The Sprint Cup Series qualifying record at Michigan International Speedway has been broken unofficially by several cars already this morning, at a special NASCAR test to acclimatize drivers to the newly repaved oval. Toyota driver #56-Martin Truex Jr. became the first NASCAR driver in MIS history to turn a 200-mph lap when he hit 200.261 this morning. Chevy’s #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. was right behind him, at 200.206. Chevy drivers #42-Juan Pablo Montoya (199.440 mph) and #29-Kevin Harvick (199.236 mph) also flirted with the 200-mph threshold. #18-Kyle Busch went 194.789 in his Toyota and #24-Jeff Gordon 194.610 in another Chevrolet. The old track record was 194.232, set by Ryan Newman in a Dodge in 2005.(Detroit Free Press)
UPDATES as I see or hear them on the speeds: #55-Martin fastest at Michigan with lap of 201.089 mph in testing. Then Harvick (200.999), Truex (200.306) & Dale Jr. (200.206).(Dustin Long Twitter)
Practice can be followed live on NASCAR.com’s Leaderboard
The top five as of 11:00am/et after 3 hours of testing:
#55-Martin 201.089
#29-Harvick 200.999
#56-Truex Jr. 200.306
#88-Earnhardt Jr. 200.206
#14-Stewart 199.856
41 cars have run laps so far with 39 over the old track record.
The best 10 lap average was run by #18-Kyle Busch at 197.065mph.
4 cars didn ‘t test: #19-Bliss, #10-Raines, #32-Schrader & #49-Yeley.
See the speeds, laps run, best 10-lap average on the Michigan Test Session 1 Speeds page (pdf)
Test Session 2 – afternoon: top five speeds at end of the session:
#14-Stewart 201.896
#16-Biffle 201.556
#51-Busch 201.174
#29-Harvick 200.697
#88-Earnhardt Jr. 200.658
7 cars were over 200mph, 43 cars have made runs with ALL being faster then the track record speed.
2 cars didn ‘t test: #10-Raines and #32-Schrader.
See the speeds, laps run, best 10-lap average on the Michigan Test Session 2 Speeds page (pdf)
No restrictor plates planned at MIS: NASCAR officials said they have no plan to add restrictor plates used at Daytona and Talladega to reduce speeds. Vice president of competition Robin Pemberton expected speeds to slow on their own as the track rubbers in and the temperature rises. Series director John Darby said NASCAR has a speed at which liftoff is a concern as is the case at Daytona and Talladega, and ‘we ‘re not there yet.’(ESPN)(6-14-2012)
