What a homecoming gift for Michael Waltrip Racing.

What a homecoming gift for Michael Waltrip Racing.

 

The Owensboro, Ky., native takes his three Michael Waltrip Racing teams home to the Bluegrass state this weekend for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. EST, TNT, Performance Racing Radio, SIRIUSXM Radio) at Kentucky Speedway, fresh off of Martin Truex Jr.’s huge road-course victory in California.

 

Using Truex and winner in the same sentence hadn’t happened for more than six years – 2,210 days to be exact. The 218-race gap between Truex’s victory at Dover International Speedway in June 2007 and Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 triumph at Sonoma Raceway set a NASCAR Sprint Cup record for longest between a driver’s first and second wins.

 

But it isn’t a fluke for either Truex, a two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion and former road-race winner who has finished second six times since his Dover victory, or MWR, which had three wins last year and now has both full-time drivers Truex and Clint Bowyer ranked in the top 10.

 

It’s “go-time” for drivers hoping to land a berth in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. Just 10 races remain in the regular season beginning with Kentucky’s night race. Three multiple winners – Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick – have established themselves as champion co-favorites but the jostling among additional contenders continues.

 

Just 14 points is the difference between 10^th – and a Chase lock in – and 14^th, which is currently a Chase lock out.

 

Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart is among the “out” this week although he currently holds one of two Wild Card hands along with Kasey Kahne.

 

Brad Keselowski is the defending Quaker State 400 winner but without a victory in 2013 – and only nine points to the good as far as the Chase is concerned. Only one previous champion, Tony Stewart in 2006, has failed to qualify for the following year’s postseason during the Chase era. Keselowski and Kyle Busch – the only two NASCAR Sprint Cup winners at Kentucky – will run all three NASCAR national series races this weekend.

 

All three of NASCAR’s national series will be in action at Kentucky Speedway beginning with a Thursday night date for NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (8 p.m. EST, SPEED) and NASCAR Nationwide Series on Friday night (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

 

While the NNS Feed the Children 300 pays the same number of points as any other event, its finish could be the springboard to a $1 million payoff. Friday night’s race will determine eligibility for Daytona International Speedway’s opening round of the Nationwide Dash 4 Cash (#Dash4Cash) program. The top four points eligible finishers at Kentucky Speedway will race each other for a $100,000 bonus at Daytona.

 

A driver will claim the $1 million prize by winning bonuses at Daytona, New Hampshire and Chicagoland and taking the victory outright at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway event on July 27.

 

Regan Smith’s 28-point lead in the standings remains secure – but not as comfortable as the 58 markers he enjoyed before finishing 32^nd in last Saturday’s race at Road America. Veteran Justin Allgaier is the new second-place competitor, bypassing Sam Hornish Jr., who led the points earlier in the season.

 

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has seen a major infusion of new – and youthful – talent this season. Sunoco Rookie of the Year leader Jeb Burton, 20, won earlier this month in Texas. Now NASCAR K&N Pro Series East star Brett Moffitt, 20, will make his series debut in Thursday night’s UNOH 225.

 

Matt Crafton is the series points leader by 23 over Burton.