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Track:
Michigan International Speedway
Race Sponsor:
Heluva Good!
Distance:
400 Miles
Laps:
200 Laps
Somewhere, Lee Greenwood is smiling.
NASCAR returns to Michigan Sunday for the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400, which is hands down the coolest race of the season.
Every week, I type about why this race is important to certain drivers. Virtually everyone on tour has received some form of financial support from one of the major automakers headquartered in Michigan. I don’t have to explain the challenges those folks and families have faced over the last 20 years; so, running well in front of the people who help you run in the first place is a big deal. Plus, many of the honchos visit this track since its two dates are during the summer when travel is a bit easier.
On the track, it's a 2-mile D-shaped oval. This is a pedal to the metal kind of track where the throttle needs a massage at the end of the afternoon. There’s also more room to pass here than at most tracks. The bad news is the engines get a work out. It’s not a matter of if there are engine failures. It’s how many. But with drivers feeling frustrated with the inability to pass with the COT, it’s a risk drivers are willing to take.
The race is Sunday, with TNT’s coverage starting at 1 EDT. Now some random facts to impress your friends while eating voracious amounts of dip, preferably a brand that sponsors Sprint Cup races.
- The banking is 18 degrees in the corners, 12 degrees in the frontstretch and 5 degrees in the backstretch.
- The frontstretch is 3,600 feet and 2,242 feet.
- The grandstand seats nearly 120,000 people.
- Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner.
- Kevin Harvick won the fall race here.
- Carl Edwards has the highest average finish of any active driver. Only once in eleven career starts has Edwards finished outside the top 10.
- Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have the second through fifth highest average finish at MIS. All but Hamlin and Stewart have won here more than once.
- Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman have are multiple race winners at MIS.
- Jimmie Johnson has never won at Michigan. That’s rare for me to type; so, I’ll type it again. Jimmie Johnson has never won at Michigan. In sixteen career starts, his average finish is sixteenth.
- The speedway has an entire section of its website devoted to environmentally friendly efforts.
- In all seriousness, the track’s website is the best website of any I’ve seen doing race previews all year. You should really look at it.
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