Matt Kenseth's No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew woke a sleeping giant just in time for qualifying for Sunday's Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN) at Michigan International Speedway.
Matt Kenseth, the last of 12 drivers to make a pole qualifying attempt Friday, made the most of it at Michigan International Speedway. He bumped teammate Denny Hamlin off the provisional pole to capture the coveted No. 1 starting position for Sunday’sPure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Austin Dillon led the way for Team Chevy by qualifying fourth for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. He ran a fast lap around the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway (MIS) of 195.918 mph in 36.750 seconds aboard his No. 3 Dow Chevrolet SS.
MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Dollar General Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Starting Position: 1st - Did you expect all the Joe Gibbs Racing Camrys to qualify so well? “Maybe the one, two, three, but I didn’t think I’d be in the three. This is all about Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) and everybody that works on this Dollar General Camry and really everybody in Huntersville (N.C.) that builds these things and TRD (Toyota Racing Development)."
Michigan International Speedway president Roger Curtis congratulated NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon on his final event at MIS with a vacation at the iconic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan.
DANIEL SUAREZ, No. 18 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How does it feel to race at Mid-Ohio for the first time? “First timer in Mid-Ohio and I’m really looking forward for this race track. I feel like it’s a very, very technical race track. You need to have forward speed, a lot, a lot of patience, so let’s see – let’s see how everything works out. Hopefully, it will be better than last week.”
A special guest will ride along with Roush Fenway Racing’s Bubba Wallace and the No. 6 team in this weekend’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Seven-year-old Dominic Clarke’s face appears on the quarter panel of the No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Mustang as part of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Patient Champion program.
JOEY LOGANO, No. 21 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion (Qualified 10th) – “Well, we aren’t in first so we aren’t satisfied with it. Qualifying here is very interesting, for sure. I had my hands full I can tell you that much. I was sawing away at it but I had a lot of fun out there in the Shell Pennzoil Ford and we will be close enough to the front there that we will get a decent starting spot and we will get a good pit stall so the guys have that going for them and we will go to work on dialing it in some more tomorrow during the practice sessions.”
JEFF GORDON, NO. 24 PEPSI CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Michigan International Speedway (MIS) and discussed his memories of racing at MIS, his thoughts on the high downforce package teams are competing with this weekend and many other topics.
ERIK JONES, No. 4 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports - Are you looking forward to your first NCWTS race at your home track of Michigan? “I stayed in my own house last night and I’ll stay there tonight, it’s only an hour-and-a-half down the road for me. Pretty cool to be making my first start here at a place I’ve wanted to run at for a long time."
The reigning two-time Southern 500 from Mitchell, Indiana, led 51 of 267 laps and fended off teammate Christopher Bell to record his sixth Cup Series career win in Joliet, Illinois.
Enzo Fittipaldi completed a flawless weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, leading every lap for the second straight race to sweep the INDY NXT by Firestone doubleheader.
The Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, celebrated America’s 250th Anniversary with the longstanding Independence Day tradition that is the 5.11 RedBud National.
