New pavement. New speeds.

Practice brought blistered tires and low lap times.

Now it is a wonder the place is even in one piece. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. lead and drove to the win. It is possible for miles around people in their homes were calling 911 about earthquakes. The epicenter was the Quicken Loans 400 as the #88 Diet Mtn. Dew/The Dark Knight Rises/National Guard Chevy crossed under the checkered flag.

He started in 17th. He made it to the front and of the 16 lead changes he was in front for 93 of the 200 laps.

His last NASCAR Sprint Cup win was 2008… At Michigan.

Overall, Hendrick Motorsports did well on this race. Dale Jr. gets the win. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon finished 5th and 6th. Kasey Kahne was caught up in an earlier accident with Joey Logano.

Logano hit the wall hard but was OK. Later, Gibbs Racing team mate Denny Hamlin was caught in a 4 wide box, drove loose making contact with Ryan Newman in the #39 and slid to the grass ripping the front and sliding to stop close to the wall. Fortunately close to pit road as the FedEx #11 Toyota burst into flames coming in. He’s out of the car and OK.

Tony Stewart did well this week after a couple of downers and drove the #14 Office Depot Chevy to the 2nd spot.

Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle drove their Fords to 3rd and 4th.

Kurt Busch was back in the #51 after the one race suspension and spun twice.

Marcus Ambrose held the pole and still finished in the top 10 with Juan Montoya just in front. They rolled over in 8th and 9th.

Kevin Harvick filled out the top 10.

Rain held the race a bit. Drivers were already facing uncertainty with high speeds and a change up from Goodyear on tires following 200+mph speeds at practices blistering the original compounds on the rims.

None of these other bits will really matter on Monday at the office, the construction site or the gym. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won today. That is all that will matter.

Matt Kenseth is still leading the points. Dale Jr. is 4 points off.

Can the JR Nation be content with that? Likely not.

Can Dale Jr.? With a taste of black and white at Michigan it is likely going to fuel the fire under the #88 to burn a little hotter. The number one slot is good for any given race but so much better when the totals are done after Homestead.

Time will tell.