Today, marks the 65th anniversary of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ first race, held in 1949.

In what was then called the Strictly Stock division, the race was held at Charlotte Speedway, a .75-mile dirt track, and won by Jim Roper. It featured a 33-car field that included NASCAR Hall of Famers Tim Flock, Buck Baker, Lee Petty and Herb Thomas. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored two top-10 finishes at Michigan last weekend – a third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race and a seventh in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event – to boost his NASCAR national career top 10 total to 299.

One more, and he’ll become the 30th driver to reach the 300 top-10 plateau. … In conjunction with Hendrick Motorsports’ streak of five consecutive wins, Chevrolet has also won five straight.

The last manufacturer to win six straight races in NASCAR’s premier series: Chevrolet in 2007, when Hendrick Motorsports also won six consecutive races.