MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (TWO-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN
EVENT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 15 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 1 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, JUNE 12 (FOX SPORTS 1/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 36 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
18th in standings
14 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
5 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
Career
446 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
88 top-five finishes
161 top-10 finishes
4,607 laps led
Track Career
24 starts
1 win
3 pole positions
8 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
67 laps led
KAHNE AT MICHIGAN: Kasey Kahne has three poles at Michigan — in 2006, 2010 and 2015. After starting the June 2006 race from the pole position, the Enumclaw, Washington, native led 19 laps and went on to take the checkered flag for his fifth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win. Kahne’s 2015 pole award at Michigan was his fifth while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
SPEEDWAY STATS: At tracks two miles or longer, Kahne has made 131 starts and notched four of his 17 wins. He’s also earned seven of his 27 Sprint Cup career poles in addition to amassing 25 top-five finishes and 48 top-10 results at speedways of that length. Kahne is coming off of a sixth-place finish at 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway as he heads to the Irish Hills this weekend.
MICHIGAN LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data, Kahne ranks second in green-flag passes with 1,734. The 36-year-old is fifth in quality passes at Michigan with 795 and eighth in the fastest laps run category with 184.
FARMERS INSURANCE ART SERIES: Farmers Insurance has started the second round of its Art Series Design Challenge. The program gives fans a chance to get creative and design Kahne’s autograph card. Fans can enter the contest through the Farmers Racing Facebook page.
KAHNE AT QUICKEN LOANS HEADQUARTERS: On Thursday, June 9, Kahne will be in Detroit to visit with Quicken Loans employees from 3 to 5 p.m. ET. The event will take place in Cadillac Square and will feature Quicken Loans President and CMO Jay Farner along with Chuck Thompson, general manager of retail sales and marketing support for General Motors. Though Quicken Loans is not on the car this weekend, its partnership with Hendrick Automotive Group and the No. 5 team for the Drive Home a Winner sweepstakes continues. One lucky winner will receive a free one-year lease on a Chevy Silverado from Hendrick Automotive Group and one year of free home mortgage payments courtesy of Quicken Loans. Fans can enter to win until June 30 by visiting DriveHomeAWinner.com.
No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 20 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
7th in standings
14 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
83 laps led
Career
19 starts
0 wins
2 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
83 laps led
Track Career
0 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
TOP-10 TEAR: Chase Elliott is on a top-10 tear, earning one in each of the past five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Only two drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have more top-10 finishes than Elliott’s 10 (Kevin Harvick with 11 and Kurt Busch with 12 — both Sprint Cup champions). Additionally, in the non-points-paying NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Elliott raced his way to a sixth-place finish.
LOOKING FOR A WIN: Consistency continues for the NAPA AUTO PARTS driver as he has earned his fifth top-five finish this season to go with his 10 top-10 finishes through the first 14 races. Only three Sprint Cup drivers own more top-five finishes than Elliott this year (Kyle Busch with nine, Harvick with six and teammate Jimmie Johnson with six). As Elliott’s consistency increases so does his chance at closing in on his first Cup victory. According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Elliott ranks third in closers. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native secured his first top-10 finish of 2016 at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway. He earned his career-best finish, third, at Dover International Speedway in May.
TOP-RANKED ROOKIE: Elliott leads the 2016 Rookie of the Year contender standings heading into Michigan by 39 points over second-place Ryan Blaney and 72 points over third-place Brian Scott. Elliott has accumulated a total of 196 rookie points this year through the first 14 points-paying races. Among active drivers, his 10 top-10 finishes are tied with teammate Johnson for the most top-10 finishes through the first 14 races of a rookie season.
SEASON STANDINGS: Elliott currently sits seventh in the standings with 413 points. The rookie trails points leader Kevin Harvick by 77 markers. The 20-year-old driver is younger than any driver currently inside the top 16 – the amount of drivers NASCAR takes into its playoffs – while also being the highest ranked rookie.
GEORGIA DRIVER IN THE IRISH HILLS: Dawsonville, Georgia, native Elliott has had success in the Irish Hills of Michigan in NASCAR’s XFINITY Series. He has two XFINITY Series starts at the two-mile track, capturing a sixth-place finish in his 2014 track debut and a second-place finish during last year’s event.
TWO-MILE TRACK SUCCESS: Elliott earned success earlier this year on NASCAR’s only other two-mile, D-shaped oval track, Auto Club Speedway. The rookie driver captured his third top-10 finish in just his fifth start of the year in an exciting fashion. Elliott was a contender all day, running in the top 10, top five and even leading a lap to earn a bonus point on Lap 83. After continuing to race within the top 10 after pitting, Elliott raced his way into the third position with 21 laps to go. As laps counted down, the NAPA driver surged to second as the caution flag waved with a mere two laps remaining. The NAPA team called him to pit road during that caution for fresh tires and he returned to the track in seventh, ultimately finishing just outside of the top five in sixth.
No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 40 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2016 Season
6th in standings
14 starts
2 wins
0 pole positions
6 top-five finishes
7 top-10 finishes
224 laps led
Career
521 starts
77 wins
34 pole positions
213 top-five finishes
321 top-10 finishes
17,933 laps led
Track Career
28 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
11 top-10 finishes
646 laps led
LONE MICHIGAN WIN: In Johnson’s 77 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, only one has come at Michigan international Speedway. It took 25 attempts for Johnson to find Victory Lane at Michigan but persistence finally paid off on June 15, 2014. After starting seventh, Johnson led 39 laps and beat Kevin Harvick to the finish line by 1.214 seconds. Johnson has an average finish of 16.8 at the track just outside of Detroit.
KOBALT RACE: This weekend at Michigan, the black and white colors of Kobalt Tools will adorn Johnson’s Chevrolet for the second time this season. In addition, the paint scheme will run at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and Phoenix International Raceway in November.
HOMETOWN CONNECTIONS: Michigan International Speedway is a hometown track for two members of the No. 48 team. Longtime gasman Brandon Harder went to Bowling Green State University and grew up in Oak Harbor, Ohio, roughly 90 miles from the track. Harder has been a member of the No. 48 team since 2009. Rear-tire carrier Ryan Patton is from Delphos, Ohio, which is 105 miles south of the track. Patton, who played football at Ohio State University, has been on the No. 48 team since 2012.
MICHIGAN DRIVER RATING: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Johnson has the fourth-best driver rating at Michigan with a score of 99.8 during the past 10 years at the track. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator.
CHICAGO TICKET PACKAGE: Fans can purchase a Jimmie Johnson Family Ticket Package for this year’s race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sept. 18. Johnson has teamed up with NASA to provide an educational experience for kids with the NASA Rockets 2 Racecars STEM Education program. The ticket package includes a Q&A session with Johnson on race day. The package is $48 for adults and $23 for children and is located in Section “L” at Chicagoland Speedway. Click here for details.
No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 41 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
11th in standings
14 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
6 top-10 finishes
53 laps led
Career
591 starts
26 wins
13 pole positions
148 top-five finishes
252 top-10 finishes
8,187 laps led
Track Career
33 starts
2 wins
2 pole positions
8 top-five finishes
14 top-10 finishes
353 laps led
VICTORY IN THE IRISH HILLS: Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scored two wins at Michigan International Speedway. His most recent victory came on June 17, 2012, when he started 17th and led 95 laps before crossing the stripe with a 5.393-second lead to earn the victory. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has earned two pole-position starts at the two-mile track, tying his career bests. He also has two poles at Texas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. After finishing second at Pocono Raceway in the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS, he will be driving the bright red, orange and yellow scheme again this weekend for Axalta’s fourth of 13 races as the primary in 2016.
DRIVER RATING AND LOOP DATA: Earnhardt ranks fifth in the driver rating category for races in the last 10 years at Michigan with an average of 98.6. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. He also ranks in the top five in many other loop data categories, such as average running position (fourth – 12.06 average finish), fastest laps run (fifth – 205 fastest laps), laps in the top 15 (fourth – 2,977 laps), and quality passes (second – 933 passes).
IVES RETURNS TO HOME STATE: No. 88 team crew chief Greg Ives hails from Bark River, Michigan, and grew up working with his father and older brother at the local racetracks and spent eight years behind the wheel before finding his true calling under the hood. After earning a mechanical engineering degree from Michigan Tech, Ives’ résumé ended up in the hands of Hendrick Motorsports team manager Brian Whitesell, who invited the aspiring engineer to meet at Daytona International Speedway during the 2004 Daytona 500 race weekend. To make the appointment, the self-described “grease monkey” drove from Michigan to Florida, sleeping in his car in the process, and subsequently landed a formal interview a few weeks later. He then joined the No. 24 team as a shop mechanic before getting the opportunity to be the race engineer on the No. 48 team. After recording five championships with Johnson and the No. 48 group, Ives went to JR Motorsports to crew chief, first with Regan Smith’s No. 7 NASCAR XFINITY Series entry in 2013 and then guided Elliott to an XFINITY championship in 2014 before returning to Hendrick Motorsports to lead the No. 88 team in 2015. You can read more about Ives’ background here.
IVES’ SUCCESS: In 2015, Ives earned his first Sprint Cup victory as a crew chief on May 3 at Talladega Superspeedway. He led Earnhardt to three wins and helped the driver tie his personal records for top-five finishes (16) and top-10s (22). As a rookie, Ives received the 2015 MOOG Problem Solver of the Year award, which goes to the Sprint Cup crew chief who posts the best overall performance throughout the year, most consistently demonstrates problem-solving excellence and wins the most MOOG Problem Solver of the Race awards. The weekly awards recognize the crew chief whose car posts the largest increase in average lap speed from the first half to the second half of the race while finishing on the lead lap. Ives earned the distinction five times. To start the 2016 season, Ives guided Earnhardt to four top-five and five top-10 finishes in the first eight races, including three second-place finishes. Ives and his No. 88 Axalta team earned another second-place finish this past weekend in Pocono, bringing the season total to four runner-up results, five top-five and six top-10 finishes in 14 races.
IN THE FOX BOOTH: The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet is scheduled to join the FOX NASCAR television booth as a guest driver analyst for FS1’s live coverage of the NASCAR XFINITY Series race from Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, June 11, at 1:30 p.m. ET. Earnhardt will team up with FOX NASCAR play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander and analyst Michael Waltrip to offer analysis for the entire race as several of his fellow drivers have done throughout the first portion of the 2016 season.
DALE JR. TRUCK: Leading into NASCAR’s visit to the home state of Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports introduced the Dale Jr. No. 88 Special Edition Silverado last week, created with Earnhardt and exclusively available at participating Chevrolet dealerships. Inspired by the No. 88 driver’s personal journey with his favorite Chevrolet trucks, the eye-catching special edition features premium GM accessories, a horsepower upgrade and a custom No. 88 graphics package. For more on the special edition Silverado, click here.
CATERING TO YOUNG FANS: Earnhardt will be participating in the NASCAR youth autograph session at Michigan International Speedway on Friday, June 10, at 2 p.m. local time. Additionally, spotter TJ Majors will be giving members of the youth advisory board a tour of the spotters’ stand on Sunday before the race.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT MICHIGAN: Hendrick Motorsports drivers have led 2,371 laps en route to eight wins, 49 top-five finishes and 90 top-10s in addition to 11 pole positions at Michigan. The organization swept both races at the two-mile oval in 2014, and in the June 2015 race at Michigan, Earnhardt earned a runner-up finish.
MASTERING MICHIGAN: Hendrick Motorsports’ eight Sprint Cup victories at Michigan have come via five different drivers: Jeff Gordon (3), Earnhardt (2), Johnson, Mark Martin and Ricky Rudd.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 242 victories, 208 pole positions, 998 top-five finishes and 1,665 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 65,377 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“I think we can take a very similar package to what we had at Pocono to Michigan this week. To me, Michigan is a similar racetrack in a lot of ways. I got a pole there last year and it’s Chevy’s backyard. We’re taking some momentum there, so it should be a good weekend.”
Kasey Kahne on racing at Michigan
“I’m really proud of our team and the work that everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has put in this year. We had four really fast cars at Pocono and I hope that’s a good sign for races to come. We certainly had one of our best days of the year there. For us to be able to contend and lead laps all day and have a car that could fight for the lead the majority of the day I thought was great. Hopefully we can carry that momentum to Michigan this weekend. Michigan is a fast track with a lot of character. I’m looking forward to getting back there.”
Chase Elliott on success at Pocono leading into Michigan
“Speeds are high at Michigan. I think I’ve been clocked at 217 mph after they repaved it. It’s been a tough track for the No. 48 Lowe’s team historically. We’ve had plenty of opportunities to win this race in the past and have figured out how to lose it with five to go. You want to win here for Chevrolet. I was pretty disappointed last weekend at Pocono to run up front and then have it end the way it did. I’m looking forward to this weekend and then a much needed off-weekend for Father’s Day.”
Jimmie Johnson on racing at Michigan
“Pocono was a good step in the right direction. I felt like we could go there and run good. I think we learned a lot that we could use to understand how to get better. I’m looking forward to Michigan. Obviously, it’s going to be a different package but I think it’ll make for good racing and we should run well on that track, too. I anticipate having a good weekend.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on success at Pocono leading into Michigan
