BROOKLYN, Mich. — NASCAR announced on Tuesday changes to the race package for the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 14.

The changes to the car for the race include a nine-inch spoiler with a one-inch wicker bill, a two-inch splitter and a 43-inch radiator pan. These changes are expected to increase the drag on the cars and optimize the racing. NASCAR spoke to the OEMs, owners, drivers and MIS about the package options to select the one to make the competition stronger.

NASCAR and its racetracks are officially on record as wanted fans to leave their Confederate flags at home when they come to the track. Here is the offiical statement:

“As members of the NASCAR industry, we join NASCAR in the desire to make our events among the most fan-friendly, welcoming environments in all of sports and entertainment.

“To do that, we are asking our fans and partners to join us in a renewed effort to create an all-inclusive, even more welcoming atmosphere for all who attend our events. This will include the request to refrain from displaying the Confederate Flag at our facilities and NASCAR events.

“We are committed to providing a welcoming atmosphere free of offensive symbols. This is an opportunity for NASCAR Nation to demonstrate its sense of mutual respect and acceptance for all who attend our events while collectively sharing the tremendous experience of NASCAR racing.”

SIGNATORIES

International Speedway Corporation (ISC)

Auto Club Speedway

Chicagoland Speedway

Darlington Raceway

Daytona International Speedway

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Kansas Speedway

Martinsville Speedway

Michigan International Speedway

Phoenix International Raceway

Richmond International Raceway

Route 66 Raceway

Talladega Superspeedway

Watkins Glen International

Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI)

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Bristol Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Kentucky Speedway

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Sonoma Raceway

Texas Motor Speedway

Dover International Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Pocono Raceway

Iowa Speedway

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Road America

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Eldora Speedway

Gateway Motorsports Park

Volkswagen of America, Inc., has announced that the 2015 Golf TDI Clean Diesel, part of the family of vehicles that won the 2015 North American Car of the Year, has set a new Guinness World Records achievement for the “lowest fuel consumption—48 U.S. contiguous States for a non-hybrid car” with 81.17 mpg. Traveling 8,233.5 miles around America in 16 days on $294.98 of Shell Diesel fuel, the Golf beat the previous mark of 77.99 mpg by more than 3 mpg, and also beat the hybrid vehicle record of 74.34 mpg by more than 6 mpg.

“Covering 8,233.5 miles on just 101.43 gallons of Clean Diesel fuel is a remarkable accomplishment, and solid proof of the efficiency and fuel economy of Volkswagen’s TDI® Clean Diesel vehicles,” said Michael Horn, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. “Whether on a long road trip, or even in daily commuting, the great mileage and long range of our TDI models is a pure convenience factor that few other vehicles on sale can match. It’s a simple formula: Less Stop, More Go!”

"Good racing"

What does that mean to you?

Is it all about how many passes there are for the lead, or are you satisfied with tight racing through the field, even if the leader is zooming away?
Or is it better if the cars are packed together, like we get at Daytona and Talladega with restrictor plates?

And then there's the matter of crashes? Are there real racing fans who truly enjoy watching a bunch of cars getting wadded up? Is a race without any crashes "boring" by definition?

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The word Biblical came up a lot Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

On one hand, the race had a Biblical length; taking five hours to run 138 laps, due to an incredible FOUR red flags and a steady stream of rain showers, which would seem to pop up as soon as the drivers got called back to their cars and hit the track after the last delay.

And secondly, the rain that ended up forcing the race to be ended early, at lap 138, was of BIblical proportions. As the race was officially called, driver rankings were replaced by "SEVERE WEATHER ALERT: TAKE COVER" on the scoring pylon and fans were warned of possible lightning.

DAVE PERICAK, Global Director, Ford Performance – THERE WAS BIG FORD NEWS OUT OF LE MANS FRIDAY WITH THE NEW FORD GT SPORTS CAR PROGRAM, THOSE CARS WILL DEBUT AT THE ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA NEXT YEAR. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT TO SEE WHEN THOSE CARS ROLL OFF THE GRID?
“Hopefully some of the best race cars you have ever seen. We are really excited about returning to Le Mans and returning to sports car racing. The EcoBoost powered sports car is going to be over 600 horsepower and will be state of the art in terms of aerodynamics, light-weighting and the powertrain itself. We are very excited. We are going to have one fantastic race car. Everybody keeps asking, ‘Are you guys going to go win?’ and I say that we don’t race to lose. All I can tell you is that when we show up that day we are going to have one heck of a race car and I hope everyone else is ready.”

THERE WAS ALSO NEWS A FEW WEEKS AGO PERTAINING TO YOU AND YOUR ROLE IN THE NASCAR PROGRAM WITH FORD. CAN YOU TOUCH ON WHAT THAT HIERARCHY LOOKS LIKE FOR YOU GOING FORWARD?
“We did a reorganization called Ford Performance and I am the director of Ford Performance. Whether it is performance vehicles inside our company or whether it is racing, it is all underneath me. So you will see me at the race tracks more often. I have been here already quite a bit and engaging with the teams. More importantly what you will see and why Ford Performance is so important, and Brad (Keselowski) can hopefully support me on this, we are taking all our resources inside of Ford and we are reorganizing them in a way we can be more efficient and effective to help our teams perform better on the track. I think Brad has seen the results of us doing this Ford Performance, stepping up our technical supports and then applying it to the team.”

Deliveries of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles increased 5.9% to total 188,287 in the last month, making it the company’s best May ever. A new sales record was also reached in the year-to-date with a total of 890,937 vehicles delivered in the first five months of the year, an increase of +7.7%.

“The solid growth the BMW Group has achieved this year continued in May, with all sales regions recording an increase in sales,” said Ian Robertson, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Sales and Marketing BMW. “Our innovative, new products are achieving pleasing sales around the world and I am delighted that we have sold over 10,000 BMW i vehicles in the first five months of this year,” Robertson added.
Sales of BMW brand vehicles rose 4.0% in May with a total of 159,129 vehicles being delivered to customers. Sales for the year-to-date climbed 5.2% to 759,609.