Michigan International Speedway Tag

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor To say its been an abysmal stretch of racing for Hendrick Motorsports would be an understatement. The highest HMS car currently in the championship standings is Jimmie Johnson in ninth, and currently as things stand only Johnson and rookie Chase Elliott would be representing the organization in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. However, even after just accumulating three top-10 finishes between their four team cars over the last eight races, Hendrick Motorsports showcased some big-time speed Friday in qualifying for Sunday’s Pure MichiganRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Michigan, the impetus for all three manufacturers to run well is accelerated as two of the three, Ford and Chevrolet, are located down the road in Detroit, while Japanese based Toyota always looks to steal the show from the hometown favorites. On Friday, the manufacturer wars heated up ahead of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 as all three manufacturers were well represented in the top-three of the lineup for the race. Though Toyota gained the upper hand inRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After dealing with rain and the Bristol night race being postponed to Sunday afternoon last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads north to Michigan to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the Pure Michigan 400, which marks three races remaining in the regular season. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this race for braggingRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last time the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visited Michigan International Speedway, Kyle Busch took home the victory in dramatic fashion, beating Ryan Blaney by just over a tenth of a second. Erik Jones was the highest finishing Truck Series regular in third. The last time a contender for the Truck Series Championship took home the victory was in 2014 when Johnny Sauter took home the checkered flag. Sauter and Travis Kvapil are the only past winners in the field this weekend. Truck SeriesRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Three races remain until the 2016 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup begins, and already 12 drivers have locked up a spot in the Chase Grid by way of winning a race. With Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher finding victory lane already, that leaves four spots left up for grabs over the next three weeks. Here are the drivers that are left battling forRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor We all know Dale Jarrett as a NASCAR Hall of Famer and the 1999 Winston Cup Champion, but his road to glory began way back in 1991 when he scored his first Winston Cup win in a photo finish with Davey Allison at Michigan. As the Sprint Cup Series heads to Michigan this weekend, this week’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” will look back at that race, the 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400. Heading into Michigan, Jarrett had run six seasons in the Cup Series,Read More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor It’s hard to believe, but of Brad Keselowski’s 21-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories none have come at his hometown track — Michigan International Speedway. Keselowski always puts extra pressure on his shoulders when he comes back home, and he talked about that a few months ago. “It is a key weekend for us as a whole. For that I am thankful that I am from that same town as well,” Keselowski said. “For me it puts a lot of pressure coming to this race. BothRead More

SHOW #415 – Driver Spotlight: Daniel Suarez, we recap the Michigan race weekend, tell you what some drivers are doing for the off weekend, #42 busted again, who is on Forbes richest list from NASCAR, ThorSport burns, a full Iowa preview, plus we unveil the all new Final Lap logo (like it?) Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Toby Christie DOWNLOAD HERE CREDITS: Hosts: Kerry Murphey & Toby Christie Executive Producer: Kerry Murphey Music: Russell Nash Audio Director Voice Over: Thomas Moog SUBSCRIBE FREE HERE RSS FEED RADIO STATIONS CLICK HERERead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Following a third-place finish in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, we learned that Kyle Larson’s car failed post race laser inspection. As a result we knew there would be punishments, Wednesday we learned as to what extent the team would be punished as NASCAR sent out it’s penalty report. The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team received a P3 penalty in Michigan post-race inspection. As a result, driver Kyle Larson and team owner Chip Ganassi have each been docked 15 championship pointsRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Tony Stewart’s weekend at Michigan International Speedway did not start fast as he was 20th after the first practice. However, Stewart qualified third for the FireKeepers Casino 400. Stewart was also outside the top 15 in both of Saturday’s practice sessions. When the race started, Stewart stayed in the top five for the first 40 laps. Stewart had some close calls as both he and those around him fought hard to control their loose racecars with the new rules package, which took away more downforceRead More