NASCAR Cup Series

“I think the racing has been really good. The new rule packages and everything NASCAR has been doing has been good for the sport and I think you’ve seen it at Michigan and then this weekend with a little bit different rules package. I think it’s a step in the right direction, for sure, so the racing has been a lot of fun.

SPARTA, Ky. -- Carl Edwards topped the chart in third Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway Friday. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the third practice session with a time of 28.627 and a speed of 188.633 mph.

SPARTA, Ky. -- Denny Hamlin topped the chart in the rain-shortened second Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.680 and a speed of 188.285 mph.

SPARTA, Ky. -- Despite the unknowns going into this weekend in the Bluegrass State, drivers say this weekend's race will be similar to Michigan.

“We’re in the summer stretch here, obviously, and a lot always seems to happen here. It’s one of my favorite stretches to get into. This track is one that really kind of highlights it for me. It’s been very good to me here at Kentucky Speedway.

When the Wood Brothers’ historic No. 21 Ford takes to the famous 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24 for the Crown Royal Presents “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 at the Brickyard, it will have a decidedly different look and a very noble purpose.

Secret to success: “I haven’t found it yet - - the secret to success on this track," Allmendinger said. "I don't think anybody knows now with the re-pave. It will be interesting. I was fortunate enough we got to test at Kentucky Speedway. I thought the two-day test went really well and I was quite happy.

SPARTA, Ky. -- Carl Edwards topped the chart in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Kentucky Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.962 and a speed of 186.451 mph.

SPARTA, Ky. -- The repave wasn't the only change made to the racing surface at Kentucky Speedway. It was announced back in early-January that the 1.5-mile facility would undergo its first repave in its 17-year history. In addition, they changed the degree of the banking in turns 1 and 2, narrowed the width of the turns, improved drainage and added over three-thousand feet of SAFER barrier.

Sponsors pay for stuff. They pay enough cash that NASCAR and its track owners have sold their collective souls and it explains why they no longer promote a Firecracker 400, or a World 600, and why they actually dumped, for a time, the Southern 500. Money talks, tradition walks