NNS - Meijer 300

2 in a row from the pole - Joey Logano won under the lights @ Kentucky Speedway!

"It's really cool", Logano said. "This place is one of my favorite racetracks. It's one of those places that just suits you. To win two for two here, that's really cool for me and the whole team."

Logano also becomes the first repeat race winner at the track.

John Sommers II/Getty Images

A red flag with 15 laps to go seemed to change the complexion of the race. Kyle Busch dominated beforehand leading a total of 162 of the 200 scheduled laps. Once the race resumed, Logano jumped ahead of Busch and held on for the win.

"I'm used to it. It always happens that way," Busch said in his post-race interview. "We always lose at the end." Busch also finished 2nd earlier in the day in the truck race @ Michigan.

Of the red flag, Logano said, "You're sitting in there. You're thinking about it, 'What can I do to beat Kyle Busch? One of the best in NASCAR'. The opportunity was just right. I knew I had to have a run and I knew he had to slip out a little bit."

Busch and Logano started the race 1-2 for the first time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the series.

Brad Keselowski turns in a 3rd place finish with Brendan Gaughan, Justin Allgaier, Jason Leffler, Michael Annett, Burney Lamar, Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Kelly Bires rounding out the top 10.

For unofficial race results, click here.

There were 8 cautions for 31 laps and 16 lead changes among 7 drivers:

J. Logano 0; K. Busch 1-14; J. Logano 15-24; K. Hamlin 25-26; J. Allgaier 27-28; K. Busch 29-30; J. Allgaier 31-32; K. Busch 33; J. Allgaier 34; K. Busch 35-138; B. Gaughan 139-141; C. Edwards 142-145; S. Wimmer 146; K. Busch 147-165; B. Gaughan 166-168; K. Busch 169-190; J. Logano 191-200.

Kyle Busch extends his points lead and is now 137 points ahead of Carl Edwards.

Edwards suffered 3 pit-road speeding violations and an ill-handling race car. He finished 20th.

NCWTS - Michigan 200

Colin Braun passed a dominate Kyle Busch for the lead and held on for the final 24 laps on the way to his first truck win.

"What an awesome truck... You poured your hearts into this," Braun told his crew. "It was cool to beat Kyle, and it was also cool to beat Toyotas here." By 'here' meaning Michigan International Speedway's close location to Ford's homebase and near Jack Roush's Roush Enterprises and Roush Performance Livonia-based headquarters, located about 45 minutes away.

It's the first win for Braun in 35 Camping World Truck Series races. It also marks win #50 for owner Jack Roush in the series.

Kyle Busch led four times for 62 of 100 laps. “It was unfortunate,” Busch said. “I had a lapped truck that couldn't hold his line. I tried to go low and when we went into the corner, the hole closed up. My fault there. That was a pass for the lead, that was the win. Whoever got out front, it seemed, was able to hold it.”

Pole sitter Brian Ickler finished 3rd followed by Matt Crafton and Mike Skinner.

For unofficial race results, click here.

5 cautions for 20 laps and 10 lead changes among 6 drivers:

T. Bodine 1-6; R. Hornaday Jr. 7; K. Busch 8-10; M. Gosselin 11-12; K. Busch 13-29; R. Hackett 30-32; K. Busch 33-61; C. Braun 62-63; K. Busch 64-76; C. Braun 77-100.

Matt Crafton extends his lead in the standings by 39 points over Ron Hornaday Jr.

On Track - Saturday

It's never a good sign to wake up early on race day with rain pouring down, but then again, it was early. I was up and moving by 6:30. Showers moved out of the area early enough for the tough trucks to make it out for time trails by 10.

First up was an interview with the #17 crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer. The Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills Competition 2009 National Finals will be held from June 14-16 in Dearborn. The grand prize for the two-person team that wins is the opportunity to spend the week leading up to the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway with the #17 team to observe and “job shadow”. They will also get to serve as honorary pit crew members during the race weekend.

Check out more details, here - www.autoskills.com/about.html


Brian Ickler won the pole for the Michigan 200. Points leader Matt Crafton qualified 2nd followed by Todd Bodine, Kyle Busch, Ron Hornaday Jr, Johnny Sauter, Mike Skinner, JR Fitzpatrick, James Buescher and Rick Crawford.


Cup drivers made it out on the track immediately following truck qualifying for their second over-all practice.

Denny Hamlin posted the fastest speed with Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle in the top 5.

Jimmie Johnson took a spin coming off of turn 4. He didn't hit anything and was able to get back out on the track without spending too much time in the garage. He was 8th fastest and 11th during their final practice.


After a short 15 minute break, Happy Hour started. Mark Martin was fastest for this one. Dale Earnhardt Jr – 2nd. Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer were also among the top 5 fastest.

It was overcast, cloudy and cool throughout the day, but we lucked out on this one. The rain held off.

Need For Speed Race Preview: Michigan

There was already a lot of activity at the track as early as Wednesday in preparation for this weekend's races @ Michigan International Speedway.

Traditionally, we know the June race is held on Father's Day, but not this year. It's the first time since the summer of 2001 that it hasn't been. And that's just due to the way the days fall on the calendar this year with the NASCAR schedule.

It might be hard to believe but the 2 names we've been hearing the most this season have yet to win @ Michigan - Kyle Busch & Jimmie Johnson.

Jimmie Johnson has led laps in the past 4 races at the track and he has scored 2 wins so far this season. In 14 starts @ MIS, he's posted 2 top-5 and 6 top-10 finishes. Johnson's driver rating of 106.9 is 2nd best there. His average finish @ MIS = 14.4

Kyle Busch leads the series with 3 wins this season. He's posted just 1 top-5 and 3 top-10 finishes in his 8 races @ MIS, but finished 2nd to Carl Edwards last August - his best finish at the track. His average finish @ MIS = 17.4

Roush Fenway Racing drivers have won 5 of the past 9 races @ MIS. Jack Roush's 11 car owner wins is tied with the Wood Brothers for the most all-time wins @ MIS.

Carl Edwards has racked up 687 points in his past 4 MIS races with two wins and two 7th-place finishes. He won the last cup race there in August. Edwards average finish @ MIS is 6.6 - the best among drivers with at least 5 cup starts. He's finished out of the top-10 just once in his 9 races @ MIS. Carl is also coming off a runner-up finish last weekend @ Pocono.

Matt Kenseth is another RFR driver that analysts will more than likely talk about this weekend. Kenseth has scored 2 wins @ MIS and has finished in the top-5 in 4 of his past 5 races there.

Gates open to the public at 9 on Friday and Saturday. Gates will open at 8 am on Sunday.

Get tickets now by calling 800-354-1010 or mispeedway.com

ARCA RE/MAX SERIES

ARCA RE/MAX Series Qualifying presented by Ansell Michigan International Speedway, has been cancelled due to rain. The starting grid for Friday’s race will be set based on current car owner points.

On a brighter note, the forecast calls for sunny skies with high's around 80 throughout the race weekend. Ideal racin' weather.

In a press release from the track: Officials are still hopeful that ARCA RE/MAX Series race teams will be able to practice at the 2-mile speedway later today, pending the cooperation of Mother Nature. Rain showers have plagued Brooklyn, Michigan and the surrounding area for much of the day. Menards Pole Qualifying has been washed out due to uncooperative weather for the last four consecutive races (Kentucky, Toledo, Pocono, Michigan), marking the first time in the 57-year history of the ARCA RE/MAX Series that four consecutive qualifying sessions have been cancelled.

The Racing for Wildlife 200, race eight of the 21-race ARCA RE/MAX Series, is scheduled to roll off at 5 p.m. on Friday live on SPEED. Arcaracing.com will provide live timing and scoring and audio coverage of the race.

Double-File Restarts

NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said the excitement created by double-file restarts at last month's All-Star race at Lowe's Motor Speedway helped to determine the new format change.



Jeff Burton: "I'm shocked that we are doing this this year. I have become very used to the ship liner analogy about how it is hard to turn a ship real quick. (I) believed we would do it in the Nationwide and Truck Series and do it in Cup Series in 2010, I'm shocked that they made the decision and are doing it this year... For the fans, I think the double-file restart is great. For us, I think it is going to increase the workload quite a bit. A lot of guys complain about having to race the lapped cars but there is an advantage of doing that, too. … As hectic as restarts are now, it is going to increase that two-fold because the people you are going to be racing are faster."

David Reutimann: "So it's this weekend? I thought we were going to get farther down the road than that."

Jimmie Johnson: "The leader is going to have control and that's a good thing. I think another very positive aspect to it is that you're going to be racing cars that you need to be racing with. Lead-lap cars will be racing lead-lap cars. Guys fighting for Lucky Dog (a lap down) will be racing against themselves."

Mark Martin: "From a competitor's standpoint there are winners and loser in a double-file restart. You just have to hope that balances out equally. Sometime a double-file restart will put you in a less-desirable lane. Hopefully it balances out to 50/50 over the long haul and you gain some and you lose some and the fans gain every time."

Ryan Newman: "It's just another step to keep delivering to the fans what they want. It's something that I think will make the racing better from an excitement standpoint and that's what we're here for. We're delivering entertainment. If the fans say they want us to start the third restart in reverse … we're probably going to do it."

Kyle Busch: "If you're at Martinsville, Darlington, Indianapolis, then you're not going to be able to do much. Places like Texas, Atlanta, Michigan, here at Pocono — areas where you might have a little more room it won't be so bad. If you're stuck in the outside lane and the inside lane boxes you up against the wall then you can't go anywhere."

What do you think of the new double file restart - shootout style rule change. Thoughts?

NSCS - Pocono 500

Tony Stewart's dream season! He sits on top of the point standings and is winning races in his first year as an owner/driver.

Stewart won the Pocono 500 for his first official points-paying race win as an owner/driver. Defeat was not in his vocabulary. He started in the back of the field in a back-up car after wrecking his primary in a practice accident. With an average fuel window of 33-39 laps, Stewart chose not to pit for gas during a late race caution. Instead, he pulled out on the restart to lead the final 36 laps. The gamble paid off.

"It's just a little different when you're the one that's got to be accountable," Stewart said.

John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

Stewart is the first owner/driver to win a cup race since Ricky Rudd on September 27, 1998 @ Martinsville.

"I think it's just preparation and having a group of guys that have the confidence that no matter what the challenge is, they are not going to panic. They are not going to freak out. They just know that you are going to have situations like that," Stewart said. "Nobody got upset. Nobody lost their heads yesterday when I crashed the primary car, and you know, they just do their job and they are efficient at it. It that's half the battle is just having a group of guys that have the same confidence that I have behind the wheel. They have that same confidence as crew members, and the preparation at the shop before we come here, it's not like they all of a sudden had to roll a backup car out and try to set it up from scratch. It was basically ready to go when it came off the trailer."

It was a slight flashback to last week's event @ Dover. In the closing laps, it came down to Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and a Roush driver, in this case it was Carl Edwards. This time around, Stewart was able to distance himself seconds ahead of Edwards and Johnson. With 2 laps to go, the #48 and #99 were in a heated battle for 2nd position forgetting their need to also conserve fuel. Johnson ran out of gas coming out of turn 2 on the last lap. He finished 7th.

Carl Edwards led the race-high 103 laps and was able to hang on for a runner-up finish. David Reutimann, Jeff Gordon and Stewart's driver, Ryan Newman round out the top 5.

There were 5 cautions for 20 laps and 22 lead changes among 12 drivers:

T. Stewart 0; J. Gordon 1-5; J. Johnson 6-13; R. Newman 14; J. Johnson 15-37; C. Edwards 38-44; M. Martin 45; Kurt Busch 46-47; C. Edwards 48-76; T. Stewart 77-78; C. Edwards 79-100; G. Biffle 101-104; M. Kenseth 105; C. Edwards 106-117; M. Kenseth 118-120; C. Edwards 121-136; M. Kenseth 137-138; J. McMurray 139; E. Sadler 140-141; C. Mears 142; C. Edwards 143-159; J. Gordon 160-163; T. Stewart 164-200.

For the (unofficial) results, click here.