2011 Pure Michigan 400

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2011 Pure Michigan 400
Race details[1][2][3]
Race 23 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2011 Pure Michigan 400 program cover
2011 Pure Michigan 400 program cover
Date August 21, 2011 (2011-08-21)
Location Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Permanent racing facility
2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Distance 203 laps, 406 mi (653.4 km)
Scheduled Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643.7 km)
Weather Partly cloudy with a high around 79; wind out of the WSW at 9 mph.
Average speed 150.898 miles per hour (242.847 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Roush Fenway Racing
Time 37.826
Most laps led
Driver Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing
Laps 86
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree

The 2011 Pure Michigan 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 21, 2011 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the 2 -mile D-shaped oval, it was the 23rd race of the 2011 season. The race was won by Kyle Busch for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Brad Keselowski clinched third.

Report[]

Background[]

Michigan International Speedway, the race track where the race was held.

Michigan International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.[4] The standard track at Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[5] The track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees. The back stretch, has a five degree banking.[5] Michigan International Speedway can seat up to 119,500 people.[6]

Before the race, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards were first and second in the Drivers' Championship with 752 points. Jimmie Johnson was third in the Drivers' Championship with 746 points, Kevin Harvick was fourth with 738 points, and Matt Kenseth was in fifth with 724 points.[7] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 143 points, 15 points ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 118 points, was 23 points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third.[8] Kevin Harvick was the race's defending champion.[9]

Practice and qualifying[]

Greg Biffle won the pole position for Roush Fenway Racing

Two practice sessions are scheduled to be held in preparation for the race; one on August 19, 2011 and the other on the following day. The first session was 90 minutes long, while the second will be 110 minutes long.[10] During the first practice session, Matt Kenseth, for the Roush Fenway Racing team, was quickest ahead of Ryan Newman in second and Greg Biffle in the third position.[11] Mark Martin was scored fourth and David Ragan managed fifth.[11] Paul Menard, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Brad Keselowski, and Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top ten quickest drivers in the session.[11]

Forty-six cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Biffle clinched the sixth pole position of his career, with a time of 37.826 seconds.[12][13] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Kenseth.[13] Newman qualified third, Denny Hamlin took fourth, and Martin started fifth.[13] Keselowski, Ragan, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Gordon and McMurray rounded out the top ten.[13] The drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Johnny Sauter, Erik Darnell and T. J. Bell.[13] Following the qualifying session, Biffle commented, "We didn't know whether we were going to come here in race or qualifying trim. But we worked on a great qualifying set-up and obviously had good speed today. We'll work on things tomorrow on practice and hopefully have a great car on Sunday."[3]

In the second and final practice, Martin was quickest with a time of 38.371 seconds. Kyle Busch followed in second, ahead of Johnson and Biffle. Gordon was fifth quickest, with a time of 38.452 seconds. Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Newman, Ragan, and Menard rounded out the first ten positions.[14] Afterward, Martin discussed his feelings about the track, "I really, really like running at Michigan, not just because it's so fast, but it's so wide. We can race all over the track. I've been lucky at Michigan, and I've been just plain good. I've gotten a lot of wins there. Last time we raced there, we were pretty good. ... We've got to build on what we learned in that race and try to do even better this time around."[15]


Results[]

Qualifying[]

No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed Grid
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 37.826 190.345 1
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 37.853 190.210 2
39 Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 37.980 189.574 3
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.036 189.294 4
5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.057 189.190 5
2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 38.094 189.006 6
6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 38.149 188.734 7
88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.162 188.669 8
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.176 188.600 9
1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.204 188.462 10
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.221 188.378 11
00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 38.226 188.354 12
22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 38.251 188.230 13
4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 38.275 188.112 14
56 Martin Truex, Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 38.280 188.088 15
9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 38.286 188.058 16
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.297 188.004 17
14 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 38.298 187.999 18
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.344 187.774 19
21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 38.347 187.759 20
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 38.357 187.710 21
99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 38.364 187.676 22
20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.369 187.652 23
29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.414 187.432 24
42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.504 186.994 25
83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 38.519 186.921 26
38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.534 186.848 27
47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 38.564 186.703 28
43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 38.583 186.611 29
78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 38.639 186.340 30
55 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.650 186.287 31
31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.661 186.234 32
51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 38.788 185.624 33
36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 38.814 185.500 34
33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.834 185.404 35
30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 38.851 185.323 36
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 38.864 185.261 37
71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 38.889 185.142 38
34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.933 184.933 39
66 Todd Bodine HP Racing Toyota 38.953 184.838 40
37 Tony Raines Max Q Motorsports Ford 39.229 183.538 41
32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 39.294 183.234 42
60 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 39.298 183.215 43
Failed to Qualify
7 Johnny Sauter Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 39.384 182.815
46 Erik Darnell Whitney Motorsports Ford 39.547 182.062
50 T. J. Bell LTD Powersports Chevrolet 39.720 181.269
Source:[13][16][17]

Race results[]

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points
1 17 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 203 47
2 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 43
3 6 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 203 41
4 5 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 41
5 3 39 Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 203 39
6 9 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 39
7 14 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 203 38
8 35 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 203 36
9 18 14 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 203 35
10 2 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 203 35
11 29 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 203 33
12 7 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 203 32
13 30 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 203 31
14 8 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 30
15 28 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 203 29
16 26 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 203 28
17 32 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 203 27
18 12 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 203 26
19 15 56 Martin Truex, Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 203 25
20 1 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 203 26
21 23 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 203 23
22 24 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 203 22
23 10 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 203 21
24 20 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 203 0
25 25 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 203 19
26 11 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 203 18
27 16 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 203 17
28 27 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 202 0
29 38 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 202 16
30 42 32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 202 14
31 33 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 201 0
32 39 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 201 12
33 34 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 198 11
34 13 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 197 10
35 4 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 188 9
36 22 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 174 8
37 21 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 32 8
38 41 37 Tony Raines Max Q Motorsports Ford 26 6
39 40 66 Todd Bodine HP Racing Toyota 21 0
40 36 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 20 4
41 37 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 18 0
42 43 60 Mike Skinner Germain Racing Toyota 14 0
43 31 55 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 11 1
Source:[18]

Standings after the race[]

References[]

  1. ^ "2011 Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  2. ^ Brown, Brian. "The Pure Michigan 400". August 18, 2011. Rotoworld.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Greg Biffle Back On Top in Qualifying — MotorRacingNetwork.com". Motor Racing Network. August 19, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  4. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "NASCAR Tracks — The Michigan International Speedway". speedway-guide.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  6. ^ "Michigan International Speedway is NASCAR's Great Escape". Michigan International Speedway. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  7. ^ "Driver's Championship Classification". NASCAR. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Manufactures' Championship Classification". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  9. ^ "2010 Carfax 400". racing-reference.com. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  10. ^ "Jayski'sŽ NASCAR Silly Season Site – Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". Jayski.com. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
  11. ^ a b c "Practice One Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
  12. ^ Ryan, Nate (August 19, 2011). "Greg Biffle captures NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at Michigan — USATODAY.com". USA Today. Brooklyn, Michigan. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  13. ^ a b c d e f "Race Official Lineup: Pure Michigan 400". NASCAR. August 19, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  14. ^ "Practice Three Timing and Scoring". NASCAR. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  15. ^ Turner, Jared (August 20, 2011). "NASCAR — CUP:Martin Leaves Mark on Final Practice at MIS". Brooklyn, Michigan. Speedtv.com. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  16. ^ "Lineup Statistics". MotorRacingNetwork.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  17. ^ "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site — Michigan Sprint Cup Qualifying Order/Results, Lineup". Jayski.com. Retrieved August 20, 2011.
  18. ^ "Official Race Results: Pure Michigan 400". NASCAR. August 22, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  19. ^ "Official Drivers' Standings: Pure Michigan 400". NASCAR. Retrieved August 25, 2011.


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