Denny Hamlin

After a week of debate on whether or not NASCAR drivers were athletes, thanks to Golden Tate at the EPSYs, as well as which driver was in desperation mode to make the Chase, 43 NASCAR Sprint Cup cars took to the Magic Mile in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, went from ‘Rocket Man’, qualifying on the pole for the start of the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 to ‘Magic Man’, scoring his first win of the season at the Magic Mile.

The bluegrass state, known more for its horse racing than horse power, hosted its first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the Quaker State 400.

Kevin Harvick: Harvick led 16 laps and finished seventh in the Coke Zero 400, posting his tenth top-10 result of the year.

Edwards increased his lead in the point standings, and now leads Kevin Harvick by 25.

Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 23rd annual Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sprint Cup Series race at Infineon Raceway.

Carl Edwards: Edwards led 30 laps at Michigan and finished fifth, earning his series-best eighth top-5 result of the year.

One doesn’t have to look hard to find story lines during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series season.

From oil pan issues for the cars of Joe Gibbs Racing to the end of probation for driver rivals Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick, the Irish hills of Michigan once again saw plenty of action for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

At the beginning of the season, all the talk was about the new Kyle Busch, the driver who was more mature, calculated on the track, and more accessible off the track even after a bad run.