2016 NASCAR Week 24 Preview: Michigan

Pure Michigan 400

Michigan International Speedway

By Richard Tix

One of my favorite times of the year! The regular season is winding down. Football is almost back (love me some college football). It's fantasy football (yes, I am a huge fan of fantasy football). Oh, and it's MIS week in August which means I will be heading to the Irish Hills once again!

Normally the August race at MIS is the only race I make every year. I've went over this, but being in Minnesota makes it hard to make a bunch of races. This year I did make Charlotte with the same group of friends that I will be in Michigan with.




**This section is just a quick look at some of Cup drivers latest finishes. This is not a tool for fantasy purposes and NBTW only is looking at end results. No deep statistic's are involved, but rather it is just a quick way to get ready for the race and get caught up on who has finished well at each track**

The Good

• Joey Logano- JoLo has seven straight top 10's here at MIS. Two of those ended up wins (2013 and earlier this year). Both wins Joey started on the pole, so that is something to watch.
• Kevin Harvick- Six top 10's in his last seven races. He actually had four straight second place finishes in that time and also five second place finishes out of six. Crazy he didn't win a single one of those. 
• Brad Keselowski- MIS is BK's hometown track (born in MI), but it is still one he hasn't won at. But, he does have five straight top 10's and seven top 10's in his last ten. In that same ten race stretch he hasn't finished higher then 13th. Can he finally win at home?

The Middle

• Paul Menard- In Menard's last eleven races here he has actually ran very well. From 2013-2015 he had a stretch with four straight top 10's (three straight top 5's). He normally get's overlooked, but he has a nice upside at MIS.

The Bad

• Kurt Busch- Kurt does have three career wins at MIS, which is very good. However, in between those wins he hasn't done as much. In between his 2007 win and his 2015 win he had three top 10 finishes in 14 races, rough.
• Kyle Busch- This almost never happens, both Busch brothers in the "Bad" category. Some bad luck has followed him at MIS, but at some point it weigh's on you. HIs last top 10 here was the first MIS stop in 2013 which is seven races ago. 
• Trevor Bayne- In 11 career races here, Bayne only has one top 10. On top of that he only has three top 15's.

About the Track: Michigan

Track Stats

• Cale Yarborough won the first race at MIS in 1969 and also two of the first three.
• The furthest back a driver has started a race from and won was 32nd in 2009 by Mark Martin.
• A MIS race has been won 20 times from the Pole position including the last race in 2015 at MIS by Matt Kenseth and earlier this year by Joey Logano.
• A MIS race has been won from the pole five times in the last seven races
• Most cautions was 10 in 2006 and the race was won by Matt Kenseth. This is also the only MIS race that had double digit cautions in 89 races.
• David Pearson has the most career MIS wins with 9. Cale Yarborough follows with 8
• Cale Yarborough has the most top 5 finishes with 21 followed by Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon (19).
• Mark Martin has the most career top 10's with 31, followed by Bill Elliott with 29.
• David Pearson has 10 career Poles at MIS (Cup leading)

Track Info

• Length: 2 miles
• Banking
• Turns: 18 degrees
• Start/Finish: 12 degrees
• Backstretch: 5 degrees