Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Michigan International Speedway Track Facts: 2017 Pure Michigan 400

Kyle Larson won at Michigan in the spring to give the No. 42 team three straight wins on 2-mile tracks.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2015 Top 10 at Michigan International Speedway

Driver
Races
Poles
Wins
Top Fives
Top 10s
DNFs
Average Finish
Driver Rating
1
Kevin Harvick
29
1
1
7
12
1
13.6
91.5
2
Joey Logano
13
1
1
3
8
1
14.2
91.9
3
Dale Earnhardt Jr
32
2
2
8
13
3
15.2
98.9
4
Jimmie Johnson
27
0
1
5
11
3
16
101.2
5
Brad Keselowski
12
0
0
3
5
0
14.1
90.6
6
Martin Truex Jr
19
0
0
4
6
1
17.2
81.1
7
Matt Kenseth
32
0
2
13
19
1
10.5
102.0
8
Kurt Busch
29
2
3
5
10
8
20.6
91.0
9
Jamie McMurray
25
0
0
1
5
2
18.7
72.5
10
Denny Hamlin
19
0
2
5
8
2
15.1
87.9

* – Based on last 21 races at Michigan International Speedway (2005 – 2015).




Michigan International Speedway Data
Season Race #: 23 of 36 (08-16-15)
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............................. 101.2
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 2005-2015 races (21 total) among active drivers at Michigan International Speedway.

Qualifying/Race Data
2014 pole winner:
Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
206.558 mph, 34.857 secs. 08-17-14

2014 race winner:
Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
141.788 mph, (02:49:16), 08-17-14

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 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.
·         The 2-mile speedway underwent a repave in 2012.
Starts
·         There have been 92 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.
·         377 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway; 275 in more than one.
·         Bill Elliott leads the series in starts at Michigan with 61. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 45 starts.
·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Michigan with a 9.556.
·         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).
Poles
·         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.

Poles
·         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).
·         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).      
Wins
·         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 by Bill 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 by Chevrolet with 23. Toyota has four wins at Michigan.
·         18 of the 92 (19.5%) 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 92 (28.2%) 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 92 (75%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Michigan have been won from a top-10 starting position.
·         Seven of the 92 (7.6%) 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.
·         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.

Wins
·         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.
Additional Finishing Position Stats
·         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 Gordon leads 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 Gordon leads all active drivers with 27.
·         Carl Edwards leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Michigan with a 9.818.
·         Jamie McMurray leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Michigan without visiting Victory Lane at 25; followed by Casey Mears at 24.
Track/Event Specific Stats
·         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).
·         Five of the 92 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan International Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the event on 6/14/2015.    
·         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.   
·         Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Michigan with 1,058 laps led in 45 starts.

Female Competitor Stats
·         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
19
16
6/14/2015
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
Patrick Averages
25.0
17.4
Shawna Robinson
32
34
6/10/2001
Robinson Averages
32.0
34.0
Robin McCall
29
33
8/22/1982
Robin McCall
35
29
6/20/1982
McCall Averages
32.0
31.0
Janet Guthrie
18
27
8/20/1978
Janet Guthrie
15
10
8/22/1977
Janet Guthrie
12
26
6/19/1977
Guthrie Averages
15.0
21.0

NASCAR in Michigan
·         There have been 97 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at four different tracks in Michigan.
Track Name
City
NSCS
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn
92
Grand River Speedrome
Grand Rapids
2
Michigan State Fairgrounds
Detroit
2
Monroe Speedway
Monroe
1
·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in the state of Michigan was at Grand River Speedrome in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 7/1/1951 – won by Marshall Teague from the pole in a Hudson.
·         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
33
1
Paul Goldsmith
9
0
0
Johnny Benson
1
3
14
Tim Fedewa
0
4
0
Erik Jones
0
2
5
Butch Miller
0
2
1
Tracy Leslie
0
1
0
Jack Sprague
0
1
28
Bob Keselowski
0
0
1

MILESTONES: Michigan

DRIVER
HAS
NEEDS
MILESTONE
DESCRIPTION
AJ Allmendinger
249
1
250th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Start
Allmendinger is tied with Jack Smith for 100th on the all-time NSCS starts list, six starts behind Juan Pablo Montoya in 99th (255 starts).
Jimmie Johnson
74
2
76th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win
Jimmie Johnson is eighth on the all-time NSCS wins list, two wins behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt in seventh (76 wins).
Tony Stewart
48
2
50th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win
Stewart is 13th on the all-time NSCS wins list, two wins behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett in 12th (50 wins).
Carl Edwards
24
1
25th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win
Edwards is 31st on the all-time NSCS wins list, one win behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joe Weatherly and Denny Hamlin tied for 28th (25 wins).
Tony Stewart
299
1
300th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top-10 Finish
Stewart is 17th on the all-time NSCS top-10 finishes list, two top 10s behind James Hylton in 16th (301 top 10s).
Jeff Gordon
24,830
170
25,000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Laps Led
Gordon can become the sixth driver in NSCS history to lead 25,000 laps; joining Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Bobby Allison.
Matt Kenseth
9,602
398
10,000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Laps Led
Kenseth can become the 16th driver in series history to lead 10,000 or more laps. 
Kevin Harvick
7,954
46
8,000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Laps Led
Kevin Harvick can become the 24th driver in series history to lead 8,000 or more laps. 
#43 car
199
1
200 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Wins
The No. 43 car is second on the all-time NSCS wins list, five wins behind the No. 11 car in first (204). The last win for the No. 43 car came at Daytona last season.
Chevrolet
749
1
750th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Win
Chevrolet will attempt to post the manufacturer's 750th win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this weekend. Chevrolet leads the series in wins.

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