NASCAR Podcast
Aug. 17, 2013
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
BROOKLYN, Mich. — With six laps left in Saturday’s Michigan National Guard 200 at Michigan International Speedway, Kyle Busch appeared destined to win his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the two-mile track.
Continue reading “Late Pass Gives James Buescher Truck Series Win At Michigan”
Martin Truex Jr. enters this Sunday’s race on the top 10 “bubble” but enjoying the best of all possible worlds under the circumstances. Truex is just two points up on Kurt Busch but with one victory holds a potential Chase Wild Card should he fall out of the top 10. Kasey Kahne (12th) provisionally holds the first Wild Card and is the only driver ranked 11th through 20th with two victories. The second Wild Card currently belongs to Indianapolis winner Ryan Newman (14th).
Hendrick Motorsports failed to place a driver among the top 25 in June’s visit to Michigan International Speedway and that could portend further trouble for four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon, whose Chase hopes took a big hit with an early-race accident and 36th-place finish at Watkins Glen. Gordon dropped four positions – ninth to 13th – and stands 15 points outside the top 10 with four races remaining before the Chase lineup is set. Gordon is a two-time Michigan winner but not since his 2001 championship season. He was 39th in June, an accident victim along with teammate Kasey Kahne.
Photo: Jeff Gordon’s #24 Paint Scheme for Michigan this weekend
Kyle Busch hasn’t clinched a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – at least not yet. But his third victory of the year at Watkins Glen International gave the Las Vegas competitor bragging rights to the season’s third-best victory total – three – and a potential nine Chase bonus points when he inevitably lands a top-10 Chase berth. Busch should be a potential winner again this week having captured the Pure Michigan 400 in 2011. He finished fourth when NASCAR’s premier series visited MIS in June. Another favorite: Kevin Harvick, winner of the track’s August race in 2010. Harvick finished second to Greg Biffle in June.
Brad Keselowski faces pressure on several fronts. The Pure Michigan 400 is a home race for the Rochester Hills, Mich. native, who finished second and third, respectively, in the past two August events. Keselowski was among the big movers over the weekend in upstate New York, his runner-up finish to Kyle Busch vaulting the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion to eighth in the standings. He leads 11th-place Kurt Busch by 11 points. Without a victory, Keselowski doesn’t have the luxury of a potential Wild Card Chase entry.
