|| *Comments on Michigan International Speedway:* View the most recent comment <#27> | Post a comment <#post> 1. Eric posted: 03.12.2010 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Used to be a great open wheel racing track. As a Stock car track, it varies. The track is capable of having a lot of fuel mileage races. Michigan sold out every race before a couple years ago. Attendance at Michigan went down for a the following reasons: 1.) Michigan's economy is taking a hit. 2.) Michigan International Speedway no longer has the advantage of being one of the two cup tracks in the Midwestern part of the United States due to 2 more tracks the ISC built. 3.) Nascar Fans in Canada have a Nationwide race in their country now. That might have a played a part because some Nascar tracks because Canadians attended Cup races for several years. I am pretty sure that Michigan is one of the tracks Canadians attend races at in the past. 2. Cooper posted: 03.14.2010 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3.22-km) moderate-banked D-shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) [1] near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is currently owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards). Michigan is now one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 190 mph (310 km/h) and corner entry speeds are anywhere from 205-215 mph (320 km/h). 3. LongTallJones posted: 06.09.2010 - 1:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This seems like to CART's Talladega with the speeds and wrecks, I like calling the open-wheel events as the Marlboro 500, no matter what. 4. Eric posted: 06.13.2010 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It is correct that Michigan was Cart's Talladega. The same thing could be said about Auto club Speedway. I a good amount CART races at the two tracks from the 1980's to the early part of the 2000's. 5. Neal posted: 06.13.2010 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Great open-wheel track, absolutely horrid stock car venue. 6. IglooRacer posted: 06.04.2011 - 9:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Misunderstood NASCAR track. Been there and it produces good racing. Would love to see indycar races in person. 7. aRBy posted: 06.18.2011 - 11:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The ARCA race we saw yesterday evening (6/17/11) was to die for. This is the way racing at MIS used to be. 3-wide, plenty of cautions, and a side-by-side finish that was was won by milliseconds. We have been going to the Friday afternoon June ARCA races for over 5 years now. They are some of the best races to be seen. Lot's of crashes, blown motors, rookie screw-ups and all the stuff we used to routinely see in Cup races. It's a $15 ticket. Traffic is easy in-and-out. You can sit in the best seats in the house. A great deal and I highly advise going to one of these. There's plenty of Cup and Nationwide action too as there are several practice sessions. MIS was (and still is) a great open-wheel track. I wish open wheel racing would return there. I have so many fond memories of open wheel racing there from Dario Franchitti's wild airborne flip to Alex Barron's "spin and win" photo finish with Sam Hornish Jr., to Scott Pruett beating Al Unser Jr. off of turn 3 on the last lap, to Max Papis running out of fuel on the last lap and being passed by Tony Kanaan for (what I believe was) Kanaan's first major CART victory. Eric: I would also add that MIS ticket sales may be suffering from it's location. With Gasoline at $4.00+ per gallon, driving 75 miles each way from Detroit Metro gets pricey; especially if you're taking a motor home. That goes double for fans traveling from Canada. MIS is still a very fan-friendly, great place to watch a race. I love the place. 8. Anonymous posted: 06.19.2011 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Canadian fans still come to races at MIS. Montreal is a LOOONG way away from Windsor and the Toronto area, which is where most of the fans that come to Michigan come from. The tracks that lose out because of the Nationwide race in Canada would be New Hampshire and Watkins Glen. The attendance problems are 100% caused by the struggling economy throughout Michigan and Northwest Ohio. But the track is doing a great job in marketing and lowering ticket prices and it's now one of the more affordable tickets in racing. The racing I'll agree varies. Some great 3 and 4 wide battles around the entire track, but it's known for long green flag runs and that really strings everyone out. The first 5-10 laps after a restart are outstanding. Also a lot of fuel mileage drama over the years. 9. Biscuits in a Red Bull posted: 07.14.2012 - 1:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now holds CoT qualifying record, with Ambrose averaging 203mph during his pole run, but NASCAR say no to the restrictors! I like that. 10. SG224 posted: 02.04.2013 - 7:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last time a car averaged over 203 in qualifying was in 1987. The car that won qualifying was also number 9 (Bill Elliott) Except for Melling, not for Petty which is the team Ambrose did it with. They both drove Fords too when that happened. 11. Kidattheend posted: 05.03.2013 - 6:05 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Michigan is at least good for the fact it is the only race with 2 dates Jimmie Johnson has never won at! 12. Walleyewhacker posted: 04.05.2014 - 12:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Kidattheend posted: Michigan is at least good for the fact it is the only race with 2 dates Jimmie Johnson has never won at! I'll add another, MIS was one of Earnhardt senior's worst tracks. MIS favors smooth style drivers like David Pearson and Bill Elliott. Cale Yarborough wasn't the smoothest driver around, but he adapted and drove smooth at MIS and was one of the three 'masters' of the track along with David and Bill. Had Davey Allison lived, he would have joined them as one of the greats at MIS. Davey had 3 wins at MIS in 13 events he drove there from 1987-93. Stubborn Earnhardt senior would attack and over drive the corners at MIS and fry his tires, refusing to adapt, and often never a serious threat to win at MIS. He was oftened booed by MIS fans, expecially the only two times he managed to win at MIS, June of 1987 and June of 1990. Most of the fans were pulling for Davey Allison to win the June 1987 event when Earnhardt was blocking like crazy on the last lap, barley holding off Davey. It was similiar to the blocking that Earnhardt did to Bill Elliott at The Winston a few weeks earlier in May of 1987. No wonder the fans were booing Earnhardt in victory lane, including me who had a seat on the start/finsh line 25 rows up. Only a handfull of fans cheered, as Earnhardt was at his dirty driving worst in 1987 and was not a fan favorite at all. Bill Elliott passed eight cars in the final few laps of the August 1987 race, Rusty and Dale being the last two passes, and the crowd went wild with cheers. That was probably the greatest NASCAR race at MIS, even Richard Petty had a great shot to win at the end. Senior never won an August MIS event. Bill Elliott had a half lap lead in the June 1990 event before a late engine failure with a little more than a dozen laps left. Senior got a gift win holding off a timid Mark Martin. Martin grew a pair and beat Rusty, Davey and Dale in the August 1990 MIS event, pulling away at the end. 13. 111111 posted: 06.15.2014 - 7:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 11: Not anymore :( it was bound to happen eventually. 14. Dylan posted: 10.06.2015 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Dale Sr. beat Ernie Irvan in 1990. Not exactly timid. 15. Sebastien posted: 02.28.2016 - 11:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Michigan was repaved before the 1986 races. 16. RaceFanX posted: 08.28.2016 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) In addition to car racing M.I.S. also annually hosts the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Lower Peninsula state cross country championships on a running course that weaves throughout the track's property. Upper Peninsula teams have separate state championship races at a location up north. 17. Alex posted: 01.19.2017 - 10:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) As a follow-up to yesterday's Texas post, Michigan is actually a 2.04 mile track (and was measured as such in the 1970s, with 197 lap races). This means Jeff Gordon's pole lap from 2014 was actually 210.689 mph. 18. RaceFanX posted: 04.06.2017 - 1:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One of the very few tracks to host NASCAR Cup, Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity, Trucks, ARCA, CART, IndyCar, IROC, ASA, and IMSA GT. IMSA's race here was a one-off on a roval layout in 1984. 19. SK posted: 07.07.2017 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Known as Michigan Speedway from 1996 through 2000. 20. kup posted: 11.23.2017 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR CUP Michigan International Speedway 1969-2017 # races: 97 UPS: universal points system. Driver's UPoints = Miles / Aver.Finish 1 536 Bill Elliott 22 424 / 14.6 1 419 Mark Martin 20 570 / 14.5 1 393 Richard Petty 17 413 / 12.5 1 384 Jeff Gordon 17 162 / 12.4 1 366 Cale Yarborough 13 114 / 9.6 1 336 Darrell Waltrip 17 768 / 13.3 1 311 Matt Kenseth 14 164 / 10.8 1 266 Dale Earnhardt 15 952 / 12.6 1 211 Bobby Allison 13 446 / 11.1 1 149 Rusty Wallace 16 204 / 14.1 1 129 Ricky Rudd 21 218 / 18.8 1 039 Kevin Harvick 13 198 / 12.7 1 031 Carl Edwards 9 690 / 9.4 1 031 Terry Labonte 20 310 / 19.7 999 Tony Stewart 12 592 / 12.6 985 Buddy Baker 12 705 / 12.9 925 Jeff Burton 15 454 / 16.7 901 Kyle Petty 18 646 / 20.7 892 Dale Jarrett 14 278 / 16.0 880 Michael Waltrip 18 306 / 20.8 872 Dale Earnhardt Jr 13 510 / 15,5 851 Dave Marcis 17 958 / 21.1 845 Sterling Marlin 16 060 / 19.0 841 Greg Biffle 10 928 / 13.0 840 Bobby Labonte 15 204 / 18.1 810 Ken Schrader 16 930 / 20.9 793 Harry Gant 11 182 / 14.1 768 Ryan Newman 12 436 / 16.2 767 David Pearson 9 279 / 12.1 761 Geoffrey Bodine 14 304 / 18.8 735 Jimmie Johnson 11 982 / 16.3 684 Benny Parsons 11 836 / 17.3 670 Jamie McMurray 11 456 / 17.1 629 Kasey Kahne 10 448 / 16.6 628 Lake Speed 11 424 / 18.2 618 Denny Hamlin 9 148 / 14.8 605 Kurt Busch 11 804 / 19.5 603 Martin Truex Jr 9 282 / 15.4 563 Ernie Irvan 7 542 / 13.4 547 Jimmy Spencer 11 486 / 21.0 543 Morgan Shepherd 11 286 / 20.8 527 Joey Logano 6 794 / 12.9 522 Brad Keselowski 6 680 / 12.8 515 Clint Bowyer 9 108 / 17.7 505 J.D. McDuffie 10 702 / 21.2 458 Chase Elliott 1 604 / 3.5 21. rm posted: 09.18.2018 - 1:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Back on the ARCA schedule for 2019. MIS joins Daytona, Talladega, Iowa, the two dirt miles and two Salem races as the 8 events currently known to make up the 2019 schedule. 2019 will be the first full year that NASCAR has ownership of the series and many speculated a drastically altered schedule would accompany the new management. However, that seems to not be the case so far. 22. Walleyewhacker posted: 07.18.2019 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) After 100 Cup races at MIS starting with the first event held in June of 1969 to June of 2019 (only 1 race was held in 1973),Ford ended up winning 50 of the 100 races, with 38 wins by Ford and 12 wins from Mercury. 23. JSPorts posted: 07.18.2019 - 5:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) That's especially noteworthy since the big 3 (Chrysler, Ford & GM) consider this their home track. Ford has won 50 races at MIS - 38 by Ford, 12 by Mercury GM has won 36 races at MIS - 26 by Chevrolet, 4 by Buick, 4 by Pontiac, 2 by Oldsmobile Chrysler has won 9 races at MIS - all by Dodge Toyota has also won 5 races at MIS. Ford/Mercury won the first 3 races at MIS. Ford is currently on a 3-race winning streak there. 24. Walleyewhacker posted: 08.21.2019 - 9:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ford has won 51 races of the 101 races held at MIS - 39 by Ford, 12 by Mercury GM has won 36 races at MIS - 26 by Chevrolet, 4 by Buick, 4 by Pontiac, 2 by Oldsmobile Chrysler has won 9 races at MIS - all by Dodge Toyota has also won 5 races at MIS. 25. JSPorts posted: 04.20.2020 - 12:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Top 10 drivers since 2017: 1st: Kevin Harvick 2nd: Martin Truex, Jr. 3rd: Kyle Busch 4th: Kurt Busch 5th: Kyle Larson 6th: Denny Hamlin 7th: Brad Keselowski 8th: Joey Logano 9th: Chase Elliott 10th: Ryan Blaney 26. Canadianfan posted: 07.08.2020 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) From Bob Pockrass: Michigan announces its doubleheader weekend Aug 7-9 will be run without fans. 27. RaceFanX posted: 12.15.2020 - 2:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first ASA race ever held on a major superspeedway took place here in September 1981. Michigan's own ASA legend Bob Senneker won over future NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace as a blown engine by his brother Terry Senneker ended the race under yellow. Pat Schauer, Alan Kulwicki, and Doug Klein completed the top-5. Some of the other notables in the 30-car field that day included David Simko (6th), Mike Eddy (8th), Butch Miller (9th), Bay Darnell (11th), Dick Trickle (12th), Bob Break (13th), and Pancho Carter (20th). Bob Keselowski failed to qualify. ASA rarely ran tracks this big with M.I.S. being the largest longest oval ever on its schedule. The series ran here annually each September from 1981 to 1986 and once more in 1994 with the winner's list being a who's who of all-time ASA greats including Senneker, Trickle, Wallace, Eddy, Miller, and Mark Martin. Senneker was the only two-time winner, winning the inaugural race and the final one 13 years apart. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: