The Race Break Down
Sunday’s Carfax 400 is the second race at Michigan International Raceway in 2009.
The race has 45 entries vying for the 43 starting berths.
Nine of the entries are on the “go or go home” list meaning they are outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points and must earn a starting berth based on qualifying times.
Carl Edwards is the defending race winner from last year and started from the 27th position. Mark Martin won the first Michigan race last June starting from the 32nd position.
David Pearson holds the track record for most wins with nine. Bill Elliot has the most wins among active drivers with seven.
Rusty Wallace owns the track record for most laps led by race winner, 162, set in 1989.
Mark Martin has the record for fewest laps led by a race winner, one, which occurred this past June.
Michigan’s record for the closest margin of victory dates back to 2001 when Jeff Gordon edged Ricky Rudd by 0.085 seconds.
The greatest margin of victory dates back to 1989 when Rusty Wallace crossed under the checkers 15.71 seconds ahead of Morgan Shepherd.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan was held in June of 1969 and was won by Cale Yarborough.
There has been 80 Cup races at the track since that time.
30 NASCAR drivers have visited Michigan’s victory lane with 18 of them having two or more wins.
Ford has the track record for manufacturer wins with 31.
Wood Brothers Racing and Roush Fenway Racing, both Ford teams, share the track record for team wins with 11 each.
Consistency is a major key to success at Michigan. Cale Yarborough holds the track record for the most top five finishes with 21. Among the active duty drivers Bill Elliot and Mark Martin co own the most top fives with 17 each. Elliot and Martin also share the track record for most top ten finishes with 29 each.
Among the Michigan International Raceway’s top qualifiers is Ryan Newman who hold the qualifying record, 194.232 MPH, which was set back in June of 2005.
David Pearson hold the track record for most pole positions with ten.
The Track Break Down
The Michigan International Raceway is a two mile, D shaped oval, that sits on 1,400 acres of land.
Groundbreaking for the speedway occurred in 1967 and officially opened one year later. NASCAR team owner Roger Penske was the principal owner of the speedway from1966 through 1969.
The speedway has sweeping turns, with 18 degree banks, that allows plenty of room for passing and side by side racing.
The front stretch is long and measures 3,600 feet. The back stretch is 2,242 feet long.
Pit road is spacious, 50 feet wide, and has 44 available pit stalls. The pit road speed is 45 MPH.
The speedway currently seats approximately 137,000 fans.
While weather has been known to be a factor in a Michigan race in the past, it’s not expected this weekend. The Friday to Sunday weather forecast calls for sunshine, with some partly cloudiness, with daytime temperatures ranging from 83 to 88 degrees.
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