The Michigan Mission

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers were in Michigan for the 23rd race of the 36 events on the schedule. The goal was to simply win the Pure Michigan 400!

Dale Earnhardt Jr. came into this race sitting 9th in the standings and just 36 points ahead of Clint Bowyer who arrived at Michigan 11th in the standings. Remember the top ten drivers in the standings at the end of 26 events will be entered into the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Followed by the two drivers outside the top 10 in points with the most victories, if drivers are tied with victories the driver in the best points position is chosen. So it's crucial to notice that Earnhardt Jr qualified eighth and Bowyer qualified 35th.

A victory for the pole sitter Greg Biffle would put him in contention with Denny Hamlin and Paul Menard to be one of the two drivers outside the top ten in points allowed into the Chase. However Denny Hamlin would start fourth and Paul Menard would start 11th, so the pressure was certainly on. Either way Jack Roush must have had spectacular confidence. They have been fast all weekend long and his drivers qualified 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 22nd. I was very surprised to see Carl Edwards being the driver who struggled during the qualifying and practice sessions.

There was a point during the Pure Michigan 400 where 4-time Champion Jeff Gordon began to show dominance on the track. An incredible statistic was pointed out while Gordon was leading... he led his 22,000th career lap in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. That in my eyes is a number I never thought a NASCAR driver would reach in terms of career laps led. However it would be debris on the grill that cost Gordon from having a flawless finish, even a small hot dog rapper would cause the #24 car to have a loose handling condition and begin to overheat. He would go on to finish in sixth.

It would be Kyle Busch who would go on to earn the victory at Michigan for his fourth win of the season, which is now the most wins in the series this season. Kyle qualified that #18 Toyota Camry in 17th, but he was second fastest of the 43 cars in the final practice session (after qualifying session). So we all had a hunch "Rowdy" Busch would be quick on race day as always. This is the 100th victory for Toyota in NASCAR. Instead of the Roush drivers earning the wins at Michigan, a Toyota driver has won four of the last five races at Michigan.

Clint Bowyer and that #33 Cheerios Chevrolet team struggled throughout the entire weekend... except when it came to race day. Clint started 35th but there was a bit more confidence in that team's garage area after being 13th fastest in the final practice. After some patience and handling adjustments Bowyer managed to earn an eighth place finish. In his interview during the post-race show Clint explained the standings situation. He is aware that he didn't gain enough points on the driver in the 10th place spot, but he feels he has the ability to earn a few top 10's before the Chase begins. We might see him in the battle for the Championship.

Michigan Results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Jimmie Johnson

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Mark Martin

5. Ryan Newman

6. Jeff Gordon

7. Kasey Kahne

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Tony Stewart

10. Matt Kenseth

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr

20. Greg Biffle

22. Kevin Harvick

36. Carl Edwards

Images from: http://galleries.nascar.com/gallery/2011_Pure_Michigan_400

Written by: Tyler McMurter

Five To Go!

Things are beginning to get even more exciting in the fast-paced world of NASCAR racing. Now there is only five races remaining on the schedule until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins. It's starting to become very crucial for drivers outside the top ten in the standings to win a race.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup series championship was introduced about seven years ago in an attempt to create NASCAR's version of the playoffs. Over the years the rules have been slightly adjusted to the liking of the fans and drivers. This season the top ten in the standings will be automatically eligible for the Championship, but there will be two other drivers eligible as well. The two drivers with the most victories that are sitting outside the top ten in the standings will also become Chase contenders.

NASCAR has seen three different drivers win their first career Sprint Cup series victory this season. All three times this happened, it took place on a legendary auto racing circuit. Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500, Regan Smith held off Carl Edwards to win at Darlington, and Paul Menard held off Jeff Gordon to win at Indianapolis. These first-time winners and other unlikely winners have prevented any drivers from dominating when it comes to having the most wins this season.

Brad Keselowski suffered a broken left ankle and damaged his right foot in the process. This happened when Brad was racing on Wednesday August 3rd while test driving a race car, he hit a wall that was not protected with the "safer barrier" material that is used at most NASCAR circuits to prevent injury. However, Keselowski managed to pull off an incredible victory at Pocono this past weekend. Both cars owned my Roger Penske elected to pit under green flag racing conditions before the rain began, knowing the track is too big for them to go a lap down from pitting while everyone is racing. The rest of the drivers pit under the caution for rain which gave the Penske cars amazing track position.

Brad Keselowski managed to take the lead on a restart with just 16 laps to go. The "blue deuce" driven by Keselowski was fast enough to hold off his successful nemesis Kyle Busch for his second victory of the season and third of his career in the Sprint Cup series. Kurt Busch earned an impressive third place finish after trading paint with Jimmie Johnson on the final lap. Johnson claims he didn't cut off Kurt Busch coming out of turn two, but it's clear as day on the replay that's exactly what happened. Both drivers exchanged words after the race on pit road, but pit crew members of the #48 team separated the furious NASCAR warriors.

Watkins Glen is the next track these talented drivers will compete on. It's the second of the two road course events that NASCAR travels to for the Sprint Cup series drivers to race. NASCAR has been coming to Watkins Glen International once every year since 1986. Most auto racing experts know Jeff Gordon is the most successful driver at the road course Infineon Raceway, however Tony Stewart is the master of Watkins Glen. Tony has six victories at "The Glen" and they have all been within the last ten years.


Juan-Pablo Montoya emerged victorious in last season's race at Watkins Glen International, Kyle Busch won the event in 2008, and Jeff Gordon has four wins at this particular road course... any of these three drivers could be the one to take the victory away from Tony Stewart. Kurt Busch won the race at Infineon Raceway earlier this season by using a strategy which involved only pitting on two occasions instead of three. Jeff Gordon finished second, Carl Edwards finished third, Clint Bowyer finished fourth, and Marcos Ambrose finished fifth. Make sure you tune in this Sunday!



Current Standings... ON THE BUBBLE:
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr -79
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11. Denny Hamlin -102
12. Clint Bowyer -120
13. Greg Biffle -123
14. Paul Menard -133
15. Mark Martin -153

Written by: Tyler McMurter