Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway
No. 95 WRL General Contractors Camaro ZL1 Notes:
· THE GRANDDADDY OF THEM ALL: Kasey Kahne is spending the week at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa for the annual Knoxville Nationals sprint car event. Kahne will race on Wednesday night (8/8) in an attempt to qualify for the feature event which is on Saturday night (8/11). Kahne will be behind the wheel of the No. 4 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet car with his Kasey Kahne Racing team.
· KAHNE BY THE NUMBERS: In 29 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Michigan, Kasey Kahne has an average start of 13.0 and an average finish of 16.8. He’s completed 5,357 of 5,612 (95.5 percent) career laps and has led for a total of 78 laps. Kahne has earned one win, eight top-five, 10 top-10 finishes, and three poles at the 2.0-mile track.
· RACE INFO: The Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2.0-mile) begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 12th. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN, Sirius XM Channel 90 and MRN Radio.
Kahne’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Michigan:
Date Event: S F Laps Status
06/20/04 DHL 400 34 2 200/200 Running
08/22/04 GFS Marketplace 400 11 5 200/200 Running
06/19/05 Batman Begins 400 4 18 200/200 Running
08/21/05 GFS Marketplace 400 3 29 199/200 Running
06/18/06 3M Performance 400 1 1 129/129 Running
08/20/06 GFS Marketplace 400 15 4 200/200 Running
06/17/07 Citizens Bank 400 36 32 197/200 Running
08/21/07 3M Performance 400 3 31 201/203 Running
06/15/08 LifeLock 400 9 2 203/203 Running
08/17/08 3M Performance 400 32 40 162/200 Engine
06/14/09 LifeLock 400 8 21 200/200 Running
08/16/09 Carfax 400 10 11 200/200 Running
06/13/10 Heluva Good! 400 4 2 200/200 Running
08/15/10 Carfax 400 1 14 200/200 Running
06/19/11 Heluva Good! 400 8 28 199/200 Running
08/21/11 Pure Michigan 400 14 7 203/203 Running
06/17/12 Quicken Loans 400 4 33 151/200 Crash
08/19/12 Pure Michigan 400 5 3 201/201 Running
06/16/13 Quicken Loans 400 3 38 103/200 Crash
08/18/13 Pure Michigan 400 31 7 200/200 Running
06/15/14 Quicken Loans 400 13 5 200/200 Running
08/17/14 Pure Michigan 400 15 16 200/200 Running
06/14/15 Quicken Loans 400 1 15 138/138 Running
08/16/15 Pure Michigan 400 11 15 200/200 Running
06/12/16 FireKeepers Casino 400 23 13 200/200 Running
08/28/16 Pure Michigan 400 11 14 200/200 Running
06/18/17 FireKeepers Casino 400 16 21 200/200 Running
08/13/17 Pure Michigan 400 23 38 138/202 Crash
06/10/18 FireKeepers Casino 400 29 23 133/133 Running
Kahne’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats at Michigan:
Races Wins Top 5s Top 10s Poles
Cumulative 29 1 8 10 3
Kahne’s 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats:
Starts Wins Top-5’s Top-10’s Poles Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
22 0 1 1 0 30 25.8 23.0
Kahne’s Career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Stats:
Starts Wins Top-5’s Top-10’s Poles Laps Led Avg. Start Avg. Finish
526 18 93 176 27 4,678 14.5 17.7
From the Driver’s Seat:
Kasey Kahne: “Michigan has always been fast, but since they repaved it, the track has really picked up a lot of speed. You carry that speed into the corner, you carry that speed through the center of the corner, and off the exit. It’s a fast and smooth track with a lot of grip. Restarts are critical at Michigan, and usually if you’re on the outside, it works out better as long as you can hold your position through Turn 2, and then carry the speed down the backstretch into Turn 3. It just seems like you can pass a little bit more if you can make that all happen on a restart. The inside can work as well, especially if someone gets bottled up on the inside lane and slides up in front of the outside row in (Turns) 1 and 2, which can happen pretty easily. Restarts at Michigan are critical to gain spots, and if you’re in a tough position, it’s really easy to lose spots.”
From the Pit Box:
Jon Leonard: “We have some momentum heading into Michigan coming off of Watkins Glen. We didn’t get the finish we wanted, but it was one of our newest car builds that we ran this past weekend, and it proves the direction that we’ve been going the past few weeks is correct. We’re taking the same car we raced at Michigan in June with us this weekend, but with a different set-up theory and body build. The notebook from our first Michigan race definitely helps leading into this weekend because it gets us closer on tire settings, directional changes, and things we needed to focus on. We struggled a bit into the corner the last time we raced Michigan, and we’ve focused on that while still keeping turn in the center. Not much changes from the June to August races at Michigan. They’re both summer races, and both are hot and slick tracks, so that helps in how we approach going back for this weekend since the conditions and trends are so similar. To have a good car at Michigan you need to be able to get into the corner and get back to the gas as soon as possible. It’s such a momentum racetrack that one little slip, one little bobble, one second off the gas can mean a lot over those long straightaways. We’ve really focused on getting speed into these cars since the last event, and hopefully that effort shows this weekend.”
No. 95 WRL General Contractors Camaro ZL1 Team:
Driver: Kasey Kahne Crew Chief: Jonathon Leonard
Car Chief: Ben Leslie Spotter: Doug Campbell
Engineer: Ben Lynch Hauler Driver: Damon Lopez
Shock Specialist: Tim Lambert Mechanic: James Melick
Mechanic: Matt Kimball Mechanic: Ryan Dextraze
Tire Specialist: Tony Ramierz Jackman: Richie Williams
Fueler: Ryan Dextraze Rear Changer: Cory Baldwin
Front Changer: Weston Lovejoy Front Carrier: Justin Kirby
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