NASCAR Sprint Cup Power Rankings: Top 15 After Indianapolis

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It was a Hendrick Motorsports kind of day last weekend in Indianapolis. Jimmie Johnson stole the show to win his fourth Brickyard 400, putting him in elite company at America’s most famous speedway. Meanwhile, looking at the “big picture” teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took the series point lead for the first time since the Fall of 2004. Is the apocalypse, supposedly predicted by the Mayans this year finally upon us? Or are Steve Letarte and Earnhardt just really, really good together — better than anyone could have ever imagined once they were joined at the hip by Rick Hendrick?

Meet the Six Drivers Making Their (Sorta) NASCAR Debuts This Weekend

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It’s a jam-packed two days of racing for NASCAR’s top three series this weekend, with the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series heading to Pocono Raceway while the Nationwide Series travels to Iowa Speedway.

As if the influx of racing (which will also be flanked with a K&N Pro Series event at Iowa and an ARCA race at Pocono) wasn’t enough, all three series will see new drivers join their ranks as first-time competitors — six in all. Of these six, four will be making their first NASCAR starts in the top three series, period, with a fifth possessing only one previous start.

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The Thunder Gun: NASCAR’s Glue That Binds A Family Together

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James Hurd puts his hands on almost every impact gun used on pit road during NASCAR National Touring races. Whether it’s Cup, Nationwide or Truck, almost every tire changer on pit lane uses an Ingersoll-Rand Thunder Gun. The familiar high-pitched whine that fans hear during pit stops, while the lug nuts are flying off and being driven on the five studs on each corner of the car comes from the yellow and black impact gun that has been produced by IR since the ’60s. Hurd travels the circuit and tunes up the Thunder Guns for everyone, assuring their effectiveness on race day. While it varies from every week to three or four times a season, each and every time that a tire changer wants to have his gun looked over or rebuilt Hurd brings it to the IR hauler and he disassembles, inspects and tunes up each gun.

Mirror Driving: Livening Up A Lost Cause And Defining The Chase Going Forward

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*In the past four years, since the tire debacle of 2008 NASCAR attendance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has dropped by almost 50 percent. What does the sport, or the track need to do in order to bring back prestige and popularity to what was the second-biggest race?*

Phil: I think that godawfulness from 2008 is still playing a role, along with a bunch of other factors. Indianapolis is also the toughest track to pass at in NASCAR.
Tom: I think the biggest problem has been the changeover to the Car of Tomorrow. This particular chassis just has never adapted to Indy; I mean, passing is almost impossible.

Top 10 Improvements Pocono Raceway Should Make Next

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*10.* Loop-de-loop that doubles as Turn 4. We know it can be done after “Tanner Foust and Greg Tracy did it at the X Games!”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0Y8tmRYYiA

*9.* Giant sinkhole placed on the outside groove of the Tunnel Turn. Hey, it’s the drivers’ fault for saying it’s gotten too easy!

*8.* Pace car replaced by herd of local deer. Cars must follow regardless of where they wind up.

*7.* Blindfold the leader every 50 laps and see just how good his spotter really is.

Open Wheel Wednesday: Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

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The IndyCar series had this past weekend off. And with that break, a couple of questions come to mind: Did anyone really notice? Was it even missed? The Olympic Games have attracted much of the sporting media’s coverage, but that didn’t stop other motorsports. Formula 1 continued as they would, and NASCAR held one of the bigger races of the season, and with coverage of that series switching to ESPN, the race was a showcase event for the network.

Heck, even the NBC Sports channel, home of some of the Olympics coverage, took time out to show Major League Soccer – so yes, the show must go on.

Five Points to Ponder: Send the Brickyard Packing (and the Restart Rules…and the Points System)

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*ONE: The Brickyard Has to Go*

Back in 1994, when the Brickyard 400 was an inaugural event, there’s a reason it sold out and was instantly one of the sport’s marquee moments. Taking the green flag there was more than tackling a storied oval. It was a story of triumph for how the backwater racers of NASCAR had surged from down south, become prominent in a way open-wheel racing used to be, and brought their beating and banging onto Indy’s home turf. It was the equivalent of planting the flag in the enemy’s capital city.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not in NASCAR: Indianapolis/Pocono Edition

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Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson may have been the two latest Hendrick Motorsports drivers to visit Victory Lane, but make no mistake about it, the spotlight is going to be on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. this week.

For the first time since September, 2004 Junior will head to the next event as the Sprint Cup points leader. And while media coverage and interviews are nothing new to Earnhardt Jr., both are going to be ramped up this week.

Still Shiny and Slick: Kevin Manion Prepares Car #1 for Pocono Race #2

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_The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series raced on the freshly paved surface of Pocono Raceway on June 10th. This weekend, just eight weeks later, the Cup cars will be back on the triangular-shaped track in the mountains of Pennsylvania. The teams have updated their notebooks after logging a full race on the fresh pavement and now are ready to head back with new ideas on how to go fast. But how do you make adjustments in so short a period of time? Jamie McMurray’s crew chief, Kevin “Bono” Manion tells Frontstretch what is on his mind heading back to Pocono for the second race on the upgraded surface._