Some unexpected failures on his competitors' part and some skillful driving on his part led Roush-Fenway driver Greg Biffle to pilot his No. 16 Ford Fusion to victory at Michigan International Speedway for the running of the Pure Michigan 400. This win puts Greg Biffle right in the thick of the Chase Battle upping his wins from one to two this season.
It seemed a lock for Jimmie Johnson to win the race when he had an engine blow with six laps to go, a problem that plagued other Hendrick Motorsports drivers and teams that ran HMS motors like defending champion Tony Stewart and Johnson’s teammate Jeff Gordon.
Biffle had to fend off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski but did so handily. This was Biffle’s 18th career victory and, as mentioned, his second of 2012.
Keselowski finished second only a fraction of time ahead of HMS driver Kasey Kahne.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. followed in fourth proving that not all of the HMS motors were duds at this track. Aussie Marcos Ambrose driving for Richard Petty Motorsports followed his win at Watkins Glen last week with a fifth at MIS.
Carl Edwards, trying hard for his first win of 2012 and to secure a spot in the Chase, came up short with a sixth place finish. Michael Waltrip Racing’s Clint Bowyer finished seventh. Eighth was Stewart’s teammate Ryan Newman. Paul Menard, the Richard Childress Racing driver, brought home a solid ninth. MWR’s Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-10.
After his win on Sunday night Biffle takes over the top spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points race. It is the first time he’s been atop the leaderboard since the spring. This was a one spot increase over last week.
Biffle has a 20 point lead over the number two spot held by teammate Matt Kenseth who also picked up a place.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. also bumped up one spot to third. Jimmie Johnson tumbled three positions to fourth due to his 27th place finish in the race. Keselowski remains in fifth.
Truex Jr. and Bowyer remain respectively sixth and seventh this week. Kevin Harvick moves up one position to eighth. Stewart drops one place to ninth. Denny Hamlin holds firm in tenth for another week.
After the results from MIS, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman currently hold on to the wild card slots for the Chase. Of course, that could easily change in the last three races before the Chase begins.
The action moves from the superspeedway to the shortest short track on the circuit, the newly reconfigured Bristol Motor Speedway. The Irwin Tools Night Race from Bristol will air on Saturday, August 25th with coverage beginning at 7pm EST on ABC.
Be sure to tune in and return to this site for my Irwin Tools Night Race Recap.
Candice Smith is a writer, columnist, and blogger as well as creator of the widely popular Chief 187™ Chatter. Her works have been featured under the pen name Chief 187™ around the Internet including a syndicated post within the Indie Republic Network where she has conducted in-depth interviews with musicians, Mixed Martial Artists, and other personalities as well as waxes poetic on myriad topics. Candice Smith is currently writing her second season of her original column “Why I Love NASCAR” by Chief 187™ on Skirts and Scuffs. Additionally, another of her NASCAR columns can be found at MotorsportsUnplugged.com. She also contributes articles and NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Recaps weekly at WowShaneRadio.com. She began her Internet writing career at Rowdy.com where she honed her blogging skills and reawakened her love of NASCAR. Candice Smith can be heard on air four times a week co-hosting motorsports programs on Internet radio as well as her own racing show “Drafting the Circuits” on WhooBazoo.com. She can be reached via Twitter by following @Chief187s. To find out more please visit http://Chief187.com.
GREAT as always!!:)
ReplyDelete