[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”217″]
[/media-credit]From the older pole sitter Mark Martin, celebrating thirty years of racing at MIS, to Kid Rock giving the command, here is what was surprising and not surprising in the 43rd annual Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Surprising: It was surprising that the race winner, standing in Victory Lane in the Irish hills of Michigan, had another city, Las Vegas, on his mind.
Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, capitalized on the Jimmie Johnson’s engine woes to score his second victory of the season and his third at Michigan International Speedway.
He is now 20 points ahead of his teammate Matt Kenseth in the point standings and has a Vegas-style championship celebration on his mind.
“It’s an important win,” Biffle said. “We have been working really hard to get back into Victory Lane.”
“We are going to make a run at the title,” Biff continued. “I know they don’t talk about us a lot, but they will when we get to Vegas.”
Biffle’s win also catapulted Roush Fenway Racing to its 12th win at MIS, breaking a tie with the Wood Brothers for most wins at that race track.
Not Surprising: For the second week in a row, Brad Keselowski was the enthusiastic runner-up, heading quickly to Victory Lane to congratulate the race winner.
“He just did a great job,” Keselowski said of Biffle. “He had a fast car and passed me legit and I couldn’t keep up with him.”
“I tell you what, it felt good to be racing up there at my home track here at Michigan,” The driver of the Blue Deuce continued. “It’s an honor to race with guys like Greg and be door-to-door.”
“I feel like the best is yet to come.”
This was Keselowski’s second top-10 finish in seven races at Michigan and his best finish at his home track. He has now finished 1st, 8th, 5th, 9th, 4th, 2nd and 2nd in the last seven races.
Surprising: Mr. Hendrick found himself in a surprising role, that of referee between two of his drivers, veteran Jeff Gordon and the sport’s most popular Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
The two tangled on the track after a restart, which led to consternation from the driver of the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet and confusion from Junior and company.
“He took me four-wide and then he slid up in front of me,” Gordon said after the race. “I didn’t think it was very smart what he did.”
“I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I thought there was plenty of room.”
Not Surprising: Marcos Ambrose, winner of last week’s race at the Glen, continued riding the wave of momentum on his mission to try for a Chase berth. Ambrose, in the No. 9 Stanley Ford Fusion, finished fifth and currently sits 17th in points with one win.
“It was a really strong day,” Ambrose said. “We came off a win and sometimes you struggle to keep that mojo going.”
“It’s great to run top five, but winning is what it’s all about now for us.”
Surprising: While races can sometimes be full of challenges and surprises, Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet, sure had his hands full in the Irish hills.
Kahne was caught up in the one of the major wrecks of the day, yet was still able to overcome to finish third, his eighth top-10 finish in 18 races at MIS.
“Man, there was a lot that went on for us,” Kahne said. “Slid through the grass and thought it destroyed my car.”
“Fortunately it just pushed the right fender in,” Kahne continued. “The guys were able to pop it up out and we came back to third.”
“Solid day, solid recovery.”
Not Surprising: In spite of a wreck that could have been devastating, with his car practically impaled, the ever effervescent Mark Martin had only praise for his team after getting out of his fiery, destroyed race car.
“I just want to thank all the race fans,” the driver of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota said. “Michael Waltrip gave me a chance to drive an awesome race car.”
“I’m glad I’m OK too and I’m glad I got to drive this thing.”
Martin was rewarded for his efforts with a deal announcement that he will drive 22 races for MWR in 2013.
Surprising: With an engine shop that is usually the gold standard, it was surprising that drivers were in defense mode of the Hendrick motors after four failures during the race.
Tony Stewart was one of those drivers affected by a broken valve spring in his No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, relegating him to a 32nd place finish. This was Stewart’s first DNF in 42 races.
“It’s not something that’s the norm,” Smoke said. “I appreciate everybody at the Hendrick engine department.”
“We have the best engine department in the world, definitely in the series, and they did everything they could,” Stewart continued. “It was just a bad day.”
Not Surprising: In spite of his teammate’s engine troubles and his own flu-like symptoms, Ryan Newman said hello to an eighth place finish at MIS. This was also his eighth top-10 finish for the season, keeping him in potential Chase contention in the wild card spot.
“I’m better,” Newman said after stepping out of the car. “I think adrenaline took over for the most part.”
“Finishing eighth, I think we’re proud of that.”
Surprising: Traditionally at a track like Michigan, four-wide racing is the norm. But surprisingly, MIS may have become the new Bristol, thanks to the beating and banging on the track and the feuds developing in the aftermath.
One such duo that tangled at MIS was Juan Pablo Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, and young Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet.
“He came down on me twice,” Logano said of Montoya. The youngster soldiered on after a hard hit to the wall to finish 31st.
“Well anything that could go wrong today did,” JPM, who finished 26th, said. “It was a rough day.”
Not Surprising: Sam Hornish Jr. continued to show just how badly he wants to retain the seat of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger. After finishing second in the Nationwide race in Montreal, Hornish returned to MIS and worked his way up from the back of the field to finish 12th in the Cup race.
“Not a bad day,” Hornish Jr. said. “I felt like it was pretty good from the point that we started in the back and worked our way up and by the midpoint of the race, we were running in the top five.”
“We just got off on our strategy and that kept us from getting the finish that we wanted.”
“Hopefully I get the opportunity to be here in the Cup Series.”
