Road racing. It was a full weekend of road courses from cheap chumps all the way up the ladder to NASCAR.

Grand-Am and American Le Mans were at Road America which is interesting on several levels. The two series are combining for 2014 and running the same weekend showcased both series in action. They were still split over Saturday and Sunday but fans were shown both through the paddock, practices and racing.

NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup were racing Watkins Glen, the second road coarse on their schedule and the last for the season. There is still debate about a road course in “The Chase” but that is likely several laps away.

Grand-Am and NASCAR were given a bit of a shake for these races as Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas #14) was injured earlier in the week in a sprint car rollover crash. This left the #14 without a driver at “The Glen” and points hole where Stewart was (11th before Watkins Glen). The rush to fill that seat landed on Max Papis who is currently driving Grand-Am but also has time in Sprint Cup cockpits. That left Papis’ seat as a fill-in at Road America which put Kenny Wilden in as a co-driver with Papis’ usual partner, Jeff Segal.

How did the replacements run? Segal and Wilden put the AIM Autosport Ferrari into a GT Class 4th place. Max Papis drove Stewart’s #14 to a 15th place finish which, all things considered, wasn’t too bad as he started 29th.

Kyle Busch won at “The Glen”. BMW was the big winner at Road America as Starworks put theirs in for the Prototype Class and Turner put theirs in for GT.

While all of this driver juggling was leading into these big series’ weekend of road racing, small teams and garage builders were rolling into a little road course in southern Virginia for 24 hours of racing each other and themselves. This was fun racing for trophies of welded bits and bolts. It also brought some new attention to Virginia International Raceway, a road course stepping up to host NASCAR and the K&N Pro Series (East). This will put the younger drivers and the development series into fresh territory. The western series has already run on road courses. The east is joining them at VIR later in August.

This has been a busy few weeks for NASCAR. Trucks racing on dirt at a track owned by a Champion Cup Driver (Tony Stewart) who then injures himself while also racing on dirt and takes himself out of points contention… (this crash not only caused one driver injury, Ryan Newman, a driver on this owner’s team, had just been told his ride was over at the end of the season… (on a side note, it was also just announced Juan Pablo Montoya is also being released from the Target #42) On top of shakeups in the top ranks of the sport, NASCAR is opening road course racing for the those just coming into it for the K&N Series. Add in the shuffle for points before the Richmond cut race and you have a lot going on.

NASCAR Sprint Cup has four races to enter “The Chase”. Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond.

Grand-Am has three races left in their season. Next year, they combine with another profile sports car series (American Le Mans) and that will shake up teams, cars and track schedules. Left holding on for a hopeful spot in that schedule is Virginia International Raceway. The ALMS is racing there in October. The folks at VIR are ready for this one as they prep for the K&N in August. It is the uncertainty of 2014 that has their planning on hold.

This is racing beyond Race Day. Who is where and what are they driving as time moves on. Will Stewart-Haas and Richard Childress Racing trade even on Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman? How long will Austin Dillon handle the duties of the #14 Chevy (announced as the driver for Michigan). Where does Montoya go?

Will Ferrari hold the manufacturer standings in Grand-Am? Can the Ferrari teams (with Max Papis) gain enough points in three races to move up to podium spots in the drivers’ standings (they are down by 16) ?

Can ALMS and Grand-Am get along together? Will VIR get on their schedule? Will there be more dirt in NASCAR? Can the young K&N drivers make right-hand turns?

Will this piece ever end…?

Yes. Go racing.