NASCAR Cup Series

Summer is almost over. Fall is around the corner. Before we know it, the Goody’s™ Headache Relief Shot™ 500 Powered by Kroger will be roaring into view.

Fastenal, the longtime sponsor of Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, will adorn the hood of both NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide cars this weekend. Fastenal will return to the track at Pocono Raceway with Edwards as the primary partner, while Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne will run the No. 6 Fastenal Mustang at the US Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway.

Johnson controlled the Brickyard 400 until a slow pit stop late in the race likely cost him any chance at the win. He finished second behind Ryan Newman and still maintained a healthy led in the Sprint Cup point standings.

No. 15 Toyota Let’s Go Places Camry crew chief Brian Pattie is looking to see vast improvement from his team’s 15th-place finish in its last visit to Pocono Raceway. Pattie has high expectations for his team, but knows there is still work to be done before heading into the final 10 race stretch to determine a champion.

Biffle has 21 Sprint Cup career starts at Pocono. Earlier this season Biffle started 13th and worked his way to a second-place finish at Pocono.

It’s crunch time and Kurt Busch is excited the next Sprint Cup Series stop is at Pocono Raceway as the Furniture Row pilot continues his quest to become the first driver with a single-car team to make NASCAR’s Chase, the 12-driver, 10-race playoffs.

Denny Hamlin piloted the #11 FedEx Express Toyota to an 18th place finish in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After starting the day on the outside of Row 2, a stubbornly loose racecar dissolved Hamlin’s hopes of a first career win at The Brickyard. Indiana-native Ryan Newman took the checkered flag for his first win of the 2013 season, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.

Target House: Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will stop by Target House and St. Jude’s next week to visit with the children and families at the hospital. Joining the dynamic trio will be Olympian hopefuls Shaun White, Roz Groenwoud, Simon Dumont, and Torin Yater Wallace. The Target athletes will participate in a friendly competition of hula hoop, gunny sack races and Pictionary.

Last week’s race at Indianapolis and this weekend’s race at Pocono are more than just a test of drivers and their race cars. The 2.5-mile tracks with their long straight-aways are also challenges for each team’s spotters— the men high above the track in radio communication with their drivers.

At one of the most historic tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup venue, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 20th...