Hot Topics Following Exciting Weekend at Michigan and Montreal

We learned a few lessons about the state of Sprint Cup affairs during yesterday's Pure Michigan 400. The first of which is the championship picture isn't as clear as we first thought. The weekend also taught us that both road courses and superspeedways can produce equally incredible racing, given the right circumstances.

Without further ado, here are some watercooler topics to take away from the weekend at Michigan and Montreal.

Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports are not as invincible as we first thought. Johnson has looked largely unbeatable since early in the season. His performance rewarded him with the championship lead and casual onlookers have announced him as the championship favorite.

Hendrick's four blown engines on Sunday tossed much of this into doubt. Five of the 10 Chase races are high-horsepower Speedways. If Hendrick's engine woes continue, it could compromise Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne's chances at winning the Sprint Cup Series Championship.

Will this be an isolated incident or should the Hendrick playoff contenders be worried approaching the Chase for the Championship?

The Sprint Cup Series has had three different championship leaders over the last four weeks. That list includes Johnson, Earnhardt and Matt Kenseth. It doesn't include Brad Keselowski and Tony Steart who, with Johnson, lead the division with three wins each.

A legitimate case could be made for declaring any of these the drivers the Chase favorites, while Stewart proved last year that anyone could get hot and roll off several wins en route to the championship. Who is your championship favorite and why? Does the tight championship battle suggest that a playoff isn't needed?

Michigan and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve produced two-different but equally exciting races over the weekend. I've wrote in the past that NASCAR needs to add more road courses to provide a more diverse schedule. Most so-called intermediate tracks produce the same lifeless racing, but Michigan was the exception on Sunday.

An argument could be made for Goodyear's new tire compound or NASCAR's recent changes to the aero package. Whichever the case, NASCAR must try to replicate this formula the rest of the season at Atlanta, Kansas, Charlotte and Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Montreal has consistently provided some of the best races in recent memory, begging the Sanctioning Body to add a Sprint Cup date to the track's schedule. One more road course would still be one less than the number of restrictor plate races, and would add an exciting new element to NASCAR's hit-or-miss playoff format.

As always, I call it #WeWantRightTurns and I hope you'll entertain the notion too.

And briefly...

Sam Hornish Jr. finished second at Montreal and has moved to second in the championship standings, 22 points behind first place Elliott Sadler. It was his fifth top-5 over his last six Nationwide Series races. Hornish also finished 12th in the Sprint Cup Series No. 22 after starting that race at the back of the field. Has the former IndyCar Series champion done enough to warrant returning to the Sprint Cup Series full-time in 2013?

What's your top story of the weekend? Did I miss something? Opine on these topics and more in the comments section below or on Twitter at @MattWeaverSBN and @NASCARRnR.