After three nights of battling in the bullring that is Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend, the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series head to Atlanta Motor Speedway for Labor Day weekend and more racing under the lights on the fast 1.5 mile speedway. With a track surface that is old and worn, having not been repaved since its reconfiguration in 1997, the track has gotten rave reviews from drivers who enjoy slipping and sliding around on the worn out asphalt.
It’s that time of year again. The weekend in late August that race fans circle on their calendars every year, the Bristol night race. Bristol Motor Speedway always produces great racing, but once night falls and the lights come on at the half-mile bullring, the intensity and action jumps up tenfold.
Three night races are all that remain before the 2013 chase field is set. The sand in the hour glass is running out and the time to make something happen is now. The tension in the garage is palpable and the intense feeling of trepidation among the teams in the danger zone is growing with every passing race.
Off to Michigan this week for the second and final stop in The Great Lakes State this season and Michigan International Speedway is the 2.5-mile D-shaped superspeedway with 18 degrees of banking in the corners, 12 on the frontstretch, and 5 on the long backstretch. We see speeds top 210 MPH at MIS, making it the fastest track on the schedule.
How can NASCAR turn the yawn fest that has become Nationwide Series Racing into something the fans will enjoy again? My twitter and Facebook time lines both blow up when Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, or even Matt Kenseth take the lead at any point in the race. It quickly becomes a stream of “Anybody but……(fill in Cup Regulars name here).
Johnson finished eighth at Watkins Glen, posting his series-best 15th top-10 result. His lead in the Sprint Cup point standings is 75 over Clint Bowyer.
After the destroyed racecars were towed away, the smoke faded and the crowd dispersed, Kyle Busch was left standing triumphantly in victory lane at Watkins Glen. Brad Keselowski got to the bumper of Kyle and bumped him in the final corner but it wasn't enough to dislodge the No.18 from the top spot.
The three Penske cars combined to lead 73 of the 82 laps in the Zippo 200 and swept the top two spots while leaving the rest of the field to fight for the leftovers.
