Final Michigan Practice Notes Following all Sessions: Jeff Gordon has a very strong car

Jeff Gordon had an outstanding final practice...back-to-back for No. 24?  

LAS VEGAS -- The last time the Sprint Cup series traveled through Michigan International Speedway, Jeff Gordon won for the third time of his career and first since 2001. During Saturday’s final practice session in preparation for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400, Gordon laid down the fastest lap at 198.604 mph giving an indication that he’s a strong contender to go back-to-back.

In addition to the fast lap on the 15th of his 31 ran, he also had the second-best 10-consecutive average lap speed which shows he should be fast on the short and long runs. Over 44 starts of his marvelous career, which comes to an end following the season, he has led 1,058 laps -- the most among active drivers.

Despite the strength of Gordon’s final practice, Kevin Harvick still comes in a s the driver to beat on the basis of his body of work this season on all the big horsepower tracks and also being fastest in two of the three practices between Friday and Saturday. During Saturday’s early session that was shortened to 30-minutes because of a wet track, Harvick posted the fastest lap at 201.084 mph under cool foggy conditions. He won at Michigan and 2010 and has finished second in his past four starts there, which is in line with his 2015 trend where he’s been runner-up eight times.

Martin Truex Jr. has led the most laps in each of the past four races and finally got rewarded with a win last week at Pocono. It’s a pretty impressive sight to this single car team leading all these laps with such dominators like Harvick and Jimmie Johnson competing. He was fifth and third fastest during Saturday’s final practices, but didn’t run 10-consecutive laps. Only 11 drivers got that many laps in a row in on Saturday and Kyle Larson led the way

While you still can’t trust Larson to have a his practices translate to race day, you can’t ignore his speed on long runs. He was the only drive to run 10-consecutive in Saturday’s early session and then led the way in the 55-minute afternoon session where he also had the fourth fastest lap.

Kyle Busch came in with the second fastest lap during the final practice and should have a great day in store for him. Harvick, Truex Jr and Gordon are all going to be tough to beat, but Busch’s car just has that look of being a winner.

Read More Here......Final Driver Ratings on The Linemakers on Sporting News     

Kasey Kahne grabs first pole of season at Michigan

Kasey Kahne has one win at Michigan over his career

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Kasey Kahne will lead the field to green on Sunday for the first time this season.

“Our Great Clips (Chevrolet SS) had speed all three runs, so I knew we’d have a shot today,” Kahne said. “It has been a while since I’ve had a pole.”

Kahne’s last pole position came in 2012, when he earned four.

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson also made it to the final round of qualifying.

Starting behind pole-sitter Kahne, Gordon will roll his No. 24 Panasonic Chevrolet SS off the grid sixth on Sunday. And when the green flag drops, Johnson will start eighth in his No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS.

After just missing the final round, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start the race from the 14th position in his No. 88 AMP Energy Chevrolet SS.

- Hendrick Motorsports

Quicken Loans 400 Starting Lineup

Michigan Driver Chassis Selections: 2015 Quicken Loans 400 (minus Hendrick cars)

What chassis is Jimmie Johnson using this week? HMS not sharing.

It's very disappointing to see Hendrick Motorsports no longer offer chassis selections in their team press releases. Joe Gibbs Racing stopped giving out the information three seasons ago after a trip to Las Vegas, which makes one wonder if it has a little something to do with gambling. Even the NFL, which is on record with disliking gambling on the their sport (funny), offers a required injury report by each team every Thursday before game day, which appeals mostly to gamblers. Isn't the point of sending out press releases to give as much information as possible from each team to the public to ready everyone for race day?

A large portion of what goes into each driver's weekly rating that helps set the odds is based on what chassis each team is using and now the only cars that matter that still offer the information are the Stewart-Haas cars. We reached out to Hendrick Motorsports for an explanation hoping it was just an oversight, but haven't received a call back. We'll update more later.

Update: It's not an oversight. This will be on-going and they will not be giving out chassis info. Still waiting for more details and an official comment on why the change from HMS. If speculating, which is all we can do since HMS won't comment, maybe they don't want NASCAR to know what chassis they're using so certain cars that were penalized -- which happens often with the No. 48 team -- won't be flagged for deeper inspections. The No. 48 just won an appeal, but the ban on chassis information came immediately after, which makes more sense than the gambling angle. But we won't fully know the motives. The info is just gone now. Maybe NASCAR should step in and mandate chassis information released as a counter move if HMS is in fact doing it to be as discreet as possible.      

#3-Austin Dillon: will pilot Chassis No. 507 in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. This Chevrolet SS was built new for the 2015 season and been utilized twice so far in 2015, with Dillon earning a 22nd-place finish at Kansas Speedway in May and a 20th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

#4-Kevin Harvick: Chassis Information: Chassis No. 4-858: Kevin Harvick will pilot the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet SS built on Chassis No. 4-858 in the Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Built in 2014, Chassis No. 4-858 made its debut April 7 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, where the car started third and finished 42nd after a mechanical problem. Chassis No. 4-858 made its second appearance in May at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Harvick started 11th and led 100 laps en route to a runner-up finish. In its final appearance of 2014, it started and finished third and led 104 laps at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. Chassis No. 4-858 won its first start of 2015, when it started 18th and led 142 laps en route to the win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. In its most recent appearance, Harvick started sixth, led 53 laps and finished second at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City in May.

#27-Paul Menard: Chassis No. 508 has been selected for the Richard Childress Racing team to use in this weekend's Quicken Loans 400. This Chevrolet SS has seen action twice this season at Texas Motor Speedway (Start: 8 / Finish: 41) and Kansas Speedway (Start: 22 / Finish: 18).

#31-Ryan Newman: will drive chassis No. 511 in the Quicken Loans 400. This Chevrolet was utilized earlier this season at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Start: 19/Finish: 6).

#32-Mike Bliss: Crew Chief Clinton Cram will be bringing chassis GGR 815 to serve as the primary car for this weekends Quicken Loans 400. This chassis last ran at Kansas Speedway on May 9th with Joey Gase behind the wheel. Chassis GGR 289 will serve as the backup car.

#33-TyDillon: will pilot chassis No. 512 for this weekend's Quicken Loan's 400. This brand new chassis prepared by Richard Childress Racing will see track action for the first time during the practice session on Friday morning.

#41-Kurt Busch: Chassis No. 837: Kurt Busch will pilot Chassis No. 837 in Sunday's Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Formerly a No. 10 chassis for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammate Danica Patrick, Chassis No. 837 debuted in May 2014 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, where Patrick had one of the best outings of her career as she started ninth and finished seventh. Its next event was in June at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, where Patrick started 10th and finished 21st. Chassis No. 837 was then tested Aug. 25 and 26 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois before being used at the same racetrack for September's race, in which Patrick started 18th and finished 19th. Chassis No. 837 saw its first laps of 2015 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, where Busch qualified the car on the pole and led six times for 65 laps en route to earning a third-place finish. It was most recently raced last month at Kansas, where Busch started and finished eighth.

#47-A.J. Allmendinger: Chassis 501: "We raced this car at Fontana (Auto Club Speedway) and at Charlotte (Motor Speedway)," crew chief Brian Burns said.

- compiled by Jayski.com

Kevin Harvick goes to Michigan as 7-to-2 favorite to win

Kevin Harvick has finished second in past four Michigan starts

LAS VEGAS -- Chevrolet has won the past two NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Michigan International Speedway, and it’s favored to win again in Sunday's Quicken Loan 400 – the top-five drivers on the oddsboard are guys with bow-ties. However, in 91 Cup races on the two-mile D-shaped track, Ford – with 34 wins – has the all-time lead among the eight manufacturers that have battled for bragging rights in the Motor City’s backyard. Chevrolet has 22 wins, and Toyota has four.

Here’s a driver-by-driver breakdown for this weekend’s race, with opening odds from the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book:

KEVIN HARVICK 7/2: All this guy does is finish first or second. In 14 races this season, he's had 10 top-two finishes (two wins), and the second-place theme has been huge for him at Michigan, as he comes in riding a four-race runner-up streak at the track – two for Richard Childress Racing and two for Stewart-Haas Racing. He won at Michigan in 2010, but probably most important for this race is what he's done on the seven horsepower tracks this season. At Fontana, Pocono and the five 1.5-mile layouts, he's been the most impressive in practice, and that’s translated to race day with six top-two finishes among those races. Michigan requires lots of horsepower, and Harvick has consistently had the most, which is why his odds are so low here. The good news for bettors looking elsewhere is he hasn't won a race since March 15 at Phoenix.

JIMMIE JOHNSON 6/1: He took the checkers in this race last year, marking his first-ever win at Michigan in 24 starts, but he'd been close several times only to have something go wrong in the late stages. In 26 starts, he has a 15.8 average finish with only five top-fives. It's one of his least successful tracks on tour, but his series-leading four wins through 14 races makes him one of the top contenders to finish just ahead of Harvick again.

KURT BUSCH 8/1: Even though history has shown that Michigan doesn’t correlate well with its near-identical sister track at Fontana, you still have to respect what Busch did at Fontana on March 22, when he led the most laps and dominated, but had the misfortune of late cautions take away his leads. He settled for a disappointing third. He's a two-time winner at Michigan, with the last victory in 2007.

MARTIN TRUEX JR 10/1: After leading the most laps in the four straight races, he finally got his due at Pocono, becoming the 10th driver to win this season. The last driver to lead the most laps in four straight races was Jeff Gordon in 2001, and he went on to win his fourth and final championship. Only Gordon and Harvick have 13 top-10 finishes in the 14 races this season, showing just how good the No. 78 single-car team from Denver has been in 2015. He's averaged only an 18th-place finish at Michigan over 18 career starts, but you can throw that all out the window because this team is dialed in more than anyone, including Harvick. If you’re thinking championship, the Westgate has him at 10-to-1 odds.

DALE EARNHARDT JR 10/1: Prior to his four wins last season, the only two wins Junior had for Hendrick Motorsports were at Michigan (2008, 2010). In 31 career starts here he's averaged a 15.6 finish and has led 354 laps. He finished fifth and seventh in the two races last season. On the seven big horsepower tracks, he's finished sixth or better six times, with his worst finish being 11th at Pocono last week.

Read More Here...complete list of odds and driver by driver breakdown

Michigan Betting Preview: 2015 Quicken Loans 400

Kevin Harvick runner-up in past four Michigan races

LAS VEGAS -- If you look at the standings, it appears we have some parity as 10 different drivers have won through the first 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, but that's not necessarily the case as the series heads to Michigan International Raceway for Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400, the first of two races this season on the wide 2-mile D-shaped oval.

Sitting in the backyard of the motor city, this is always a huge race for bragging rights between competing manufacturers. In 91 total races since the series first started competing at Michigan in 1969, eight different manufacturers have won led by Ford with 34 wins followed by Chevrolet with 22. The new kids on the block, Toyota, have won four times, but have the longest drought of current cars since Kyle Busch won in 2011.

When Toyota made it's Cup debut in 2007, there were plenty of fans grumbling about a Japanese import entering what had traditionally been an American car series, but many got over it quickly when finding out that the Camry was made in Georgetown, Kentucky while half of the Ford Fusion was assembled in Sonora, Mexico.

After Toyota’s first win at Michigan in 2009 by Brian Vickers, they’ve been welcomed to the NASCAR club at Michigan where all the manufacturing executives sit in their luxury boxes rooting for their brand, but there still is no love lost. They all want to win badly, and the drivers and owners feel that pressure from the manufacturers more than any race during the season.

Chevy swept last season with Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. For Gordon, it was his third win 44 career starts and is the active leader with 1,058 laps led. For Johnson, it was his first win ever in 26 starts making it only four tracks he’s never won at -- Chicago, Watkins Glen, Kentucky and Homestead are the others. At the time of Johnson’s win, it was five straight wins on the season for the Hendrick brigade.

When looking at who is hot coming into this week’s race, you have to start with last weeks Pocono winner Martin Truex Jr. who has led the most laps in the past four races, which is no ordinary feat. The last to do it was Gordon in 2001 and he went on to win a championship.

Truex Jr. has been a model of consistency all season with 13 top-10 finishes in the 14 races, including all the horsepower tracks that are applicable to Michigan. Even though Michigan's sister track at Fontana is almost identical, they don’t run the same and we rarely see someone win at both during a season. The perfect example is Johnson winning five times at Fontana, but being so ordinary at Michigan, or rather experiencing lots of bad luck, with a 15.8 average finish.

But what is required on all the 1.5-mile tracks, Pocono, Fontana and Michigan is horsepower, so you can take a sampling from each of those seven races run already and get a quick read on who should run the best.

The driver who stands out the most is Kevin Harvick who has a win, five second-place finishes and a ninth at Charlotte among those seven races. He hasn’t won since March 15 at Phoenix, but he does have quite the recent history at Michigan finishing runner-up in the past four races. He also won his only race there in 2010. Like Truex Jr., he has 13 top-10 finishes to lead the series, but he's the only driver with 10 top-5 finishes -- two wins and eight second-places.

Harvick’s run is simply amazing, but for all his dominance, he’s still only got two wins which gives plenty of hope for bettors looking to play odds to win. This week you know he’s going to be fast again, but who wants to take 4-to-1 odds, and his win drought makes it easier to make a move on a few other drivers.

Right at the top of the list with best career Michigan average finishes are Carl Edwards (9.7),Matt Kenseth (10.6) and Greg Biffle (11.5) who all used to be teammates at Roush Fenway Racing and helped Jack Roush become the all-time winner among car owners at Michigan with 13. This is Roush’s home track and he takes competition here just as serious as all the Ford executives do, but it wasn‘t until last month that the team started to show some power that could compete with the elite teams. They had almost become a laughingstock of the series until Biffle finished second in the Coca-Cola 600. Edwards and Kenseth each won twice for Roush, but both drive for Joe Gibbs now. Biffle is a four-time winner, the last coming in 2013, and might be worth at stab at 100-to-1 to win.

In addition to the Joe Gibbs drivers, including two-time winner Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, you also want to pay close attention to what the Penske Racing team does in final practices on Friday. Team owner Roger Penske once owned this track, as well as the one in Fontana, and Brad Keselowski hails from Michigan and wants to win this race more than any other. He stole the Fontana race in March by leading only one lap, the last one, in overtime. His teammate Joey Logano won at Michigan in the fall of 2013.

Read More Here.....Top-5 Finish Prediction

Kurt Busch looking for third Michigan win

Kurt Busch is 7/1 to win Sunday's Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan.

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (June 9, 2015) – This weekend’s Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is one for bragging rights as Kurt Busch, driver of the Haas Automation Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), and his No. 41 team will converge on Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn looking to claim the victory at the racetrack with the closest proximity to Detroit – the hometown of General Motors.

The 2-mile Michigan track long has been known as the home track for the American automobile manufacturers competing in NASCAR. Chevrolet – in business for more than 100 years – is a cornerstone partner for SHR and has played an integral role in the team’s successes, including 28 points-paying Sprint Cup wins and two series championships.

In 91 races since NASCAR first visited the Irish Hills in 1969, eight different manufacturers have gone to victory lane. Ford, with 34 wins, leads Chevrolet, which has raced into victory lane 22 times. Busch would like nothing more than to pick up the win this weekend to increase Chevrolet’s total, earn his third Michigan win and the first for SHR.

Busch scored his first Michigan win during the track’s June race in 2003, leading 23 laps along the way. He scored his second Michigan win with more of an exclamation point by leading a race-high 92 laps on Aug. 21, 2007. In addition to the two victories, Busch has a pair of poles. He earned the top starting spot for the track’s June races in both 2010 and 2011.

Despite finding victory lane twice there, Busch has struggled to find consistency at Michigan. Those two wins are half of just four top-five finishes he’s had in 28 starts there. He finished 13th and 31st in his two Michigan starts in 2014.

Busch and his No. 41 team have shown speed week in and week out this season, and he wants to make his presence on the track known at Michigan this weekend. With a strong run earlier this year at Michigan’s sister track, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Busch fully expects to be a contender this weekend. He’s enjoying one of his strongest, most consistent seasons in recent years, so it would be difficult to rule him out heading into Sunday’s 400-miler.

The Haas Automation team will look to improve upon last week’s fifth-place finish at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway by getting Busch his third Michigan victory and their second of the 2015 season. While Busch and the No. 41 team are virtually guaranteed a spot in the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship playoffs thanks to their April win at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, additional victories would move Busch ahead of the six other single-race winners of the 2015 season. The 16 drivers who qualify for the Chase will have their points total reset to 2,000 and will be seeded based on bonus points – three per win – earned prior to the start of the Chase.

KURT BUSCH, Driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Talk a little bit about racing at Michigan.
“Michigan is one of the fastest racetracks. When you have the speed there, you feel it. You definitely feel that 215 mph that we had last year. The way you carry speed through the center of the corner at Michigan, it’s probably the highest speed for the least amount of banking, so to speak. There are some mile-and-a-half racetracks that you carry more speed at, but they have more banking. Michigan is one of those tough tracks where you are trying to balance that straightaway speed versus handling every time you go there.”

How do you think the 2015 rule package will play into this weekend’s race?
“It’s going to be a higher cornering speed now and it’s going to put more emphasis on the aero side of things to get the grip out of the car. With the straightaways as long as they are, you’re still trying to think about aero but, at the same time now with the horsepower being knocked out, you’re going to try to get to throttle-on time as much as possible.”

Kurt Busch’s Michigan International Speedway Performance Profile:

Year	Event	Start	Finish	Status/Laps	Laps Led	Earnings
2014	Quicken Loans 400	8	13	Running, 200/200	16	$91,090
	Pure Michigan 400	16	31	Running, 196/200	3	$81,140
2013	Quicken Loans 400	2	35	Running, 193/200	21	$107,340
	Pure Michigan 400	2	3	Running, 200/200	43	$136,315
2012	Quicken Loans 400	26	30	Running, 194/200	0	$85,385
	×Pure Michigan 400	26	30	Accident, 135/201	0	$87,885
2011	Heluva Good! 400	1	11	Running, 200/200	9	$130,525
	×Pure Michigan 400	13	34	Accident, 197/203	0	$117,050
2010	Heluva Good! 400	1	3	Running, 200/200	60	$163,298
	CarFax 400	13	40	Engine, 30/200	0	$116,898
2009	LifeLock 400	5	8	Running, 200/200	0	$101,150
	CARFAX 400	6	36	Accident, 146/200	0	$91,675
2008	†×LifeLock 400	22	21	Running, 203/203	0	$82,850
	3M Performance 400	13	36	Running, 197/200	0	$71,825
2007	Citizens Bank 400	10	25	Running, 198/200	2	$109,208
	×3M Performance 400	15	1	Running, 203/203	92	$190,108
2006	*3M Performance 400	13	9	Running, 129/129	0	$117,583
	GFS Marketplace 400	16	40	Accident, 127/200	1	$109,523
2005	Batman Begins 400	13	12	Running, 200/200	12	$125,665
	GFS Marketplace 400	17	7	Running, 200/200	65	$134,490
2004	DHL 400	7	11	Running, 200/200	0	$85,705
	†GFS Marketplace 400	7	6	Running, 200/200	4	$89,540
2003	Sirius 400	4	1	Running, 200/200	24	$172,650
	GFS Marketplace 400	20	18	Running, 200/200	43	$96,690
2002	Sirius Satellite Radio 400	12	10	Running, 200/200	24	$64,915
	Pepsi 400	13	39	Engine, 159/200	23	$48,945
2001	Kmart 400	11	43	Accident, 16/200	0	$42,069
	*Pepsi 400	23	43	Engine, 40/162	0	$41,794

* Race cut short due to weather.
× Race length extended due to green-white-checkered finish.
† Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing

Michigan International Speedway Track Facts: 2015 Quicken Loans 400

Jimmie Johnson grabbed his first Michigan win last season in this race

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2015 Top 16 at Michigan International Speedway

	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
1	Kevin Harvick	28	1	1	7	12	1	13.0	90.2
2	Martin Truex Jr.	18	0	0	3	5	1	18.0	79.1
3	Jimmie Johnson	26	0	1	5	11	3	15.9	102.5
4	Joey Logano	12	1	1	2	7	1	14.9	91.8
5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	31	2	2	7	12	3	15.6	98.0
6	Brad Keselowski	11	0	0	3	4	0	14.8	89.0
7	Jamie McMurray	24	0	0	1	4	2	19.2	72.1
8	Kasey Kahne	22	2	1	8	10	3	15.9	89.0
9	Matt Kenseth	31	0	2	12	18	1	10.7	101.3
10	Jeff Gordon	44	6	3	19	27	6	12.1	93.6
11	Paul Menard	17	0	0	4	5	0	18.4	71.9
12	Kurt Busch	28	2	2	4	9	8	21.3	89.9
13	Denny Hamlin	18	0	2	5	8	2	15.3	88.2
14	Aric Almirola	6	0	0	0	0	0	20.5	72.2
15	Ryan Newman	27	1	2	5	7	2	17.1	77.6
16	Carl Edwards	21	1	2	9	15	0	9.7	100.5

* – Based on last 20 races at Michigan International Speedway.

Michigan International Speedway Data Season Race #: 15 of 36 (06-14-15) Track Size: 2-miles Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 18 degrees Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 18 degrees Banking/Frontstretch: 5 degrees Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees Frontstretch Length:  3,600 feet Backstretch Length:  2,242 feet Race Length: 200 laps / 400 miles Top 10 Driver Ratings at Michigan Greg Biffle................................ 107.1 Jimmie Johnson........................ 102.5 Matt Kenseth............................. 101.3 Carl Edwards............................ 100.5 Dale Earnhardt Jr........................ 98.0 Tony Stewart............................... 95.8 Jeff Gordon................................ 93.6 Joey Logano.............................. 91.8 Kevin Harvick.............................. 90.2 Kurt Busch.................................. 89.9 Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2014 races (20 total) among active drivers at Michigan International Speedway. Qualifying/Race Data 2014 pole winner: Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet 204.557 mph, 35.198 secs. 06-13-14 2014 race winner: Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet 143.441 mph, (02:47:19), 06-15-14 Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet 206.558 mph, 34.857 secs. 08-17-14 Track race record: Dale Jarrett, Ford 173.997 mph, (2:17:56), 06-13-99

At Michigan International Speedway:

History

·         Michigan International Speedway sits on more than 1,400 acres in the "Irish Hills" of Southeastern Michigan. Ground-breaking took place on Sept. 28, 1967.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan was held June 15, 1969 – won by Cale Yarborough at a speed of 139.254 mph.

·         The track was known as Michigan Speedway during the time Roger Penske was the primary owner (1996-99).

·         The 2-mile speedway underwent a repave in 2012.

Notebook

·         There have been 91 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Michigan International Speedway since the first race there in 1969. Other than 1973, which had just one race, there have been two races each season since 1969.

·         The first race was 500 miles in length; the second was scheduled for 600. The track was re-measured to 2.04 miles for the last race in 1970 and both races in 1971 – with the race distance being 402 miles. All other races have been scheduled for 400 miles.

·         373 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway; 274 in more than one.

·         Bill Elliott leads the series in starts at Michigan with 61. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 44 starts.

·         Donnie Allison won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Michigan in 1969 with a speed of 160.135 mph.  

·         46 drivers have Coors Light poles at Michigan, led by David Pearson with 10. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with six.

·         Six drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Michigan. David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles at Michigan with five; fall 1976 through 1978.

·         Youngest Michigan pole winner: Joey Logano (08/16/2013 – 23 years, 2 months, 23 days).

·         Oldest Michigan pole winner: Mark Martin (08/19/2012 – 53 years, 7 months, 10 days).

·         36 different NSCS drivers have won at Michigan International Speedway, led by David Pearson with nine wins;Greg Biffle leads all active drivers with four.  

·         Eight drivers have posted consecutive wins at Michigan International Speedway, including four consecutive byBill Elliott (1985 sweep and 1986 sweep).

·         Youngest Michigan winner: Joey Logano (08/18/2013 – 23 years, 2 months, 25 days).

·         Oldest Michigan winner: Harry Gant (08/16/1992 – 52 years, 7 months, 6 days).

·         Roush Fenway Racing has the most wins at Michigan in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 13: Mark Martin(four), Greg Biffle (four), Carl Edwards (two), Matt Kenseth (two) and Kurt Busch (one).

·         Eight different manufacturers have won in the NSCS at Michigan; led by Ford with 34 victories; followed byChevrolet with 22. Toyota has four wins at Michigan.

·         18 of the 91 (19.7%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan have been won from the Coors Light pole; the most recent was Jeff Gordon last season.

·         The Coors Light pole position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (18) than any other starting position at Michigan International Speedway.    

·         26 of the 91 (28.5%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan have been won from the front row: 18 from the pole and eight from second-place.

·         69 of the 91 (75.8%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Michigan have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         Six of the 91 (6.5%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Michigan is 32nd, by Mark Martin in the spring of 2009.

·         Jeff Gordon leads the series in runner-up finishes at Michigan with eight; followed by Darrell Waltrip with seven and Kevin Harvick with five.

·         NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough leads the series in top-five finishes at Michigan with 21; Jeff Gordonleads all active drivers with 19.   

·         Mark Martin leads the series in top-10 finishes at Michigan with 31; followed by Bill Elliott with 29. Jeff Gordonleads all active drivers with 27.

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Michigan with a 9.615.

·         Carl Edwards leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Michigan with a 9.714.

·         All active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners at Michigan International Speedway participated in at least one or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Tony Stewart won at Michigan in his third appearance, the fewest previous starts among the active NSCS winners.      

·         Kevin Harvick competed at Michigan International Speedway 19 times before winning in the fall of 2010; the longest span of any the active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winners.

·         Among the active NSCS Michigan winners Kevin Harvick (19), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (17) Kyle Busch (13), Jeff Gordon (11) and Joey Logano (10) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.

·         Jamie McMurray leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Michigan without visiting Victory Lane at 24; followed by Casey Mears at 23.  

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory (MOV) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway was the June 10, 2001 race won by Jeff Gordon over Ricky Rudd with a MOV of 0.085 second.

·         There have been two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races resulting with a green-white-checkered finish at Michigan International Speedway (Scheduled No. of Laps/Actual No. of Laps): fall of 2011 (200/203); and fall of 2012 (200/201).

·         Four of the 91 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan International Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the event on 6/18/2006.    

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway four times; most recently the spring of 2008 race.   

·         One active driver has posted his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Michigan International Speedway: J.J. Yeley (6/17/2007).      

·         Two active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver have posted their first career start at Michigan International Speedway: Carl Edwards (8/22/2004) and Landon Cassill (6/13/2010).

·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Michigan with 1,058 laps led in 44 starts.

·         Four female drivers have competed at Michigan International Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Janet Guthrie, Robin McCall, Shawna Robinson and Danica Patrick. Of the four female drivers to compete at Michigan, Guthrie has the best finish (10th).  

Driver	Starting Position	Finishing Position	Date
Danica Patrick	14	18	8/17/2014
Danica Patrick	27	17	6/15/2014
Danica Patrick	28	23	8/18/2013
Danica Patrick	37	13	6/16/2013
Shawna Robinson	32	34	6/10/2001
Robin McCall	29	33	8/22/1982
Robin McCall	35	29	6/20/1982
Janet Guthrie	18	27	8/20/1978
Janet Guthrie	15	10	8/22/1977
Janet Guthrie	12	26	6/19/1977

NASCAR in Michigan

·         There have been 96 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at four tracks in Michigan.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn	91
Grand River Speedrome	Grand Rapids	2
Michigan State Fairgrounds	Detroit	2
Monroe Speedway	Monroe	1

·         98 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Michigan.

·         Nine of the 98 have won at least one race in NASCAR’s national series.

Driver	NSCS	NXS	NCWTS
Brad Keselowski	17	32	1
Paul Goldsmith	9	0	0
Johnny Benson	1	3	14
Tim Fedewa	0	4	0
Butch Miller	0	2	1
Erik Jones	0	1	4
Tracy Leslie	0	1	0
Jack Sprague	0	1	28
Bob Keselowski	0	0	1