Just a Simple Question
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[/media-credit]Just call me a little inquisitive. For years, NASCAR has talked about the 200 mph standard. We’ve heard for years that the “insurance” NASCAR carries would not tolerate anything over the 200 mph limit, and yet speeds reached nearly 220 mph at Michigan this week and lap times at well over 200 mph. What gives?
I mentioned this before without much comment, but the new pavement at Michigan International Speedway has given us speeds we haven’t seen since 1985. Those of us who have been around for awhile remember the runs by Buddy Baker and Bill Elliott that gave us those speeds at Daytona and Talladega in those days and how NASCAR couldn’t tolerate that much speed because of “insurance.” Well, these days it is a completely different story.
In the words of NASCAR official Robin Pemberton, this was not a concern because the speeds would diminish in time. Oh, really? No restrictor plate was needed according to Pemberton because it would get slower and slower as time went on. What happened to the 200 mph limit? Did the insurance companies just waive that or we’re they lying to us?
Way back in the 1980’s, when bobby Allison took out the front stretch catch fence at Talladega, all the talk was about insurance. The insurance people would not allow these races to go beyond that magic number, and now we’re hearing that no one is concerned about it. That’s interesting considering that Michigan, like Daytona and Talladega, are owned by International Speedway Corporation. What makes the difference? Is it the high banks of the other two tracks or is that Michigan is a relatively flat track? Not much information is coming from the folks in Daytona Beach, but it is a question that needs to be asked.
I’d like to hear some explanation. Either it is insurance or something else, but we need to know. I have no problem either way, but it just makes sense that if insurance companies, something I deal with in my everyday life, had a problem with these speeds at the two high-banked tracks, would have a problem at Michigan. Let’s just say that it doesn’t make sense. I love high speeds, but several drivers have expressed a concern. Time for someone to fess up.
Kevin Swindell leads practice for RainEater Wiper Blades 200 at Michigan
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[/media-credit]After winning the previous two ARCA Racing Series events with Brennan Poole, Venturini Motorsports looks to continue their streak through Michigan International Speedway as Kevin Swindell led the practice session. It marked the first practice on the newly-repaved track for the ARCA cars.
Swindell, the three-time defending Chili Bowl Champion, topped the charts with a best lap of 37.278 seconds. If Swindell is able to lay down that lap during Friday’s qualifying session, he will be beat Cale Gale’s track record by 3.5 mph. In total, five drivers beat the track record in the practice session.
Swindell is set to drive the No. 55 Curb Records Toyota in eight events this year, including Talladega, Michigan, Pocono, Chicagoland Speedway, New Jersey Motorsports Park, the Illinois State Fairgrounds, the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, and Kansas Speedway
Coulter Motorsports teammates Joey Coulter and Matt Lofton were second and third on the charts. Coulter was excited about the racing this weekend, knowing it’d be exciting after the re-pave.
“It’ll definitely be fast, which we saw in the test session last month, but it’ll allow us to run multiple grooves with less tire ware,” Coulter commented. “If we keep our Chevy out of trouble, I know we’ll be in contention at the end to win.”
Kyle Larson was fourth in practice, driving for Eddie Sharp Racing in his ARCA debut. Larson was signed to an Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing Development Driver contract after winning 22 major professional feature races last year, including victories in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series (WoO), all three United States Auto Club (USAC) National Divisions and the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS).
Cunningham Motorsports’ Alex Bowman rounded out the top five. Roulo Brother’s driver Chris Buescher was sixth, followed by Venturini’s Ryan Reed, ThorSport Racing’s Frank Kimmel, CHR’s Chad Hackenbracht and points leader Brennan Poole.
There were several incidents during the 95-minute practice session, but nothing too serious.
Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell begins on Friday at 10 a.m. with the 100-lap, 200-mile race at 5 p.m. The race will be aired live on SPEED. ARCARacing.com featuring live timing and scoring coverage for both the qualifying session and the race.
Practice Results
ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #8
Michigan Int’l Speedway, Brooklyn MI, 6-15-12
RainEater Wiper Blades 200, Practice Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER/HOMETOWN | TEAM & CAR | TIME | SPEED |
| 1 | 55 | Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN | Curb Records-Venturini Motorsports Toyota | 37.278 | 193.143 |
| 2 | 61 | Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL | RipIt Energy Drink-Darrell Gwynn Foundtn Chevy | 37.623 | 191.372 |
| 3 | 16 | Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC | Strutmasters.com Chevrolet | 37.667 | 191.149 |
| 4 | 6 | Kyle Larson/Elk Grove CA | ESR Chevrolet | 37.885 | 190.049 |
| 5 | 22 | Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ | 13 abc/abc 12-St. Jude’s-eBay Motors Dodge | 37.919 | 189.878 |
| 6 | 17 | Chris Buescher/Prosper TX | Roulo Brothers Racing Ford | 38.182 | 188.571 |
| 7 | 15 | Ryan Reed/Bakersfield CA | JDRF Ford | 38.269 | 188.142 |
| 8 | 44 | Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN | Ansell-Menards Toyota | 38.319 | 187.896 |
| 9 | 58 | Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadelphia OH | Michigan Apples Chevrolet | 38.390 | 187.549 |
| 10 | 25 | Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX | Venturini Motorsports Toyota | 38.488 | 187.071 |
| 11 | 92 | Brennan Newberry/Bakersfield CA | NTS Motorsports Chevrolet | 38.664 | 186.220 |
| 12 | 35 | Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela | Venezuela Tourism Chevrolet | 38.706 | 186.018 |
| 13 | 52 | Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ | Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet | 38.713 | 185.984 |
| 14 | 99 | Brandon Davis/Huntington Beach CA | Roulo Brothers Racing Ford | 38.903 | 185.076 |
| 15 | 04 | Larry Barford Jr./Denton MD | First Mariner Bank-Trauma Doc Dodge | 39.354 | 182.955 |
| 16 | 97 | Juan Carlos Blum/Guadalajara Mexico | Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge | 39.380 | 182.834 |
| 17 | 66 | John Blankenship/Williamson WV | Coal America’s Energy Toyota | 39.506 | 182.251 |
| 18 | 32 | Aleks Gregory/Baton Rouge LA | Mosquito Patch Toyota | 39.624 | 181.708 |
| 19 | 12 | Jared Marks/Napoleon OH | Premium Energy VIP-SRT Motorsports-UNOH Dodge | 39.659 | 181.548 |
| 20 | 88 | Buster Graham/Lafayette LA | Buffalo Wild Wings-Batter’s Dream Ford | 39.798 | 180.914 |
| 21 | 68 | Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN | Clarksville Schwinn & Cyclery Ford | 39.888 | 180.505 |
| 22 | 95 | Michael Leavine/Bullard TX | WRL General Contractors Ford | 40.158 | 179.292 |
| 23 | 20 | Tom Berte/New Berlin WI | CGS Premier-StayTuned Customs Chevrolet | 40.650 | 177.122 |
| 24 | 40 | Roger Carter/Sunfield MI | Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge | 41.066 | 175.328 |
| 25 | 3 | Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI | ETS-Kelly Tire Chevrolet | 41.300 | 174.334 |
| 26 | 5 | Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA | Lucas Oil Slick Mist Chevrolet | 41.730 | 172.538 |
| 27 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV | Allegiant Air Chevrolet | 41.881 | 171.916 |
| 28 | 7 | Kent Schenkel/Huntington IN | Schenkel Racing Dodge | 42.076 | 171.119 |
| 29 | 02 | Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL | SW Florida Cable Construction Ford | 43.166 | 166.798 |
| 30 | 69 | Korbin Forrister/Cedartown GA | Tilted Kilt Ford | 43.821 | 164.305 |
| 31 | 48 | James Hylton/Inman SC | Radon.com Ford | 44.673 | 161.171 |
| 32 | 06 | Tommy O’Leary/Cygnet OH | Wayne Peterson Racing Ford | 45.172 | 159.391 |
| 33 | 0 | Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI | Wayne Peterson Racing Ford | 45.226 | 159.200 |
| 34 | 34 | Darrell Basham/Henryville IN | Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet | 46.596 | 154.520 |
| 35 | 10 | Rick Clifton/Circleville OH | BASF Chevrolet | 46.735 | 154.060 |
