Martin captures the pole for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400
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[/media-credit]BROOKLYN, Mich. – Mark Martin captures his 55th career pole for Sundays NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway with a lap of 199.706 mph on the track’s new surface. This makes the fourth pole of the season for Martin, who is making his 15th Sprint Cup Series start this season.
“First of all, I want to thank Michael (Waltrip, team owner) and MWR (Michael Waltrip Racing) and everybody that works there for the incredible teamwork. Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer and Toyota for great power in these things. I have to drive these things fast. I’m trying to keep a job here. So far it’s going well. I’m just proud to be working with these guys, Rodney Childers (crew chief) and these guys.” Martin said. Martin is a good Sports betting on Top Bet to find victory lane this Sunday.
Carl Edwards qualified second.
“It was a good lap. I am surprised how fast Mark’s (Martin) lap was. Ours was good so Mark really stepped it up. That was a great run for him. All the folks from West Coast Customs are here and we wanted to get the pole for them really bad.” Edwards said.
Series points leader Jimmie Johnson qualified third.
“Chad and the guys have worked really hard to give me great Lowe’s Chevrolet’s week-in and week-out, and we’ve got another one here this weekend.” Johnson said.
Matt Kenseth qualified fourth and Kasey Kahne qualified fifth.
“We ended up fifth with our Farmers Insurance Chevy the guys did a nice job like always. Hopefully, we can have some solid track position tomorrow and be prepared on Sunday.” Kahne said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 22nd.
“Well, we ran a few laps in race trim and the car felt pretty good, but we had a terrible practice as far as qualifying trim goes, so that’s a bit of an improvement. But, obviously, the track’s got a bit more speed than that in it.” Earnhardt Jr. said.
| Starting Lineup | |||||
| Pure Michigan 400, Michigan Int’l Speedway | |||||
| http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=23 | |||||
| =========================================== | |||||
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Make | Speed | Time |
| =========================================== | |||||
| 1 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | 199.706 | 36.053 |
| 2 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 198.626 | 36.249 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 198.44 | 36.283 |
| 4 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 198.183 | 36.33 |
| 5 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 197.878 | 36.386 |
| 6 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 197.781 | 36.404 |
| 7 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 197.65 | 36.428 |
| 8 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 197.493 | 36.457 |
| 9 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | 197.433 | 36.468 |
| 10 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 197.163 | 36.518 |
| 11 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 197.115 | 36.527 |
| 12 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 197.012 | 36.546 |
| 13 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 196.893 | 36.568 |
| 14 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 196.877 | 36.571 |
| 15 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 196.732 | 36.598 |
| 16 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | 196.501 | 36.641 |
| 17 | 22 | Parker Kligerman | Dodge | 196.249 | 36.688 |
| 18 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 196.217 | 36.694 |
| 19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | 196.18 | 36.701 |
| 20 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 196.052 | 36.725 |
| 21 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 195.956 | 36.743 |
| 22 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 195.822 | 36.768 |
| 23 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 193.299 | 37.248 |
| 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 193.268 | 37.254 |
| 25 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | 193.138 | 37.279 |
| 26 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 192.988 | 37.308 |
| 27 | 191 | Reed Sorenson | Ford | 192.709 | 37.362 |
| 28 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | 192.596 | 37.384 |
| 29 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | 192.56 | 37.391 |
| 30 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 192.539 | 37.395 |
| 31 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | 192.359 | 37.43 |
| 32 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | 192.282 | 37.445 |
| 33 | 119 | Jason Leffler | Ford | 192.205 | 37.46 |
| 34 | 26 | Josh Wise* | Ford | 192.179 | 37.465 |
| 35 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 192.118 | 37.477 |
| 36 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 191.79 | 37.541 |
| 37 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | 191.724 | 37.554 |
| 38 | 23 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | 189.943 | 37.906 |
| 39 | 10 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | 189.036 | 38.088 |
| 40 | 32 | T.J. Bell+ | Ford | 185.118 | 38.894 |
| 41 | 43 | Aric Almirola+ | Ford | – | – |
| 42 | 36 | Dave Blaney+ | Chevrolet | – | – |
| 43 | 98 | Mike Skinner | Ford | 189.939 | 37.907 |
O’ Canada!! Nationwide Series Rolls Into Montreal
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[/media-credit]The Nationwide Series (NNS) heads to one of its most exciting stops of the season this weekend as the stars of the series tackle the 14 turn Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The NNS has been going to Montreal since 2007 and has provided some of the very best racing of the year in the NNS. Kevin Harvick went to victory lane in the inaugural race in 2007 but not without some controversy. Robby Gordon believes that he was the winner of the race but was penalized by NASCAR for lining up improperly on a restart.
The 2008 race at Montreal saw history be made as it was the first official NASCAR points paying race to utilize rain tires and windshield wipers on the cars. Canadian Ron Fellows went to victory lane after the race was shortened to only 48 of the 74 scheduled laps. Carl Edwards,Boris Said, and Marcos Ambrose have also put their names on the winners trophy at the end of 200 miles in Montreal.
What kind of race can you expect on Saturday? If recent years are any indication you can expect a wild and spectacular finish. I like to think of it as having the technical difficulty of Sonoma mixed with the short track beating and banging of Martinsville plus having the added variable of fuel mileage playing a huge role by race end especially if there is a green,white,checker finish.
As for possible race winners there are a lot of them. Will Kyle Busch carry the banner for the stars of the Sprint Cup Series who have won three of the five races run at Montreal? Or will one of the NNS regulars like Elliott Sadler extend his points lead by capturing his 5th win of the season? Or will it be Sam Hornish Jr. picking up his first win of the season and continuing his streak of top-3 finishes while closing in on the points lead? Might this be the year for one of the home country heroes to go to victory lane. Ron Fellows and Jacques Villenueve have already shown their strength this weekend by finishing in the top 5 in opening practice. What a story and celebration it would be if Alex Tagliani picked up the victory in his home city of Montreal. Another native son Patrick Carpentier figures to be very strong this weekend as well.
As for who is going to win this race, experience will win out this weekend. Hard to ignore Ron Fellows as a potential race winner as well as Jacques Villeneuve. But this race could very well present a lot of surprises as well as a surprise winner. As a race fan this is one race I have marked on my calendar every season and hopefully one day the Sprint Cup Series makes the trek North of the border. The great racing and awesome fan support the fans of Montreal gives the NNS should make for a memorable weekend.
