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BROOKLYN, Mich. - Through no fault of its own, Michigan International Speedway's schedule could be shrinking even more in the coming years.

The two-mile track located about an hour west of Detroit is smack in the middle of one of the hardest hit economic areas of the country. Attendance at Sunday's Lifelock 400 may have been the smallest NASCAR Sprint Cup race crowd at MIS in the last ten years and the outlook for August's return isn;t very encouraging.

It wasn't too long ago that Michigan hosted two nearly sold out NASCAR weekends as well as a very successful Indy Car race. But the open wheel world left MIS high and dry in the post IRL-Champ Car merger when the track - which has a long and rich history of hosting Indy Cars - was left off the schedule.

Now there is great speculation that one of the two NASCAR weekends could also be lost as parent company ISC looks to add a second race at Kansas Speedway or build a new track in the Pacific Northwest or the Denver area. With the prospects of adding another race to the already over-stuffed Sprint Cup schedule non-existent, a date would have to shift from an existing property. 

Unless there's a drastic turnaround in the economic picture, the bulls-eye might be on MIS come 2011 or 2012 when a lucrative date is needed for one of the new spots on the calendar.

That would be a shame. NASCAR has raced at Michigan since 1969 and the track has always been a Holy Grail for teams who want to win in the backyard of the manufacturers who support their efforts. It's a sad sight to see these once proud American companies crumbling and the after effect it has had on families and people who have lost their livelihoods.

When just keeping your head above water is the main focus of life, buying tickets to a stock car race falls to the bottom of the priority list.

I hope the manufacturers survive and prosper and that the good people who have supported the Irish Hills track for more than four decades come back.

If not it will be a sad day if NASCAR is forced to eliminate one of the annual pair of trips to Michigan.
o Whether you're a fan of fuel mileage races or not, Sunday's dramatic finish did provide its share of excitement. For the second straight week a race was decided by the amount of fuel left in a driver's tank, something that you'd hope wouldn't happen on a weekly basis but at least provided a jolt of excitement to an otherwise ho hum race.

o It looked like the Roush Fenway domination at Michigan would continue on Sunday until Greg Biffle's sputtering end to his day. Still two Roush drivers in the top five must have brought a small smile to the Cat in the Hat with Jamie McMurray and David Ragan also turning in decent runs with top 15 finishes. Only Matt Kenseth's 20th and early race problems were a bigger disappointment.

o  Rumors are swirling that Richard Petty Motorsports is experiencing more financial strife and that the future of the iconic No. 43 entry driven by reed Sorenson is seriously in doubt past Indianapolis. Sorenson's 27th place finish Sunday didn't help matters.

o  Denny Hamlin's third place finish was a ray of sunshine in what has been a dark and stormy month or so for the young driver, who has experienced a ton of bad luck including last week's fuel pick-up issue after the green flag flew in Pocono. 

o  Kudos to the Wood Brothers and Bill Elliott for a 16th place finish. The team is cherry picking the races it will run this year like it did back in its hey day and top twenty finishes for the underfunded operation are impressive.