SM Staff

Marcos Ambrose captured the pole for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, CA with a lap of 95.262 MPH, 75.203 seconds around the 1.99-mile road course for his second pole in a row.

In the first Nationwide Series practice at Road America, Jacques Villeneuve topped the charts with a lap of 133.564 seconds. He was six tenths quicker than Nelson Piquet Jr., who was second on the charts.

While the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is off this weekend, series regular Miguel Paludo will be making his first ever Nationwide Series start at Road America. Paludo has been enjoying the atmosphere after arriving at the track early on Tuesday night after driving the motorhome from North Carolina.

“When you see a car and a driver get momentum, and all the cars are running real well, they’re sharing information, and Dale is just switched on,” Rick Hendrick says. “He’s got the confidence, Stevie has the touch and every week they’re the best by far. I think he’s sitting in the cat bird seat to win his first championship.”

Marcos Ambrose has been very consistent at the road courses in his NASCAR career and took home his only Sprint Cup series victory last season at Watkins Glen.

From blistering speeds to blistering tires, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 44th annual Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

"I’m a little disappointed. We’ve felt that we’ve had very strong racecars week-in-week-out, and for whatever reason, we’re not finishing the way we should. We’re struggling a little bit for the finishes, but not all of it is our fault. Some of it is mechanical failures, crashes, and things that are unfortunate, yet out of our control."

Going into a season running a new type of car, you'd think the biggest thing that'd stand in the way of having a good, solid finish would be learning how to drive the cars. However, so far for Rob Poole and team, it's been bad luck that has been bitten him so far.

After almost four years to the day Dale Earnhardt Jr. is back in victory lane. Is it a coincidence that he won his last race at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) on June 17th 2008?

The drivers do a left turn followed by a right turn. They have to do it at least ten times per lap for a total of 64 laps. The slightest mishap in the middle of a turn and the drivers will find themselves on the side of the road completely engulfed in a dust storm.