This Week in Auto Racing June 12 - 14

This Week in Auto Racing June 12 - 14

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - All three of NASCAR's national touring series are in action this weekend with the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series racing at Michigan and the Nationwide Series running under the lights at Kentucky.

Sprint Cup Series

LifeLock 400 - Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI

Tony Stewart is enjoying a sensational season in his first year as driver and owner in the Sprint Cup Series. With the victory at Pocono last Sunday, Stewart widened his lead to 71 points over Jeff Gordon and 103 ahead of Jimmie Johnson.

After starting the Pocono 500 from the rear of the field, in his backup car, Stewart stretched his fuel long enough at the end to become the first driver/owner to win a Cup race since Ricky Rudd did it in the 1998 fall race at Martinsville.

NASCAR's rule change for restarts went into effect at Pocono, with lead-lap cars lining up side-by-side just before the green flag waves. The race leader has the option to restart on the inside or outside lane.

"To the best of my knowledge there were not any hiccups with people not understanding where they were supposed to be," Stewart said. "It was awesome not having to deal with lap cars on restarts."

Stewart beat Carl Edwards out of the pits and then grabbed the lead during the fifth and final caution. He drove the final 102.5 miles without refueling to capture his 34th career Cup victory.

The two-time NASCAR Cup champion has been on a roll lately, finishing in the top-five in four of the last five races. He finished 19th at Charlotte, with the Coca-Cola 600 cut short 173 laps of the scheduled 400-lap distance due to rain.

Stewart hopes to keep his momentum going at Michigan, where he has one victory and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 starts there. He won the rain-shortened race there in June 2000.

Roush Fenway Racing has been dominant at Michigan, winning a Cup race there for seven consecutive years. Team owner Jack Roush, who resides 60 miles away from the two-mile track in Northville, MI, recorded his 11th victory there last August. Edwards held off Kyle Busch in a two-lap shootout to the finish to score his second win at Michigan and put Roush into a tie with the Wood Brothers for most victories at the track.

"It's always fun to race in front of the home crowd which is always my case," Roush said. "I've got my engineering business up here (Livonia, MI), and I've got of course all the exposure from Ford Motor Company, who's been our partner in auto racing for more than 30 years. It's fun to race in front of the manufacturer affiliation."

Edwards, currently sixth in points, has yet to win a race in 2009 after leading the series with nine victories last year.

"Michigan has a lot of personal history for me, and I'm always glad to go there," Edwards said. "It's where I made my first Cup start, where I made my 100th start and where I broke a 52-race winless streak with a win in June of 2007."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Michigan one year ago. Earnhardt, in his first year with Hendrick Motorsports, barely had enough fuel to hold off Kasey Kahne in a green-white-checkered finish before his car stalled just past the finish line. He snapped a 76-winless streak.

His most recent victory came at Michigan.

Last week at Dover, Earnhardt finished 12th in his first race with new crew chief Lance McGrew, who replaced Tony Eury Jr. At Pocono, he lacked grip on the track throughout the day and ended up finishing 27th.

"We're building Rome here, and we're still working on the communication," McGrew said. "We've just got to do a little better job of figuring out what the track is going to do the next day and make the appropriate changes the night before instead of trying to change it during the race. It'll come."

Forty-four teams are on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's LifeLock 400.

Nationwide Series

Meijer 300 - Kentucky Speedway - Sparta, KY

Kyle Busch said he got the monkey off his back with last Saturday's win at Nashville. After letting victories get away from him in three straight Nationwide Series races, Busch rebounded with a convincing win at the 1.333- mile, concrete-surfaced track.

Just how dominant has he been in Nationwide competition?

At age 24, Busch became the youngest driver to win 25 races in the series. He has also led the most laps in the past six events.

Busch, who is competing in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series this weekend, has become accustomed to winning. He has already accumulated nine victories in NASCAR's top three series.

In 2008, he tied Sam Ard's record for most Nationwide wins (10) in a season. He's on pace to break that record this year.

Kentucky will be the first race that Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano run together since their late-race encounter at Dover. Busch blew a tire and then Logano shoved him up the track after a restart with two laps to go. Brad Keselowski grabbed the lead and drove on to victory.

Logano finished third, while Busch came in 17th. Busch admitted he doesn't take losing well.

"I'm a sore loser, always have been," Busch said. "I'll throw the Monopoly board when I lose at Monopoly...My regular Nintendo systems back in the day took a beating from the controllers flying at them."

Busch, who currently holds a 65-point lead, has one victory at Kentucky, coming in 2004 when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports.

The first time I came there (in the Nationwide Series), I wrecked a car after qualifying second, and we took the backup car out and won with that," he said. "Last year, no one could touch us, and I wadded the car up in the race."

Logano is the defending race champion. He set a new record for becoming the youngest driver to win a Nationwide race at 18 years and 21 days. Busch battled Logano for the lead, but Busch spun and crashed with 36 laps to go.

Busch, who led the most laps with 85, ended up finishing 30th, while Logano picked up his first win in just his third start.

This will be Logano's only stand-alone event this year.

Jeremy Clements will serve as substitute driver for Logano during practice and qualifying, while Brad Coleman will stand in for Busch.

Forty-nine teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Meijer 300.

Camping World Truck Series

Michigan 200 - Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI

With his second-place finish last Friday at Texas, Matt Crafton grabbed the points lead for the first time in his Truck Series career. Crafton currently holds a 30-point lead over Ron Hornaday Jr., who finished 19th.

Hornaday's bid for a third consecutive win at Texas came to an end with a pit road speeding penalty mid-way through the event. He later suffered engine trouble which put him four laps behind.

Todd Bodine capitalized on a late-race pit strategy to win at Texas. Bodine elected not to pit for fuel during the last round of green-flag stops. He grabbed the lead with 43 laps remaining and held it for his fifth victory at Texas, becoming the first driver in the series to win that many races at the same track.

Bodine, the 2006 Truck Series champion, moved up to fourth in points (-66). Mike Skinner holds the third spot (-39).

This weekend's race at Michigan could likely see the points battle tighten up even more. Michigan has featured quick races and close finishes since the series started racing there in 1999.

Brendan Gaughan's 2003 win at Michigan remains the fastest truck event ever run. Gaughan averaged 154.044 m.p.h. and cruised to an 11.477 margin of victory in a race that wrapped up in one hour, 17 minutes and 54 seconds.

Gaughan is now a rookie contender in the Nationwide Series.

Last year, Erik Darnell won at Michigan in a thrilling conclusion. Darnell nipped Johnny Benson at the finish line by 0.005 seconds, making it the closest finish in series history.

Neither Benson nor Darnell will compete in this year's race at Michigan.

Earlier this week, Benson's No.1 Red Horse Racing team suspended operations due to lack of sponsorship. Benson, the defending series champion, is currently seventh in points with four top-10 finishes for the season.

Red Horse Racing said it will continue to field the No.11 Toyota, driven by T.J. Bell, as that team does have sponsorship.

Darnell is running a limited Nationwide schedule for Roush Fenway Racing this year. He will race Saturday night at Kentucky.

Thirty-two teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Michigan 200, four short of a full field.