Newman looks to keep streak intact at Michigan

By Jarrod Breeze, NASCAR.COM
August 13, 2009
09:27 AM EDT

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Four drivers have combined to win eight of the 17 Nationwide Series races at Michigan International Speedway, with Todd Bodine, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman each having won twice. Of that quartet, only Newman is entered in this year's race; coincidentally, in the No. 5 Chevrolet co-owned by JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports.

Newman has been darn-near perfect at Michigan, having won both races he has entered.

119Laps led by Ryan Newman in his 2001 victory. He led all but six laps.

38Starting position by Ryan Newman in his 2005 victory, farthest back of any winner. He led only seven laps.

Coverage of the Carfax 250 (Entry List | Tickets) begins at 3 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.

2Place of finish in last year's race for Brian Vickers in the No. 32 Toyota of Braun Racing, the same car he is entered in this week.

4Top-10s in as many races Greg Biffle has finished on the lead lap including a runner-up finish in 2005 and back-to-back fifth-place runs the past two years. Biffle also has three DNFs (two crashes in the first 10 laps) among the four races he hasn't finished on the leap lap.

5Times the winner has started second, more than any other position. Two races have been won from the pole including Carl Edwards last year. Nine of the 17 races have been won from the first two starting rows.

5Top-fives in seven starts for Kevin Harvick including a victory in 2003. He has just one finish worse than 13th.

5.0Average finish in three starts for Denny Hamlin including a victory in 2007. He's never finished worse than eighth.

8Place of finish in last year's race for Jason Leffler, his second top-10. He has finished worse than 14th just once in six starts.

9Races won by Cup regulars including six of the past seven. Kyle Busch is the only winner during that span that didn't race a full Cup schedule; he made just six starts in 2004.

11.1Average finish in 11 races for Jeff Burton, who leads all drivers entered in this week's race in top-fives (five) and top-10s (eight), both second all time to Mark Martin (eight top-fives, nine top-10s). Burton, who won the pole in the No. 9 Ford in 1998, has finished 10th and fourth in two races in the No. 29 Chevrolet.

THE BUSCH WATCH

Kyle Busch set a series record with his runner-up finish at Watkins Glen, his 10th consecutive top-two finish. He has placed second in seven of those races including the past three. Busch also tied Sam Ard's mark of having led in 19 consecutive series races.

1Top-two finishes for Busch at Michigan. He won there in 2004, his first full year in the series when he finished second in points. Busch finished 14th in his only other start at MIS, in 2006.

87Laps led by Busch at Michigan, all coming in his victory. He led three times in that race, the only driver to lead more than once.

THE WOW FACTOR

2Races in which there were no cautions at Michigan: 1995 and '98. Each time, the two subsequent races had only one caution per event. Since 2005 there has been an average of 5.5 cautions a race with a low of three ('07) and a high of nine ('06).

THE SUPER LOOPER

66Number of Fastest Laps Run at Michigan for Carl Edwards, just one of four drivers to have run in all four Loop Data races. Not coincidentally, Edwards also leads in Laps Led (103, 20.5 percent) and Laps in the Top 15 (385). His end results have been mixed, however, with a win and third-place finish and two finishes of 23rd or higher including a DNF (crash).

Driver Rating (since 2005, four races)

Pos.	Driver*	Starts	Rating	Pct. Laps / Top 15	Avg. Run Pos.	Avg. Fin

1.	Ryan Newman	1	123.2	92.0	5.9	1.0
2.	Denny Hamlin	3	116.4	93.9	7.4	5.0
3.	Carl Edwards	4	114.3	76.5	10.5	13.8
4.	Brian Vickers	3	107.2	88.9	8.7	8.0
5.	Kevin Harvick	3	107.1	94.4	6.8	8.0
6.	Greg Biffle	4	102.8	76.3	13.0	13.8
7.	Jeff Burton	2	100.2	82.2	10.9	7.0
8.	Mike Bliss	1	90.7	51.2	14.5	6.0
9.	J.J. Yeley	3	89.2	54.8	14.2	10.3
10.	Paul Menard	3	84.6	66.7	14.4	12.7

• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score | * Entered in this race only

BLAST FROM THE PAST

22Career series starts for Clifford Allison, with two top-10s. Allison made 14 starts in 1992 and was practicing for the inaugural race at Michigan when he crashed and was killed.

Series winners at Michigan

Year	Driver	Make	Year	Driver	Make

1992	Todd Bodine	Chevrolet	2001	Ryan Newman	Ford
1993	Mark Martin	Ford	2002	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet
1994	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	2003	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
1995	Mark Martin	Ford	2004	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet
1996	Jeff Purvis	Chevrolet	2005	Ryan Newman	Dodge
1997	Steve Park	Chevrolet	2006	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
1998	Jeff Burton	Ford	2007	Denny Hamlin	Chevrolet
1999	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	2008	Carl Edwards	Ford
2000	Todd Bodine	Chevrolet

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Standings

Pos.	+/-	Driver	Points	Behind

1.	--	Kyle Busch	3,646	--
2.	--	Carl Edwards	3,434	-212
3.	--	Brad Keselowski	3,237	-409
4.	--	Jason Leffler	3,073	-573
5.	--	Justin Allgaier	2,605	-1,041
6.	+1	Steve Wallace	2,555	-1,091
7.	-1	Mike Bliss	2,513	-1,133
8.	+1	Jason Keller	2,509	-1,137
9.	+1	Brendan Gaughan	2,462	-1,184
10.	-2	Joey Logano	2,459	-1,187