Ambrose Fastest in Final Watkins Glen Practice

Ambrose has never finished worse than third at the Glen

It was Marcos Ambrose, with a lap speed of 126.604 mph, showing the fastest way around Watkins Glen International during the final practice session.

Kurt Busch was second fastest with a lap speed of 125.795 mph, and was followed by Carl Edwards (125.761) , Brad Keselowski (125.722) and Martin Truex Jr. (125.636).

Rounding out the top-ten fastest during “Happy Hour” were Joey Logano (125.316), Clint Bowyer (125.005), Jimmie Johnson (124.782), Jeff Burton (124.680) and Casey Mears (124.582).

The teams will return Saturday morning for their 11:40 AM (EDT) scheduled qualifying session, which will determine the starting lineup for Sunday’s race.

Final Watkins Glen Practice Speeds

Watkins Glen: Q &A With Ford Drivers Ambrose, Edwards & Kenseth:

Marcos Ambrose is the 7-to-2 favorite to win at Watkins Glen (Getty)

This weekend marks the second and final road course race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season as the circuit heads to Watkins Glen International. This Week in Ford Racing chatted with Ford drivers Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth to discuss this weekend’s race and what it takes to be successful throughout the remainder of the series.

MARCOS AMBROSE – No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion — YOU HAVE FINISHES OF 3RD-2ND-3RD AT WGI. ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEKEND? “There are no guarantees of success, so we just have to go there and apply ourselves. We’ve got what I think is a really good car. We’ve tested for the track and we feel good about it. There’s not much we can do aside from turning up and putting our best foot forward. It’s been good to me in the past. I know what I need to feel to run fast there. I’m optimistic and confident.”

HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE INFINEON AND WATKINS GLEN? “I’d say Sonoma is like a rock ‘n roll concert and Watkins Glen is like the opera. You’ve got to be really flowing and smooth at Watkins Glen and carry a lot of momentum and a lot of speed. Sonoma is just about pounding curves and abusing the car to get around the place, so I think Watkins Glen suits my style. I’ve got a good feel for the place, but the speed really sorts out the field. Anyone can bust off a lap, but can you do it for 10 laps in a row? That’s what really spreads the field out there is the ability to look out for your tires, yet carry the momentum.”

YOU’VE COMPETED ON A NUMBER OF ROAD COURSES AROUND THE WORLD. WHERE DOES WATKINS GLEN RANK? “It’s a famous road course, no doubt. I’d love to run the full track just because it’s got more character and more corners and it’s the old F1 track, but the course we run is a lot of fun. It rates up there as far as exhilaration for sure. I’ve done a lot of road racing around the world and I always look forward to going to Watkins Glen.”

THE RACES ARE DWINDLING TOWARD THE CHASE CUTOFF, SO THIS WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE A GOOD PLACE TO WIN AND GET IN CONTENTION. “Yeah, we need a win and we need to run well. We’ve got ourselves a good chance coming up and we’ve got to make the most of it.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion — HOW DO YOU RATE WATKINS GLEN? “Watkins Glen is tough. It’s really fun, though. It’s become one of my favorite race tracks. We were fortunate enough to get the pole there last year. It was a huge moment for me. That’s the biggest success I’ve had in the Cup Series at a road course and hopefully, we can take what I’ve learned there in years past and apply it and win the race. I’ve been really close. I was running second to Tony one time and I whaled it down in there into the second-to-last corner. I ran off the track, hit the fence and went through the gravel. I’ve been so close to having that breakthrough Cup win on a road course that I’d really love to get it this weekend.”

WHAT ARE THE TECHNICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INFINEON AND WATKINS GLEN? “Sonoma is like ballet and the Glen is like a mosh pit. You go hard and fast at the Glen and you can be so much more aggressive. You can really use a car up there, where Sonoma is a lot more finesse. I know it didn’t look like it the last time we were there with everybody running into each other, but the pure driving the car fast on the race track is very different.”

FUEL MILEAGE AND PIT STRATEGY HAVE DOMINATED THE LAST FEW RACES. CAN YOU GAMBLE AT WATKINS GLEN LIKE YOU DO AT OVALS? “Everybody tries to stretch their fuel mileage at the road course. Guys will pit as early as they can and hope that they get the right amount of cautions so they can save enough fuel to the end. It’s always a factor there, but everybody goes into it thinking that way, so you can’t really catch people off guard. But if you look at what’s going on in the sport right now, even at a place like the Brickyard so many people are gambling on fuel that pretty soon that’s gonna be the norm.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion – “Watkins Glen and Sears Point are a little different than most oval track races, except for maybe Pocono and some of these places where you don’t lose a lap when you pit. Watkins Glen, with that new tire they’re bringing, I think everybody is gonna be on the same strategy. You’re gonna try to do it on a two-stop race. As soon as you get your window to the end, maybe a couple laps before that, hope for a couple cautions. I think everybody is gonna be on pit road and hope for that quick caution to get some track position, so it’s not like it used to be on road courses, where there were a few guys that tried to outsmart everybody. It seems like everybody is on basically the same strategy. I don’t think tires are gonna matter much at Watkins Glen, so I think everybody is gonna be on the two-stop strategy and get the best track position you can.”

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL THERE? “Everybody groups the road courses together, but Watkins Glen is a night-and-day difference from Sears Point. Watkins Glen is much more high-speed, much more momentum and a lot different than Sears Point is. You need a car that handles good like every track, but getting up through the esses is always really important and, of course, the two main passing zones, getting in the chicane and getting into one are very important braking zones and you’ve got to have momentum getting to both of those zones to not get passed all day, so those are probably the biggest things to work on.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Watkins Glen Odds & Ends

At Watkins Glen International:

History

·         After several events were held on the streets of Watkins Glen, a permanent facility was opened in 1956.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was in 1957, won by Buck Baker.

·         After a six-year absence, NASCAR returned to The Glen in 1964 and 1965.

·         After a 21-year absence, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returned to The Glen, and has run one race a year there since 1986. This weekend’s race will be the 26th running since its return in 1986.

Notebook

·         There have been 28 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International since the first race there in 1957.

·         Buck Baker won the first pole and race.

·         Tim Richmond won the first pole and race upon the series’ return in 1986.

·         There have been 16 different pole winners.

·         The race winner has started first in nine of 28 races. The last race winner to start from the pole was Kyle Busch in 2008.

·         Mark Martin leads all drivers with wins from the pole with three in a row between 1993, 1994 and 1995.

·         18 of the 28 races at Watkins Glen have been won from a top-five starting position.

·         20 of the 28 races at Watkins Glen have been won from a top-10 starting position.

·         The deepest in the field that a Watkins Glen race winner has started was 18th by Steve Park in 2000.

·         17 different drivers have won races, led by Tony Stewart, with five.

·         Jeff Gordon set the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup record for road-course victories with his victory in 2001, his seventh on a road course. He has since won two more (both at Infineon Raceway), for a career total of nine.

·         Three active drivers with more than one start have an average finish in the top 10: Marcos Ambrose (2.6 in three starts), Tony Stewart (5.4 in 12 starts), Carl Edwards (8.1 in six starts), Mark Martin (8.2 in 21 starts) and AJ Allmendinger (9.3 in three starts).

 

Watkins Glen International Data

Race #: 22 of 36 (8-14-11)

Track Size: 2.45 miles

Race Length: 90 laps/220.5 miles

Driver Rating at Watkins Glen

Tony Stewart                 129.6

Juan P. Montoya           113.5

Marcos Ambrose           113.5

Kyle Busch                   102.1

Kurt Busch                    101.9

Jimmie Johnson            100.0

Denny Hamlin                99.9

Carl Edwards                94.9

AJ Allmendinger            91.9

Kevin Harvick                89.6

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2010 races (6 total) at Watkins Glen.

 

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: Carl Edwards

(124.432 mph, 70.882 seconds)

2010 race winner: Juan P. Montoya, (90.96 mph, 08-08-10)

Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon (124.580 mph, 70.798 seconds, 8-8-03)

Track race record: Mark Martin (103.300 mph, 8-13-95)

 

NASCAR in New York

·         There have been 66 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in New York:

·         179 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as New York.

·         There have been 14 race winners from New York in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Geoffrey Bodine	18	6	0
Jim Reed	7	0	0
Steve Park	2	3	1
Al Keller	2	0	0
Brett Bodine	1	5	0
Greg Sacks	1	1	0
Jim Hurtubise	1	0	0
Lloyd Moore	1	0	0
Bill Rexford	1	0	0
Jack White	1	0	0
Regan Smith	1	0	0
Todd Bodine	0	15	18
Mike McLaughlin	0	6	0

Watkins Glen Storylines

Keselowski's ankle to be really tested this week (Getty)

A new 2011 NASCAR wrinkle placed greater emphasis on winning, and Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway gave a glimpse how. The proof: Iron man Brad Keselowski’s second win of the season might have just catapulted him into NASCAR’s playoffs.

After race No. 26, the top 10 drivers will earn spots in the 12-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Spots 11 and 12 will go to those drivers outside the top 10 with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20.

Brad Keselowski, who won his second race driving with a broken left ankle, leads that pack, placing him in that top Wild Card spot with five races to go before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set.

Expect the Wild Card discussion to buzz even more this weekend, as a wild-card race heats up the wild card chase.

Watkins Glen International awaits. The second and final road-course event on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule is a seven-turn image of unpredictability.

Tony Stewart, the all-time leader at Watkins Glen, looks to nab his first win of the season in Sunday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carl Edwards slam-bang finish at Iowa Speedway provided the perfect lead-in to the second of three road-course races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season. This one takes place Saturday at Watkins Glen, the Zippo 200 at The Glen.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series faces an open week this weekend, with a tight points battle – and a one that might change drastically.


NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Where The Wild Things Are: Outside The Top 10

Stewart could use good run this week

At first glance, making the Chase looks easier in 2011. This season, there are two ways to make it happen – land in the top 10 after race No. 26, or win and snag one of the two wild card spots.

Neither has proven as easy as it looks.

Cracking the top 10 has always been difficult and this year is no different. Just ask Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton – perennial championship candidates, all of whom are currently outside the top 10 in points.

But it just might be the Wild Card battle that’s fiercest of them all. There are now four drivers between spots 11 and 20 with wins – Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard and David Ragan.

Keselowski takes the top spot thanks to his two wins (Kansas and Pocono). Hamlin currently holds the second spot via his win at Michigan. The tie breaker for the Wild Card spot is points position. Hamlin is currently 11th, compared to Menard in 14th and Ragan in 19th.

Road Course Presents Big Opportunity For Wild Card Hopefuls
Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose have two hurdles to leap before landing a playoff spot. One: Win a race. Two: Get into the top 20. Even then, they might need some help.

The two road-course talents could very well check off step one this weekend at The Glen. Montoya, now 21st in points, won last year’s event and has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three races. Ambrose, 23rd in points and winless at Watkins Glen, has finished third, second and third in his three races at the upstate New York track.

Feud Bubbles Between Champions Johnson, Busch

Johnson shows some emotion! (Getty)

Kyle Busch vs. Kevin Harvick sparked wild interest in the early goings of the season, thanks to a post-race skirmish at Darlington.

The next two combatants: Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch. Neither particularly loved the way the other raced at the close of Sunday’s race at Pocono.

Heated post-race words may have escalated to more if not for interference from their respective teams.

The words spilled into the media center, where Busch said, "Good hard-fought battle for us, rooting for those two in front of me, my teammate and my younger brother to wreck each other, but not to wreck each other. Of course I wanted both of them to win and I wanted to win. Anybody but the 48."

Both are past champions and both are legitimate title contenders again this year. And both have had past run-ins. This could get interesting.

Sprint Summer Showdown Turns Left…And Right
The Sprint Summer Showdown hits the road course, with two surprises capturing the first two events: Paul Menard at Indianapolis and Brad Keselowski at Pocono. The winners of Indy, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol are eligible for the massive prize at Atlanta -- $3 million. The bonus will be split three ways: a million each for the driver, the driver’s charity, and one lucky fan. If one of those eligible drivers wins at Atlanta, the bonus is theirs.

Who’s the best bet at The Glen? The top five in Driver Rating usually provides a solid glimpse: Tony Stewart (129.6), Juan Pablo Montoya (113.5), Marcos Ambrose (113.2), Kyle Busch (102.1) and Kurt Busch (101.9).


Future Is Now: Youth Movement Hits NASCAR
This past weekend – and oftentimes, this whole season – has been ruled by the young.

In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 21-year-old Joey Logano was the hard-luck loser at Pocono. He performed admirably, leading 44 laps and holding the lead when the yellow flag – then red – came out for rain. But the rain stopped, the track dried and his race crumbled. A low tire forced him to the pits, and he eventually finished 26th.

In the NASCAR Nationwide Series, 23-year-old Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won again. He did so while outdueling teammate Carl Edwards in a wreck-at-the-checkers finish. After the race, an impressed Edwards said the kid will be around the sport for a long time. Don’t be surprised if he carries the 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion label along for the rest of his long career.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been a showcase for the young guns, too. Cole Whitt, 20, held the points lead earlier this season. Two other rookies, Parker Kligerman, also 20, and Joey Coulter, 21, are both in the top 10 in points.

Then there’s teenager Dylan Kwasniewski. At 16 years, two months, Kwasniewski became the youngest winner in the K&N Pro Series West’s 57-year history, winning the Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Colorado National Speedway on Saturday. The previous youngest winner was Joey Logano, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race-winner.

Ringers Pepper Entry List
Often times when the series heads to a road course, unfamiliar faces show up. They’re known as the road-course ringers.

Welcome to the entry list, Boris Said and P.J. Jones. Said, who finished third at The Glen in 2005, will drive the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet. Jones, who finished fourth at Watkins Glen in 2002, will drive the No. 77 Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge.

But a victory rarely – and lately, never – happens. Though sometimes successful, series regulars usually trump the road course ringers. The last time a "road course ringer" won a NASCAR Sprint Cup race was 1973 when Mark Donohue won at Riverside International Raceway.

- NASCAR Media Services

Las Vegas Hilton Odds To Win 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

Kurt Busch dominated at Sonoma; is 8-to-1 to win this week (Getty)

HELUVA GOOD! SOUR CREAM DIPS AT THE GLEN
WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2011

MARCOS AMBROSE 7-2
TONY STEWART 7
JUAN MONTOYA 7
JEFF GORDON 8
KURT BUSCH 8
KYLE BUSCH 8
JIMMIE JOHNSON 10
KEVIN HARVICK 12
CARL EDWARDS 18
DENNY HAMLIN 25
ROBBY GORDON 25
RYAN NEWMAN 30
BORIS SAID 35
JAMIE McMURRAY 35
KASEY KAHNE 35
CLINT BOWYER 40
AJ ALLMENDINGER 50
GREG BIFFLE 50
PAUL MENARD 60
MATT KENSETH 60
JOEY LOGANO 60
MARK MARTIN 75
DALE EARNHARDT JR 75
BRAD KESELOWSKI 75
DAVID RAGAN 100
JEFF BURTON 100
MARTIN TREUX JR 100
BRIAN VICKERS 100
REGAN SMITH 100
FIELD 40

Hamlin Finally Gets To Victory Lane in 2011, Wins at Michgan

Sporting News Wire Services

Denny Hamlin captures his first win of the season at Michigan (Getty)

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- For the first time this season -- at a track where he was expected to contend -- Denny Hamlin finally dodged the pitfalls that have plagued him in previous races and closed the deal.

First out of the pits after a stop under caution on Lap 192 of 200, Hamlin held off Matt Kenseth after a restart with five laps left and claimed his first victory of the season in Sunday's Heluva Good! 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Hamlin, who won his 17th Sprint Cup race, crossed the finish line .281 seconds ahead of Kenseth. Unlike previous races at his best tracks, such as Martinsville, Richmond and Pocono -- where Hamlin was strong early but succumbed to a variety late-race problems -- Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota was at its best in the closing laps of Sunday's race.

"We finished -- that's the thing," Hamlin said in Victory Lane. "We got it done. Everyone knows that we've been strong. Today we didn't look as strong as what we normally do here, but we got it working there at the end.

"We made a magic adjustment, and the car took off. This is the point of the season where we really need to start hitting our stride, and hopefully we've got another good 10 weeks before the Chase starts."

Michigan Results

Final Driver Ratings for Heluva Good! 400 at Michigan

Micah Roberts Top 10 Driver Ratings
Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400
Michigan International Speedway
Sunday, June 19, 2011 - 10:15 am (PDT)

Rating    Driver     Odds     Practice 1   Practice 2    Qualified    Fontana* 

 1. Jimmie Johnson 7/1        14th              4th              21st          2nd        
One of only five tracks Johnson has never won on; using Charlotte/Darlington chassis.
 2. Greg Biffle 12/1               17th              8th               7th          11th                                
Two-time winner, last coming in 2005. Three top-five finishes in last five Michigan starts.
 3. Kurt Busch  15/1               6th               9th              1st           17th                              
Two-time winner, the last coming in 2007; using Kansas chassis that led 152 of the 267 laps.
 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10/1    9th               5th              15th         12th                             
Site of his last win 107 races ago in 2008; using a brand new chassis this week.
 5. Matt Kenseth 10/1             8th             18th              3rd           4th                            
Two-time winner, the last coming in 2006; using dominating Charlotte chassis from May.  
 6. Carl Edwards 4/1             21st             21st             23rd          6th                               
Two-time winner who owns track best average finish of 6.3 in 13 starts; using Dover car.
 7. Kevin Harvick 10/1           3rd             24th              22nd         1st                                  
Won 2010 fall race; using same car that won on sister track of California in March.
 8. Clint Bowyer 25/1             13th             26th             27th         7th                               
Only two top-10 finishes in 10 career starts, but had fastest 10 consecutive lap practice average.   
 9. Jeff Gordon 10/1              29th             22nd            31st         18th                                   
Two-time winner with 11.4 average finish in 36 career starts; coming off big Pocono win.
10. Tony Stewart 12/1           25th             30th             6th           13th                                       
2000 winner with 11.8 average finish in 24 starts; using winning 2010 Fontana chassis.
 
* Results from the March 27, 2011 race at California Speedway, the sister track of Michigan. Both 2-mile tracks are very similar, although banked slightly different, with lots of room for drivers to maneuver.
                   
Odds courtesy of the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former race and sports Director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights and post-practice analysis on the race, go to VegasInsider.com or follow MicahRoberts7 on Twitter.

Michigan Starting Lineup

David Stremme Tops Final Michigan Practice Charts

David Stremme fastest during Happy Hour....no misprint.

David Stremme, who has to qualify on time to make the starting lineup for Sunday’s NSCS Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400, was the fastest during the final practice session at Michigan International Speedway, with a lap speed of 185.428 mph,.

Stremme was followed by two other “go or go home” drivers, J.J. Yeley (185.095) who was second fastest and Travis Kvapil (184.554) who was third fastest, followed by Jimmie Johnson (184.516) fourth fastest and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (184.417) the fifth fastest.

Rounding out the top-ten fastest during “Happy Hour” were Mark Martin (184.407) who was sixth fastest, Joe Nemechek (184.280) seventh, Greg Biffle (184.091) eighth, Kurt Busch (184.087) ninth and Robby Gordon (183.997- required to qualify on time) was tenth.

The teams will return to the track Saturday afternoon for their 1:10 PM (EDT) scheduled qualifying session to determine the starting lineup for Sunday’s race (which is scheduled to get underway a little after 1:00 PM – EDT).

Top-5 Happy Hour
#30-Stremme 185.428
#46-Yeley 185.095
#38-Kvapil 184.867
#48-Johnson 184.516
#88-Earnhardt, Jr. 184.417
slowest: #60-Skinner 180.950 & #13-Mears 180.288
notes: #20-Logano lost an engine during the session. #31-Burton got loose and was hit in the rear by #6-Ragan. Niether car suffered serious damage. Logano practiced #11-Hamlin's car late in the session for some additional practice time while his crew changed the engine in his car.


Ragan Fastest in First Michigan Practice

Ragan fastest during first Michigan practice (Getty)

David Ragan, with a lap speed of 186.601 mph, was the fastest in the first NSCS Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 practice session at Michigan International Speedway.

A.J. Allmendinger was second fastest on the speed chart with a lap speed of 186.591 mph, and was followed by Kevin Harvick (186.519) who was third fastest, David Reutimann (186.461) fourth fastest and Kasey Kahne (186.249) was the fifth fastest.

Rounding out the top-ten fastest in practice were Kurt Busch (185.878) who was sixth fastest, Regan Smith (185.778) seventh, Matt Kenseth (185.706) eighth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (185.701) ninth and Trevor Bayne (185.519) was tenth fastest.

Top-5 1st Friday Practice
#6-Ragan 186.601
#43-Allmendinger 186.591
#29-Harvick 186.519
#00-Reutimann 186.461
#4-Kahne 186.249
slowest: #32-Bliss 179.614 & #92-Keselowski 178.838.
This session will set the qualifying order for Saturday's qualifying, with slowest out first and fastest out last, all cars, the field is not separated by top-35 in owners points anymore.

PRACTICE 1 & 2 SPEEDS


DRIVER QUOTES FOLLOWING FRIDAY'S FIRST PRACTICE SESSION

TONY STEWART ON HIS PRACTICE SESSION: “We ran through a couple different packages so it should be interesting. We got the next hour and a half to figure out what we want to end up with. But definitely working through some stuff for sure.”

DENNY HAMLIN ON HIS PERFORMANCE OF LATE: “It feels good being more competitive here the last six, seven weeks or so. Obviously, last week we didn’t finish it off like we felt like we could have or should have, but still things are positive in the sense that we are running better and contending for victories over these last five of six weeks of so. That part of it is encouraging. Obviously, we enjoy coming here to Michigan because it’s such a raceable race track and so that part it’s always fun coming here because of that.”

CARL EDWARDS ON BEING A TWO-TIME WINNER BUT STRUGGLING IN PRACTICE: “Thanks, I really appreciate that. What an introduction folks. We are actually okay on the longer run. We didn’t get to run any blistering fast laps. We tried to do that the first practice to set ourselves up for a good starting spot if it were to rain tomorrow but we couldn’t go fast enough. The good news is our teammates are really fast in qualifying trim. We will lean on those guys a little bit. We had some tire trouble so we were working on that in practice two. We thought that was really important to figure out and make sure we don’t have that. The left front outer shoulder of the tire was getting hot and coming apart. That could be a big factor in the race if we don’t get that figured out. We focused on that and focused on trying some things we wanted to try and then at the end we worked on the balance pretty hard. I think we have a car that can race pretty well.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR ON WHO WILL BE EXCITED MORE WHEN HE FINALLY GETS WIN, THE MEDIA OR THE FANS: “I’ll get excited. I’ll be pretty excited. I remember. I have always felt like you celebrate every win like it could be your last. You never know what happens or what could happen in this sport so I always have torn down Victory Lane every time we’ve been there. I’m proud to have that kind of accomplishment when we win a race in this sport. We definitely have enjoyed it every time. If we get the opportunity again this year, we’ll do it.”

Michigan Preview: Look For Ford Take Back Their Crown

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

Manufacturers battle it out near the Motor City this week

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series travels to Michigan this week for the first of two races this season. Because of being so close to the Motor City, this event takes on an entirely different aspect than what we see week after week elsewhere. This race is about bragging rights among all the executives in the luxury boxes rooting for their model of car to win.

The Ford gang has had the most bragging rights over the years, but they haven't won since the fall of 2008 with Carl Edwards during his shining season. The last two years have seen two Chevy's and two Toyota's win. The Toyota win, even though the Japanese manufacturer makes more cars in the United States than the other NASCAR models, was like a dagger to the heart of all three of the other manufacturers.

This year we should see Ford come to forefront again as the Roush-Fenway stable of drivers are once again on top their game after a two year hiatus.

Carl Edwards is a two-time winner at the track and has a track best 6.3 average finish in his 13 starts. His worst finish was 22nd in 2006. Every one of his other 12 starts have seen him finish 12th or better. He's the current points leader and has done so by being one of the best on these types of tracks which requires lots of horsepower and good handling.

Edwards will be trying to get the job done this week with the same car he ran at Dover that finished seventh. Michigan will be the second race run in the car's history.

His teammate, Matt Kenseth, has the next best average finish at the track. Even though Kenseth hasn't won at Michigan since 2006, he has always run well. In the fall race last season he finished fifth, his 10th top-five finish on the track. Overall he has two wins at Michigan and comes in with two wins on the season. He'll be using his Charlotte chassis this week, a race that Kenseth dominated with the most laps led despite finishing 14th.

The next top candidate to win is another Roush driver, Greg Biffle. He won during the 2004 and 2005 season at Michigan and has a12.3 career average finish on the track. He's been just a notch below what his other teammates has done lately in 2011, but did finish fourth in the fall race last season.

The wild card of the race could be Dale Earnhardt Jr who has three straight top-10 finishes coming in to this weekend. It's been 107 races since Junior last won a race, but that win was at Michigan in 2008, his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. In that race, Junior had fumes in the fuel tank with three laps to go, but won the gamble. He's running very well right now and might be able to win the race straight up on the performance of his car rather needing to gamble. He'll be using a brand new car this week.

Harvick using winning Fontana chassis this week (Getty)

Kevin Harvick won the Michigan race last fall for only his third top-five finish in 20 career starts. He also won at Michigan's sister track of California earlier this season showing that he has indeed conquered two tracks that had previously given him trouble. This week he'll be using the same car that he won with at California.

Denny Hamlin won this race last season and then finished runner-up in the fall which should have him considered one of the favorites this week. However, Hamlin just can't seem to get any rhythm going this year. He led the most laps last week at Pocono, a place he was heavily favored at, but had a disappointing finish.

Even though Harvick has won the last two races held on the 2-mile tracks of California and Michigan, the correlation between the two isn't a great as it would seem. The biggest mystery between the two is Jimmie Johnson who has dominated Fontana over his career, but has yet to win a race at Michigan. It's one of only five tracks on tour that Johnson has yet to win at.

Johnson's chances become even tougher with the car he's bringing this week, which by his high standards, is a clunker. The car finished 15th at Darlington and then 28th at Charlotte. He could be a driver to pick on in several matchups where he is placed as a large favorite just because of reputation.

Red Bull racing has shown at times this season that they have the horsepower needed to compete with the top teams. Kasey Kahne won this race in 2006 and has three other runner-up finishes, including this race last season. Brian Vickers won the last time he was on the track in 2009, but sat out of both races in 2010 due to health issues.

Another long shot to look at this week is Joey Logano who comes in with three straight top-10 finishes at Michigan. Jeff Burton is also one to take a strong look at just because he's using Kevin Harvick hand-me-downs. He'll be using Harvick's fifth-place car from last week at Pocono, a car that also won at Michigan with Harvick driving last fall.

TOP 5 Finish Prediction:
1) #99 Carl Edwards (6/1)
2) #17 Matt Kenseth (8/1)
3) #16 Greg Biffle (12/1)
4) #29 Kevin Harvick (8/1)
5) #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr (15/1)

Driver Chassis Selections For Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan

Note: Not all teams list their chassis selection in their PR releases.

Ragan using strong All-Star car this week (Getty) 

#1-Jamie McMurray: Crew Chief Kevin "Bono" Manion has elected to bring chassis #1104 to Michigan this weekend. This chassis was last used at Charlotte for both the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600. McMurray ran well with this chassis in the 600, leading several laps before losing an engine.

#2-Brad Keselowski: will race chassis PRS-755 during Sunday's Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan. This is a new chassis to the #2 fleet.

#6-David Ragan: Primary: RK-744 Last ran All-Star race - finished eighth; Backup: RK-695 Last ran Phoenix in 2010 as the #99 - finished first.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The #9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 743 for the 400-mile event at Michigan. This DEWALT Ford was run previously this season at California and Charlotte in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-564: This car debuted at Texas in November 2009, where it delivered a strong performance by qualifying fourth and finishing sixth. The 2009 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway marked the car's second career start. There, it qualified fifth and led twice for 43 laps before two separate on-track incidents with Juan Pablo Montoya relegated it to a 22nd-place finish. It saw action during the offseason when it was used for a Goodyear tire test at Texas Jan. 19-20. Chassis No. 14-564 returned to competition in February at Auto Club where in the second race of the 2010 campaign, it started 16th and finished ninth.

It returned to Texas in April for its fourth career start, where it qualified on the pole and led five times for 74 laps before a late-race accident relegated it to an undeserved 32nd-place finish. It was repaired and fitted with a new body for the series' June stop at Michigan, where it qualified 17th and finished a solid fifth. It sat idle until it returned to Michigan for the series' August visit to the 2-mile oval, qualifying fourth and leading three times for 36 laps before finishing sixth.

The October race at Fontana marked Chassis No. 14-564's seventh career start and second at Fontana, and there it delivered Stewart's 39th career Sprint Cup win and his first at Fontana. The same car returned to action in November at Texas, where it qualified 11th and 500 miles later finished 11th.

With a new body honed in the wind tunnel, Chassis No. 14-564 got its first start of 2011 and the ninth of its career at Fontana. It again proved strong, qualifying fifth and leading four times for 11 laps. In the waning laps, however, it dropped from third to 13th after a late-race restart. Its most recent start came in May at Charlotte in the non-points All-Star Race, where it started sixth and finished fourth.

#17-Matt Kenseth: Primary: RK-741 (last raced at Charlotte)

#18-Kyle Busch: Chassis No. 311: This is a brand new chassis that is slated to see action for the first time in Sunday's Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan.

#20-Joey Logano: The #20 Home Depot Team is taking chassis #303 to Michigan this weekend. The team originally brought this chassis to Martinsville, but it was not raced following a practice incident. The team rebuilt the car and will race it for the first time on Sunday. The back-up chassis is #275 that Logano did drive in the Martinsville race and went on to finish in the 13th position.

#22-Kurt Busch & his Steve Addington-led #22 Penske Racing Team will be racing their "PRS-754" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger in this weekend's action at Michigan. This chassis debuted in the June 5 STP 400 at Kansas Speedway. Busch won the pole and dominated the race -- leading four times for 152 of the 267 laps - before the outcome was determined by fuel mileage.

#27-Paul Menard will pilot Chassis No. 326 from the RCR Sprint Cup Series stable. This #27 Chevy was a brand new addition to the RCR fleet for the 2011 season and was last seen in competition on track at Bristol Motor Speedway where Menard brought home a fifth-place result after starting from the fourth position. This car also saw paces this year during the non-points Sprint Showdown at Charlotte where Menard started third and finished 11th.

Harvick using winning Fontana car; gave Burton his winning Michigan ride

#29-Kevin Harvick: will race chassis No. 299 from the RCR Sprint Cup Series stable. The team utilized this race car twice in 2010 and twice this year. Last season, Harvick recorded finishes of second at Las Vegas (2/28) and 19th at Michigan (6/13) in this car. So far this year he's driven chassis No. 299 to a win at Auto Club Speedway (3/28) and a 10th-place finish at Dover (5/15).

#31-Jeff Burton: will race chassis No. 288 from the RCR Sprint Cup Series stable. A former #29 racer, teammate Kevin Harvick raced this chassis eight times in 2010, earning three top-five and six top-10 finishes. The top-five runs included second-place finishes at Auto Club Speedway (2/21) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (7/25) and Harvick's win at Michigan (8/15). Most recently, this RCR entry competed at Pocono Raceway last weekend where Harvick scored a fifth-place finish.

#33-Clint Bowyer: will pilot chassis No. 350 from the RCR Sprint Cup Series stable. This Chevy, built new for 2011, has now seen action twice this season - the first being a runner-up finish at Texas in April and the most recent coming two weeks ago in the Coca-Cola 600 when Bowyer brought home a 15th-place effort.

#36-Dave Blaney: will pilot the #78 chassis this weekend at Michigan. TBR previously ran the chassis at Kansas, Richmond, Martinsville and Phoenix. Blaney drove the #78 chassis to TBR's best finish of 13th at Richmond earlier this season.

JPM rolling with Charlotte car that raced at Michigan in 2010

#42-Juan Pablo Montoya: Crew Chief Brian Pattie will bring chassis #1015 to Michigan. This chassis was used earlier this year at Charlotte along with Michigan last season.

#43-A.J. Allmendinger: The #43 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 710 for this weekend's event at Michigan. This Best Buy Ford has been run previously this season at Bristol and Dover.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: finished 28th in primary chassis No. 659 at Charlotte in May. Backup chassis No. 623 crossed the finish line 16th at Las Vegas in March.

#99-Carl Edwards: RK-739; Last outing: Dover in May - finished 7th

- from Jayski.com

Driver Notes & Quotes For Michigan

Hamlin won the spring race at Michigan in 2010 (Getty)

DENNY HAMLIN ON WHAT HE LIKES ABOUT MICHIGAN: “Michigan is a fun track. It’s just a track where you can move around, change your car, and you can get out of line of the guy in front of you. It’s not an aero-sensitive track like a lot of them. It definitely is a benefit, as far as that’s concerned. I like a track where the driver can make somewhat of a difference. When his car’s not handling well, he’s got multiple grooves to change the way his balance is on his race car and Michigan is one of those race tracks. Your car’s not always going to be perfect, but you can almost make it that way by the way you drive there. We see guys from the top to the bottom and it’s a drafting race track. On the restarts, we see guys three and four-wide simply because the draft is such a big deal at that track. It’s exciting from my standpoint.”

KYLE BUSCH ON MICHIGAN: “It’s just a fun place to race. Its wide-open racing and you can run from top to bottom. The biggest thing is just trying to get grip there. Some guys are able to get it, other guys can’t. You can get it for maybe five laps and then you’re just out to lunch. The biggest thing is just trying to make your car comfortable and make it last throughout a whole tire run and, of course, make it fast, too. And the wide race track is good — that’s what makes Michigan so exciting and so fun.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR. ON MICHIGAN: “Because the car is different depending on where you run on the race track and you really have to go into practice thinking about the past races at Michigan and what worked for you and what didn’t. The top lane is really, really good in practice and as practice goes on it kind of goes away and as the race goes — it seems like 100 miles into the race really the top isn’t good anymore. It’s really easy to fool yourself into making your car work good up top in the high groove and then when you get in the race you get stuck up there. Then it quits working and you can’t go back to the bottom.”

BRIAN VICKERS ON RETURN TO MICHIGAN AFTER A YEAR OFF: “I’m excited to get back to Michigan. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the circuit — I think it makes for great racing. Last time I raced in Michigan we sat on the pole and won the race, and hopefully we can go back there and win it again. It was a special day for myself and everyone at Red Bull. Since I missed both races last season, we are definitely all excited to get back there and show everyone what we can do.”

KURT BUSCH ON MICHIGAN: “Really, the fuel mileage importance has become the nature of our sport, like it or not. With NASCAR changing the points system around and throwing the ‘wild card’ entry into the Chase by race wins, it’s sent the importance of winning through the roof. Teams are willing to take more chances than ever. They’ll roll the dice and throw caution to the wind. We’ve seen it in almost all the races recently. At Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600, there were all the cars trying to go the distance stretching their fuel and running out at the end.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI ON MICHIGAN MEMORIES: “I always have a lot of fun when it’s time to head to Michigan. It’s one of those tracks that mean so much to me and my family. I remember going there watching my dad race back when I was a little kid and can remember coming through the tunnel amazed at how big this place was to me. It’s cool to be back home and race in front of family and friends. It’s in Dodge’s backyard and we certainly know how important of a race it is for them. They’ve been a tremendous help to our program and to get them, a long with Miller Lite, in Victory Lane would be awesome.”

Johnson has no Michigan despite success at Fontana

JIMMIE JOHNSON ON MICHIGAN: “We’ve been close (to winning at Michigan) and our fuel mileage has been kind of our nemesis with two or three things that have taken place there. We’ve led a fair amount of laps over the years and just kind of haven’t had the luck or the mileage or whatever it is at the end of the race. Looking forward to going back. We’re always looking forward to going racing in the area where the manufacturers are based and I want to put on a good show for all the Chevrolet fans and do my part to represent the bowtie. Looking forward to it. We’ve been making a lot of progress on our intermediate setups and race cars. I think this could be a win for the 48 this weekend.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR. ON MICHIGAN: “I really like Michigan. It’s a real fun place to race. It is a wide racetrack and has a lot of different grooves. We can move around and find places to run on the track which makes it pretty enjoyable. A lot of times that is a fuel-mileage race. You do need a lot of motor too, and we’re pretty good in that department.”

KEVIN HARVICK ON MICHIGAN: “We were fortunate enough to win the last race we ran there (at Michigan). The tires wear out; you have a lot of options as a driver to move from the bottom of the race track to the top and I think that is why everybody likes going there. It is a fun race track to race on. You have got to have good fuel mileage. You have to have a good handling car. You have to have the whole package. If you are having a good day, it’s not very hard anywhere to drive a good handling race car around and tell your guys what it needs and everybody is in a good mood. If you are having a bad day, you can get behind at Michigan really fast and usually when you are hooked up at Michigan, the leader’s in clean air and moving through traffic pretty well and if you are mid-pack, you can find yourself getting behind and a lap down pretty fast because you are going to have a green flag pit stop and you are going to have a whole bunch of green flag laps. You have just got to be going from the time the green flag drops and keep up with your car and keep yourself up in the pack.”

CLINT BOWYER ON MICHIGAN: “I like racing at Michigan. I like how it’s really wide; it opens up and you can run a lot of different lines on the race track. But I’m telling you, it has been a hit or miss track for us. We either run really well there or we don’t run good at all. You’ve just got to find consistency on a track like that and that’s what it all boils down to. There’s just so many things that happen there that you have to capitalize on. You’ve got to be in position. And then a lot of times, more often than not, it comes down to stretching that fuel as far as you can.”

TONY STEWART ON MICHIGAN: “There has to be a good balance of both horsepower and handling at Michigan. You can have the best horsepower there, but if you can’t make it handle through those long corners you aren’t going to be able to carry speed down the straightaway. But at the same time you can have the best handling car in the corners but if you don’t have something to make it handle down the straightaway it’s not going to matter either. I don’t know that there is anything hard about it (running 400 miles at Michigan). Its knowing the closer you get to the front the better your car is going to drive. It’s having the confidence of knowing what you need to do with your car during a race and knowing where to move out on the race track as your balance changes. That’s the good thing about Michigan races; really wide and you can move around and help yourself out. That’s probably half the battle.”

RYAN NEWMAN ON MICHIGAN: “You talk about an added incentive; I sure have a few this weekend. To pay tribute to Bud Moore at the race we celebrate the Army’s 236th birthday is an immense honor. Throughout the course of American history it’s been the Army Strong Soldiers like Bud who have put their lives on the line to protect and preserve freedom. I have personally witnessed our Soldiers’ mental, emotional and physical strength and it is truly remarkable. From the U.S. Army NASCAR team to all the Soldiers past and present, Happy Birthday U.S. Army and thank you for 236 years of Army Strong. I like everything about the Michigan facility, including the natural and peaceful beauty of the surrounding area. For some reason, we just haven’t been able to put it together there in recent times. Our intermediate track program has improved and I am looking for our Army Chevrolet to perform well this weekend.”

JEFF GORDON ON MICHIGAN: “I’ll always take handling (over horsepower). But it’s hard to just come out and say that at Michigan because those straightaways are long. You’re on the throttle a long time. Unless you’re saying to me that I can have 25 more horsepower than the competition, then most of the time when we talk about having more horsepower it’s four or five or six or eight horsepower. I’m thinking we’ve got some things to work on in the power department but that to me, is not what’s preventing us from winning races right now. “To me, here (Pocono), Michigan it sort of takes the same package; a lot of power and then you’ve got to get through the corners really good. You can’t just have one. You used to be able to have just one but now you’ve got to have it all and now you’ve got to throw in fuel mileage as well. At these two tracks, fuel mileage is key. And we’ve been working so hard and making our cars faster, that we have not put a lot of focus into fuel mileage and it’s something we need to put a lot more attention on. We actually had a road course test this week and we played around with some things there and we’ll continue to move forward with that. But first and foremost we’re going to try to have a fast race car.”

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA ON MICHIGAN: “Well, Michigan was one of those tracks we never seemed to have much luck at up until the last few times we’ve gone there. The guys have been working really hard to get our cars back to where we need to be so hopefully we’ve learned a few things these last 14 races and can go in there with a strong showing. Aside from that, it’s a really cool race for us this weekend because we’re running the Cars 2 paint scheme on our No. 42 Chevrolet. I had the opportunity to play a part in the Cars 2 Spanish version and now we get to run a cool paint scheme on our car through the Target program.”

MARK MARTIN ON MICHIGAN: “If you look at statistics, Michigan could be labeled my best track on the circuit. Last year, we struggled a bit, suffered damage in the fall race that we could never really overcome. But back in 2009 we got the win on the final lap and when you win them like that, on the last lap, it’s so much fun. Those are the best kind of wins I think. We’ve got some work to do on our intermediate program, but we’ll get there. This is a great track for us to turn that all around on.”

PAUL MENARD ON MICHIGAN: “I really enjoy racing at Michigan. We had a really fast car there last year in practice, but the pace fell off during the race. You kind of have to guess where your gaps are as far as front-end settings are concerned and we missed that last year. This year we just have to try and put it all together. We’ve been pretty solid at the intermediate tracks this year so I think we’ll unload well and work on it from there. It definitely gives you confidence going in with the ECR engines, plus, the RCR teams have a history of running well there. You can move all over the place at MIS. You can run from the top to bottom of the racetrack. You’re not dependent on certain lines. Instead, you can move around and see where your car works the best.”

JEFF BURTON ON MICHIGAN: “That’s what I like about it (Michigan). I like the fact that you can slide around. I end up sliding around too much and then I’m screaming too much about being loose. But I like the fact that you can really side track the car there and you spend a lot of time with the back of the car rolling around pretty far. It’s a really fun race track. The thing that we have to do is just continue to be better. When we’re better at Charlotte, we’ll be better at Michigan. When we’re better at Michigan, we’ll be better at Vegas, you know what I mean? It’s just a continuation of an improvement of our stuff. I feel optimistic going there. Certainly I like the race track. It’s fun to race on and I feel like we can have good finishes there.”

REGAN SMITH ON MICHIGAN: “Michigan is a track that I truly feel we can produce a strong performance. It’s wide and you can pass there. Last year we had solid performances at MIS but didn’t get the finishes (21st and 23rd) that our Furniture Row Chevrolet deserved. Our recent 15th-place finish in Pocono was decent, but as I have said in the past, we’re just okay with top 15’s, we want to have results in the top-10 and top-five. Though we’re making steady progress, we need to get stronger if we want to get in the top-20 in points and have a possible wild card spot in the Chase.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY ON MICHIGAN: “We have had a couple of frustrating weeks here lately, so I am hoping that going to Michigan will be a change of luck for us. Michigan seems to come down to being a fuel mileage race, so you can try lots of different strategy to put yourself into position to be up front at the end of the day. I would prefer to just go outrun everyone, but we would take whatever we can get to have a solid finish. Our guys continue to work hard on our cars and we want to represent Chevrolet proudly when we race so close to Detroit. It is always nice to go up there being close to home for Chevrolet and getting to see a lot of people that support our program, but don’t get to many of the races. Hopefully we will give the hometown crowd something to cheer about!”