This weekend the series heads to the Irish Hills of Michigan as the summer stretch heats up for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.
Looking at the point standings heading to Michigan, Carl Edwards leads but just by six points over Jimmie Johnson. Both he and Johnson have one win but Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in third has no wins.
Of the top 10 half of the drivers do not have a win and Tony Stewart who is ninth in points has only one top five finish this season. His teammate Ryan Newman is 10th in points but has four top fives and five top 10’s.
Denny Hamlin is 12th in points and is just three points behind Jeff Gordon but Gordon has two wins in the bank with the all important wildcard wins.
11th thru 20th is separated by 53 points and even closer is the battle from 11th thru 15th which is only separated by 28 points.
We are just past halfway to the Chase for Championship the battles are just getting tighter and tougher during the summer.
Momentum swing...
After Gordon’s historic win at Pocono Raceway last weekend Gordon heads to Michigan International Speedway on another two mile track.
MIS has been good to Gordon who has two wins, five poles, 18 top-fives and 23 top-10's at MIS. In 2009, Gordon finished second in both races and finished fourth a year ago.
Gordon hasn’t been shy about enjoying coming to MIS. I love Michigan -- it's one of my favorite tracks," said Gordon. Horsepower is important here because the straightaways are so long. You are on the throttle a long time. But handling well here through the corners - so you can carry speed off the corners and onto the long straights - is very important, too."
For Gordon and his team they are looking to make it two in a row and continue to bolster not only his Chase chances but his title hopes.
New model….
On Wednesday, Roush Fenway Owner Jack Roush said during a teleconference that the 2013 Ford prototypes for the Cup cars should be rolling out soon.
"The artwork and detail of the shape within the parameter of NASCAR's hard points is being worked on at this point," Roush said. "I know that the first cars that are being built are being built as marketing and image cars. Those cars will be done off the clay model configurations that are at the point of being finished. My understanding is we will have the bodywork ready to start assembling the car in the next couple of weeks."
Ford will be running the Mustang while Dodge has said they will use the Challenger template. Chevrolet and Toyota will stay with Impala and Camry, respectively.
MIS Facts:
The first races held at MIS were 500 mile events and the second was a 600 mile race. Since 1971 it has been a 400 mile race.
Roush Fenway Racing and Wood Brothers Racing have 11 wins combined, most of any team.
Denny Hamlin swept the races last season at MIS.
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