CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tony Stewart does not consider the Daytona 500 a disaster, despite the engine problems that spoiled his return to racing from a broken right leg. The three-time NASCAR champion wound up 35th in the season-opening race, but he logged enough laps during Speedweeks that he feels good going into the upcoming stretch of seven consecutive races. Stewart missed the final 15 races last year after breaking his leg in two places during a sprint car crash in Iowa. His first time back in a race car was Feb. 14, the day before he competed -- and was crashed out of -- the exhibition Sprint Unlimited. He also raced in the Budweiser Duel before the 500, giving him 672 miles of racing in three events. Stewart goes to Sundays race at Phoenix International Raceway "a lot more confident than I was before we got to Daytona." "I think having all the races that we ran, and actually getting in a crash, while not a great thing, allowed me to sort of test my leg and it felt good," Stewart said in a Stewart-Haas Racing team release. "There have been some little things that have felt a little different, but for the most part, its felt like an old pair of tennis shoes that youre just comfortable with. I think the whole time in Daytona exceeded my expectations of what I hoped it would be like." But the 500 itself was a letdown for SHR. Stewart had the engine issue and Danica Patrick was involved in a crash and finished 40th. It left only Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, the two newcomers to the organization, in contention for a solid finish and both had difficulties at the end. Busch wound up 21st and Harvick was involved in the final accident of the race and finished a team-best 13th. Stewart said Sundays race at Phoenix will be a better indicator of where the team is than Daytona, one of only four restrictor-plate races on the schedule. "Daytona and Talladega have always just been two different forms of racing," Stewart said, referring to the necessary teamwork and drafting. "What happens at Phoenix and the races after that has to be done on your own. You cant help each other at Phoenix. You just have to go race." He likes his chances at Phoenix, where he has one win, eight top-fives and 12 top-10s in 23 career starts. Hes completed all but 14 of 7,257 laps on the 1-mile oval. But PIR is also the place that pushed Stewart into becoming a full-time race car driver in 1993. Still working eight-hour days at $5-an-hour at a machine shop in Columbus, Ind., Stewart headed West to run USAC Silver Crown season-opening Copper World Classic. He qualified second to Davey Hamilton, then led 31 of 50 laps before finishing second to Mike Bliss. Stewart earned $3,500 that day -- a payout that convinced him running the Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget races across the nation that year sounded a lot better than returning to the machine shop. He never looked back, learning how to adapt in every kind of car he drove out of "fear that Im going to have to get a real job if Im not successful. "To think that it all kind of started at Phoenix, I guess you could say its the place where my career came full-circle," he said. Wholesale Air Jordan Online . His brother — Red Lake chiropractor Richard Radford — is en route to Sochi to cheer on his younger brother. "Ive been getting texts from Eric and he just says the atmosphere is amazing, its special,” he said. Cheap Air Jordan From China . Osmond, of Marystown, N.L., fell in the middle of her routine and placed fifth in the ladies free skate at Iceberg Skating Palace (110.73 points), but that was all the Canadians needed after a strong performance by Kevin Reynolds in the mens free earlier Sunday. http://www.wholesaleairjordan.com/ .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at LeBron James and the Miami Heat winning their second straight NBA championship. Wholesale Air Jordan China . In a matchup of teams battling head-to-head for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccers Western Conference, the Whitecaps run to the post-season took a hard hit when FC Dallas blew open a tie game with two goals in the final minutes for a 3-1 victory Saturday night. Discount Air Jordan Shoes . -- Kevin Harvick pulled away on a restart with 47 laps to go and ended Chase Elliotts two-race winning streak in NASCARs Nationwide Series with a dominating victory early Saturday at Richmond International Raceway.Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm scored on Carolinas first two chances in the shootout, and the Hurricanes overcame blowing a third-period lead to top the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Tuesday night. The Avalanche rallied with goals from Matt Duchene and John Mitchell, but were shut out by Anton Khudobin in the tiebreaker. Rask opened the shootout with a deke to the backhand. Lindholm also used the backhand to lift the puck over Calvin Pickards right pad. Jordan Staal and Patrick Dwyer scored in regulation for the Hurricanes, who improved to 4-1-1 in January. Khudobin made 28 saves. Pickard stopped 44 shots for Colorado, which has opened a five-game road trip with consecutive one-goal losses. Duchene started the rally 25 seconds into the third. Mitchell beat Khudobin with a wrister shot from the right faceoff dot to tie it at 10:05. Staal scored Carolinas first goal on a give-and-go with Ryan Murphyy at 14:05 of the opening period.dddddddddddd I was happy with the start. It would have been nice to get a few more (goals) in the first, but that wasnt the case, said Carolina coach Bill Peters. The Hurricanes registered 20 first-round shots. (Pickard) made several good saves and kept us in the game in the first period, said Colorado coach Patrick Roy. Dwyer fired the puck through a Jay McClement screen and past Pickard to make it 2-0 at 6:03 of the second period. Duchene had hit the crossbar with a backhander less than two minutes earlier. Colorados Nathan MacKinnon was foiled twice later in the second. After ringing a shot off the left post, he was robbed by the glove of Khudobin from point-blank range. Game Notes Carolina beat Colorado for the fifth straight time at home ... Avalanche forward Ben Street returned to the lineup after missing 21 games with a hand injury. ' ' '0. The Texans have overwhelmingly gone with defence in the early rounds, choosing defenders with 14 of their 17 first- and second-round picks since 2004. FINE WITH THE MOVE: This years draft was pushed back from its usual time in April to May because Radio City Music Hall was unavailable. Smith was perfectly happy with the change for at least this year. "To have the first pick, the extra time has been good," Smith said. "I think that I enjoyed the schedule and the rhythm of the draft in April and would probably want to see it moved back, but Im enjoying it the fact that its in May this year for our selfish purposes." ' ' '