| MICHIGAN
INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Sunday,
August 20, 2006 on TNT
| Top
10 Countdown to Race Weekend |
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| 10
– Ford and Dodge have combined to win the last 10 NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup races at MIS. Ford has taken six checkered flags,
most recently Greg Biffle in June of 2005, while Dodge has
put a car in victory lane five times since 2001, including
Kasey Kahne’s win in June’s 3M Performance 400.
Jeff Gordon, who won the June 2001 event, is the last driver
to win an MIS Cup race in a Chevrolet.
|
| 9
–
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge,
picked up his first career victory at MIS and fourth of the
season in June’s 3M Performance 400. The victory gave
Kahne his sixth career top-five finish in MIS NEXTEL Cup and
Busch Series competition, but his first since August of 2004. |
| 8
– Eight drivers who are currently competing
in the NEXTEL Cup Series have combined to win 10 NASCAR Busch
Series races at MIS, including seven in the laswt eight years.
Kyle Busch (2004), Kevin Harvick (2003), Michael Waltrip (2002),
Ryan Newman (2005, 2001), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1999), Jeff
Burton (1998), Mark Martin (1995, 1993) and Bobby Labonte
(1994) have all won Busch Series races at MIS. |
|
7
– With his second-place finish in June’s 3M Performance
400, Carl Edwards registered his seventh consecutive top-10
finish at MIS. Since 2003, the driver of the No. 99 Home Depot
Ford has posted top-10 finishes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series (5th in 2003, 6th in 2004), NASCAR Busch Series (3rd
in 2005) and NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (10th in August 2004,
5th in June 2005, 4th in August 2005, 2nd in June 2006) at
MIS. Edwards’s entry into the August 2004 Cup race at
MIS marked his debut in the series.
|
| 6
– No rookie has ever won a NASCAR Cup race at MIS. With
this year giving us one of the top rookie classes in NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup history, could Denny Hamlin, Reed Sorenson, David
Stremme, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer or J.J. Yeley make
it to Victory Lane at the two-mile oval? Of the six rookies,
Sorenson (5th), Hamlin (12th), Truex Jr. (16th) and Stremme
(19th) posted top-20 finishes in June’s 3M Performance
400. |
|
5
– In seven career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup appearances at MIS,
Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 National Guard Ford, has
recorded five top-10 finishes, which include two victories.
He has an average finish of 10.0 in seven starts, which ranks
him third all-time at MIS behind Cale Yarborough (9.61) and
teammate Matt Kenseth (8.43). |
| 4
– NEXTEL Cup star Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced that
he will enter the field for the NASCAR Busch Series Carfax
250, which will be his fourth career series start at MIS.
In three previous Busch Series races at MIS, Earnhardt Jr.
won in 1999 and finished fifth and seventh in 1998 and 1997,
respectively. |
| 3
– Retired racing legend Rusty Wallace will look to have
his hand in a third consecutive ARCA RE/MAX Series victory
at MIS. Last August, his son Steve rode to victory in the
Hantz Group 200 a day after his 18th birthday, and in June,
David Stremme won by a full lap behind the wheel of the No.
61 car owned by Wallace’s RWI Racing team.
|
| 2
– Since 1992, when the NASCAR Busch Series started competing
at MIS (14 races), only one driver has won from the pole (Jeff
Burton in 1998). On the other hand, a series-record five drivers
have won from the second starting position. The most recent
was Kyle Busch in 2004. Other drivers who have won from the
second starting spot include Michael Waltrip (2002), Ryan
Newman (2001) and Mark Martin (1995 and 1993). |
|
1
– A number of top NEXTEL Cup drivers will aim for their
first Cup victory at MIS this weekend. Among them are Dale
Earnhardt Jr. (14 career Cup starts at MIS), Kevin Harvick
(12), and Jimmie Johnson (9). Earnhardt Jr. won the NASCAR
Busch Series race at MIS in 1999, but his highest Cup finish
came in June, when he finished third in the 3M Performance
400. |
| As
we count down the days, here are 10 facts, one for each day,
as the end of the MIS race season quickly approaches.
|
Tickets
are still available for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup GFS Marketplace 400
on Sunday, August 20, the NASCAR Busch Series Carfax 250 on Saturday,
August 19 and the ARCA RE/MAX Series Hantz Group 200 on Friday,
August 18. To purchase tickets for the weekend, log on to www.MISpeedway.com,
or call the MIS ticket hotline at 1-800-354-1010.
The MIS ticket hotline is open from 9:00 A.M. – 9:00 P.M.
seven days a week through the upcoming race weekend.
Source:
Michigan International Speedway
Return
to our 2006
GFS Marketplace 400 Index.
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Order
online 24/7 at www.MISpeedway.com
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