NASCAR At Michigan: Kyle Busch Picks Up Another Win, Boosts Chase Position

Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway saw Kyle Busch score his fourth victory of the year, making him the first driver locked into the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup.

While Busch was enjoying the win and having momentum on his side, others battling to make their way into the Chase recognized with three races left, time is beginning to run out.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished a disappointing 14th on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway after running in the top 10 for most of the day, which left him a bit frustrated.

Still, the Hendrick Motorsports driver is still in ninth place and 30 points inside the Chase with three races to go. Here’s what he told reporters afterward, via Chevrolet:

Following his third-place finish Sunday in Michigan, Brad Keselowski was confident in his team as the season approaches the Chase for the Sprint Cup and enjoyed his third consecutive top-three finish, despite a still-ailing back and broken ankle.

Perhaps no one but Keselowski could have imagined after injuring himself in a testing wreck at Road Atlanta he would go on to win the following race at Pocono, finish second on the road course at Watkins Glen and contend for the win yet again at Michigan International Speedway.

Denny Hamlin still holds the final wild card spot for NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, but his poor result at Michigan on Sunday loosened his grip.

Hamlin dropped to 14th in points and is now 59 points outside the top 10 – which means he’ll have to rely on the wild card to make the playoff.

Today’s NASCAR race at Michigan will have major Chase implications for several drivers. Both those on the bubble and those chasing a wild card spot know that time is running out – there are only four races left until the playoff field is set – and Michigan is a great place to make a move.

Who will have the best car? Will someone win on fuel mileage? Will June Michigan winner Denny Hamlin go to Victory Lane again, this time with his new TRD engine?

Tony Stewart firmly – but politely – stuck to his standard script on Friday when asked by reporters about the possibility of Danica Patrick joining his Stewart-Haas Racing team for some NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races next season.

Stewart was reacting to Marty Smith’s ESPN report reiterating Patrick’s NASCAR plans for 2012. Earlier in the day, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said pretty much the same thing as Stewart.

At 40 years old, Jeff Gordon is no longer the ‘wonder boy’ of the early 1990s. Gray hairs and back problems have led to questions of retirement over the past few years, but Gordon has remained competitive in the car and focused on winning races and championships.

Yet as the four-time champion moves into the next stage, his work outside the car is becoming a larger part of his life. Involvement with the Jeff Gordon Foundation, a trip to Congo with the Clinton Global Initiative and numerous other public awareness campaigns have proven Gordon is as much a champion off the track as he has been on.

This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returns to Michigan International Speedway, this time with the Camping World Truck Series. The Nationwide Series heads north of the border for its second consecutive road course at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Kevin Harvick is the defending race winner, while Denny Hamlin has been to Victory Lane in two of the last three Michigan events.