FanHouse 3MPerformance400

Denny Hamlin is no stranger to letting his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team have it when things don't go well.

Back in 2007, he was none too happy with his pit crew after he deemed they lost two or three races for him early in the season. Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway, Hamlin was disappointed with both the team's performance and other factors that left him with a 39th-place finish.

Just five laps from the end, Hamlin blew an engine to bring out the race's final caution. On a TV interview after coming to the garage, he didn't mince words.

"We came here with a new engine package," Hamlin said. "We're a bubble driver and we've made stupid choices. At this point we don't even deserve to be in the Chase."

You can't really blame the guy and his assessment of the "stupid choices" in that situation. Hamlin would have had a Top-15 finish had his No. 11 not blown up.

Can you imagine what the No. 11 in-car radio traffic sounded like as Hamlin coasted in? Salty would have been a good, descript word I bet.

The 39th-place finish pushed Hamlin to 12th in points -- the edge of the Chase to the Championship cutoff -- and only 26 points ahead of Clint Bowyer and David Ragan who are tied for 13th points-wise.

For two weeks in a row, the crew members on the other side of the pit wall have helped take a good finish out of the hands of a Hendrick Motorsports driver.

Last week at Watkins Glen, it was a bad call by Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway, it was a bad pit stop by Jeff Gordon's No. 24 over-the-wall crew.

Gordon started Sunday's 3M Performance 400 and ran in the Top-10 for most of the race's first 90 laps. On lap 85, Dave Blaney smacked the outside wall on the backstretch to bring out the race's second caution -- bringing the entire field to pit road.

Gordon came to his crew in fourth spot having just run some of his best laps during the previous green flag run. On the ensuing four-tire change, lug nuts fell off one of the wheels and caused a lengthier stop than the other leaders. The result was Gordon coming back on track in 14th position.

For the first time since Mark Martin in 1993, a driver has completed the weekend sweep at Michigan International Speedway.

That driver was Roush Fenway Racing ace Carl Edwards who powered his way win number five of the 2008 season by winning Sunday's Sprint Cup Series 3M Performance 400, an encore performance to his victory Saturday during the Nationwide Series event.

Brian Vickers made a big statement Friday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway.

The Red Bull Racing driver not only posted the fastest time in practice Friday afternoon, but also put his No. 83 Toyota on the pole in commanding fashion for Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at the track an hour west of Detroit.

Are you in the market for gently-used NASCAR Sprint Cup driver motorhome used for at-the-track lodging, Nintendo Wii-fests during rain delays, and a hiding spot from the media or other angry drivers?

Well, Denny Hamlin is the man you need to talk to.

Hamlin donated such a motor home to Motor Racing Outreach -- the organization that is at the track every weekend providing church services and other help to the NASCAR community -- this week after hearing they were in need of such a vehicle.

"MRO has been a friend to the drivers, teams and everyone affiliated with the sport for a long time so I was really happy to be able to help them out. It seems like everyone in the garage supports MRO in one way or another and they deserve the recognition," Hamlin said.

"By donating my motor home to them I hope it will save them some money in lodging and I think it will really give them the opportunity to do more and more within in the sport. I know we'll all benefit from that - and I am proud to support their efforts."

Don't expect Hamlin to be staying at the local Super 8, though, when NASCAR is in town.

There are just three races left on the road to the Chase for the Nextel Cup and the Chase picture is starting to come into focus--and NASCAR's most popular driver isn't in it.

Standings following the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway:

7. -1 Jeff Burton
8. -- Kyle Busch
9. -- Clint Bowyer
10. -- Kevin Harvick
11. -- Martin Truex Jr.
12. -- Kurt Busch

13. +1 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
14. -1 Ryan Newman
15. -- Greg Biffle
16. -- Casey Mears
17. -- Jamie McMurray

Biggest Winners
Race winner Kurt Busch. I'm going to hate being right about him pushing a DEI driver out. Jimmie Johnson also pulled himself back up to 6th, improving his seed position.

Biggest Loser
Dale Earnhardt Jr. His chase hopes started to slip away last week and this week he completely lost his footing, gaining a spot but increasing the gap.

The outlook is looking more bleak for Junior and Ryan Newman, but they're not mathematically locked out. Yet. With only two drivers are locked into the Chase at this point, anything can happen. But it won't take just anything, it's got to be something big and tragic. Something like three consecutive DNFs for one of the others in the top 12. Now, where did I put those voodoo dolls cars ... ?

After suffering through two straight days of rain at Michigan, it wouldn't have surprised anybody to see an empty grandstand at Michigan International Speedway on Tuesday.

I, after all, wasn't expecting much of a crowd at MIS after seeing no less than three RV's emblazoned with NASCAR logos heading south through Indianapolis on I-69, the same interstate that runs near MIS.

People needed to get back to work and most employers don't give a hoot if the race was postponed or not.

Instead, a lot of folks seemed to call in sick and show up in Brooklyn, Mich. for the race. While the grandstands weren't close to being full, the crowd on hand was larger than many expectations.

Even race winner Kurt Busch was "astonished" at the size of the crowd:

"I was completely astonished. Some of them might not have a job tomorrow morning [...]," said Busch. "That just shows the heart that NASCAR fans have. To seem them here at the track was incredible and the fans definitely got their monies worth."

You can bet a lot of the RV fans that are regular NASCAR travelers, though, weren't still in attendance Sunday for a very good reason. Bristol Motor Speedway opened their campgrounds this week and to get a spot, those folks needed to be there.

Rough life that would be, huh?

Kurt Busch found victory lane for the second time in three races in the special Tuesday version of the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway. The race, originally scheduled for Sunday, suffered through two straight complete washout days and a 45-minute fog delay Tuesday.

Martin Truex Jr. ran second while Jimmie Johnson came home third.

Series point leader Jeff Gordon faded late after not taking tires on a late pit stop, leaving the No. 24 loose. He slid into a charging Matt Kenseth and looped the car on the frontstretch before getting stuck in the mud -- finishing 27th, one lap down.

Busch helped to solidify his entry into this year's Chase for the Nextel Cup with the victory. He still sits 12th in the standings -- the cutoff point -- but has increased his lead to 163 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 13th with just 3 races until the cutoff at Richmond.

This rain is for the birds!

Not only was the race postponed again, but so was DEI testing at Iowa Speedway tomorrow and Wednesday. Surely, that isn't a big deal to most, but for the past week I've been listening to my 10-year-old my niece visiting from my home state talking about how she finally gets to meet her aunt's favorite driver on Tuesday after she's back from her Socal vacation.

Now Dale Earnhardt Jr., et. al. are stuck in Michigan and next week when they finally do make it to Iowa, my niece will be in school and unable to attend. Total bummer.

Total bummer for the fans in Michigan, too, who are floating away or, gasp, had to skip town already to get back to work without even getting to see the race. How's that for an anti-climatic race weekend?

And what if they don't get it in at all this week? Is it time for NASCAR to start scheduling snow rain days?

Belated Thanks
Huge thanks to Geoffrey Miller for holding down the NASCAR Fanhouse while I was riding Space Mountain at Disneyland, California Screamin' and Soarin' at California Adventure, hiking off the beaten path in Griffith Park, lounging at Zuma Beach, walking the boardwalk and collecting sea shells in Redondo Beach and doing other Hollywood touristy things with the family. It was nice not to have to think about the Fanhouse for a bit.

Meanwhile, we could use a little rain here in Southern California. How 'bout it, Ma Nature?

We've gotten to that point again in the NASCAR season.

Some people just need an extended weekend -- so the rain and weather in Michigan is obliging.

Sunday's 3M Performance 400 was postponed to Monday, and things aren't looking good for that option either, according to the National Weather Service.

As the graphic shows, (yeah, just call me Sunny Clouds, your FanHouse weather expert), Michigan International Speedway is expecting a 70% chance of rain Monday. Unfortunately, the track isn't going to be dry before that point either because torrential rains will continue to fall in the overnight hours.

Here's a great shot to make that extended weekend worth it.