Chassis selection for Michigan

Micah Roberts has posted the chassis selections on his Blog. Tony Stewart will race the same car in which he finished fourth at Chicagoland a few weeks back.

Our View Jimmie Johnson is also racing his Chicagoland car since both of these tracks a relatively flat and fast.

For a complete list, check out the right hand navigation bar at NASCAR Notes.

Yahoo! Qualification Story – Michigan

Does qualification matter at Michigan? The answer is both yes and no, which you find in this week's Yahoo! qualification .pdf story.

Kahne to run new Dodge engine

Kasey Kahne will run the new Dodge engine at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, according to @DustinLong.

Our View: He previously used this same engine at Dover and Michigan. In its debut, he ran strong at Dover and finished sixth. At Michigan, however, he finished only 21st, so it is uncertain how this impacts his fantasy odds.

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LifeLock 400 Results, with avg. finish

Mark Martin led only a single lap en route to his third victory of the season, but it was the one that counted. While the two most dominant drivers Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle baited one another into running too fast while trying to conserve gas, Martin refused to play their game and ran the pace he and crew chief Alan Gustafson decided upon.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon admitted he might have been running too conservatively with plenty of gas at the end of the LifeLock 400. He finished second, giving Hendrick Motorsports a one-two finish.

Johnson ran out of gas on the frontstretch as the field took the white flag; Biffle lasted until the middle of the backstretch, then he also ran short on fuel. Both managed to finish on the lead lap, but Johnson was only in 22nd; Biffle was fifth.

Results with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	32	Mark Martin	200	1	Running	12.87
2	27	Jeff Gordon	200		Running	11.45
3	14	Denny Hamlin	200	1	Running	13.71
4	29	Carl Edwards	200	1	Running	6.30
5	20	Greg Biffle	200	42	Running	12.54
6	7	Juan Montoya	200		Running	27.60
7	11	Tony Stewart	200		Running	12.19
8	5	Kurt Busch	200	9	Running	19.41
9	1	Brian Vickers	200		Running	16.55
10	9	Clint Bowyer	200		Running	23.00
11	31	Jamie McMurray	200		Running	17.92
12	25	Elliott Sadler	200		Running	22.10
13	2	Kyle Busch	200		Running	16.89
14	30	Dale Earnhardt Jr	200		Running	16.55
15	23	David Ragan	200		Running	13.00
16	15	Bill Elliott	200		Running	13.95
17	13	Robby Gordon	200		Running	25.63
18	12	Kevin Harvick	200		Running	15.41
19	4	David Reutimann	200		Running	21.20
20	16	Matt Kenseth	200		Running	9.65
21	8	Kasey Kahne	200		Running	16.82
22	3	Jimmie Johnson	200	146	Running	14.87
23	18	Ryan Newman	199		Running	18.88
24	37	Casey Mears	199		Running	19.77
25	24	Joey Logano	199		Running	25.00
26	22	Jeff Burton	199		Running	16.13
27	28	Reed Sorenson	199		Running	24.00
28	17	Bobby Labonte	199		Running	14.88
29	34	Sam Hornish Jr	198		Running	24.33
30	36	Michael Waltrip	198		Running	20.63
31	33	Marcos Ambrose	198		Running	37.00
32	35	David Gilliland	198		Running	28.00
33	10	John Andretti	198		Running	24.32
34	38	Paul Menard	197		Running	23.33
35	43	Max Papis	193		Running	35.00
36	19	Martin Truex Jr	192		Running	17.00
37	21	Scott Speed	174		Running	37.00
38	26	David Stremme	159		Accident	29.20
39	6	A J Allmendinger	144		Running	29.25
40	39	Dave Blaney	23		Quit	24.42
41	42	Sterling Marlin	23		Quit	18.96
42	40	Joe Nemechek	20		Quit	25.55
43	41	Tony Raines	17		Quit	34.80
44		Mike Skinner	0		DNQ	27.13

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Inspection complete at Michigan

Inspection is complete at Michigan for the LifeLock 400 and no issues were found, according to a tweet from @DustinLong.

Our View: The cars of Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliott will all go to the R&D center for a further inspection, but this is standard procedure.

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Changing face of Michigan

Once upon a time winning at Michigan was reserved for drivers who started in the top-10. In the LifeLock 400, the top five finishers all started 14th or worse including the winner Mark Martin who started 32nd.

Our View: That leaves the fall race wide open for fantasy owners to pick drivers based on their records and practice times.

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To the back at Michigan

Three cars will drop to the back before the start of the LifeLock 400. The No. 87 of Joe Nemechek, No. 77 of Sam Hornish Jr. and No. 24 of Jeff Gordon all changed engines, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays, NASCAR's official feed.

Our View: Gordon says he has a car fast enough to get to the front. Penske Racing South is also stout, so Hornish should be ok as well.

Michigan pit stall selections

Jayski.com has posted the pit stall selections. As expected, pole winner Brian Vickers took the final pit at the turn one end of pit road. Other drives with openings in front of them are Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Juan Montoya and Jimmie Johnson.

Our View: This could be one of the tie-breakers you use for drivers who are evenly matched in your estimation.

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N'Wide: Two, two, two? for Busch

In two races this weekend, Kyle Busch finished second in both. How interesting would it be for him to finish second in Sunday's Cup LifeLock 400.

Our View: NASCAR is filled with symmetrical finishes just like that, but Busch's crew is going to have to find something overnight. In terms of average speed during long runs in the combined practice sessions at Michigan, the No. 18 was only 12th quickest with a speed of 183.370 during 74 laps.

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Bowyer wins Michigan Happy Hour

Clint Bowyer posted the quickest average speed in Michigan's Happy Hour with a speed of 181.688 mph during nine laps.

Our View: Running so few laps is kind of a double-edged sword. He was happy with his car, but we would have preferred to see a little more track time to form a firm opinion.

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Martin fastest in Michigan Happy Hour

On the heels of posting the quickest average speed in the morning session, Mark Martin posted the fastest single lap in Happy Hour with a speed of 185.257 mph.

Our View: Better yet, he was second quickest over the course of 24 laps and that makes him a must have on your roster.

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Martin wins Michigan practice 2

Mark Martin may have had only the second fastest single lap, but over the long haul, he was best. The No. 5 posted an average speed of 183.169 mph during 22 laps.

Our View: Races are not won in a single circuit, so Martin has to be considered one of the best values of the LifeLock 400.

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Hamlin fastest in Michigan practice 2

Denny Hamlin posted the fastest single lap in Michigan's Saturday morning practice session with a lap of 187.911 mph.

Our View: Hamlin should simply be happy that he was not one of the many drivers who crashed or spun. Still, this is not one of his better tracks and he is riding a wave of misfortune, so it's hard to recommend him.

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Biffle also spins in Michigan practice 2

Add Greg Biffle to the list of drivers who suffered incidents in the Saturday morning session. He spun in practice two, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays.

Our View: Apparently he also survived without significant damage. This has been a wild session.

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Action packed Michigan practice 2

Looks like television picked the wrong session to go dark: In the first practice, Jimmie Johnson spun either just in front of or off the nose of Tony Stewart and then Max Papis crashed with Dave Blaney, according to tweets from @NASCAR_Says and @NASCAR_TNT. And this is just practice.

Johnson and Stewart appear to have survived without damage.

Neither Papis nor Blaney returned to the track in that session.

Our View: Rain is in the forecast for later in the afternoon, and apparently there is a sense of desperation.

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LifeLock 400 lineup, with avg. start/finish

Brian Vickers has become a qualifying fool. On Friday, he earned his third pole of the season, tying him with Mark Martin for the most this season. This track type has been incredibly kind to him since his switch to Red Bull Racing and Toyota. He's finished 12th or better in his last seven attempts at Michigan International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway, so this is a promising start.

Vickers grabbed the pole from Kyle Busch, who has similarly been grateful to the two-mile tracks. He's finished 13th or better on these tracks in the last 10 attempts and the winner could very well come from the front row.

Results with average start/finish

Start	Driver	Avg. Fin	Avg. Start	Attempts
1	Brian Vickers	17.30	12.10	10
2	Kyle Busch	17.38	8.50	8
3	Jimmie Johnson	14.36	9.14	14
4	David Reutimann	21.75	21.75	4
5	Kurt Busch	20.13	13.50	16
6	A J Allmendinger	26.00	37.67	3
7	Juan Montoya	33.00	24.75	4
8	Kasey Kahne	16.40	14.80	10
9	Clint Bowyer	25.17	18.33	6
10	John Andretti	23.90	19.67	21
11	Tony Stewart	12.45	22.35	20
12	Kevin Harvick	15.25	18.38	16
13	Robby Gordon	26.11	23.22	18
14	Denny Hamlin	15.50	14.50	6
15	Bill Elliott	13.91	10.25	56
16	Matt Kenseth	9.11	20.63	19
17	Bobby Labonte	14.48	13.27	33
18	Ryan Newman	18.60	11.80	15
19	Martin Truex Jr	13.83	15.50	6
20	Greg Biffle	13.17	15.17	12
21	Scott Speed
22	Jeff Burton	15.80	18.33	30
23	David Ragan	12.50	22.00	4
24	Joey Logano
25	Elliott Sadler	22.60	18.85	20
26	David Stremme	27.00	26.50	4
27	Jeff Gordon	11.75	8.59	32
28	Reed Sorenson	23.50	29.67	6
29	Carl Edwards	6.56	18.33	9
30	Dale Earnhardt Jr	16.68	12.58	19
31	Jamie McMurray	18.50	29.58	12
32	Mark Martin	13.13	11.39	46
33	Marcos Ambrose	43.00	39.00	1
34	Sam Hornish Jr	22.00	29.00	2
35	David Gilliland	27.20	26.80	5
36	Michael Waltrip	20.43	22.47	47
37	Casey Mears	19.42	19.58	12
38	Paul Menard	21.20	34.80	5
39	Dave Blaney	23.56	25.00	18
40	Joe Nemechek	25.00	19.17	30
41	Tony Raines	33.89	33.78	9
42	Sterling Marlin	18.45	20.16	44
43	Max Papis
DNQ	Mike Skinner	27.13	24.13	16

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Burton on Kyle Busch's role as villain

YOU HAVE MENTIONED BEFORE THAT NASCAR NEEDS VILLAINS IN THE SPORT TO BALANCE THINGS OUT. CAN YOU EXPRESS AGAIN WHY YOU THINK NASCAR NEEDS VILLAINS AND IS KYLE BUSCH FILLING THAT ROLE?

“He is certainly one of them. He has that personality and the success that people are going to love or hate. You don’t sit on the fence with Kyle. He invokes passion. There are a lot of people that don’t like him at all and there is [sic] an awful lot of people that passionately like him.

"That’s the same way you feel about the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees and that is a good thing. That’s what makes the fans come and that is what makes sports fun because it's just as fun to pull against someone as it is to pull for them.

"I think that our sport needs those people. Kyle seems to enjoy it and seems to relish in it and many times provoke it just because he wants to. And you know, that’s his business and that is the way he wants to do it and its okay with me. I think it's funny when he gets out and bows because I know that three-quarters of those people want to throw something at him and the other quarter want to throw something at the people that threw something at him. That’s cool. That fan passion is what makes our deal work.

"I don’t think you should fabricate it. I don’t think it's something that can be fabricated because you either invoke that passion or you don’t and I don’t think he does fabricate it. I think it's just him being him. And I think he likes it when he pisses somebody off to be quite honest and he stands pat and says this is how it is, this is who I am and this is what it is and that’s okay.

From a GM Press Release

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Gordon on starting last at Michigan

IS THERE A LOT OF PRESSURE ON THE DRIVER TO COME FROM THE BACK LIKE YOU WILL HAVE TO DO ON SUNDAY?

“It is, but I feel like there is always a lot of pressure on anybody on this team to step up and do their part and I’m just one of those guys. We all make mistakes including myself and you have to support everybody on the team when it happens. Then you have to go out there and do your best not to overdrive or panic or anything like that and slowly but surely work our way back to the front. You saw what a great job Tony Stewart did last week coming from the back and it’s the same thing for us because we know we can do it and we’ve got the car and the team that can do it and we have to make good decisions all day long.

From a GM Press Release

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Johnson is about due at Michigan

IS THIS GETTING TO BE A TRACK WHERE YOU ARE ABOUT DUE?

“I think so. That stat we are well aware of it (14 starts at MIS no victories). I feel that we have had some really good chances to have victories here. We had a fuel mileage situation one time get us, last year leading when the whole pit cycle started and the No. 88 was able to make it in one. I think we are closing in on it. We knew early in our career that this was a tough track for us. I think over the last three or four seasons, we’ve done a very good job of being competitive, we just haven’t been able to be there on the last lap in the right position. With all the work that has gone in to it and how consistent, we have been leading laps and running up in the top-five, I think it is out there for us.”

From a GM Press Release

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Burton on GM Cutbacks

CHEVY HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BE PULLING BACK SUPPORT TO THE NATIONWIDE AND TRUCK SERIES. HOW DEVASTATING IS THAT TO THESE SERIES?

“I hate to comment on it because I don’t know a whole lot about it. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Richard (Childress) this morning a whole lot about it but I will tell you that I know Chevrolet is going to do everything that they can to do the best job that they can in motorsports.

"This is an unprecedented time and in many ways it’s a sad time and in many ways it’s an exciting time. Chevrolet having to pull support is a big deal because so many people rely on and they have been such a big part of the series.

"So I don’t know everything I need to know about it to comment a hundred percent but I can just tell you that in my talks with Chevrolet is that they want to do everything they can to stay involved and be a part of the NASCAR deal. And I think they are but they have some tough decisions to make.”

From a GM Press Release

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on GM cutbacks
Jeff Gordon on GM cutbacks
Fantasy racing perspective on GM cutbacks

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