Chat with NASCAR fans while following the races at Michigan and Gateway
Cain: Confidence overtakes stress, keys veteran’s resurgence
RELATED: Images of Earnhardt Jr.’s most memorable 2014 moments
Compared to February’s emotional, dramatic and much-celebrated Daytona 500 victory, Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s maiden trip to Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway on Sunday was modest and business-like. And every bit as significant.
It wasn’t the big trophy but the small sticker that Earnhardt received and placed above the driver’s door that will most affect his immediate fortunes. It simply says "WINNER," and he joins the elite of the elite with two of those stickers in 2014.
For those that might have scoffed at his Daytona win because it came on Earnhardt’s personal playground — the restrictor-plate Daytona and Talladega speedways — the win at Pocono further serves notice that he should be considered a serious player for the 2014 Sprint Cup championship.
The two victories bookend one of his best starts to a season. Sunday marked Earnhardt’s series-best sixth top-three finish in the No. 88 Chevrolet. He has three runner-up finishes (Phoenix, Las Vegas, Darlington) in addition to his wins.
He couldn’t have timed his first multi-win season in a decade any better considering the impact and importance on the new Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format that rewards winners with a berth in the playoffs.
"It’s elusive, man,” Earnhardt conceded about his first two-win season since 2004.
This year it is also a game-changer.
"We started out the season when we won at Daytona and it made the rest of the year a lot more relaxing, a lot easier, less stress and it makes it fun because you can just go to the race track and just race and not worry about points,” Earnhardt said. "Now having two wins is going to make it even easier, a lot less stress, a lot less stress on the team and I think that could be a good thing going into the Chase.
"I mean, not only are we able to relax right now. … that’s got to be positive for our composure and psyche going into the Chase, not having to stress all the way through into Richmond, you know?"
It’s never been easy for Earnhardt, who has simultaneously created and alienated the largest fan base in NASCAR. Thanks primarily to the massive and vocal "Junior Nation," he is an 11-time Most Popular Driver Award winner. Yet, he gets harshly — and unfairly — criticized if he doesn’t run up front every week.
"I’m turning 40 this year and the overrated talk is way behind me,” Earnhardt said Sunday. "That used to bother me when I was younger, but when you get old you don’t really care anymore about those kind of things. I feel like I’m such a lucky guy to have this second opportunity almost, to be competitive again and so I don’t really worry about the detractors.”
In fact, even in the celebratory post-win moments, Earnhardt was able to laugh about his naysayers — especially those that enjoy the anonymous one-sided banter on Twitter.
"I have a lot more fun actually reading that stuff on Twitter than I do a typical normal joke,” said a smiling Earnhardt. "Some of the stuff the haters say is the funniest stuff. It’s really funny."
Earnhardt said he has so far resisted the temptation to respond. "I just favorite them and block them. It’s so much fun.”
Fun is something Earnhardt has been having a lot of lately. He’s always done such a tremendous job of keeping perspective on a NASCAR life and career wrought with so much circumstance.
After years of stressing out trying to live up to expectations — his own and everyone else’s — he has found a formula that is working well at the moment. His success is parlaying itself. The better he does, the easier the approach. The easier the approach, the better he does.
While his two wins equals his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson‘s season tally, Earnhardt isn’t quite ready to assume he’s replaced the six-time champ as top dog. Yet.
"Easy now,” he laughed when asked if the No. 88 is the new No. 48. "They just came off two straight wins and everybody was about to crown him the champion. Two weeks before they were wondering what the hell was wrong with him, two weeks later he’s the best thing on the block.
"I don’t want to be the 48. I want to be the new 88. We’ll definitely continue to work hard and try to win some more races and try to leave our own mark and not a mark similar to anyone else.”
Earnhardt hasn’t won back-to-back races since his second NASCAR Nationwide Series championship season in 1999 when he won three straight (Dover, South Boston and Watkins Glen). But he finds himself in prime position to do so.
This week’s venue, Michigan International Speedway, has historically been one of Earnhardt’s best tracks from the first time he turned laps there.
He never finished worse than seventh at Michigan in four Nationwide Series starts and won his last two NNS races there in 1999 and 2006. At the Cup level, he has a pair of poles at the super-fast 2-miler and a pair of wins, the last coming in 2012.
"A win gives you a lot of confidence, but you know and realize how difficult those are to come by and how competitive this garage is,” Earnhardt said. "But man, when you win two in a row that sets you apart a bit from your competition. That would be a great thing for us.
"Winning races is great, but it’s nothing unless you enjoy who you’re doing it with and when you can do something great and it’s with people you enjoy being around, man it really adds to it, so this is why it’s so special right now.”
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Richmond native scored only win at NASCAR’s top level in 1981
Related: Images of Junie Donlavey’s life in NASCAR
Junie Donlavey, a mainstay of NASCAR team ownership for more than four decades and winner of a premier series event in 1981, passed away Monday night in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
Richmond television station WWBT quoted members of Donlavey’s family as saying the longtime team owner died at age 90 — the same number that he used on so many of his race cars. Donlavey had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, according to the TV report.
Donlavey, born Wesley Christian Donlavey, fielded his first entry in what is now the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 1950 at Martinsville Speedway, with Runt Harris behind the wheel. Although a number of top drivers competed over the years for Donlavey Racing — NASCAR Hall of Famers Joe Weatherly, Fred Lorenzen and David Pearson among them — the team’s lone victory in 863 starts at NASCAR’s top level came in 1981 at Dover International Speedway, when Jody Ridley held off Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt to win.
Donlavey’s team competed in later years with drivers like Ken Schrader, Mike Wallace, and Dick Trickle, the latter of whom scored the organization’s final top-five finish at Rockingham in 1997. Donlavey Racing eventually scaled back its schedule due to funding difficulties, and fielded a car for what would be the final time at Charlotte in 2002. Driver Jason Hedlesky finished 43rd.
"There are so many stories and stuff," Schrader told NASCAR.com "The two biggest things we were able to get done in his car was to win a qualifying race in his car at Daytona (1987) and sit on the pole at Darlington (also in 1987). The fact I was driving was nothing. The neatest thing for me out of that whole deal was watching the people — the competitors in the garage area — the way they came up to Mr. Donlavey and congratulated him. That was the neatest thing. He was just respected so much by everybody and they couldn’t have been happier for him. When anybody ask me, I tell them driving it was nothing, the neatest thing was watching the people come up to Mr. Donlavey."
Donlavey went into retirement after shutting down his shop. "There’s no way in the world I’d try to make a comeback now. As far as racing’s concerned, I’ve done all I’m going to do," he told Ford Racing in 2006 during a visit to Richmond International Raceway, where he shook plenty of hands and received many well-wishers.
"This is what I miss the most," Donlavey said then. "I miss the people and the friendships and the storytelling you can only get in racing."
(Right to left) Owner Junie Donlavey, inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007, talks with driver Ken Schrader, NASCAR’s premier series rookie of the year in 1985 while driving for Donlavey.
NASCAR Hall of Famer and car owner Glen Wood fondly remembered his fellow Virginian.
"The only thing you really need to know about Junie Donlavey is that he was probably the most well-liked person ever in the sport of NASCAR," Wood said. "He was a good friend of the Wood Brothers… one of our very best friends in the sport."
"As far as I know, his team was never fully-funded, like you would see with most teams. But he always wanted to run well every time he was out there. I know he had some real good cars in the modified and sportsman days, even before NASCAR started. He had cars that ran well all the time, so he was a competitive person."
"But he always helped out everyone, no matter who you were. He helped out so many drivers and crew members who just wanted to get into the sport. He always had time for people like that."
NASCAR issued the following statement on Donlavey’s passing:
"With Junie Donlavey’s passing this week, NASCAR lost a treasure, a man who personified NASCAR’s proud past. With 863 starts as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner, he won over millions of fans through his 50-plus years in our sport. The list of men who drove for him during his career is impressive, including two who won NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year honors — Ken Schrader and Jody Ridley. Others included Dick Brooks, Ricky Rudd, Dick Trickle and Benny Parsons. All contributed to Junie’s lasting legacy in our sport. NASCAR offers sincere condolences to Junie’s family and friends at this difficult time."
Read below to see how the NASCAR community reacted Tuesday:
If there ever was a definition of the little engine that could in #NASCAR it would be Junie Donlavey.. Great man.. Will be missed..
— Elliott Sadler (@Elliott_Sadler) June 10, 2014
Sad to hear of the passing of Junie Donlavey. A fellow Virginian and great guy, certainly a huge loss in the #NASCAR community
— Wood Brothers Racing (@woodbrothers21) June 10, 2014
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Joe Nemechek attempts to pass on 30 years racing experience to son John Hunter
With Father’s Day just around the corner, Joe Nemechek and his son, John Hunter, have made some special father-son memories in their first year driving in the same circuit, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
But besides the family ties that bind, there’s also a competitive thread that entwines and motivates the two. That racer’s nature shown through as the elder Nemechek revealed in posting a season-best third-place effort last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
"This is a big shot in the arm," Nemechek said. "I can tell my son that I have a third-place finish now and he has a sixth. He’s been rubbing that in. It’s all good."
The 50-year-old Nemechek qualified sixth and maximized his fuel mileage down the stretch to claim the bottom step on the podium — his first top-three finish in a NASCAR national series since finishing third in the Nationwide Series in April 2011 at Talladega Superspeedway. For the No. 8 Toyota team co-owned by Nemechek and Sid Mauldin, it marked the second straight top-10 finish after the sixth-place run turned in the previous weekend at Dover by John Hunter Nemechek, who turns 17 Wednesday.
"It’s definitely big," the elder Nemechek said. "You look at what our team is — we have seven guys, eight guys total on our whole team. We’re building everything and that’s a lot of work to do at the shop. We’ve built seven trucks so far this year and just trying to get our performance better."
The elder Nemechek easily qualifies as a stock-car racing veteran, but his experience in the Camping World Truck Series is limited to just 11 career starts dating back to the 1990s and the circuit’s earliest years. That’s still more track time than the younger Nemechek has accumulated with just four Truck Series starts under his belt.
The experience gap in Trucks has made this season a learning experience for both father and son, but the elder Nemechek has done plenty of schooling to help bring the next generation along.
"Have just been able to spend more time with my son and trying to educate him," Nemechek said. "I know how hard it was for me starting and if someone new is coming in who doesn’t know this stuff, he’s a hell of a race car driver. But I’ve got 30 years of racing experience that I’m trying to pass on to him about all the tendencies, all these tracks. You still have to have a truck that you can drive — that’s the bottom line. Doesn’t matter how good a race car driver you are, if your truck’s not right, you’re not going to be in the front. So as a team, we’re getting better."
Nemechek’s third-place run in the Lone Star State helped the mentor one-up the pupil, at least temporarily. He said he’d try to savor the moment, at least until the next time the two compare lap times.
"Probably the toughest thing is don’t try to go to the track and outrun him," Joe Nemechek said. "We’re very competitive, both of us. If we’re there, we’re going to go as fast as we can make those trucks go. It’s happened on a number of different occasions in a number of different cars, he always seems to get me by just a few thousandths, but he still gets bragging rights. It’s fun being competitive like that."
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Hendrick Motorsports drivers sit 1-2-3 in this week’s balloting
RELATED: Gallery: Junior’s most memorable moments of 2014
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Driver says he’s learned from late-race mishap at Pocono
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Brad Keselowski isn’t beating himself up in the aftermath of Sunday’s runner-up finish at Pocono.
What’s done is done. His focus, just like the series, moves on to Michigan International Speedway, site of Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
The ill-fated attempt to remove trash from the grille of his car, the sight of the No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. racing by and into the lead linger, but not for long.
"I’m not going to say that I got over it right away," the Team Penske driver said Tuesday during a national teleconference, "because that’s not the case. But for me knowledge is power, and getting over something like that is knowing what I could have done better or should have done differently, researching those things and finding the answer … I think that’s where I find the ability to move on."
The opportunity for a second victory — he won earlier this season at Las Vegas — was missed, but Keselowski, 30, says he likes what he sees when he looks at his No. 2 team. Particularly those efforts and results of late.
"I think we’re two small steps away from, in my eyes, being a favorite," Keselowski said. "We need to be a little bit more consistent on pit road."
Changes in the group that go over the wall to service his Ford each week have been made twice, he said, once heading into the season and again within the past few weeks. The first was a major overhaul; the latest more of a tweaking.
"We don’t feel like we’re where we need to be," he said. "We’re not consistent enough and performing at the level we need to, and we’re committed to getting that better."
And while there have been no durability issues with the Roush Yates engines, "it appears pretty obvious to everyone right now that the Hendrick side is a bit above everyone else from a power level. We need to make a step to catch up with them," he said.
"I think if we can cross those two hurdles, I quite honestly feel like we can be the team to win it all this year."
The runner-up at Pocono was the second consecutive second-place finish for Keselowski. Fifth in points, he was second to Jimmie Johnson a week earlier at Dover.
Michigan, as close to a hometown track as there is for the Rochester Hills native, presents a unique opportunity for the 2012 Cup champion. In nine career Cup starts, he’s yet to win on the wide, fast 2-mile layout. A victory there would mean much.
In 2009, he won a NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Michigan, the weight of the accomplishment surprising even himself.
"You know, it’s one of the few moments I’ve had in my career where after I won a race I just had to sit down and be by myself just to kind of soak it all in," he said. "I remember that after I won … just literally locking myself in the bedroom of my motor home after the race and sitting at the edge of the bed and thinking about how awesome that was and what it meant to me and all those things, and that was a Nationwide race, that wasn’t a Cup race.
"I can only imagine what it would mean to me at the Cup level. I can tell you it wouldn’t be like any other win."
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Hedlesky fondly recalls first big-league opportunity with longtime car owner
RELATED: Images of Junie Donlavey’s life in NASCAR
Jason Hedlesky was looking for an opportunity to compete in NASCAR.
What he got instead, he said, was the thrill of a lifetime.
Hedlesky, who today serves as spotter for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards, broke into NASCAR thanks to veteran car owner Junie Donlavey in December of 1998. For nearly six years, he served as team manager for the Richmond, Virginia-based Donlavey Racing.
"I was a Late Model racer in Michigan and when I came down (south), a mutual friend introduced us," Hedlesky told NASCAR.com Tuesday. "Junie offered me a job basically. It was right after (Dick) Trickle and (sponsor) Heilig-Meyers had left. He didn’t really have anything but a decent group of guys. I just wanted to race. Just wanted to drive race cars.
"He said, ‘Well if you hang out down here, you’ll be closer … than you would be back in Michigan.’
"I stayed and he was true to his word. We started running five or six ARCA races in 2000 and ’01-03; in ’02 he gave me a chance to drive his Cup car. So we ran (ARCA) and I was team manager on the Cup side. It was the most awesome time in my life."
Hedlesky made one start in the Cup series for Donlavey, qualifying 41st and finishing 43rd in the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2002.
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series heads to the Irish Hills of Michigan this weekend for the first of two annual stops at Michigan International Speedway. The track is located approximately 15 miles west of Hedlesky’s hometown of Clinton, Michigan.
Donlavey’s team only won one Cup race in 863 starts — Jody Ridley drove the familiar No. 90 Ford to the win at Dover in May of 1981. Between 1975 and ’90, however, Donlavey Racing finished 10th or higher in points nine times with drivers Dick Brooks, Ricky Rudd, Ridley and Ernie Irvan.
"He was just a tremendous human being," Hedlesky said. "I know everybody hears all the stories … he was just the most loyal, kind-hearted person you’d ever want to meet. And he gave so many guys like myself opportunities to get into the sport we love. Without him … I still have this 804 (Virginia) area code. I just called our old shop foreman and he said ‘You’ve still got the 804 area code.’ I said, ‘Without 804, I wouldn’t have a career.’ I’ve just always kept it."
The last two digits of Hedlesky’s phone number are 90, the team’s car number.
"I did that on purpose," he said. "I got this phone when I worked up there. To make it easy, I got the (xx)90 number. You can use the numbers anywhere today so I’ve just kept it. It wasn’t coincidence; it was easy to remember and easy to tell everybody at that time."
Now, it’s a reminder of one of the sport’s true treasures.
"Junie was just a great guy, a tremendous human being," he said. "Without a guy like him … the one thing that stands out to me is the love and the passion of the sport that Junie had. He just loved it. If we were in Daytona and there was an ARCA race or a Dash race … you’d think this guy might be bored by now, being in the sport 50-60 years, (but) he would still be on top of the truck with his headset on, listening to MRN and watching that race.
"He just absolutely had a passion and a love for the sport that I’ve not seen in any other human being. I think that’s why he decided he wanted to give chances to guys like me, maybe he sees that same desire, that same passion in your eyes and knows he has that opportunity to give.
"Getting my first opportunity with somebody like him, that had the greats drive for him — Buddy Baker, (Ken) Schrader, go back to a guy that hung around with Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner, Big Bill (France). He could talk about every single one of them. …
"They don’t make them like that anymore."
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A statistical lookahead to the Sprint Cup Series’ first stop at Michigan this season
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DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — Below is a look at some of the top statistical performers at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, going into the Quicken Loans 400 on June 15th. TNT’s coverage begins at noon (ET).
MICHIGAN-SPECIFIC STATISTICS
Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Military Salute Ford)
• Four wins, 10 top fives, 14 top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 11.2
• Series-best Average Running Position of 8.3
• Series-best Driver Rating of 110.0
• 311 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
• 1,261 Green Flag Passes, 10th-most
• Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 177.840 mph
• Series-high 3,047 Laps in the Top 15 (86.1%)
• 849 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), second-most
Kurt Busch (No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet)
• Two wins, four top fives, nine top 10s; two poles
• Average finish of 21.2
• Average Running Position of 15.5, 11th-best
• Driver Rating of 89.6, 11th-best
• 174 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most
• 2,165 Laps in the Top 15 (61.2%), ninth-most
• 550 Quality Passes, 12th-most
Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)
• One win, four top fives, six top 10s
• Average finish of 16.5
• Average Running Position of 14.1, seventh-best
• Driver Rating of 92.0, seventh-best
• 137 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most
• 1,249 Green Flag Passes, 11th-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.018 mph, seventh-fastest
• 2,386 Laps in the Top 15 (67.4%), sixth-most
• 669 Quality Passes, seventh-most
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 National Guard / Superman Chevrolet)
• Two wins, six top fives, 10 top 10s; two poles
• Average finish of 16.3
• Average Running Position of 12.8, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 97.0, fifth-best
• 182 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
• 1,379 Green Flag Passes, fourth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.234 mph, fifth-fastest
• 2,347 Laps in the Top 15 (66.3%), seventh-most
• 749 Quality Passes, fourth-most
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Fastenal Ford)
• Two wins, nine top fives, 15 top 10s; one pole
• Average finish of 8.3
• Average Running Position of 10.2, third-best
• Driver Rating of 104.7, third-best
• 198 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• 1,290 Green Flag Passes, ninth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.639 mph, fourth-fastest
• 2,925 Laps in the Top 15 (82.7%), second-most
• Series-high 850 Quality Passes
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet)
• Two wins, 18 top fives, 25 top 10s; five poles
• Average finish of 12.5
• Average Running Position of 14.4, ninth-best
• Driver Rating of 89.8, ninth-best
• 159 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
• 2,195 Laps in the Top 15 (62.0%), eighth-most
• 609 Quality Passes, 10th-most
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota)
• Two wins, five top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 15.0
• Average Running Position of 14.2, eighth-best
• Driver Rating of 89.7, 10th-best
• 98 Fastest Laps Run, 12th-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 176.841 mph, ninth-fastest
• 1,913 Laps in the Top 15 (60.9%), 11th-most
• 633 Quality Passes, ninth-most
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet)
• Four top fives, nine top 10s
• Average finish of 16.8
• Average Running Position of 11.5, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 101.4, fourth-best
• Series-high 357 Fastest Laps Run
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.796 mph, second-fastest
• 2,583 Laps in the Top 15 (73.0%), fourth-most
• 691 Quality Passes, fifth-most
Kasey Kahne (No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet)
• One win, seven top fives, nine top 10s; two poles
• Average finish of 16.4
• Average Running Position of 15.6, 12th-best
• Driver Rating of 89.3, 12th-best
• 170 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
• 1,340 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.130 mph, sixth-fastest
• 2,033 Laps in the Top 15 (57.4%), 10th-most
• 665 Quality Passes, eighth-most
Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Dollar General Toyota)
• Two wins, 12 top fives, 18 top 10s
• Average finish of 9.6
• Average Running Position of 10.0, second-best
• Driver Rating of 105.6, second-best
• 164 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.665 mph, third-fastest
• 2,868 Laps in the Top 15 (81.0%), third-most
• 801 Quality Passes, third-most
Tony Stewart (No. 14 Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 Chevrolet)
• One win, 12 top fives, 20 top 10s
• Average finish of 11.7
• Average Running Position of 12.7, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 95.9, sixth-best
• 100 Fastest Laps Run, 10th-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 177.009 mph, eighth-fastest
• 2,447 Laps in the Top 15 (73.3%), fifth-most
• 685 Quality Passes, sixth-most
Brian Vickers (No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota)
• One win, two top fives, eight top 10s; three poles
• Average finish of 14.9
• Driver Rating of 91.5, eighth-best
• Average Green Flag Speed of 176.779 mph, 12th-fastest
History at Michigan International Speedway
• 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 2-mile speedway underwent a repave in 2012.
• There have been 89 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.
• 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.
• 366 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway; 269 in more than one.
• Bill Elliott leads the series in starts at Michigan with 61. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 42 starts.
• Donnie Allison won the inaugural Coors Light pole at Michigan in 1969 with a speed of 160.135 mph.
• 45 drivers have Coors Light poles at Michigan, led by David Pearson with 10. Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with five.
• 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.
• Four active drivers have posted consecutive Coors Light poles at Michigan: Terry Labonte (1983 sweep), Bill Elliott (1984 sweep and 1988 sweep), Bobby Labonte (2003 sweep), and Brian Vickers (fall 2008 – 2009 sweep).
• 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).
• 35 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 20.
• 17 of the 89 (19.1%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan have been won from the Coors Light pole; the most recent was Joey Logano in 2013.
• The Coors Light pole position is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (17) than any other starting position at Michigan International Speedway.
• 25 of the 89 (28%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan have been won from the front row: 16 from the pole and eight from second-place.
• 67 of the 89 (75.2%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Michigan have been won from a top-10 starting position.
• Six of the 89 (6.7%) 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 was 32nd, by Mark Martin in the spring of 2009.
• Jeff Gordon leads the series in runner-up finishes at Michigan with eight; followed by Darrell Waltrip with seven.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough leads the series in top-five finishes at Michigan with 21; Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 18.
• Mark Martin leads the series in top-10 finishes at Michigan with 31; followed by Bill Elliott with 29.
• Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Michigan with a 9.292.
• Carl Edwards leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average finishing position at Michigan with an 8.316. Matt Kenseth (9.621) is the only other active driver with an average finish in the top 10.
• 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.
• Among the active NSCS Michigan winners Kevin Harvick (19), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (17) Kyle Busch (13), Jeff Gordon (11), Brian Vickers (11) and Joey Logano (10) all made 10 or more attempts before their first win.
• Joe Nemechek leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Michigan without visiting Victory Lane at 40.
• 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).
• Four of the 89 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Michigan International Speedway have been shortened due to weather conditions; the most recent was the event on 6/18/2006.
• 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.
• Three drivers have posted their first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light pole at Michigan International Speedway: Jeff Burton (8/18/1996), J.J. Yeley (6/17/2007) and Marcos Ambrose (6/17/2012).
• 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).
• Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in laps led at Michigan with 954 laps led in 42 starts.
• 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), but Patrick has the best average finish (18th).
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Rookie leads laps, scores top-five finish in first Cup start at Pocono
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LONG POND, Pa. — Kyle Larson proved to be quite a shifty character after all.
The same driver whose inexperience with gear-shifting led to blown engines in two test sessions and was required to drive a manual-transmission vehicle as his personal car looked like an old hand Sunday. Larson led seven laps and finished fifth in his Sprint Cup Series debut at Pocono Raceway, completing an impressive weekend that also saw him dominate an ARCA event.
"To be honest with you, I did miss a couple of shifts," said the Chip Ganassi Racing rookie. "Just twice, which is a lot better than it probably would’ve been if I didn’t practice shifting a whole lot. Surprisingly, it was only those two times when I was battling people when I was pretty excited, so I thought it was a good day."
Since the Nationwide Series does not compete at Pocono, Larson had never been to the 2.5-mile track until a test here the week before the race. Pocono is the only oval track that requires drivers to shift gears at speed, and Larson’s inexperience in that area led to a blown engine. At another test in Road Atlanta, it was the same story. Larson may have joked earlier in the week about being "the worst shifter in NASCAR" but within the No. 42 team, the concerns were real.
"It was a very serious concern," said crew chief Chris Heroy. "So he did good."
To say the least. Larson spend the latter stages of the race battling for position with polesitter and four-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin, who ultimately edged the rookie for fourth. "I thought we were a little bit better than Denny at the end, but he did a good job holding me off," Larson said. "But I’ll take a top-five here at Pocono."
Particularly since that test here, Larson has been required by the Ganassi team to wheel a black, stick-shift Camaro around his home in North Carolina. As impressive as it was, Sunday’s performance doesn’t change anything on that front — Heroy said Larson will continue to drive the manual vehicle through the June 22 Sprint Cup event on the Sonoma Raceway road course, another facility where competitors also must shift gears.
Pocono, though, was major progress. Larson competed in the track’s Saturday ARCA event to gain more experience for the NASCAR race, and in both of them looked like a seasoned pro. "He’s come a long way," Heroy said. "From blowing a motor in testing, to finishing top-five here and leading some laps — that’s what we try to do. That’s what he’s done all year. You give him something to fix, and he fixes it. Really happy about it."
Saturday’s tune-up seemed to help. "I think I learned a little bit (from the ARCA race) that helped me through Turn 2," Larson said. "The ARCA car is a lot slower, so you have to roll a bit quicker, and I think I just took that into today a little bit. It seemed like I was rolling quicker through Turn 2 than I had been in the test I did last week and in all of practice this week. Also, the car was better, too, so I was able to roll with it quicker. Just a little bit of technical stuff."
Whatever it was, it worked, allowing Larson to maintain 10th in points. And once again a 21-year-old who some thought might not be ready for NASCAR’s top level continues to defy expectations.
"He’s a true talent," Heroy said. "We’re very lucky to have him. He’s done a great job for us. You hope for a driver like this. You always temper your excitement a little. But he’s everything. We’ve just got to get him a win now."
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See the full television listings for this week’s NASCAR programming
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All times ET
Monday, June 9
7:30 p.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., The 600: History of NASCAR’s Toughest Race (re-air), FOX Sports 2
11:30 p.m., Kurt Busch 36, NBC Sports Network
12:30 a.m. (Tues), NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2 a.m. (Tues.), NASCAR Now, ESPN2
Tuesday, June 10
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
2:30 a.m. (Wed.), NASCAR Now, ESPN2
Wednesday, June 11
7 a.m., NASCAR’s The List: Greatest Finishes (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 a.m., NASCAR’s The List: Legendary Drivers (re-air), NBC Sports Network
8 a.m., NASCAR’s The List (re-air), Memorable Moments, NBC Sports Network
8:30 a.m., NASCAR’s The List (re-air), Fights & Feuds NBC Sports Network
10 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub Special (re-air), FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Texas (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7:30 p.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship (re-air), FOX Sports 2
11:30 p.m. NASCAR America (re-air), NBC Sports Network
12:30 a.m. (Thurs), NASCAR’s The List: Greatest Finishes (re-air), NBC Sports Network
1 a.m. (Thurs), NASCAR’s The List: Legendary Drivers (re-air), NBC Sports Network
1:30 a.m. (Thurs.), NASCAR’s The List: Memorable Moments (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2 a.m. (Thurs.), Kurt Busch 36 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2:30 a.m. (Thurs), NASCAR’s The List: Fights & Feuds (re-air), NBC Sports Network
Thursday, June 12
5 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
7 p.m., Kurt Busch 36 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7:30 p.m., FOX Sports 1 on 1: Jimmie Johnson (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., The 600: History of NASCAR’s Toughest Race (re-air), FOX Sports 2
10 p.m., Kurt Busch 36 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
1 a.m. (Fri.), NASCAR’s The List (re-air), Memorable Moments, NBC Sports Network
1:30 a.m. (Fri.), NASCAR’s The List (re-air), Fights and Feuds, NBC Sports Network
Friday, June 13
10 a.m., NASCAR K&N Pro Series Race from Bowman-Gray (re-air), FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Practice, FOX Sports 1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Live, FOX Sports 1
2 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Final Practice, FOX Sports 1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
9 p.m., 100,000 Cameras: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (re-air), FOX Sports 1
2:30 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR’s The List, Greatest Finishes, NBC Sports Network
3 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 1
4:30 a.m. (Sat.), NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Saturday, June 14
8 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8:30 a.m., 24 Hours of Le Mans, FOX Sports 1
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 2
10:30 a.m., 100,000 Cameras: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (re-air), FOX Sports 2
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, ESPN2
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Final Practice, FOX Sports 2
1:30 p.m., NNS Countdown, ESPN
2 p.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Michigan, ESPN
4 p.m., 24 Hours of Le Mans, FOX Sports 2
5 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 2
6:30 p.m., 24 Hours of Le Mans, FOX Sports 2
6 p.m., Kurt Busch 36 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Final Practice (re-air), FOX Sports 1
8 p.m., NCWTS SetUp, FOX Sports 1
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Gateway, FOX Sports 1
11 p.m., Kurt Busch 36 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2 a.m. (Sun.), 24 Hours of Le Mans, FOX Sports 2
Sunday, June 15
6 a.m., NASCAR Nationwide Series Race at Michigan (re-air), ESPN2
7:30 a.m., 24 Hours of Le Mans, FOX Sports 2
9 a.m., Empty Cup: Quest for the 1992 NASCAR Championship (re-air), FOX Sports 1
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay, FOX Sports 1
Noon, NSCS Countdown to Green, TNT
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Michigan, TNT
5:30 p.m., NASCAR’s The List (re-air), Memorable Moments, NBC Sports Network
6 p.m., NASCAR’s The List (re-air), Fights and Feuds, NBC Sports Network
6:30 p.m., Kurt Busch 36 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FOX Sports 1
10:30 p.m., Kurt Busch 36 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
3 a.m. (Mon.), NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race at Gateway, FOX Sports 1
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