Kurt Busch wins shortened Quicken Loans 400

By @GucciardoJoey

BROOKLYN, MI--- This HAS to be one of the most dreadful NASCAR races ever.

When I say dreadful, I mean "4 total red-flags for rain" dreadful.

But, the race was able to get past halfway, and NASCAR was able to call the race. Kurt Busch was in first at the time of the calling, so he won today.

Martin Truex Jr. finished 2nd, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 3rd, Matt Kenseth in 4th, and Joey Logano in 5th to round out the Top-5.

This was Busch's second victory of the season. His first victory came at Richmond International Raceway earlier this season.

“Tony Gibson led these guys through a back-up car, the pit crew was there giving it its best,” Busch told the NASCAR broadcast team on FOX Sports 1. “It’s an unbelievable feeling to know what we went through, paced ourselves and found the lead towards the latter part of the race and then the rain came in.”

Cole Custer wins the Drivin' For Linemen 200

By @GucciardoJoey

View image | gettyimages.com

MADISON, ILL--- It took 155 of 160 laps for Cole Custer., who is 17 years old, to take the lead and win the Drivin' For Linemen last night.

Most sources say that this is Custer's first truck series victory. Well, they are wrong. Custer won the New Hampshire Motor Speedway truck series event in 2014 after starting on the pole.

Cole Custer drives for JR. Motorsports. So his team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., congratulated him on Twitter.

Congrats to @colecuster00 and the @JRMotorsports @Haas_Automation guys. Good night for JRM all around.

— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) June 14, 2015

Congrats to Cole Custer on your victory at Gateway!

2015 Drivin' For Linemen 200 FINAL RESULTS
Lap length: 1.25 miles
(Start position in parentheses)

1. (2) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 160 laps, 47 points.

2. (14) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 160, 42.

3. (4) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 160, 42.

4. (12) John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, 160, 40.

5. (9) Cameron Hayley, Toyota, 160, 39.

6. (13) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 160, 38.

7. (15) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 160, 37.

8. (6) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 160, 37.

9. (7) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 160, 35.

10. (10) Austin Theriault, Ford, 160, 34.

11. (11) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 160, 33.

12. (5) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 160, 32.

13. (18) Ray Black Jr., Chevrolet, 160, 31.

14. (20) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 160, 30.

15. (17) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 160, 29.

16. (21) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, 159, 28.

17. (28) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 157, 27.

18. (23) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 157, 26.

19. (27) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 156, 25.

20. (25) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 156, 24.

21. (3) Matt Crafton, Toyota, accident, 151, 24.

22. (24) Korbin Forrister, Chevrolet, 148, 22.

23. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, electrical, 145, 23.

24. (26) Tommy Regan, Chevrolet, electrical, 108, 20.

25. (8) Matt Tifft, Toyota, accident, 92, 19.

26. (29) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, brakes, 56, 18.

27. (19) Justin Boston, Toyota, accident, 51, 17.

28. (16) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, accident, 51, 16.

29. (22) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, brakes, 26, 15.

30. (31) Michael Affarano, Chevrolet, brakes, 13, 0.

31. (30) Adam Edwards, Chevrolet, brakes, 6, 0.

32. (32) Joey Gattina, Chevrolet, engine, 0, 0.

Logano and Harvick weck each other, Elliott gets lead stolen by Kyle Busch for victory

By @GucciardoJoey

Kyle Busch celebrating in victory lane after winning the
Great clips 250 Benefitting Paralyzed Veterans of
America at Michigan International Speedway.
(AP Photo)

Brooklyn, MI--- Wow, what a finish.

Joey Logano was in first with less than 10 laps to go, with Kevin Harvick a close second. The two wreck each other and slide up into the wall. Chase Elliott takes the lead because of that. Later into those 10 laps, Kyle Busch steals the lead from Elliott to win today's Great Clips 250 Benefitting Paralyzed Veterans of America at Michigan International Speedway.

“This is only a preliminary to what we got to do for Sundays, but this is a start,” Busch told FOX. “Can’t say enough about this team.”

“(I’m not) too surprised we’re standing here,” he also said. “I knew we had a good piece, I just didn’t think we had a winning piece. We saw it with restarts all day long, how they were back and forth.”

“Harvick and Joey getting at it there in the corner a little bit obviously helped our day,” Busch also said. “I don’t know if we could have passed (Logano), but we were really close to the 22 today. It was kind of all dependent on who got out front first.”

Busch was followed by Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher and Elliott Sadler.

There was a competition caution on lap 27, along with a red-flag, and eight cautions that added up to 26 caution laps.

Congratulations to Kyle Busch on his victory in today's Great Clips 250 Benefitting Paralyzed Veterans of America at Michigan International Speedway!

Drivin' For Linemen 200 PREVIEW

By @GucciardoJoey

View image | gettyimages.com

This weekend, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Gateway International Raceway for the American Ethanol Presents the Drivin' For Linemen 200.'

Right now, points standings wise, Matt Crafton has the lead with three wins. The 19-year-old Tyler Reddick is second in points with two wins. Erik Jones is third in points, Johnny Sauter is fourth, and John Wes Townley is fifth.

Last year, Darrell Wallace Jr.won this race.

There's your preview for the 2015 Drivin' For Linemen 200!

Great Clips 250 PREVIEW

By @GucciardoJoey

View image | gettyimages.com

This Saturday, at1:30 PM E.T., the NASCAR XFINITY Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the Great Clips 250 benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America.

As of right now, Chris Buescher is the best driver in the series, with two wins andleading the points standings. Ty Dillon sits secodn to Buescher in points, with Chase Elliott in third, with Elliott's teammate, Regan Smith in 4th, and Buescher's teammate, Darrell Wallace Jr. in 5th.

Paul Menard won this race last year.The race was under the name of "Ollies Bargain Outlet 250," but it was still at Michigan International Speedway.

Kyle Busch, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular, will be competing in his first NASCAR XFINITY Series race since he crashed, and wasinjured in the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway. He will be driving his usual No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing.

There's your preview for the 2015 Great Clips 250 benefiting Paralyzed Veteransof America.

Driver Ratings: Going into Michigan

UNB Sprint Cup Homepage: Driver Ratings: Going into Michigan: By @GucciardoJoey  | June 11th, 2015 



 Jimmie Johnson celebrates in victory lane at Dover International Speedway after winning the 2015 Fe...

Driver Ratings: Going into Michigan

By @GucciardoJoey | June 11th, 2015

Jimmie Johnson celebrates in victory lane at Dover International
Speedway after winning the 2015 FedEx 400 Benefitting Autism
Speaks.
(Photo CREDIT: Getty Images)

So, Pocono Raceway has come and gone, as we have just ran out first of two races there.

This weekend, the Sprint Cup heads to Michigan International Speedway for the Quicken Loans 400.

As we head into Michigan, let's take a look at the Top-5 drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series so far this season.

1.) Jimmie Johnson (#48): 4 wins? 5 Top-5's and 10 Top-10's? Johnson is having one of his best seasons ever. His best season to date is the 2007 season in this series, where he won 10 races, and he won his 2nd of currently 6 championships in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

2.) Kevin Harvick (#4): If the Sprint Cup Series points standings was based on wins, then "Happy" Harvick would be second to Jimmie Johnson. Harvick has two wins, Johnson has four. 14 races into this season, Harvick has 10 Top-5's, and 13 Top 10's. So only one race that he competed in this season, he finished outside the Top-10. That's pretty incredible.

3.) Martin Truex Jr. (#78): Even if Martin Truex Jr. didn't win this past weekend's race at Pocono Raceway, I still would have put him third on this list. Before his win, he definitely was one of the best drivers currently on the circuit that hadn't gotten a win. But, to go along with his win, he has some pretty good stats. 4 Top-5's and 13 Top-10's, that's pretty good. Just like Harvick, only one race that Truex Jr. competed in this season led to him finishing outside the Top-10. Only one race! That's amazing.

4.) Joey Logano (#22): Logano started his season off with a Daytona 500 victory. Even though that's his only win 14 races into this season, he has 4 poles to go along with it. He's got 7 Top-5's, and 10 Top-10's. Only four races he competed in this season led to him finishing outside the Top-10. Not as good as Harvick and Truex Jr., but still pretty good.

5.) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88): Jr. has always been a good driver to me. His Talladega win this season showed all of the NASCAR world that he is still capable of winning, even at the age of 40. His 7 Top-5's and 8 Top-10's are a little extra to add on to that win. Logan has two more Top-10's than Jr. does, so that's why Logano is ahead of Jr. But still, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having one heck of a season.

Brian France hints at rules change.

Recently, I read an article today in regards to Brian France hinting at more changes to the rules package for 2016. In my opinion, it does need changed but to higher HP. Right now the HP is 750 HP. There isn't any reason why it should be 750 HP. The fans, drivers & sponsors aren't at all liking this rules package. Neither am I. There's hardly any passing or fights for the lead. I suspect there may be a little backlash if France does follow through with the new rules package.

Martin Truex Jr. Wins Axalta 'We Paint Winners' 400

By @GucciardoJoey

View image | gettyimages.com

LONG POND, PA--- Martin Truex Jr. was able to get it done today at Pocono Raceway.

This was Truex Jr.'s first victory of the 2015 season.

Kevin Harvick finished second, and Jimmie Johnson finished 3rd.

Johnson actually blew a tire during the middle of the race, but bounced back and rebounded for a 3rd place finish.

Danica Patrick spun with less than 10 laps to go, but no caution was thrown because she spun into an area (pit road) which put her out of harm's way.