NASCAR Cup Series

With their 99th victory secured by a dramatic finish of last Sunday’s Pocono 400, the Wood Brothers will kick off their quest for No. 100 in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at one of their favorite tracks, Michigan International Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports and defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson have agreed to a three-year extension that will keep one of the most accomplished drivers in history behind the wheel through 2020.

Pocono Recap: Denny Hamlin finished 12th in the #11 FedEx Freight Toyota in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Speedway won by first-time Cup Series winner Ryan Blaney.

It may surprise you to learn that Chase Elliott has the series-best driver rating (125.1) at Michigan. In his only two starts last year, he earned two runner-up finishes. Elliott also has the series-best average finish (2.000), average running position (4.300) and the series-most laps in the top 15 (391 laps, 97.8 percent).

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the XFINITY Series will compete at Michigan International Speedway this weekend while the Camping World Truck Series travels to Gateway Motorsports Park.

For many drivers, getting into a car for a NASCAR race and finishing in 26th place is not exactly the plan at the start of the day. But for Darrell Wallace Jr., this past Sunday at Pocono was a different story. That’s not to say he liked coming across the finish line in 26th place, but it was start of what he hopes is something big.

Michigan character traits: “Michigan is getting some of its old character back,” Allmendinger said. “Yeah, I mean it’s getting closer for sure. You kind of make practice where it’s one-and-a-half grooves wide. Then you have other races like the NASCAR XFINITY Series race that helps widen out the track on Saturday. On Sunday as we go, the racetrack widens out more.”

You would think it would be great to be Danica Patrick. After Pocono, she might be thinking it would be far easier to be Kyle Busch.

In 2013, Michigan International Speedway (MIS) began the tradition of honoring the winning manufacturer of each MIS race with a special trophy, the Michigan Heritage Trophy.  Since the inception of the award, Chevrolet has earned four wins at MIS and has earned the prestigious award more times than any other manufacturer.

Pixar Animation Studios have churned out many of the best animated films of the last 20 years. Cars, however, is not one of them.