PLYMOUTH — NASCAR driver David Stremme will return home to Michiana this Sunday for the Champion Racing Association's (CRA) Summer Championship 200. The South Bend native stopped by Plymouth Speedway on Tuesday on his way to Chicago for this weekend's Sprint Cup race.

Stremme will debut a brand new car he built with friends at Sunday's race. He views the opportunity to race short track at places like Plymouth Speedway as a chance to get away from the hectic NASCAR schedule and relax while still enjoying a good race.

"I haven't been able to do a lot of this type of racing. This is something I kind of consider my golf game. Go out, relax, and enjoy myself. It's a brand new car ... what better place to run it than Plymouth."

Sunday's race will also give Stremme the chance to loosen up and move on from a rough first half of the season. After a promising start with five Top 20 finishes in his first eight races, Stremme has gone without a single Top 20 finish since then. That also includes three bad crashes, including one during this past Saturday's Sprint Cup race at Daytona.

"I would say the first quarter of the season was pretty good, then its gone to hell here pretty quick. A lot of its not our own doing. We've just had some really bad luck lately."