2011 Pure Michigan 400

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.

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

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

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
16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord37.826190.3451
17Matt KensethRoush Fenway RacingFord37.853190.2102
39Ryan NewmanStewart Haas RacingChevrolet37.980189.5743
11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota38.036189.2944
5Mark MartinHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet38.057189.1905
2Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingDodge38.094189.0066
6David RaganRoush Fenway RacingFord38.149188.7347
88Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet38.162188.6698
24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet38.176188.6009
1Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet38.204188.46210
27Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet38.221188.37811
00David ReutimannMichael Waltrip RacingToyota38.226188.35412
22Kurt BuschPenske RacingDodge38.251188.23013
4Kasey KahneRed Bull Racing TeamToyota38.275188.11214
56Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota38.280188.08815
9Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord38.286188.05816
18Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota38.297188.00417
14Tony StewartStewart Haas RacingChevrolet38.298187.99918
48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet38.344187.77419
21Trevor BayneWood Brothers RacingFord38.347187.75920
13Casey MearsGermain RacingToyota38.357187.71021
99Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFord38.364187.67622
20Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota38.369187.65223
29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet38.414187.43224
42Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet38.504186.99425
83Brian VickersRed Bull Racing TeamToyota38.519186.92126
38Travis KvapilFront Row MotorsportsFord38.534186.84827
47Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota38.564186.70328
43A. J. AllmendingerRichard Petty MotorsportsFord38.583186.61129
78Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet38.639186.34030
55J. J. YeleyFront Row MotorsportsFord38.650186.28731
31Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet38.661186.23432
51Landon CassillPhoenix RacingChevrolet38.788185.62433
36Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet38.814185.50034
33Clint BowyerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet38.834185.40435
30David StremmeInception MotorsportsChevrolet38.851185.32336
87Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsToyota38.864185.26137
71Andy LallyTRG MotorsportsFord38.889185.14238
34David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord38.933184.93339
66Todd BodineHP RacingToyota38.953184.83840
37Tony RainesMax Q MotorsportsFord39.229183.53841
32Ken SchraderFAS Lane RacingFord39.294183.23442
60Mike SkinnerGermain RacingToyota39.298183.21543
Failed to Qualify
7Johnny SauterRobby Gordon MotorsportsDodge39.384182.815
46Erik DarnellWhitney MotorsportsFord39.547182.062
50T. J. BellLTD PowersportsChevrolet39.720181.269

Race results

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points
11718Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20347
21948Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20343
362Brad KeselowskiPenske RacingDodge20341
455Mark MartinHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20341
5339Ryan NewmanStewart Haas RacingChevrolet20339
6924Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20339
7144Kasey KahneRed Bull Racing TeamToyota20338
83533Clint BowyerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20336
91814Tony StewartStewart Haas RacingChevrolet20335
10217Matt KensethRoush Fenway RacingFord20335
112943A. J. AllmendingerRichard Petty MotorsportsFord20333
1276David RaganRoush Fenway RacingFord20332
133078Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet20331
14888Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20330
152847Bobby LabonteJTG Daugherty RacingToyota20329
162683Brian VickersRed Bull Racing TeamToyota20328
173231Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20327
181200David ReutimannMichael Waltrip RacingToyota20326
191556Martin Truex Jr.Michael Waltrip RacingToyota20325
20116Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord20326
212320Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota20323
222429Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20322
23101Jamie McMurrayEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet20321
242021Trevor BayneWood Brothers RacingFord2030
252542Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet20319
261127Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20318
27169Marcos AmbroseRichard Petty MotorsportsFord20317
282738Travis KvapilFront Row MotorsportsFord2020
293871Andy LallyTRG MotorsportsFord20216
304232Ken SchraderFAS Lane RacingFord20214
313351Landon CassillPhoenix RacingChevrolet2010
323934David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord20112
333436Dave BlaneyTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet19811
341322Kurt BuschPenske RacingDodge19710
35411Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota1889
362299Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway RacingFord1748
372113Casey MearsGermain RacingToyota328
384137Tony RainesMax Q MotorsportsFord266
394066Todd BodineHP RacingToyota210
403630David StremmeInception MotorsportsChevrolet204
413787Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsToyota180
424360Mike SkinnerGermain RacingToyota140
433155J. J. YeleyFront Row MotorsportsFord111
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. "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. "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. "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. "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. "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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