Backstretch Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup cut-off bubble is as tight as ever. One single point is the difference between competing for a championship and missing out altogether.
Mark Martin is 13th, one point behind Denny Hamlin in 12th. Only once in the Chase era (2004-Present) have the standings been this close at this juncture. After 14 races in 2005, when the Chase was a 10-driver field, 11th-place Kurt Busch trailed 10th-place Tony Stewart by a point.

Tony Stewart by a point.
What makes the top-12 bubble that much more interesting are the drivers involved:
Mark Martin, 13th: After winning two races and placing in the top 10 in six of seven races, Martin has finished outside the top 15 in two of the last three races. He has two wins at Michigan International Speedway.
Denny Hamlin, 12th: Hamlin’s last two finishes were outside the top 35, and he has tumbled from fourth to 12th in the points in just four races. Another unfortunate stat: his winless drought has reached 44 races. The bright side: He has an average Driver Rating of 95.8 at the 12 tracks remaining in the “regular season.”
David Reutimann, 11th: A third-place Pocono finish launched Reutimann back in the top 12, a spot he enjoyed for eight consecutive weeks earlier this season (from race No. 2 to No. 9). He has jumped 20.0 points in Driver Rating compared to last season. Currently, his Driver Rating is 83.4. Last season through 14 races, he had a 63.4.
Jeff Burton, 10th: Burton has a comfortable 47-point cushion ahead of the Chase cut-off. In terms of Driver Rating, Michigan is Burton’s worst track at 75.2. On the bright side, the two tracks after Michigan – Infineon and New Hampshire – rank in Burton’s top five in terms of Driver Rating.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Top 12 at Michigan International Speedway

Driver Races Poles Wins Top Fives Top 10s DNFs Average Finish Driver Rating

1 Tony Stewart 20 0 1 9 13 3 12.5 94.5
2 Jeff Gordon 32 5 2 15 20 4 11.8 93.2
3 Jimmie Johnson 14 0 0 2 6 1 14.4 106.9
4 Ryan Newman 15 1 2 4 4 2 18.6 72.2
5 Kurt Busch 16 0 2 2 6 4 20.1 96.2
6 Carl Edwards 9 0 2 5 8 0 6.6 115.7
7 Greg Biffle 12 0 2 5 7 0 13.2 105.1
8 Matt Kenseth 19 0 2 9 13 1 9.1 106.4
9 Kyle Busch 8 0 0 1 3 1 17.4 95.7
10 Jeff Burton 30 2 0 4 8 1 15.8 75.2
11 David Reutimann 4 0 0 0 0 0 21.8 63.6
12 Denny Hamlin 6 0 0 1 2 1 15.5 88.5

Selected Driver Highlights
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Michigan International Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last eight races at Michigan. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.

Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford)
• Two wins, five top fives, seven top 10s
• Average finish of 13.2
• Average Running Position of 9.0, second-best
• Driver Rating of 105.1, fourth-best
• 98 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• 543 Green Flag Passes, 10th-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 173.975 mph, third-fastest
• 1,291 Laps in the Top 15 (84.1%), second-most
• 380 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), second-most

Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge)
• Two wins, two top fives, six top 10s
• Average finish of 20.1
• Average Running Position of 13.3, eighth-best
• Driver Rating of 96.2, sixth-best
• 93 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most
• 1,018 Laps in the Top 15 (66.3%), eighth-most
• 285 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy Drink/National Guard Chevrolet)
• One win, three top fives, six top 10s; two poles
• Average finish of 16.7
• Average Running Position of 10.3, fourth-best
• Driver Rating of 101.4, fifth-best
• 98 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 173.728 mph, fifth-fastest
• 1,177 Laps in the Top 15 (76.7%), fifth-most
• 369 Quality Passes, third-most

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Ford)
• Two wins, five top fives, eight top 10s
• Average finish of 6.6
• Series-best Average Running Position of 7.0
• Series-best Driver Rating of 115.7
• Series-high 134 Fastest Laps Run
• 565 Green Flag Passes, eighth-most
• Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 174.229 mph
• Series-high 1,385 Laps in the Top 15 (90.2%)
• Series-high 410 Quality Passes

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet)
• Two wins, 15 top fives, 20 top 10s; five poles
• Average finish of 11.8
• Average Running Position of 13.3, seventh-best
• Driver Rating of 93.2, ninth-best
• 72 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
• 1,016 Laps in the Top 15 (66.2%), ninth-most

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota)
• One top five, two top 10s
• Average finish of 15.5
• Average Running Position of 13.1, sixth-best
• Driver Rating of 88.5, 11th-best
• 264 Quality Passes, ninth-most

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)
• Two top fives, six top 10s
• Average finish of 14.4
• Average Running Position of 9.4, third-best
• Driver Rating of 106.9, second-best
• 114 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 173.986 mph, second-fastest
• 1,219 Laps in the Top 15 (79.4%), third-most
• 325 Quality Passes, fifth-most

Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford)
• Two wins, nine top fives, 13 top 10s
• Average finish of 9.1
• Average Running Position of 11.5, fifth-best
• Driver Rating of 106.4, third-best
• 76 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
• 530 Green Flag Passes, 11th-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 173.932 mph, fourth-fastest
• 1,213 Laps in the Top 15 (79.0%), fourth-most
• 343 Quality Passes, fourth-most

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet)
• One win, nine top fives, 13 top 10s
• Average finish of 12.5
• Average Running Position of 14.6, 10th-best
• Driver Rating of 94.5, eighth-best
• 52 Fastest Laps Run, 11th-most
• 570 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most
• Average Green Flag Speed of 173.455 mph, sixth-fastest
• 1,024 Laps in the Top 15 (66.7%), seventh-most

At Michigan International Speedway:
History
• Michigan International Speedway sits on more than 1,400 acres in the Irish Hills of Southeastern Michigan. Groundbreaking took place on Sept. 28, 1967.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan was held June 15, 1969.
• The track was known as Michigan Speedway during the time Roger Penske was the primary owner (1996-99).
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was held on Aug. 15, 1992.
• The first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan was held on July 24, 1999.

Notebook
• There have been 79 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 Michigan 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 Michigan races have been scheduled for 400 miles.
• Donnie Allison won the first pole at Michigan.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was won by Cale Yarborough.
• There have been 39 different pole winners at Michigan; 18 drivers have more than one.
• 30 different drivers have won races, led by David Pearson (nine); 18 drivers have more than one victory there.
• The race winner has started from the pole 15 times, the most productive starting position.
• 62 of 78 races have been won from a top-10 starting position, including 45 from the first four spots. However, five of the past eight winners have started outside the top 10.
• The deepest in the field a race winner has started was 28th by Tony Stewart in 2000. Last season, Carl Edwards started 27th en route to his victory.
• The Wood Brothers have won 11 races at Michigan, more than any other car owner. Their last victory was in 1991, with Dale Jarrett as the driver.
• There have been two green-white-checkered races at Michigan: the rain-delayed 2007 3M Performance 400, which was run on Tuesday (203 laps) and June 2008 (203 laps).

Hot Facts
• There have been seven different pole winners in the past eight Michigan races. Qualifying was canceled in June 2008.
• Carl Edwards has finished on the lead lap in all nine of his Michigan races and is the only driver with more than one race there who has completed all of his possible laps.

NASCAR in Michigan
• There have been 84 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Michigan:
• 95 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Michigan.
• There have been eight race winners from Michigan in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver NSCS NNS NCWTS
Paul Goldsmith 9 0 0
Johnny Benson 1 3 14
Brad Keselowski 1 3 0
Tim Fedewa 0 4 0
Butch Miller 0 2 1
Jack Sprague 0 1 28
Tracy Leslie 0 1 0
Bob Keselowski 0 0 1

Michigan International Speedway Data
Race # 15 of 36 (6-14-09)
Track Size: 2 miles
• Race Length: 400 miles
• Banking/Corners: 18 degrees
• Banking/Frontstretch: 12 degrees
• Banking/Backstretch: 5 degrees
Driver Rating at Michigan
Carl Edwards 115.7
Jimmie Johnson 106.9
Matt Kenseth 106.4
Greg Biffle 105.1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 101.4
Kurt Busch 96.2
Kyle Busch 95.7
Tony Stewart 94.5
Jeff Gordon 93.2
Brian Vickers 89.7
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2008 races (8 total) at Michigan.

Qualifying/Race Data
2008 pole winner: None (weather)
2008 race winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr., 145.375 mph, 6-15-08)
Track qualifying record: Ryan Newman (194.232 mph, 37.069 seconds, (6-18-05)
Track race record: Dale Jarrett (173.997 mph, 6-13-99)

Estimated Pit Window: Every 40-44 laps, based on fuel mileage.