, Annett will immediately undergo surgery for the injury.

Aric Almirola, who drives RPM's No. 43 in the Sprint Cup Series, will drive Annett's car at Phoenix.

If a driver wins all five All-Star Race segments, that check could be for $2 million. (Getty)

The race format for the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway was unchanged, but on Tuesday, the speedway announced that an extra $1 million will be given to a driver if he or she wins all five race segments.

The race will still be broken into four segments of 20 laps and a final 10 lap segment, but instead of being based on the finishing order of the fourth segment or how the drivers came off pit road between segments, the final segment will be determined by a driver's average finish in the first four segments.

Why's that? Well, last year, Jimmie Johnson laid back during the middle of the race. He won the first 20 lap segment, which ensured that he'd lead the field to pit road before the final 10 lap segment. So in that time between, Johnson was extra cautious at the back of the pack and he and crew chief Chad Knaus perfected the car's setup. After leading the field down pit road, Johnson then stormed to the lead over the final 10 laps for the win.

Will this extra $1

A new year means a new set of Power Rankings! After every race, we'll opine about who we think is at the top of the Sprint Cup heap and how and why they got there. Remember, this isn't scientific, as our formula is the perfect blend of analytics and bias against your favorite driver. So let's get on with it, shall we?

1. Jimmie Johnson. Well hello there, Mr. Vader. Have you ever been to the top before? It's quite nice, isn't it? Have a seat right there, we'll take you on a tour. That was some power move by JJ on the race's final restart, you guys. He was fortunate enough to be leading at the time the caution flag flew so that he had lane choice with six to go and held off the rest of the field. Side note: with the evidence that Johnson and team filed a "Harlem Shake" video on the Daytona infield after the race, it raises an important question: Will NASCAR ever NOT beat a pop culture trend into the ground long after the fad has passed?

2. Danica Patrick.