Sandwiched between the exotic road course of Watkins Glen and the bumper car battlefield known as Bristol is a return engagement at Michigan International Speedway. For the ailing back of Jeff Gordon and for the chase runs of Greg Biffle, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth (all of them winners at MIS), this race couldn’t come at a better time.
Martin and points leader Tony Stewart find the track at the Irish Hills to their liking, as do former MIS winners Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Stewart calls Michigan a “driver’s track”- with a plenty of operating room and multiple options for the driver. If you do well here, you go into the chase feeling pretty good about your chances down the stretch as five of the season’s final ten races are run on tracks like Fontana and Texas.
TRACK FACTS
To review, Michigan International Speedway has hosted NASCAR Cup competition for 40 years. Cale Yarborough was the first to visit victory lane on June 15, 1969- winning the Motor State 500 in a Mecury after Donnie Allison had taken the pole.
Michigan International Speedway is a 2-mile track with a front stretch that runs 3,600 feet on 12 degrees banking. Its turns bank 18 inches, while there’s 5 degrees of banking on the backstretch that runs 2,242 feet.
The grandstands at MIS will hold 137,243.
TOP PERFORMERS
“Rocket” Ryan Newman has run the fastest qualifying lap at Michigan with a 
time of 37.069 seconds for the June, 2005 race. His speed? 194.232 miles per hour. David Pearson was the King Of Qualifiers with 10 poles. Bill Elliott- who is on the entry list for Sunday- leads active drivers with 7.
David Pearson leads all Cup drivers with 9 victories at MIS. Among active drivers, Bill Elliott has 7 victories and June’s race winner- Mark Martin- has a quintet of victories. Carl Edwards was the August race winner last year.
While racing for Robert Yates in June of 1999, Dale Jarrett ran the fastest Michigan race, a caution free affair in 2 hours, 17 minutes and 56 seconds.
That spring of 1999 race was the third and last time a race was free of the yellow flag. The record for cautions is 10, set in August of 2006.
As many as 41 racers finished the August, 2007 race. As few as 14 finished the June, 1974 race.
The record for lead changes is 65, set in in August, 1981. The fewest lead changes occurred in the August, 1984 when the lead changed hands 7 times.
WHEN & WHERE TO TUNE IN
The green flag will fly at about 2:18 P.M. Eastern, 11 :18 AM Pacific on Sunday, August 16, 2009. Coverage on ESPN kicks off at 1:00 PM Eastern, 10:00 AM Pacific. Dr. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree are trackside, with Vince Welch, Jamie Little, Shannon Spake and Dave Burns in the pits. Alan Bestwick, Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace are your studio hosts. Tim Brewer is in the tech center.
Radio coverage is provided by MRN and Sirius XM Satellite radio.
WHO’S GOING TO WIN?
I don’t think its overstating matters to say that Roush- Fenway’s season hinges on this race. If there’s a 2009 championship run (I’m not talking the chase, I’m talking championship) in the Roush camp, we’ll find it out Sunday. With 11 wins at Michigan, Roush is only equaled by the legendary Wood Brothers organization. The good news? Though they didn’t win, RFR made a good showing. Carl Edwards finished fourth, Greg Biffle led 42 laps and was one spot back of Cousin Carl and Jamie Mc Murray took eleventh.
Edwards isn’t in a desperate spot, though I’m sure the fact he’s winless in 2009 doesn’t sit well with him. Biffle and Kenseth most definitely need a good day, and are certainly capable of going out and getting it.
Along with that trio- Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Juan Pablo Montoya merit consideration. All three have acquitted themselves well with racey machines throughout the season. Busch and JPM both notched top tens in June.
Brian Vickers has been the pole sitter for the last two Michigan races- now he just needs to get it done in traffic. This just might be the race he closes the deal.
Of course, just about everything Hendrick Motorsports touches has been NASCAR gold this season. Jimmie Johnson dominated this race before running out of gas on the final lap in June, with the venerable Mark Martin the beneficiary. Jeff Gordon has a pair of victories to his credit at MIS and though a respectable race would be a victory in itself, let’s not forget hard-luck racer Dale Jr. got his last win at Michigan some 14 months ago. For all intents and purposes, Tony Stewart is a Hendrick guy and he just hauls the mail everywhere these days.
Narrowing it down- its a collection of the usual suspects. Stewart, Johnson, Kurt
Busch, Edwards, Martin and Biffle are the prohibitive favorites going in. Of these, Smoke is in an interesting spot because he has nothing to lose and really, getting his fourth win of the year would put him equal with Martin for wins as a top seed in the chase. With that and a cushy lead over Johnson, why not go for broke?
Johnson will also race with a high degree of motivation with two straight finishes outside the top ten and a Michigan win he let get away fresh in his memory. Even if he tanks, J.J. is sitting well- so I’d expect an aggressive race from him.
Even with all this, I’m really leaning towards a win for Greg Biffle. He’ll have to fight all these other competitors to win, but you know me, I like thinking outside the box. He needs a good race and it doesn’t get any better than a win.
PHOTO CREDITS- Ryan Newman’s car by jd016, Carl Edwards and Biffle’s burnout by Walter G. Arce. To see more, visit flickr.com, or click on the links.
