ALLIANCE TRUCK PARTS 250 - MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Nationwide Series Race #15 of 34 for the 2011 season


Last Race - Chicago
Next Race - Road America

Race Details
Race Information


Race Rundown
Nationwide Series Track Schedule

Times listed are local to the track (Eastern Time).

Thursday, June 16th
1:00 PM NNS HAULERS ENTER
Friday, June 17th
6:00 AM NNS REGISTRATION OPENS
6:30 AM NNS GARAGE OPENS
10:30 AM NNS ROOKIE & SPOTTER MEETINGS & RANDOM DRAWING
11:30 AM-12:20 PM NNS PRACTICE
2:00 PM-3:20 PM NNS FINAL PRACTICE
4:00 PM NNS REGISTRATION CLOSES
5:30 PM NNS GARAGE CLOSES
Saturday, June 18th
8:00 AM NNS GARAGE & REGISTRATION OPENS
11:10 AM NNS QUALIFYING (TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS)
12:45 PM NNS DRIVER/CREW CHIEF MEETING – MICHIGAN ROOM
3:00 PM NNS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS
3:30 PM NNS RACE (125 LAPS, 250 MILES)
4:00 PM NNS REGISTRATION CLOSES


NASCAR News & Notes

Hot Standings Battle Has This Summer Blazing

After a weekend off, the NASCAR Nationwide Series gets back to work at Michigan International Speedway for the Alliance Truck 250 on Saturday, June 18. For the fourth time this season, the top four in the series driver standings are separated by 11 points or less.
After the first 14 races in 2010, there had been four different driver standings leaders and four different driver standings lead changes; as compared to this season, with the new points system, there have been six different driver standings leaders and seven driver standings lead changes.
On average through the first 14 races this year, six driver championship contenders have finished in the top 10 versus four last year. Also, driver championship contenders have led 457 laps. After 14 events in 2010, series-only drivers led 313 laps through the first 14 races.
Reed Sorenson leads the standings by two points. He has posted five top fives and is tied with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with a series-high 10 top-10 finishes this season. Elliott Sadler is second in the standings, and has posted a series-leading seven top fives, coupled with nine top-10 finishes and a pole this season.
"I love going to Michigan, Sadler said. “It is the manufacturers' backyard, so there are a lot of bragging rights on the line when we head to Michigan. It's a very wide track, with a huge sense of urgency. There are only 125 laps and 250 miles, so you have to qualify good to race good from start to finish.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is third in the standings, six points behind Sorenson; he has posted one win (Iowa), five top fives, 10 top-10 finishes and two poles this season. His season-to-date Driver Rating, 107.6, ranks third in the series – the highest rank and rating of the driver championship contenders. Justin Allgaier is fourth in the driver standings 11 points behind Sorenson; he has posted one win (Chicago), four top-five and eight top-10 finishes this season.
Of the top four in the standings, Justin Allgaier has the best average finish at Michigan with a 5.5.

Michigan Native Brad Keselowski Returns Home For More Success

Hailing from Rochester Hills, Mich., Brad Keselowski, the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion returns to his home track where he’s won the last two races. His consecutive wins have come in two different cars and with two different manufacturers. His 2009 win was in a JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Last year he won from the pole for Penske Racing in a Dodge Challenger, one of four races for the series’ new car before its full-time introduction this year. He also posted a perfect 150.0 Driver Rating in that race.
“Michigan is a very special place for me, and not just because I have won on it in the past, but obviously because it is my home track,” Keselowski said.
He can join Tony Stewart (Daytona) and 2009 series champion Kyle Busch (Auto Club) as drivers who have won three consecutive races at the same track over the last three seasons (Stewart has won the last four at DIS). A third straight victory also would make Keselowski the series’ all-time wins leader at MIS. He and Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Todd Bodine each have two.
Keselowski has made four series starts at Michigan with an average finish of 6.5 – one of only six active series drivers with an average finish in the top 10. He is ranked first of the drivers entered in the race in the Pre-Race Driver Rating with 109.2.
Roush Fenway Racing’s Hard Work Paying Dividends
Watch for Roush Fenway Racing this weekend. Through 14 races, Carl Edwards has three wins while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has one and also has been at the top of the points standings. The duo has combined for six poles. And now, Roush Fenway Racing brings its high-flying season “home” to Michigan.
Racing at Michigan International Speedway always carries special meaning for Jack Roush’s teams, especially since they enjoy so much success there – he leads the series with four owner wins at the track.
Roush has two NASCAR Nationwide Series driver championships, but only one owner title. When Edwards won the driver title in 2007, Richard Childress Racing’s No. 29 Chevrolet won the owner championship. Since then, the owner title has been a priority for Roush. This week, his No. 60 Ford leads the owner standings by six points over the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. It’s the first time the No. 60 has led the owner standings in 43 races.

NASCAR Nationwide Series – Etc.

Mark Martin, the all-time series leader in wins with 49 in 233 starts, has two more races left this season to try and fend off Kyle Busch (48) from matching – and perhaps surpassing – that mark. Saturday at Michigan is one of those events. This is the rubber match of sorts. Martin and Busch have driven in the same race twice this season. Martin won the first (Las Vegas); Busch won the second (Auto Club Speedway). Neither seems to have an edge over the other at Michigan. Martin is tied with four other drivers for the all-time lead in wins with two, but hasn’t won since 1995. Busch won at MIS in his rookie year in 2004, but hasn’t won since. Martin has an average finish of 5.1 in 11 series races at Michigan International Speedway; Busch’s average finish is 5.2 in four races. … Mike Wallace’s countdown to 400 starts is underway. He currently stands at 396 starts.


Goodyear Tire Notes

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

 

Number of Tires: Left-side -- 1,325; Right-side -- 1,325

 

Tire Codes: Left-side -- D-4396; Right-side -- D-4444

 

Tire Circumference: Left-side -- 87.2 in.; Right-side -- 88.3 in.

 

Technical Inspection Inflation:

Left Front -- 30 psi; Left Rear -- 30 psi
Right Front -- 48 psi; Right Rear -- 45 psi

 

Minimum Recommended Inflation:

Left Front -- 22 psi; Left Rear – 20 psi
Right Front -- 45 psi; Right Rear -- 42 psi

 

Notes: Teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will run a slightly different tire set-up than those in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Michigan this weekend . . . while teams in both series will run the same left-side tire code (D-4396), they will run distinct right-side codes . . . Sprint Cup teams ran this left-side at Michigan last season . . . they have also run ths right-side code (D-4444) at Dover last month . . . compared to what was run at Michigan last season, this right-side features a slight construction change to bring it into line with what is run at other NASCAR speedways . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Michigan . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

 

Additional Michigan Nationwide Race Info:
Jayski's® Nationwide Series Silly Season Site at ESPN.com
Jayski's Cup News Page
Jayski's Silly Season Site Main Page

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