Father’s Day and Michigan International Speedway have become a NASCAR tradition.

Michigan International Speedway, or MIS, is a 2-mile moderate-banked D shaped speedway located in the “Irish Hills” of Brooklyn, Michigan. It is sometimes known as the sister track to Texas Motor Speedway. MIS is currently the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 195 mph and corner entry speeds can be anywhere from 215 to 220mph after the repaving in 2012. The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at MIS was held of June 15, 1969 and was won by Cale Yarborough at a speed of 139.254mph. Read the rest of this entry »

Russell LaBounty/Autostock

Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, NASCAR fans tuned into the Kyle Busch show as the driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry not only won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday night, but the Sprint Cup race on Saturday night. On Sunday, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the newly paved Kansas Speedway.

Kansas Speedway is a 1.5 mile D-shaped tri-oval located in Kansas City, Kansas. The turns at Kansas Speedway are 17-20 degrees of banking, while the front stretch is 10.4-11 degrees, and the backstretch is 5 degrees of banking.

In this race last year, Denny Hamlin had his Toyota hooked up after the final pit stop, and was able to hold off a charging Martin Truex, Jr. to capture his second victory of the 2012 season. Hamlin is unable to defend his victory as he is still sitting out from his back injury  that he sustained in the last lap at Auto Club Speedway in March. Brian Vickers will be behind the wheel of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing.  Read the rest of this entry »

Carl Edwards performs a back flip to celebrate after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway on March 3, 2013 in Avondale, Arizona. Photo taken by Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Coming off a miserable week at Daytona, where he wrecked five cars, Carl Edwards came to Phoenix International Raceway with a lot of hope to win and break the 70 race winless streak. Edwards survived a green-white-checkered finish and held off Jimmie Johnson to win the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at PIR.

In true fashion, Edwards did his celebratory backflip and then went into the stands to celebrate with the fans – just like he did after his last victory at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway almost two years ago.

“This is huge … one of the coolest wins of my life,” said Edwards. Read the rest of this entry »

(L-R) Drivers Travis Pastrana, Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle of Roush Fenway Racing pose for a picture with Jack Roush during the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Media Tour on January 24, 2013 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Driven. The mantra Roush-Fenway Racing this 2013 NASCAR season, in both the Cup and Nationwide. The Ford team of Roush-Fenway Racing will field three cars this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for drivers Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and rookie Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. There are some big changes to RFR this season also, one being the loss of Matt Kenseth, who has moved on to Joe Gibbs Racing this season, and the addition of Penske Racing to the RFR engine department. With Jack Roush calling this 2013 lineup his “dream team”, will one of his drivers have a dream season or will the hype be too much? Read the rest of this entry »

Ryan Newman and Matt Borland will be back together for the 2013 season. Credit: CMS/HHP Photo

Follow me on Twitter @NASCARKrissy

Six days until the start of Preseason Thunder 2013 at the high banks of Daytona International Speedway and there are enough changes to get any diehard NASCAR fan confused.

In Friday’s article, I talked about some of the rule changes and changes to teams. In this article, I’ll explain some of the latest crew chief changes, which includes a reuniting one  a great driver/crew chief team. Read the rest of this entry »

Denny Hamlin wins the AdvoCare 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 2, 2012. Image Courtesy of HHP Images

Nine drivers have already secured a spot in the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase for the Sprint Cup, which starts at Chicagoland Speedway in less than two weeks. These drivers included Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick. 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart, is the only driver to have at least clinched a Wild Card spot.

Denny Hamlin definitely stamped a top spot in the Chase after winning his fourth race of the season on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Tony Stewart, on the strength of three wins, has already clinched at least a Wild Card Chase spot. Regardless of where any other driver finishes, he will clinch a top-10 position with a finish of 14th or better, 15th and at least one lap led or 16th and the most laps led. Read the rest of this entry »

LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC – Carl Edwards’s win on Saturday was the 33rd in his Nationwide Series career.

Race Information:

When: Saturday, June 16, 2012
Where: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI
Laps: 125
Distance: 250 Miles 

Look for the NASCAR Nationwide Series boys to get some extra practice time early on Friday morning because of the newly paved 2-mile surface at Michigan International Speedway.

However, MIS isn’t a Toyota track, but it could be turn out to be for Joey Logano. Who figured out the newly paved Pocono Raceway last week in the Sprint Cup Series. Logano looks to build on his series leading four races. Logano is currently leading the Nationwide Series owners standing over the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driven by Elliott Sadler by 34 points.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who is coming off a great weekend in Nashville at the CMT Awards, is looking to rebound after a rough two weeks in Charlotte and Dover is now in second place in the point standings. Can he climb his way back top the top? MIS could be the perfect remedy for Stenhouse, as Roush bases Roush Industries in Michigan. Read the rest of this entry »

Todd Warshaw – Getty Images for NASCAR
Carl Edwards celebrates with his race trophy and Nationwide trophy as he celebrates in victory lane after he won the NASCAR Nationwide Series OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway.

Race Information: 

When:  Saturday, June 2, 2012
Where: Dover International Speedway
 Laps: 200
Distance: 200 Miles

If you’ve been watching the NASCAR Nationwide Series religiously like I do, you are noticing a pattern and this year is no different.

It looks like the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship will finish in fine fashion at Homestead-Miami Speedway at the end of the year. The points are close between Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Elliott Sadler, but don’t look now the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, Austin Dillion is lurking in the distance and waiting for one of the top two drivers to slip so he can be right there contending for a title. Speaking of Dillion, he will be making his Dover International Speedway debut in a car this weekend.

Last year in this race, a violent wreck on the final lap took out a handful of top contenders, as Carl Edwards took the checkered flag. The wreck, which started as Edwards was racing Joey Logano on the second attempt of a green-white-checkered finish, helped Edwards get his third win of the season.

Previous winners in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Dover International Speedway include Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin.

My race pick for the 5-Hour Energy 200 from Dover International Speedway is Kurt Busch. He won the Richmond Nationwide race in May and will be driving the same car for his Kyle Busch Motorsports. You can catch the 5-Hour Energy on Saturday. Coverage begins at 2:00pm EST on ESPN. Who do you think will win the race? Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

Race Information:

When: Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 9:00 pm EST on SPEED
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC
See Below for Segments

“Checkers or Wreckers” is the name of the game in this race.

Throw the points out the window and let’s get ready to race the 2012 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. It’s the only race where no one remembers who finished second. Racing for a $1 million paycheck is a great bonus. Definitely one race where drivers don’t care what happens, as long as they come home with that giant check for their team.

Saturday night’s 100 lap race will be broken up into five segments – four 20 lap stints and a 10-lap finale. The winners of the first four segments will go to the head of the field for the race’s ultimate pit stop and during the finale segment only green flag laps will count.

Last year, Carl Edwards summed up the All-Star race with these words, “Tonight, our car was superior.” And boy was that No. 99 Aflac Ford awesome. Edwards finished .443 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch and collected a cool $.12 million for the win. The No. 99 Aflac Racing team won three of the four segments and cruised to their first All-Star victory. The only thing that went wrong for Edwards was after the race during the celebration. During the celebratory slide into the infield grass, the front splitter dug into the sod and totally wiped out the front of the No. 99.

Can Carl Edwards win again? My pick for the All-Star race winner is Tony Stewart. Who is your race pick?

Entry List:

Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

While the NASCAR Nationwide Series is in Iowa this weekend, the Camping World Truck Series and the Sprint Cup boys are taking to Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Throw the points aside for the weekend for the Sprint Cup guys and get ready for a lot of beating and banging. It’s All-Star Race weekend!

Saturday night’s 100 lap race will be broken up into five segments – four 20 lap stints and a 10-lap finale. The winners of the first four segments will go to the head of the field for the race’s ultimate pit stop and during the finale segment only green flag laps will count.

Last year, Carl Edwards summed up the All-Star race with these words, “Tonight, our car was superior.” And boy was that No. 99 Aflac Ford awesome. Edwards finished .443 seconds ahead of Kyle Busch and collected a cool $.12 million for the win. The No. 99 Aflac Racing team won three of the four segments and cruised to their first All-Star victory. The only thing that went wrong for Edwards was after the race during the celebration. During the celebratory slide into the infield grass, the front splitter dug into the sod and totally wiped out the front of the No. 99.

Last year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Stenhouse kept Edwards and the other 42 cars in his review mirror as he earned his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory in 51 career starts. This was the first time a Nationwide Series only driver had won an event in the series since March 2010.

Thursday, May 17, 2012: 

6:00 PM NASCAR Race Hub SPEED
7:00 PM SPEED Center NASCAR Edition SPEED
8:00 PM Sprint Pit Crew Challenge SPEED
10:30 PM Inside the Headset(27th NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race) SPEED

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:

2011 Coors Light Pole Award: Timothy Peters
2011 Winner: Kyle Busch
Laps: 134
Miles: 201

Friday, May 18, 2012:

10: 30 AM NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Practice SPEED
12:00 PM NASCAR Sprint Cup Showdown Practice SPEED
1:30 PM NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Practice SPEED
3:00 PM Trackside SPEED
4:00 PM NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Qualifying SPEED
5:00 PM NASCAR Sprint Cup Showdown Qualifying SPEED
6:00 PM NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Qualifying SPEED
7:30 PM NCWTS Setup SPEED
8:00 PM NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race SPEED
(North Carolina Education Lottery “200”

 Sprint Showdown: 

Pole: David Ragan
2011 Winner: David Ragan
2 Segments/20 laps each segment

Sprint All-Star Race:

Pole: Kyle Busch
2011 Winner: Carl Edwards
See above for segment information

Saturday, May 19, 2012

11:00 AM Trackside Replay SPEED
12:00 PM Sprint Pit Crew Challenge Replay SPEED
2:30 Pm Inside the Headsets SPEED
3:00pm NASCAR Performance SPEED
3:30 PM SPEED Center NASCAR Edition SPEED
4:00 PM NASCAR RaceDay-All Star Preview SPEED
5:00 PM NASCAR RaceDay SPEED
7:00 PM Sprint All-Star Race SPEED
11:30 PM NASCAR Victory Lane SPEED

NASCAR Nationwide Series: 

2011 Coors Light Pole Award:  Drew Herring
2011 Winner: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr
Laps: 250
Distance: 218.75 miles

Sunday, May 20, 2012:

1:30 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Countdown ESPN
2:00 PM NASCAR Nationwide Series Race ESPN
(Pioneer Hi-Bred 250. Michael Annett is the in-race reporter)
9:00 PM Inside the Headset (28th NASCAR All-Star Race) SPEED

 *ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN STANDARD TIME*