Three drivers. When it came to the story of the Pocono race, only three mattered. You probably wanted to know who led the race for the opening few laps, and that would have been Carl Edwards. He finished 15th. For the rest of the way, it was down to two names, right down to the final lap; Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick. No one else much mattered on Sunday.
Jimmie Johnson finally beat Michigan International Speedway. "We've figured out every way to lose this race." Johnson remarked in victory lane, "We finally figured out how to win one." The victory was Johnson's third in four weeks and his 69th career victory. Johnson held off pole sitter Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski for the win after a four tire stop on the final pit sequence. Johnson lead 39 of the 200 laps.
Kevin Harvick claimed the pole for Sunday's Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Harvick led all three rounds of qualifying and set a new track record with a lap of 35.198 seconds or approximately 204.557 mph. The record lap was the fastest ever at a non-restrictor-plate for a Sprint Cup race.
“They're the 48 and we're the 88 and I don't want to be the new 48. I want to be the new 88. We'll definitely try to continue to work hard and try to win some more races and try to leave our own mark and not a mark similar to anyone else.”
There are some instances where it is actually difficult to pick a definitive favorite to win the race. This is not the case with the Auto Club 400. Jimmie Johnson has won four of the last 10 races at his home track, and five overall including his first victory back in 2002.
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.
After a wild weekend of turning left and right at the fast road course at Watkins Glen, the three national NASCAR series head their separate ways this weekend with the Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series heading to Michigan to take on the 2 mile Michigan International Speedway and the Nationwide Series heading to their second road course race in a row for their inaugural race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
