This was a big sports day for the state of Michigan. The Detroit Pistons are hosting Game 5 of the NBA Finals, and NASCAR ran the Batman Begins 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Despite the fact that it had a terrible name, the race was pretty good. Unfortunately the Banshee missed most of it because I was distracted by the 105th U.S. Open golf tournament (an American didn't win).
So, here's the short summary of the race. Greg Biffle won. Tony Stewart came in second. Jimmie Johnson struggled. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. were both lousy again.
Due to Johnson's poor performance, the points race tightened up a bit, but the order of the top five remained unchanged. Johnson still leads. Biffle is still in second. Saddler, Edwards and Martin are third, fourth and fifth, respectively. The big mover of the day was Tony Stewart. His strong finish propelled him from tenth to fourth in the standings. Eleven drivers still remain within 400 points of the leader and are therefore still eligible for the Chase for the Championship. After today, Jeff Gordon joined Dale, Jr. on the wrong side of the 400-point line.
Next week, the circuit heads to Sonoma, CA for a little road racing.
