Saturday at Phoenix: Tornados, Rain and Sons of Thunder

This race weekend Saturday turned out to be one heckuva NASCAR news day. There was a big sponsorship announcement for Stewart-Haas, an actual weather event and an on-track storm which warrants a red flag warning for Homestead.

First, Tornados: A major sponsorship deal for the #39 Chevy was announced today at PIR. Tornados, a brand of frozen Mexican convenience food, will be Ryan Newman’s primary sponsor for five Sprint Cup races beginning in 2010. When not serving as a primary, Tornados will take associate sponsor status on the car’s lower-rear quarterpanel. The Tornados paint scheme was also unveiled today at Phoenix International Raceway's Victory Lane.

Second, rain: It may have been brief, but the rain shower in the desert caused the cancellation of the first Cup practice and an unexpected appearance by the jet dryers. As Dale Junior's spotter T.J. Majors said via Twitter earlier today, "Rains 3 times a year and 2 of the 3 are when we are here."

Third, Sons of Thunder: The two lightning rods for NASCAR Nationwide controversy are at it again - and the fans are loving every minute of it. Tonight's dust-up between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski started with Ham getting into Special K a bit as they raced for position...and it ended with Keselowski returning the favor by sending Denny into the fence (video below).

Although fans were hoping for a Cale Yarborough-style smackdown on pit road, all they got was a war of words. And Hamlin's still talking. About 30 minutes ago, he broadcast via Twitter "Yall are waitin on something aren't ya... Haha." If Hamlin backs up his post-race trash talk, he should be settling his score with Brad on the track at Homestead, which could be just the storyline NASCAR needs. Only time will tell...but so far he's been a man of many words and little action.

Speaking of Sons of Thunder, Kyle Busch, failed to wrap up the Nationwide Championship - thanks to a win by Carl Edwards and a ninth-place finish of his own. But he didn't fail to elude those pesky cameras again. Chalk up another disappearing act for Rowdy.