Weekend Recap

This is a blog about paint schemes, no doubt. However, there is only so much you can write about colors on a car. So each week, we'll take a look back at the races, as well as a preview for the days to come.

"Happy" Weekend

This weekend, the NASCAR boys rolled into the Irish Hills of Michigan for their second annual stop. The Sprint Cup drivers towards the top of the standings focused on the Chase. "Who is in," "who is out," "how do they stay in," and "how do they get in" were all wondered throughout the weekend. Guys like Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman tried differing strategies to get their teams above the 12th place cutoff.

For those drivers and teams too far outside of the Series' playoffs, their focus shifted to finding ways to win and perform, either to build their teams up for next season, or to impress potential suitors for 2011. Drivers like Marcos Ambrose, Elliott Sadler and Sam Hornish, whose futures are not yet finalized for next year, looked to show off their talents, while guys like Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard, who recently finalized their deals for 2011, made the best of what was left of their times with their teams.

The weekend opened strong for Kahne, as he took the pole on Friday. He would finish 14th on Sunday, never leading a lap. Four time defending Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson took an early lead, but fell back soon after, and was never really a threat for the win. Greg Biffle looked strong, as he has for the past month, and dominated the first half of the race before settling for a fourth place finish in the final running order. Tony Stewart, still seeking his first win of the season, also ran up front for the whole day, coming home in sixth place.

The day belonged to Series points leader Kevin Harvick, who led much of the second half of the race. With the win, Harvick clinched his spot in the Chase, the first driver to do so this year. It was Harvick's first win at a non-restrictor plate track since his victory at Phoenix in November of 2006, and his first win at an unrestricted track of over a mile since winning the Brickyard 400 in 2003.

At the bottom of the top 12, Mark Martin ran into trouble early, when he hit the wall early in the race. His Go Daddy team repaired the car during a pit stop, but the handling never came back, and he finished 28th. More importantly, he fell out of the top 12, relinquishing his spot in the Chase to Harvick's RCR teammate Clint Bowyer, who finished the day in 12th spot and now holds a 35 point advantage over Martin with just three races remaining before the Chase cutoff.

Hometown Hero

The Nationwide Series drivers also ran at Michigan on Saturday. This race was the second of four scheduled races for the next generation car which will be run full-time in 2011, and how the cars would handle on the aero-sensitive track in Brooklyn was a big story.

Another newsworthy point was the return of Danica Patrick, looking to perform well on a track that drove more similarly to her IndyCar Series racetracks. She ran towards the rear of the pack all day, however, and she finished 27th, four laps off the pace, despite not having any real problems.

The spotlight belonged solely to Brad Keselowski, who won both the pole and the race in his home state, driving the new Dodge Challenger in front of Dodge executives from nearby Detroit. Carl Edwards finished second, with Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier and Paul Menard rounding out the top 5 in a race that was slowed only twice for caution. Keselowski increased his points lead to 347 over Edwards with 12 races remaining.

One Tough Onion

The Camping World Truck Series returned to Darlington Raceway for the first time in six years Saturday night. Timothy Peters took the pole for the night, but the race was won in convincing fashion by Todd Bodine. Crew chief Mike Hillman, Jr. made a gutsy call late in the race to keep Bodine on the track, and it paid off, with Bodine running the final 71 laps on one set of tires and one tank of fuel. He built his points lead over second place Aric Almirola to a commanding 231 points.

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Later this week, we will preview the next race at Bristol, and of course, cover any paint scheme-related news that may come.