Michigan International Speedway- The Helluva Good Fusion 400 (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

The Heluva Good 400
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway's two mile tri-oval for the 15th race of the 2010 season, the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400. NASCAR Fantasy Guru Brian Brown analyzed past performances, season trends, and spoke to NASCAR contacts to provide you with the most accurate fantasy preview of Sunday's race.


When: Sunday, June 13, 2010; 1:16 p.m./et.


Weather: Scattered thunderstorms with a high around 82; wind out of the West at 7 mph. There is a 40 percent chance of precipitation.


The Track: Michigan International Speedway

MIS is a 2.0 mile tri-oval. It has 18 degree banking in the turns and 12 degree banking in the tri-oval.


Key to Race: A ROUSH HENDRICK BATTLE

Even though Roger Penske is a former owner of Michigan International Speedway, Penske Racing's drivers don't have much of a chance. This is a race that will be dominated by Roush-Fenway or Hendrick Motorsports. This will likely become a fuel mileage race so watch for drivers to conserve fuel every opportunity and expect some drivers to pit off-sequence early in the race.


Qualifying Procedures:

46 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Cars not in the top 35 in the 2010 owner point standings will have to qualify based on speed. Starting positions 1-43 will be determined during qualifying on Friday, June at 3:10 pm/et.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top 5

No. 99 Carl Edwards: Edwards has finished in the top 10 in 10 of his 11 career starts at MIS, including two wins. He is a great option to find victory lane.
No. 2 Kurt Busch: Kurt has led over seven percent of the laps he has run at MIS in his career. With the success he has had this season we like his chances.
No. 29 Kevin Harvick: Harvick has averaged a 14th place finish the past eight visits to Brooklyn. With the season he is having he is a must use this weekend.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has led 427 laps in the past six races at MIS. He had the top car on the track last season and could finally get his first win at MIS on Sunday. No we aren't afraid of his recent struggles and neither should you.
No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin won a fuel mileage race at MIS last in June. He should be fast this weekend, but we don't see him taking the checkers again.


6 to 10

No. 18 Kyle Busch: Rowdy is inching closer to taking over the top spot in the point standings. Look for him to have a top 10 finish on Sunday at a track that isn't one of his favorites.
No. 17 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has had just two finishes worse than 17th in 19 careers starts at the track. He is a terrific option this weekend.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle has eight top 10 finishes in 14 career starts at MIS. He will have a top 10 car once again.
No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon has 17 top five finishes in 34 career starts at MIS. He should be just outside the top five this weekend.
No. 14 Tony Stewart: Stewart has finished in the top 10 in 11 of the last 15 MIS races. He will have the No. 14 car back inside the top 10 again this weekend.


11 to 20

No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior won the June race at MIS in 2008 and has led at least a lap in eight of the last nine races at the track. There is a great chance this weekend will be another respectable finish for the No. 88 team.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has finished worse than 14th just once in eight career starts at MIS. He is a strong pick again this weekend.
No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne has been hit-or-miss at MIS the past five races. He isn't worth using as anything more than a third driver on most fantasy teams.
No. 20 Joey Logano: Logano improved 18 places between the spring and summer races at MIS last season. We expect the No. 20 Team will be fast again on Sunday.
No. 83 Casey Mears: Mears is behind the wheel of the No. 83 car which won last year's summer race at MIS. He shouldn't have an issue guiding the car to a top 20 finish.
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya had his first and only taste of success at MIS last June. There are much better weekends to have him on your roster.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: Newman has finished in the top 15 in seven of his last 13 starts at MIS. He should qualify well, but we doubt he will have quite enough speed during the race for another top 15 finish.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: McMurray had a couple of his better finishes of the 2008 season at MIS. This is a good weekend to sneak the No. 1 back car into your lineup.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Bowyer has averaged just a 21st place finish at MIS during the past eight trips to the track. He is a bit of a risky choice this weekend.
No. 31 Jeff Burton: Burton has been very average in his last 11 races at MIS. There are much better weeks to use him.


21 to 30

No. 12 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski, a Michigan native, is going to be fast this weekend. He is worth taking a chance on.
No. 56 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex Jr. finished second at MIS in both 2007 races, but has struggled at the track since. He will be a middle of the packer again this weekend.
No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish Jr. had an awesome run at MIS last August. He could be a sleeper this weekend.
No. 00 David Reutimann: Reutimann brought a fast car to two of the last three MIS races. We expect he will use a similar setup and another top 20 finish should result
No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard has averaged a 20th place finish at MIS during his career. He, as always, is a solid fourth or fifth driver in all leagues.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Sadler has looked great three of the past four MIS races. He should challenge for a top 20 finish on Sunday.
No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger: A.J. has never cracked the top 20 at MIS. Mears, Hornish Jr., Sadler, and Truex Jr. are all better picks than A.J. this weekend.
No. 6 David Ragan: Ragan cracked the top 10 in both races at MIS in 2008 season, but he struggled at the track last year. He isn't worth the gamble.
No. 78 Regan Smith: Smith has quietly been very fast the past month. He is an option for those of you that are desperate for a bargain pick.
No. 82 Scott Speed: Speed has finished inside the top 30 the past four races. He is another option as a fifth driver in most leagues.


31 to 35

No. 7 Robby Gordon: Gordon has been a top 25 finisher in five of the past eight races at MIS. He is a bit of sleeper pick on Sunday.
No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: The Terrific Tasmanian is struggling. He hasn't cracked the top 30 the past three races and doesn't deserve a spot on any fantasy roster.
No. 71 Bobby Labonte: Labonte has just one top 10 finish in his last 11 starts at MIS. He isn't a fantasy choice.
No. 37 David Gilliland: Will finish between 25 and 35. That is a guarantee.
No. 21: Bill Elliott: The Wood Brothers have a storied history at MIS. Look for Awesome Bill to surprise some people this weekend.


Field Fillers

No. 38 Travis Kvapil
No. 55 Michael McDowell
No. 26 David Stremme
No. 13 Max Papis
No. 34 Kevin Conway
No. 09 Landon Cassill
No. 36 Johnny Sauter
No. 66 Dave Blaney
No. 87 Joe Nemechek
No. 64 Todd Bodine
No. 46 J.J. Yeley


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1. Carl Edwards
2. Kurt Busch
3. Kevin Harvick
3. Jimmie Johnson

Sleepers:

1. Casey Mears
2. Sam Hornish Jr.

Bust of the Week:

Jeff Burton

 

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Great job as a Mod sir.

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[HacheMan]

Michigan: Heluva Good! 400
Track history: Built in 1968 by Lawrence H. LoPatin, a Detroit land developer, at a cost of about $6 million, Michigan International Speedway is a 2-mile asphalt D-shaped oval located on 1400 acres in the Irish Hills of southeastern Michigan. Charles Moneypenny, designer of the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, designed the Michigan oval as well. It has 18-degree banking in turns and 12-degree banking in the tri-oval, which is part of the 3,600-foot frontstretch. The 2,242-foot backstretch is banked five degrees. After LoPatin overextended himself and filed bankruptcy, Roger Penske took over ownership of Michigan International Speedway in 1973 and invested millions in improving the facility.

In 1999, Penske teamed up with International Speedway Corporation to jointly own the speedway. MIS seated 25,000 fans when it opened. Every few years grandstands were added bringing it up to its current capacity of 137,243 seats. The track was resurfaced in 1977, 1986 and again in 1995. In 2004, Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) walls were added to the track.

In June 2010, MIS will unveil its new suite/media center building along pit road, which will feature state-of-the-art accommodations for its suite customers and visiting media members.

Since the corners are so long, drivers are in the gas hard all throughout the race. This may contribute to the engine failures seen in past races at MIS. It's not unusual to see cars racing 3 or 4 and sometimes 5-wide on the long straightaways.

First Michigan Cup race: Donnie Allison clocked a 160.135 mph lap in the No. 27 Banjo Matthews Ford to start up front for the 1969 Motor State 500. He blew an engine 115 laps into the 250 lap event. Cale Yarborough started the famous Wood Brothers No. 21 Mercury Cyclone fourth in the field of 38 cars and went on to win the event. He beat David Pearson's No. 17 Ford by five car lengths and earned a $17,625 payday.

2009 Michigan "1" Cup race: Mark Martin won the June 14, 2009 LifeLock 400 by conserving enough fuel to outlast the first- and second-place cars and improved from the third position to lead the final lap in the No. 5 Kellogg's Chevrolet. On the white flag lap, Jimmie Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet ran out of fuel turning over the lead to Greg Biffle's No. 16 Ford. Biffle, in turn, ran out on the final lap coasting in to a 5th place finish. Johnson, who led a race high 146 laps, finished 22nd. Pole-sitter, Brian Vickers, brought the No. 83 Toyota home in 9th.

Last Michigan "2" Cup race: The 200-lap August 16, 2009 Carfax 400 started with Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota on the pole but he was passed by Mark Martin (No. 5) for the lead on the first lap. After about 8 laps the race was red-flagged for about 20 minutes due to rain. Jimmie Johnson (No. 48) looked to be the eventual winner, having led 133 laps, but the race turned into a fuel mileage event. Around lap 169, all the leaders were trying to conserve fuel. Johnson was in the lead and ran out on the last lap (finished 33rd). Vickers stretched the fuel in the No. 83 and picked up his 2nd career NSCS victory.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. There were 46 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. Here are our picks for Sunday's Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Mid-Pack picks

Over the last 10 Sprint Cup races at Michigan Int'l Speedway, only one driver (top track favorite Edwards) scored more driver championship points than Dale Earnhardt Jr. NASCAR loop statistics, for those 10 races, rank Dale Jr. 4th in their "Quality Passes" category (passing while running in the top 15) ; 5th in their "Green Flag Passes" category (passed 744 times) and put him 5th overall in their driver rating. He has only one finish (23rd) outside the top 14 in the last eight MIS races. This is the week to look at the No. 88 for another top 15.

We would have picked Vickers this week, but, since he's out for the rest of the season for health issues, we're looking at his fill-in driver in the No. 83. Casey Mears has had some success at Michigan. He scored top 18's in 7 of his last 9 Cup starts including a 6th here in last August's fuel economy run. Mears had all top ten finishes in his last 4 Nationwide Series starts at this track. In his one and only start here back in his ARCA Series career, he started on the pole, led the most laps and won the event. His average finish for the 3 starts in the No. 83 is not all that great (24.6) but we think he will be a factor for a top 15 this weekend.

Okay, if you're a fan of number progressions, what comes next in this series: 2nd, 19th, 2nd, 32nd, 2nd and 36th? Those are Jamie McMurray's finishes in the last six races this season. It's not out of the question for McMurray to continue with another runner-up spot on Sunday. He had top 11 finishes in 3 of the last 4 Cup races at the Irish Hills track. He was running 5th in the other race last August just before it became a fuel event (finished 32nd). McMurray should be a good choice for your Heluva Good! 400 fourth or fifth driver.

For our deepest pick, we're looking at David Ragan. This has not been a "career year" so far for the No. 6 driver (only 1 top ten). He has a respectable 15.8 average finish for his 6 Cup starts at MIS. It might have been better. In the August 2009 race, he was tagged in the rear and spun out twice (once by Kurt Busch; once by Sam Hornish Jr.). Both times, he was running in the top ten. He finished that race in 30th. Ragan earned a 4th at Michigan in the 2009 Nationwide Series race. He has also done well at Fontana (the Michigan clone) where he maintains a 14.6 average finish. Give Ragan a look to round out the tail-end of your roster this week.