SM Staff

After a wild week of penalties, shakeups to the Chase line up, and a lengthy rain delay to boot, here is what else was...

Rick Hendrick admitted Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway that the only thing he knew for sure after last weekend’s race in Richmond was Clint Bowyer had spun with seven laps to go.

Once we get past all the chaos and controversy surrounding Richmond; it becomes apparent that we still have a championship battle to talk about! Thirteen...yes, thirteen racers will battle tooth and nail for the coveted Sprint Cup trophy and they have ten races to get it done.

This past week has been unprecedented and historic for the sport of NASCAR, with the sanctioning body announcing the two major penalties, the first for Michael Waltrip Racing on Monday and then Friday announcing probation for Penske and Front Row Motorsports, as well as the historic placement of a thirteenth driver into the Chase, Jeff Gordon.

What a strange week. Just when I thought NASCAR was handling things right, things go haywire. After the events at Richmond (I won’t go into it—you know the story), I thought the sanctioning body had made some tough decisions in displacing Martin Truex from the Chase and adding Ryan Newman, but what happened today was almost unbelievable.

With a pass on Brad Keselowski with 23 laps to go, Kyle Busch would take the lead and hold Keselowski off to win the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night. It marks Busch’s fourth win of the season and seventh top 10 in eight starts this year.

The eventful NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season has finally come to a close, and we head onto the opening week of the 2013 Chase for the Sprint Cup this week at Chicagoland Speedway. It has been a fantastic regular season, filled with parody, the broadest spectrum of winners we've ever seen in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and of course drama.

A new leaf has been turned over at Phoenix Racing. With Harry Scott Jr. taking over the ownership duties, the team has new potential. With Scott’s ideas for the team, a more competitive No.51 could be seen on track in the near future. Choosing a driver or drivers will be the first task at hand. The driver pool may not be as big as it was earlier this season though.

Kyle Busch would pass Brad Keselowski with 23 laps to go to pick up his fourth win this season in his eight Camping World Truck Series start of the year.

As if we thought the fallout from Richmond couldn't get any more bizarre...NASCAR has stunned us with another unprecedented move. They have expanded the...