The second half of the Sprint Cup regular season began at Pocono Raceway Monday with the Axalta 400, won by Kurt Busch. The series moves on to Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. Five story lines heading into the Firekeepers Casino 400:
JUNIOR’S CAVALCADE OF SECONDS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is perfecting the concept of finishing second in a season that has been disappointing for the No. 88 Chevrolet team.
Earnhardt Jr. had Monday winner Kurt Busch in his sights over the race’s closing laps but couldn’t gain significant ground, finishing second for the fourth time this season. He’ll try again for victory No. 1 in Sunday’s 400-miler.
THEY ALSO WAIT: After a winless but remarkably consistent season, Kurt Busch broke through to victory lane Monday, scoring his 12th top 10 (a season high) in 14 races.
Now the biggest names, in addition to Earnhardt Jr., looking for their first win of the year are Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney and Ryan Newman.
ROUSH STILL LIMPING: MIS has been kind to Ford drivers over the years, and a nod to Roush Fenway Racing’s drivers this week couldn’t come at a better time.
Although its drivers — particularly Trevor Bayne — have shown sparks of improvement this year, the team remains winless. Bayne has three top 10s and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. two, while veteran Greg Biffle hasn’t reached that level.
Biffle, however, leads all active drivers with four career wins at Michigan.
MUFFLED MICROPHONE? Brad Keselowski and the newly retired Jeff Gordon, now in the Fox Sports broadcast booth, had a face-off of sorts Monday at Pocono.
NASCAR called Keselowski into his pit after a crew member dented the side of his car, possibly helping it aerodynamically. On the Fox broadcast, Gordon mistakenly mentioned that Keselowski had been penalized for the same infraction earlier in the season at Las Vegas, an error Gordon later admitted via Twitter.
Irritated, Keselowski said race analysts should not have a financial interest in the sport. Gordon retains an ownership interest in Hendrick Motorsports.
It will be interesting to see if this dust-up fades away or lives for future broadcasts.
SIX-TIME LOOKING: When Jimmie Johnson won two of the season’s first five races (at Atlanta and Fontana, Calif.), it appeared the six-time champion might be targeting another dominating season.
Instead, Johnson hasn’t won since that March 20 victory at Auto Club Speedway, and he has only one top-10 finish in the past five races.
A late-race crash Monday at Pocono resulted in a 35th-place finish and Johnson’s first DNF of the year.
Can Michigan reverse the tide for Johnson? He’s won there only once — in 2014.
Follow Mike Hembree on Twitter @mikehembree.
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