1. Greg Biffle's Recent Dominance at MIS
If you have watched the past two races at MIS or looked at the post-race results, then you know that Greg Biffle came out on top in both. Both times he came pretty much out of nowhere late to take the victory. After Mark Martin wrecked in August of 2012, Biffle was able to lead and win. In June of this year, the Hendrick Motorsports drivers ended up wrecked after leading much of the race and Biffle went on to win. Personally, I like Biffle in victory lane. It is a welcomed change and is a pretty cool thing to see. Plus, it helps further Ford's hold on the Michigan International Speedway. If you ask, me Biffle could take three in a row if something goes his way.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
What else do I have to say? Whenever we go to Michigan International Speedway, everybody talks about his win in 2008 and his win in 2012 that broke a winless streak that went back to his previous win in 2008. Now, it seems like every time the series heads to MIS he is the pick to win and if he doesn't win everybody gets ticked off. Personally, I don't think it is that big of a deal. In 2008, Junior would have ran out of gas coming to the line if Kasey Kahne hadn't pushed him on the frontstretch coming to the checkers. That is a lot of bias because I like Kahne, but I still think he would have ran out of gas. Finally, I think Junior deserves more wins, but it beats all how he has to win every race. I could only imagine if he wins at Talladega again. That place would erupt and it might be set on fire. Hopefully not because it is one of the best tracks on the circuit. Anyway, I just think Junior deserves more wins, but MIS should not be built up as his next win.
3. Austin Dillon Replaces Tony Stewart
Since Tony Stewart broke his leg in a sprint car crash in Iowa, there has been a lot of debate about who should drive his car. Last week, Max Papis took the reins and did a pretty good job. This week, it was announced that Austin Dillon would take over for the weekend. To be honest, I was a little bit surprised by this. One reason is that Stewart is taking Kevin Harvick from RCR. I just don't think Richard Childress would be into allowing his grandson to race for a team that he was losing his best driver to. The second reason is the competition the two teams are in. Dillon could easily get information from SHR to give to RCR. According to qualifying yesterday afternoon, Stewart-Haas isn't allowing Dillon to view too much of their information. This is a good idea, but I still would not put him in my ride. Finally, I feel like there are much more deserving drivers for the ride. You have Regan Smith for one. He has driven to victory lane in a Chevy in Cup and has done well this year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. You have Landon Cassill. Cassill was really good at Michigan in 2011 and has Gen-6 experience. Finally, you have an underdog pick in Elliott Sadler. Sadler has Cup experience, but he is a Toyota driver and doesn't have any experience this year. I think Stewart-Haas knows what they are doing, but I could think of a few drivers who could do a better job or even be a better fit.
4. Brian Vickers Gets a Job at Michael Waltrip Racing
On Tuesday, it was announced that Brian Vickers would run full time in the #55 for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2014 and 2015. Plus, he would receive full sponsorship from Aaron's for both seasons. I have a few positive and negative thoughts about the news. One positive thing is that Vickers has deserved this opportunity for a while. Ever since he had a blood clot in the middle of the 2010 season, his future has been in jeopardy. In 2011, it was announced that Red Bull Racing would leave the sport and he would not have a ride at all. He was able to get a part time ride with Michael Waltrip and a full year deal with Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for this season. Vickers made sure he would get the ride with a win at New Hampshire in the #55 this year. Now, his future is set and he is in a good ride. A final positive thing is that MWR now has three cars that can win the title. With the #55 running part time schedules with select drivers, they only had a chance to win the owners points championship. Now, the #55 can win the drivers championship along with the other two MWR cars of Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. But there is one negative thing. The negative thing is that Mark Martin will not be driving the #55 next year. Martin has been the veteran of the team and has showed the other two drivers at MWR the ropes. Now, they really don't have a veteran presence and this could spell disaster if a situation can not be handled right. Personally, I think the positive things of this move outweigh the negative things.
5. Juan Pablo Montoya Out at EGR
Surprising news also came out on Tuesday. It was announced that Juan Pablo Montoya would not return to the #42 at EGR. In my opinion, this is a move that has been developing for a while. Montoya has been pretty good at road course races, which was expected, but he has not really improved on ovals. Since there are only two road course races a year in the series, ovals are top priority. Montoya has been decent at oval tracks, but he has no wins and hasn't really been in contention for the Chase. But I still think this was a dumb call for the team. The first reason is who they might replace him with. The team has Kyle Larson and they seem like they want him in the car next year. That is absolutely the craziest thing I have ever heard. Larson has virtually no experience in cars and they expect him to race in Cup with only one year in Nationwide? They have lost there minds. But this could be a good move. If the team is looking to get Ryan Newman, I think this is one of the best calls in a while. Newman could work really well with Jamie McMurray, the other driver at EGR, and he has a lot of championship experience and victory lane experience. Plus, he has sponsorship and could put the team on the map. Newman is a good move for next year, but Larson is a bad move with his experience.
6. My Pick To Win
If you take a look at the previous two races at Michigan, Greg Biffle is on top of the results with the win. Like last week, I am going with another crazy pick. I am going with Kasey Kahne. I know, that probably holds no weight since he is my favorite driver. But even though he is starting well back in the field, he has been really fast in practice and had a good car before wrecking last time at Michigan. If you don't like that pick, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, Greg Biffle, and Kevin Harvick are good picks as well. I hope you guys enjoyed the second installment of My Thoughts as we head to Michigan. As always, if you feel my opinions are stupid, let me know. I would love to hear your opinions and see what you think on the matter.
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