NASCAR Cup PR

Chase Elliott on heading to Michigan: “Michigan is a much different place now. Nothing like it used to be, we are close to wide open. It has been an OK place for me. We didn’t get the result we wanted in June, but we will look at our notes and go back and hopefully be better.”

Richard Childress Racing at Michigan International Speedway ... In 173 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Michigan International Speedway, RCR teams have earned three wins, two with Dale Earnhardt (1987, 1990) and one with Kevin Harvick (August 2010). Additionally, RCR has claimed 25 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes with 10 different drivers including Richard Childress, a former driver in NASCAR's top division, who recorded top-10 finishes at MIS in June 1978 and August 1979.

“I'm ready to head back to Michigan. You always welcome an opportunity to improve your performance going to a track for the second time, especially when we're racing with a blue oval on our car in the Irish Hills. Typically, you have a lot of green flag racing at this track, and if you've got the car handling the way you need it to, you can really drive through the field. I'm looking forward to having a fast car and a great run this weekend.”

In one of the most anticipated weekends on the schedule each year for Jack Roush, Roush Fenway Racing heads north to the backyard of its owner and Ford Motor Company as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) converges on the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway for the second time this season. Overall RFR Fords have 23 wins at MIS with 91 top-five and 151 top-10 finishes.

Discount Tire renewed their commitment to Team Penske, enhancing their presence on the No. 2 Ford Mustang, driven by Brad Keselowski. The multi-year agreement will see Discount Tire as the primary sponsor for five additional NASCAR Cup Series races, including the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the season finale in Phoenix, for a total of 15 events.

Stocking up for raceday essentials has been made even easier thanks to Meijer, Surface Sunscreen and Matt Tifft. Meijer is partnering with the Front Row Motorsports (FRM) driver to serve as primary sponsor for the No. 36 Ford Mustang in this weekend's "Consumers Energy 400" Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

On the afternoon of April 19, 2002, NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Jack Roush was celebrating his 60th birthday with friends, flying airplanes from a small air strip in south Alabama. Roush’s celebration ended in near tragedy when the small plane he was piloting stuck a power line and went down in lake outside Troy, Alabama. Former United States Marine Larry Hicks was sitting nearby, recovering from a recent bout with cancer and taking in the warm Friday afternoon on his porch. From there Hollywood could not have sculpted a more dramatic moment of fate.

DIBENEDETTO BY THE NUMBERS: In nine Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career starts at Michigan, Matt DiBenedetto has an average start of 31.6, an average finish of 30.0, and he’s completed 1,645 of 1,676 (98.2 percent) career laps at the 2.0-mile track in Brooklyn, Michigan.  DiBenedetto’s best finish at the track is 21st which he achieved in June’s event earlier this season.

Newman will make his 37th Cup start at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway this weekend. In 36 prior events, Newman has two wins, 10 top-10s and six top fives. He has an overall average finish of 16.1 and starting spot of 13.6 with one pole.

Stenhouse Jr. has 13 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Michigan International Speedway with an average starting position of 18.7 and average finishing position of 21.2.