Turn on the lights and turn up the heat this week as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races under the lights for the first time this season. Texas Motor Speedway needs no introduction as it has produced some of the fastest speeds and exciting finishes we’ve seen over the past few seasons.
It has been a couple weeks since you have heard from me, and I am excited for my opportunity to spout off my thoughts before tomorrow's STP Gas Booster 500. Martinsville Speedway is one of my favorite stops on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series each year due to its storied history and true short-track persona.
We stay on the left coast again for the second straight week in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as the series makes first and only visit of the season to the 1.5-mile tri-oval in the desert.
We head west this week for the first of two annual visits to the one-mile, low-banked, tri-oval that is Phoenix International Raceway, more commonly known as PIR. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its first stop on the west coast this season.
Before I begin my outlook on the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season and tomorrow's 55th running of the Daytona 500, I'd like to share my thoughts and prayers for all those fans injured today at Daytona International Speedway.
After a two-week hiatus, I'm back in action this week as the 2012 Chase for the Sprint Cup rolls on into The Granite State for the second time this season. If it wasn't for Ryan Newman's tenth-place finish, the twelve drivers in contention for the drivers' championship this year would have claimed the top twelve finishing spots in July's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Atlanta is one of those tracks where I really respect the drivers for hanging it all out there and really being on the edge of disaster at all times. Its aging surface lacks grip giving drivers with a background in dirt racing a competitive advantage over the field. It reminds me of the days of watching the DIRT modified's circle 'D-Shaped Dirt Demon' at my hometown track, the 3/8th-mile in Brewerton, NY.
The summer tour continues this week in the rolling hills of Michigan for the 43rd Annual Pure Michigan 400. The new racing surface at Michigan International Speedway, produced speeds upwards of 210 mph and sent Goodyear's engineers back to the drawing board.
This week we travel back to the place that was the start of my NASCAR days. It's a track near and dear to my heart, and will no matter where life takes me, it will always have a special place in my heart as my 'Hometown Track'. Watkins Glen International may not be the most famous stock car track in the world, but it produces some of the best beating and banging NASCAR has to offer.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a guy who started the season with two major feats to tackle, one being his four-year winless streak, the other, a Sprint Cup Championship. With the first of the two monkeys in Jr's closet being taken care of in June, there's just one left to conquer
