Michigan International Speedway: June 16, 2017, 6:00 pm
Qualifying Practice
Practice and qualifying at Michigan International Speedway is a search for speed. Spectators watch the video scoreboard to see who exceeds the 200 mph barrier. In the Friday morning practice session, four drivers topped the mark. With Joey Logano, the lone Ford, posting the third fastest speed at 200.479 mph. Clint Bowyer was eighth fastest running 199.606. Ryan Blaney posted the ninth fastest speed, 199.545. And Kevin Harvick placed tenth at 199.540 miles per hour. The interval from first to 10th a mere .226/1000’s of a second.
Qualifying Explained
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at MIS is conducted in three sessions. All entered cars passing inspection take to the track for session one. After 25 minutes session one ends and the fastest 24 cars, based on single lap speeds, advance to round two. Session two lasts 10 minutes, only the fastest 12 cars advance for a chance at the pole position. Session three is only five minutes long.
Again, all cars rank based on their fastest single lap speeds. Eliminated cars fill positions by session groups. Cars ousted in session one take 25th through 40th. Those knocked out after session 2 take 13th through 24th. Session three cars take spots one through 12. Franchise teams are guaranteed a spot in the field
Session three is only five minutes long. Again, all cars are ranked based on their fastest single lap speeds. The eliminated cars fill positions by session groups. Cars ousted in session one take 25th through 40th. Those knocked out after session 2 take 13th through 24th. Session three cars take spots one through 12. Franchise teams are guaranteed a spot in the field
Qualifying for the FireKeeper’s 400
No big surprises in session one. Two Fords that might have advanced, failed to move forward. Bubba Wallace Jr. in the Richard Petty Motorsports Fusion and Trevor Bayne. Wallace, filling in for the injured Aric Almirola, will start 26th and Bayne 27th. Kurt Busch missed a shot at the pole, finishing with the 15th fastest car. Busch’s Ford sits one position behind local favorite Erik Jones (unfortunately not a Ford driver). Ricky Stenhouse, the 21st fastest car starts next to girlfriend Danica Patrick on Sunday. Danica survived session one. But, she finished last in session two and will start 23rd in the FireKeeper’s Casino 400.
Pole Qualifying
All session three drivers qualified over 200 mph. Young-gun Kyle Larson won the Pole with a speed of 202.156 mph. Five Blue Oval driver’s finished in the top 12 positions. Clint Bowyer will start third, Blaney sixth, and Logano will take the green in 10th. Harvick starts 11th and Logano teammate Brad Keselowski goes off 12th.
Corrigan Oil 200 Race Report
At the conclusion of Cup Series qualifying the ARCA Series drivers prepared to race. The 100 lap Corrigan Oil 200 mile feature finished Friday’s events. Young-gun, Brandon Jones took the checkered flag for the second straight year at MIS. Jones, driving for MDM Motorsports, started from the pole and led 23 laps. Including the all-important last one. Jones also drives the number 33 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Richard Childress Racing.
