Weekend Recap: Michigan, Montreal

Weekend Recap: Michigan, Montreal

Camping World Truck Series: VFW 200 @ Michigan

Results (Top 10):                                       Standings (as of Michigan):     Points Behind

1. Nelson Piquet Jr.                                     1. Timothy Peters                       Leader

2. Jason White                                             2. Ty Dillon*                             Leader

3. Dakoda Armstrong*                                3. James Buescher                     - 6

4. Parker Kligerman                                    4. Justin Lofton                          - 17

5. James Buescher                                       5. Parker Kligerman                   - 25

6. Ty Dillon*                                               6. Matt Crafton                          - 36

7. Joey Coulter                                            7. Joey Coulter                           - 43

8. Brad Keselowski (i)                                8. Nelson Piquet Jr.                    - 57

9. Kurt Busch (i)                                         9. Ron Hornaday                        - 63

10. Miguel Paludo                                      10. Jason White                          - 78

(i) = ineligible for points in this series              *= Rookie

Spinning and winning.

That's what Nelson Piquet Jr. was up to on Saturday during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the Michigan International Speedway. Piquet spun out halfway into the race after he and Sprint Cup Series regular Kurt Busch had dominated the first 50 laps of the 100 lap race. Piquet, with a very fast truck, pitted right after the spin and never stopped again. He stayed out for the final 45 laps of the race and stretched his fuel perfectly to take his first career Truck Series win and also the first win by a Brazilian driver in the series. Piquet also picked up a win in the Nationwide Series earlier this year at Road America in Wisconsin, that win was also his first in that Series.

Timothy Peters finished 13th but still maintained the points lead, although he is now tied for that lead with rookie driver Ty Dillon. Dillon's older brother Austin, now in the Nationwide Series, won the Truck Series championship last season. The series runs a unique race at the Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, unique in that it is run on a Wednesday night.

Nationwide Series: NAPA Auto Parts 200 @ Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal)

Results (Top 10):                              Standings (as of Montreal):     Points Behind

1. Justin Allgaier                                1. Elliott Sadler                           Leader

2. Sam Hornish Jr.                             2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.                -22

3. Jacques Villeneuve                        3. Sam Hornish Jr.                      - 22

4. Elliott Sadler                                  4. Austin Dillon*                        - 35

5. Ron Fellows                                  5. Justin Allgaier                         - 68

6. Michael McDowell (i)                   6. Michael Annett                       - 134

7. Mike Wallace                                7. Cole Whitt*                             - 191

8. Billy Johnson                                 8. Mike Bliss                              - 215

9. Austin Dillon*                               9. Brian Scott                              - 284

10. Kyle Busch (i)                             10. Joe Nemechek                      - 318

(i) = ineligible for points in this series    *= Rookie

Montreal and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve always has to put on a show.

That was the case on Saturday as Justin Allgaier captured his first win of the 2012 Nationwide season, his first road course win, and his third career Nationwide win all in the same day. Allgaier, not known for his road racing prowess, pulled a bump-and-run on Jacques Villeneuve, a road racer and the son of the track's namesake, and held off a hard charging Sam Hornish Jr. all on the last lap. Villeneuve is known for his road racing skill and desperately wanted to win at his late father's track after coming close in year's prior, but worries that he would run out of fuel after multiple green-white-checkers led Allgaier to believe Villeneuve was slowing on the last lap. However, Villeneuve was not running out of gas as Allgaier believed, but Allgaier ran into him anyway to take the lead.

Danica Patrick looked like she was finally about to challenge for her first win as she quickly moved from her 4th starting position up to the lead, leading 20 laps in all on the day. Patrick's day came unglued however after she was leading and a spectator threw a shoe out onto the track. Patrick ran over the shoe and it caused something in the rear end of her car to break, relegating her to a 27th place finish.

Elliott Sadler held onto his points lead with a strong 4th place run. It looked as though Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would cut into Sadler's lead, but as he tried to pass Villeneuve near the end of the race, he spun himself out and cost himself a top-10 finish. Sam Hornish Jr. moved into a tie for 2nd in points with Stenhouse after looking like he might win the race before being wrecked on a crazy restart. Hornish rallied to finish 2nd still. The Nationwide Series heads to Bristol for a Friday night race. 

Sprint Cup Series: Pure Michigan 400 @ Michigan

Results (Top 10):                   Standings (as of Michigan):      Points Behind

1. Greg Biffle                          1. Greg Biffle                               Leader

2. Brad Keselowski                 2. Matt Kenseth                           - 20

3. Kasey Kahne                       3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.                   - 22

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.               4. Jimmie Johnson                       - 28

5. Marcos Ambrose                 5. Brad Keselowski                     - 47

6. Carl Edwards                      6. Martin Truex Jr.                       - 60

7. Clint Bowyer                      7. Clint Bowyer                            - 66

8. Ryan Newman                    8. Kevin Harvick                         - 85

9. Paul Menard                        9. Tony Stewart                           - 95

10. Martin Truex Jr.                10. Denny Hamlin                       - 96

                                                WC1. Kasey Kahne                   - 129

                                                WC2. Ryan Newman                 - 143

It seemed it wasn't the greatest thing to be the leader at Michigan on Sunday.

At least not if you were Mark Martin or Jimmie Johnson, but Greg Biffle can think differently. Biffle won his second race of the year and assumed the points lead with only three races until the Chase begins by using some good fortune. Mark Martin, the pole sitter, dominated the first 50 laps until a weird scenario cause he and second place Kasey Kahne to spin out. Martin spun down pit road and the left rear of the car hit an opening in the pit wall and basically speared Martin's car, a very scary incident where everyone was happy to see Martin walk away ok. 

Near the end of the race, Jimmie Johnson, who started in last due to an engine change in practice, took the lead and looked to be on his way to his first win at Michigan and his fourth of the year. Johnson took the lead from Michigan native Brad Keselowski with ten laps left and began to pull away. But with six laps to go, Johnson's engine blew leaving him in disgust as he screamed, "Are you kidding me!?", on his radio. Biffle then held off Keselowski to take home the win.

The engine failure caused Johnson to fall from 1st to 4th in points, but it doesn't matter much anyway because the points will be reset when the Chase starts. Currently, Johnson, Keselowski, and Tony Stewart would be tied for first at the beginning of the Chase because they each own three victories on the year. The Series heads to Bristol also for a Saturday night showdown this weekend and the third-to-last race before the Chase.