After taking their final break of the season last weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for the Brickyard 400 to begin the 17 race stretch run to finish off the season.
On a steamy day in New England where the action on the track was just as hot, here is what was surprising and not surprising from the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The site of Sunday's Camping World RV Sales 301 is the one-mile flat track in Loudon, New Hampshire. It is the eighth and final stop during the regular season at a track which also hosts a race in this year's Chase - the two tracks not in the regular season are the first and last races in this year's chase - Chicago and Homestead.
In addition to a dose of roof flap drama, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 55th annual Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
After celebrating the Fourth of July weekend on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway, the three national NASCAR series head to short, flat tracks in separate parts of the country this weekend. New Hampshire Motor Speedway will host the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Iowa for a standalone weekend of their own.
Johnson was dominant at Daytona and held on after several late restarts to win the Coke Zero 400. Johnson became the first driver to sweep both Daytona races since Bobby Allison in 1982.
Daytona needs no introduction this week. Since it's the Crown Jewel of NASCAR, everyone knows the history of the track and the races its produced over the years, so I'll keep it short and talk a little bit about what I was able to gather from the February races - including that "HISTORIC" Daytona 500.
Kenseth’s gamble to take no tires during pits stops on the final caution paid off handsomely, as he collected his fourth win of the year with a win at Kentucky. He is now fifth in the Sprint Cup point standings, 82 behind Jimmie Johnson.
Tony Stewart; the man you should never count out no matter what. Tony said prior to the 2011 chase that he didn't even deserve to be in it with how poorly he was running. Two months and five wins later, he was hoisting the Sprint Cup trophy at Homestead. This year, Stewart-Haas Racing has had a rough time finding their footing with these Generation Six cars and have been forced to endure some pretty bad days at the track.
