 |  | | Matt Kenseth's worst finish at Michigan came in his second start at the track. Credit: Autostock |
By Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM
June 16, 2006
09:38 AM EDT (13:38 GMT)
Matt Kenseth seems to just be creeping along. After the Richmond race, he was third in points, 99 behind leader Jimmie Johnson. In the four races since, he's finished third, fifth, first and fifth. And with all that, he's still 48 points behind. The snail race to catch Johnson in the standings continues with Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at Michigan (1 p.m. ET, FOX). And that's fine with Kenseth. Since he won there in 2002, he finished 11th the following year and has rolled off six consecutive top-10 finishes at the 2-mile track. What you didn't know
|
17 -- Worst finish for Matt Kenseth in his 13 races at Michigan. He has an average finish of 8.1 at the track with nine top-10s and five top-fives. |
|
Driver Rating: 3M Performance 400
|
122.9 -- Greg Biffle, No. 16 Roush Racing Ford. Biffle stayed out on a caution with 30 to go to take the lead and eventually win last spring's Michigan race, his fifth of the season. He was sixth when the series returned a month later. |
|
NASCAR's driver rating combines the following categories: wins, finishes, top-15s, average lead-lap running position, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps and lead-lap finish. Statistics based on current and past year at track. Maximum rating: 150 points. Numerology Sunday will be the 74th race at Michigan International Speedway. But Bill Lester is hoping it will be his second in the Cup Series. He will attempt to qualify for the 3M Performance 400, just 10 races after he qualified 19th earlier this year at Atlanta to become the first black driver in 20 years to drive a Cup Series race. Prior to Lester's Atlanta run, it had been 628 races since a black driver started a Cup race -- Willy T. Ribbs in the Miller American 400 on June 15, 1986, at Michigan.
|
0 -- Times Carl Edwards has failed to finish on the lead lap at Michigan in his three starts. He is the only driver to finish all of his races at the track on the lead lap. |
|
1 -- Ranking for Mark Martin in victories (4), top-fives (15) and top-10s (26) among full-time drivers at Michigan. Dale Jarrett is either tied or ranks second in all three categories (4, 15, 20). |
|
2 -- Full-time drivers who have led more than 500 laps at Michigan: Mark Martin (882) and Jeff Gordon (794). |
|
6.3 -- Average finish for Carl Edwards in his three starts at Michigan, the best among full-time drivers. |
|
6.76 -- Average starting position of race winners at Michigan. Fourteen of 73 races have been won from the pole, and 59 have been won from a starting position inside the top 10. |
|
7 -- Drivers who had an average running position inside the top 10 last year at Michigan, with Kurt Busch's 5.110 average leading all drivers. |
|
9 -- Races at Michigan since a Chevrolet won (Jeff Gordon, 2001). Chevy has 16 victories at the track. Ford leads all manufacturers with 28 wins. Dodge has seven. |
|
11 -- Former Michigan winners who will race in the 3M Performance 400. Six of those drivers have won multiple times at the track: Mark Martin (4), Dale Jarrett (4), Bobby Labonte (3), Jeff Gordon (2), Ryan Newman (2) and Greg Biffle (2). |
|
24 -- Laps among the 25 fastest last year at Michigan occurred during the June race, with Casey Mears' 188.864 mph clocking on Lap 2 being the fastest. |
|
25.62 -- Percent of passes that were made last year on the frontstretch, the most popular place to pass. Just 8.05 percent of passing occurred in Turn 2. |
|
38 -- Drivers who have surpassed $1 million in race winnings this season. |
|
44 -- Consecutive races at Michigan that were won from a top-10 starting position before Dale Jarrett won in 1991 after starting 11th. The last three races, however, have been won from starting positions outside the top 10. |
|
49 -- Starts for Kyle Petty at Michigan entering Sunday's race, the most among full-time drivers. |
|
88 -- Laps led by Kevin Harvick at Michigan, the most among full-time drivers who have not won at the track. |
|
103 -- Green-flag passes Kyle Busch made in last spring's Michigan race. Busch started 17th and finished ninth. |
|
180 -- Passes made by Jeff Burton last year at both Michigan races, more than any other driver. He finished 11th in the June race. |
|
189 -- Laps led by Roush Racing drivers last year at Michigan, with former Roush driver Kurt Busch's 77 leading the five drivers. Each driver led at least nine laps. |
|
194.232 -- Speed, in miles per hour, that Ryan Newman set the qualifying record in last year's race, making Michigan the fourth-fastest track in NASCAR. Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta rank higher according to Bud Pole track records. |
|
Jack Roush has established his team as the one to beat at Michigan. His cars have started 113 races at the track and recorded eight victories there, more than any other track. Roush-owned cars have 32 top-fives and 61 top-10s with an average finish of 13.5, third best among all the tracks his cars have visited.
| Roush's Auto Show |
| Current Roush Racing drivers and their Michigan statistics |
| Driver |
Starts |
Wins |
T5 |
T10 |
Led |
Avg. Finish |
| Mark Martin |
40 |
4 |
15 |
26 |
882 |
11.8 |
| Matt Kenseth |
13 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
63 |
8.1 |
| Greg Biffle |
6 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
159 |
11.0 |
| Jamie McMurray |
6 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
20.7 |
| Carl Edwards |
3 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
17 |
6.3 |
| Totals |
68 |
7 |
26 |
43 |
1,122 |
11.6 |
|
|
| |
