Hearts everywhere were a little heavy this morning, having heard of Johny Benson's accident at Berlin Raceway near Grand Rapids MI.  Thankfully, just before the start of the race, word came down the wire that although he remains in hospital, he is awake, alert and expected to make a full recovery.  Johnny's wife Barb took the time to speak to MRN on SIRIUS radio and to post a message on Johnny's web page, letting fans know that although he has at least one broken rib, he is doing better.  His status was upgraded from Serious to Stable during the course of the race.

Brian Vickers started on the pole for the Lifelock 400, but with Kyle Busch alongside, it meant he wouldn't be up front for long.  Kid Rock gave the command to start (a pretty respectable rendition, I might add) and they were underway.

Kyle led the first 49 laps, then Jimmie Johnson took over the lead and didn't really look back.  The racing was all behind him with the usual suspects trading spots all throughout the top 20.  Surprisingly, this top twenty included Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Not surprisingly, it also included Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards.

With the big, wide sweeping turns and straight stretches at Michigan, cautions were for debris rather than accidents.  A number of drivers seemed unwilling to run the entire race, with Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek being the early retirees after only a handful of laps.  We discussed earlier in the year the "Start n Park" cars and whether they are good or bad for NASCAR.  This weekend it was discussed by the TNT announcers even before the race began.  I suppose it's good that these guys show up to grab their 43rd and 42nd place earnings, but is it good for the sport? I think not.  I'd rather see 38 competitive cars than 43 cars, of which 4 or 5 have no intention of finishing, whether they could or not.

With TSN having the broadcast rights in Canada, I didn't even have decent commercials to distract me from the terrible TNT announcing, and the seemingly endless trips to the cutaway car made me feel as if i were in NASCAR racing 101.

With 75 laps to go,  Johnson continued to lead, with Biffle hot on his heels and it seemed it might come down to the two of them at the end.  However, Mark Martin had moved into the top five, and by the time the next caution flew, this one for a spin by David Stremme, Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle had moved to the point with Johnson and Martin right behind them.  With 45 laps to go, Denny Hamlin had a terrible restart and was quickly passed by Mark, Biffle and Johnson.  After two laps, the top ten was Biffle,  Martin Johnson,  Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Stewart, Edwards and Kurt Busch.  Noteworthy was the presence of Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler  in the top 15.  With 36 to go, Biffle had moved on out front with the rest chasing him, showing once again that Michigan is a track where the Roush cars can succeed.

With 25 to go, Biffle continued to lead, but Johnson had gotten around Mark Martin and was gunning for the 16, who was rumored to be two laps short.   the last 20 or so laps of the race were Johnson and Biffle but the excitement on the final lap was palpable, with first Jimmie Johnson and then Biffle running out of fuel.  Mark Martin had  sat back while the other two were racing and had the fuel to pass them both and cross the finish line in first place.  Jeff Gordon followed closely behind for second and Denny Hamlin who had had such an awful restart, crossed in third.  Roush's top car was Carl Edwards in fourth with Biffle coasting across just behind him.  Jimmie Johnson pitted for fuel and crossed the finish line on Pit road, the last car on the lead lap in 22nd place.

Once again fuel mileage played a huge part in the final laps of an otherwise unexciting race, bringing excitement to the closing laps.  This is the 3rd win of the season for Mark, putting him ahead of all the Hendrick drivers for wins so far this year, showing that Rick Hendrick really does know what he's doing.