With an impassioned driver’s meeting speech by Carl Edwards urging safety and throttling back during cautions at such a high-speed track, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 45th annual Pure Michigan 400.
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished 11th at Watkins Glen after an untimely late caution cost him any chance of winning. He passed Jeff Gordon to take over the lead in the Sprint Cup points standings, and now leads Gordon by four.
As the NASCAR community mourned the death of sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr., which led to Tony Stewart’s decision not to participate at Watkins Glen, the racing did go on at one of the sport’s more challenging road courses.
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt used a no-tire pit stop to take the lead and subdued the challenge of Kevin Harvick down the stretch to win the GoBowling.Com 400 at Pocono. The victory completed Earnhardt’s season sweep at the “Tricky Triangle” and was his third win of the year.
In 2006 it was Denny Hamlin. This time around, it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who won for the second time this year at Pocono Raceway, effectively sweeping the season. Earnhardt picked up his third win of the season and his 22nd career victory in NASCAR’s most elite series. The last time he was able to take the credit for sweeping a race, was in 2002 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender and Drive4Diversity grad Kyle Larson scored his first career pole behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet at one of the most demanding tracks on the circuit, Pocono Raceway.
Crown Royal attaches a hero's name to the Brickyard 400 as part of their sponsorship, and this year that honor went to 12 year military veteran John Wayne Walding. Yet, to be honest and if the length of the title could go on to infinity, this should have been called “Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard to be Dominated Once Again by Jeff Gordon.” That sounds about right.
1. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski dominated the Nationwide race on Saturday and duplicated that feat on Sunday, leading 138 of 301 laps to win at New Hampshire. “Once again,” Keselowski said, “it’s time for the celebratory champagne. But there’s a big difference in breaking out the champagne and breaking open the champagne.
You sure could not beat the car that had Brad Keselowski behind the wheel Sunday in New Hampshire. And nobody did. He might have loaned out the lead from time to time to the likes of Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer, but make no mistake about this one. The 30-year old Michigan driver owned this race as the former champion recorded his 13th Cup victory.
Surprising: Team Penske had an interesting day, with one driver taking the broom while the other driver went boom. Brad Keselowski, this week behind the wheel of the No. 2 Redd's Ford, took his broom to Victory Lane, sweeping both the Nationwide and Cup races and scoring his first lobster trophy at New Hampshire.
