Pure Michigan 400 Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JIMMIE JOHNSON ENCOURAGED DESPITE PIT ROAD SNAFU BROOKLYN, Mich. – Despite a pit road problem that ruined his winning chances, Jimmie Johnson was surprisingly chipper after his sixth-place run in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan Speedway. Johnson led 37 laps, four fewer than race winner Kyle Larson, but the six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion lost 10 seconds on pit road when his second can of fuel failed to engage properly with the intake during a green-flag stop from the lead on LapRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Tony Stewart’s final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season may go in the books as his most memorable. After a hellacious start to the season that saw the three-time series champion sidelined for the first eight races with a severe back injury after an offseason incident in a sand dune in California, Stewart has come back to win his first race since 2013 in dramatic fashion at Sonoma. Now after months of consistent racing, Stewart has officially secured himself a berth in the 2016 Chase for the SprintRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – In the last few laps of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, tears began to well up in Kyle Larson’s eyes. When Larson subsequently took the checkered flag to win the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of his career, the emotion was all but overwhelming—and for good reason. The victory came in Larson’s 99th start in the series, long after most observers expected Larson to record his first win. It also broke a 99-race drought for Chip GanassiRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor With just three races remaining in the regular season, all eyes were on the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies to see how they would fare on the fast two-mile oval at Michigan International Speedway and whether the other rookies could join Chris Buescher in the win column. Picking up right where he left off in June, Chase Elliott was stellar throughout the weekend at Michigan as he looked for redemption from his near win at the track earlier this season. Elliott started the dayRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Ryan Newman has made it into the Chase for the Sprint Cup field in each of the past three seasons, and two years ago he nearly won the championship. But with two races remaining until the 2016 Chase begins, Newman finds himself in a precarious position — outside the cutoff line. In the midst of a 112-race winless drought, Newman finds himself 15 points behind Jamie McMurray for the final Chase Grid position. Heading into Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Newman wasRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Two-thirds of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is in the books, and for the most part Toyota has had a stranglehold on the rest of the field. But over the last couple of weeks, it appears that perhaps Toyota drivers won’t simply run uncontested into Homestead. Kevin Harvick, who hadn’t won a race since the middle of March, finally reached victory lane again last weekend in his No. 4 Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway. After the race at Bristol was over with, thereRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Alex Bowman, filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is still recovering from concussion symptoms, certainly opened some eyes during his stint behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Bowman started a career-best sixth after qualifying for the Pure Michigan 400 on Friday, and when the race started on Sunday he was in the mix for a win. Bowman was a solid top-five contender during the early portions of the race, when all of a sudden his car began to dropRead More

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