Backstretch Motorsports

BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 15, 2008) — Brian Vickers charged to the front in practice speeds Friday and then maintained that speed to win the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo at Michigan International Speedway.

Vickers, driving the No. 83 car, knocked two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson off the pole by a wide margin. Vickers posted a speed of 188.536 miles per hour to blow past Johnson’s 187.028 mph. Elliott Sadler and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will occupy the second row with Jeff Gordon and Patrick Carpentier comprising row three.

“We’ve come a long way since last year and we still have a lot of harder work ahead of us to get to the front,” said Vickers following his fifth career pole in 159 starts and first this season. “When we unloaded the car it was just awesome right out of the gate. It handled and had such good grip. Sometimes you just hit it (right combination). You don’t know why. If you did you could do it every week.”

Vickers said he was surprised he could put so much speed between himself and Johnson, of Hendrick Motorsports, during practice but was a little leery of maintaining that spread once qualifying started.

“That is a great team, the team to beat in our sport,” Vickers said, “And to lay down a lap like that was great. I thought it would be tough to post a 38.40-second lap and then to get a 38.189 was just great. With this new car you don’t have to make as many changes as you had to in the past, but the track will go through changes, the car will have to be adjusted and while the pole is great, what you shoot for is what you do at the end of the day on Sunday.”

Johnson wasn’t as surprised as some at the differentiation in speed from first to second.

“It didn’t really shock me that much because he’s more of a guy who ran up front the majority of the race here last June,” Johnson explained. “I think that team and Brian, this is a track that fits their style. When Brian drove at Hendrick Motorsports this was one of his stronger tracks. Even though he didn’t have a great finish here in the spring he led a lot of laps and was very, very tough and is going to be more of a threat at race time here tomorrow.

“I knew mine wasn’t the perfect lap from inside the car. The car was much tighter than it needed to be and I was shocked to hear the lap time when I got back to the start-finish line. It wasn’t all that bad but I knew someone could go better and I knew Vickers was strong throughout the entire practice and sure enough he put up a big number.”

Sprint Cup points leader Kyle Busch qualified in the 11th starting position.

Tickets are available for Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo.

On Saturday, the NASCAR Nationwide Series cars take to the track during Nationwide Series qualifying starting at 10:40 a.m. The green flag for the CARFAX 250 is around 3:30 p.m. Gates open at 9 a.m.

For tickets, call the speedway’s ticket hotline at 800-354-1010 or stop by Michigan International Speedway’s start-finish line grandstand ticket office in the AAA Motorsports Fan Plaza.

Starting Line Up by Row
Michigan International Speedway
3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo

Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett 06/13/99 02:17:56 173.997
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 38.189 188.536
2 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 38.497 187.028
Row 2: 3 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 38.590 186.577
4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet 38.643 186.321
Row 3: 5 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 38.703 186.032
6 10 Patrick Carpentier # Tow Truck In A Box Dodge 38.714 185.979
Row 4: 7 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 38.729 185.907
8 01 Regan Smith # DEI/Principal Financial Group Chevrolet 38.736 185.874
Row 5: 9 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 38.747 185.821
10 66 Scott Riggs Haas Automation Chevrolet 38.747 185.821
Row 6: 11 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 38.752 185.797
12 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Dodge 38.768 185.720
Row 7: 13 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 38.776 185.682
14 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 38.778 185.672
Row 8: 15 8 Mark Martin U.S. ARMY Chevrolet 38.794 185.596
16 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 38.824 185.452
Row 9: 17 45 Terry Labonte Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge 38.838 185.385
18 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Ford 38.854 185.309
Row 10: 19 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 38.856 185.300
20 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 38.869 185.238
Row 11: 21 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 38.887 185.152
22 00 Mike Skinner Champion Mortgage Toyota 38.896 185.109
Row 12: 23 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 38.993 184.649
24 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 38.995 184.639
Row 13: 25 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Cub Cadet Chevrolet 38.996 184.634
26 28 Travis Kvapil CARFAX Ford 39.004 184.596
Row 14: 27 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 39.042 184.417
28 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 39.055 184.355
Row 15: 29 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 39.073 184.270
30 70 Tony Raines Haas Automation Chevrolet 39.079 184.242
Row 16: 31 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 39.094 184.171
32 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 39.102 184.134
Row 17: 33 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 39.124 184.030
34 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 39.140 183.955
Row 18: 35 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios Racing/Betty Crocker Dodge 39.236 183.505
36 15 Paul Menard Menards/Moen Chevrolet 39.236 183.505
Row 19: 37 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 39.239 183.491
38 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 39.277 183.313
Row 20: 39 21 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Ford 39.311 183.155
40 38 David Gilliland CitiFinancial Ford 39.339 183.024
Row 21: 41 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 39.344 183.001
42 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Toyota 39.363 182.913
Row 22: 43 96 Brad Coleman DLP HDTV Toyota 39.472 182.408
Did Not Qualify: # 08 Johnny Sauter.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 14 0 Ford 8 0
Dodge 11 1 Toyota 10 0