MIS Site Of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Last Victory

It was Father’s Day weekend, June 15, 2008, at Michigan International Speedway and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet) was back in Victory Lane. Fast forward a year later and the sport’s most popular driver hasn’t tasted victory since and has experienced more than his share of ups and downs on the race track over the past 12 months.

While that win was the 18th of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career and first while driving for Hendrick Motorsports, that victory didn’t generate the type of momentum that the No. 88 team had hoped it would. Earnhardt did make the Chase in 2008 — finishing 12th — but currently finds himself 20th in points and 245 points out of the cut-off 12th position. His team experienced a crew chief change a couple of weeks ago, with Lance McGrew taking over the duties from Tony Eury Jr. Since that switch, Earnhardt has finished 12th at Dover and 27th at Pocono. While Earnhardt is the defending race winner, his performance at Michigan over the years has been so-so at best. In 19 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at MIS, Earnhardt has the one victory, six top-10 and three top-five finishes, to go along with two poles. His Average Finish is 16.7.

Cut-Off For The Chase Is As Tight As Ever

The battle around the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup “cut-off bubble” is as tight as it gets. A single point is the difference between competing for a championship and missing out altogether.

Mark Martin (No. 5 Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet) is 13th, one point behind Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota). Only one other time in the Chase era (2004-present) have the standings been this close at this point of the season. After 14 races in 2005, when the Chase was a 10-driver field, 11th-place Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) trailed 10th-place Tony Stewart by a point.

The gap between 12th and 15th place is only 62 points. Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge) is 14th, 60 points behind Hamlin, while Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Target Chevrolet) is 15th and 62 points out of 12th place.

Michigan International Speedway is considered to be the ‘home track” for veteran NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Jack Roush.

Roush’s home is Livonia, Mich., located just 45 minutes from MIS and is also the site of his business interests — Roush Industries.

Roush Fenway Racing drivers have won 10 times at Michigan, second only to the Wood Brothers’ 11 victories. His teams have won three of the last five races there. Carl Edwards (No. 99 AFLAC Ford) has won twice at MIS, including the race last August. Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) has also won two times at Michigan, as has Matt Kenseth (No. 17 CARHARTT Ford). Heading into this week’s LifeLock 400, Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth rank 6-7-8 in the series standings.

The duo of Tony Stewart (No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet) and Ryan Newman (No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet) at Stewart-Haas Racing continues to roll on.

With 14 races in the books, Stewart and Newman, competing in their first year as teammates in Stewart’s new ownership collaboration with Gene Haas, find themselves first and fourth in the current point standings, respectively. With his win this past Sunday at Pocono Raceway, Stewart not only claimed the 34th win of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career, he became the first driver/-owner since Ricky Rudd in 1998 to win a points race. That’s a span of 375 races

RELATED – Read Genna’s Article: “14 Stewart’s Lucky Number”

Continue reading “Stewart / Haas Running on all cylinders”

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The Final Lap CHAT Show #67 – Kyle Slams Guitar – Tue, 9 Jun 2009
Kyle Busch slams guitar at Nashville, Tony Stewart wins on fumes at Pocono, Bodine grabs 5th at Texas, Double-File restarts, plus a full Michigan preview. Hosted by Kerry Murphey and Paul Northrop

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