Saturday

Jimmie Johnson gets first Michigan win, fifth straight 2014 win for Hendrick Motorsports

There are now only four tracks on the Sprint Cup Series schedule where Jimmie Johnson hasn't won at.

Johnson crossed Michigan off his list Sunday afternoon, taking the lead off the race's final restart and inheriting it after the rest of the field all came down pit road.

Because of the clean air from the lead, Johnson was able to take four tires on his final stop. While tires were secondary to track position throughout Sunday's race, Johnson was able to have the benefit of both. While Jeff Gordon and Paul Menard left pit road not too far behind Johnson, they both took two tires to do it. When they were all back on the track at full speed, Johnson pulled away.

In August 2012 at Michigan, Johnson had a great chance to win while battling with Greg Biffle. But Johnson blew an engine on lap 195 and finished 27th. After starting third in the August race last year, Johnson also lost an engine and finished 40th. There were no worries about an engine on Sunday and now the only tracks Johnson hasn't notched a victory at are Chicago, Homestead, Kentucky and Watkins Glen.

After knocking off Michigan, Johnson's now the sole leader in wins in the Sprint Cup Series with three, just four weeks after many people were wondering when he would win again. (If you were one of those people, you probably feel pretty foolish now.) Add those three wins with Jeff Gordon's win at Kansas and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win at Pocono last Sunday and Hendrick Motorsports has won the last five points races.

It's the third time the team has had a five-race winning streak. In 2007, Hendrick won six straight races, all in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Gordon won at Talladega and Charlotte while Johnson won at Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix. (Earlier that year was a five-race streak too. Gordon won three races while Johnson and Casey Mears each won once.)

The only driver who had a car to compete with Johnson late in the race at Michigan was powered by a Hendrick engine. Kevin Harvick took four tires on his final pit stop too and he powered around Brad Keselowski for second with under 10 laps to go. But Harvick, who was forced to come to pit road for his final pit stop because of a cut tire, was too far behind Johnson to have a chance for the win. Harvick, the polesitter, led 63 laps. Johnson led 39.

While the end of the race was a sterotypical Michigan finish (the final 57 laps were run under green), the beginning of the race was a stop-and-start affair. Two cautions, one for Brian Vickers' spin and another for a spin by Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne that also involved Martin Truex Jr., came before the field could even complete a full lap of green flag competition.

Keselowski finished third while Paul Menard, Saturday's winner of the Nationwide Series race, was fourth and Kahne rebounded to finish fifth.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/jimmie-johnson-gets-first-michigan-win--fifth-straight-2014-win-for-hendrick-motorsports-203315462.html

Art Cross Geoff Crossley Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas

Friday

There?s Nothing Wrong With Restarts

I’ve got to be honest, I don’t understand why there has been so much discussion this week about restarts. The rules are really pretty clear. The green flag waves, the leader can go between the two lines, you can’t beat the leader to the line, and don’t change lanes before the start/finish line. Seems pretty […]

TheNASCARInsiders.com

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheNascarInsiders/~3/UgiEfK_qv7c/

Eugene Chaboud Jay Chamberlain Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy

Tuesday

The Comprehensive MotoGP Silly Season Update: How Things Stand For Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki, Kalex, And Even Moto3

The current status of MotoGP's silly season? Two down, plenty still to go. Valentino Rossi may have joined Marc Marquez as the only other factory rider to have put pen to paper for 2015 and 2016, the rest of the grid is still in the middle of negotiating their riders for next year. Even Cal Crutchlow, who has a contract to race with Ducati in 2015, but more of that later.

Who will join Rossi at Movistar Yamaha and Marquez at Repsol Honda? Most likely, the two men who are already there. It is hard to see either Dani Pedrosa or Jorge Lorenzo jumping ship to ride anywhere else. Though HRC boss Shuhei Nakamoto flirted with Lorenzo late last year, he understands that it would be terrible team politics to upset his number one rider, and the man who is likely to bring a fleet of titles to Honda over the next few season.

What HRC needs is a reliable number two rider, and Pedrosa has proven to be perfect in that role. Fast enough to win races of his own accord, and a solid force in the team, not the kind of character to kick up a fuss. He has six podiums this year, as well as a pole position, and can win should Marquez falter. Spanish media are reporting that Pedrosa is close to wrapping up a contract with the Repsol Honda team, with talks having gone at Assen. The new contract would mean less salary for Pedrosa, but at least at Honda, he has a chance of winning races. Big money offers from Ducati and Suzuki are much more of a gamble, with neither bike yet having proven capable of winning.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/r7mYgWQNDLI/the_comprehensive_motogp_silly_season_up.html

Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell

Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 3

Source: http://www.16thandgeorgetown.com/2014/05/indianapolis-500-practice-day-3.html

Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut

Monday

Signs beware: Kenny Habul returns to Road America this weekend

The trackside signs are cowering in fear at Road America. Kenny Habul is back.

Last year, Habul brazenly not only committed signslaughter, but he also had the audacity to take the sign along for a ride after he did the crime.

But on Saturday, if Habul takes out a sign again, he may do it much closer to the front of the field. His company, Sun Energy 1, purchased a four-race Nationwide sponsorship at Joe Gibbs Racing. As part of the deal, Habul is driving the No. 20 car at Road America and Mid-Ohio.

In case you were wondering, Habul's highest finish at a road course in his six-race Nationwide Series career is 16th. But hey, he has a sponsor because, well, he is the sponsor. In NASCAR, that's more than half the battle sometimes.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/signs-beware--kenny-habul-returns-to-road-america-this-weekend-141014617.html

Olivier Beretta Allen Berg Georges Berger Gerhard Berger

Sunday

On third cars?

Stories that suggest a Formula 1 with eight teams each running three cars sound half-sensible, don’t they? But could it really happen? And how would it work? Under the terms of the bilateral agreements with the teams there is believed to be provision for a third car for each team, but only if they are […]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/07/02/on-third-cars/

Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier