It is difficult to picture that the focus in the state of Michigan is all about the downturn in the American auto industry. Unfortunately, with the bankruptcy of both Chrysler and General Motors, it is tough to ignore. For at least one weekend, the focus went away from the struggling situation in Detroit and went to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Michigan International Speedway for the LifeLock 400.
The elite drivers of NASCAR were set for battle as it was Brian Vickers leading the charge to the green flag. Immediately, the fierce battle for the lead began as it was Vickers, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch battling for the front position. Busch managed to get to the front and quickly began to build up a lead.
Johnson then began running down the M&M’s Toyota and finally took the lead on lap nine, which started a common theme on the afternoon. Johnson quickly built up a 1.5-second lead on Busch in a matter of five laps. By lap 23, despite working through lapped traffic, the lead had grown to over four seconds.
On lap 36, Johnson’s lead over second-place running Kurt Busch was nearly seven seconds, and the field was getting prepared to make pit stops in about ten laps. The two Busch drivers, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart both came in for tires and fuel on lap 40 with many other cars. Johnson pitted the following lap along with Ryan Newman and teammate Jeff Gordon. Still, despite the pit stops, Johnson held his lead and by lap 55, had once again expanded the gap over second place to almost seven seconds.
Johnson’s lead was almost nine seconds when the first caution flag flew on lap 72 for debris on the front stretch. The lead cars came in for service, mostly for new tires, fuel and some adjustments as a majority of the drivers were complaining of a loose condition. Johnson once again was the car to beat, even if it was on pit road as he kept his position following his service.
The field went back to green on lap 76, but everyone that was behind the No. 48 car was experiencing deja-vu as Johnson pulled away from the pack again, leaving his closest challengers in the dust.
The gap remained steady at about 2.5 seconds from Johnson to Biffle, who was running second, as the lead cars began running up on lapped traffic. This would have made for an exciting battle on the track, but once again it was up to the pit crews to do the racing as the next round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 113. Biffle made his pit stop one lap later, and Johnson came in two laps after Biffle.
Much like the previous round of stops, it was Johnson holding his position on track and pulling away from his challengers. His lead was short lived as the yellow flag came back out shortly after the round of pit stops, and again it was for debris on the track.
Some drivers elected to come back in for service in an effort to top off the tank, get new tires and make changes. Johnson, Biffle and Edwards decided to stay on track, among others, to stay near the lead.
The green flag came back out on lap 125 and Johnson again started pulling away from the field. However, unlike many of the previous times during the race, his lead was not as large as the cars behind him began running consistent and sometimes faster laps, keeping Johnson in their sights. Johnson held a 1.4-second advantage over Biffle when the caution came out for the third, and what would prove to be final, time on lap 150 as David Stremme spun coming off turn four and hit the water barrier at the entrance to pit road.
Drivers brought their cars down pit road for the final time for service, hoping that they were in a position to get in front of the No. 48 car. In what would prove to be a significant move in the race, Biffle beat Johnson off pit road, as did Hamlin.
The restart on lap 155 gave Biffle a chance to pull out on the field. His lead was nearly two seconds, but much like last week at Pocono, the lead drivers were asked to conserve fuel to make it to the finish. Some drivers running farther back, such as Gordon, Edwards and Hamlin, said they could make it to the finish, while Johnson and Biffle were claiming to be a few laps short and had to back down their lap times to make the finish.
On lap 177, Biffle’s lead over Johnson was at 1.5 seconds, despite both drivers conserving fuel. However, by lap 184, the lead was cut down to only one second. Two laps later, the lead was down to 0.5 seconds, and soon it became a battle for position and no longer about fuel.
With ten laps left, Johnson was on the bumper of Biffle, and soon began battling for position. On lap 194, Johnson finally made the pass and took the lead, and soon pulled out by about a half second. With two laps left, Johnson held a great margin and looked to again have a win in the bag.
Suddenly, coming to the white flag, Johnson’s car began sputtering just past the entrance to pit road. Johnson’s car had run out of fuel one lap from the finish, and Biffle swept by to take the lead, having to only make one final run around the 2-mile track.
Just as quickly as Biffle got the lead, his luck ran out coming down the back stretch as he as well ran out of gas due to the battle with Johnson. He wiggled back and forth trying to get some fuel to the car, but it was not enough as Mark Martin, who had been around mid-pack all day but slowly made his way to the front, took the lead in turn three.
Martin’s car began sputtering just after pit road, exactly like Johnson the lap before, but there was enough gas in the tank as Martin led the final lap, his only lap led during the entire afternoon, to win the LifeLock 400.
In victory lane, Martin’s smile told a story of a veteran driver who has seemingly been reborn. The win is Martin’s third win this season, and has reinvigorated a career that seemed to be reaching the end. Martin has said numerous times that he is having the most fun in his career this season driving for Hendrick Motorsports, and it is apparent that he still has a lot more racing to do before he decided to hang up his helmet.
Next Sunday, the Sprint Cup Series takes a twist in their styles of racing as the drivers will be making both left and right turns when they visit the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. This road course features 12 turns, many elevation changes, and very little room for error, so expect drivers with road racing experience to excel.
Some new faces come to the front as the favorites next weekend, especially drivers coming from road racing backgrounds. Juan Pablo Montoya got his first Sprint Cup victory two years ago in this race, and with his Indy Car and F1 background, will be one to watch. Robby Gordon swept both road races in 2003, so watch for him to be near the front.
Do expect to see some road course “ringers,” the drivers specifically hired to race these courses to get a team back up in owner points. Guys like Boris Said, Ron Fellows and Scott Pruitt will most likely be in this race, so watch out for these hired guns.
Still, despite all that, the favorite I have in this race is Jeff Gordon. He has won the most races at the track, five, and is the most consistent driver on the road course. In 2004, Gordon dominated every practice, won the pole and led the most laps in route to victory. It is hard to dispute those statistics, and it will be hard to beat the DuPont Chevrolet on the track next week.
Coverage of next weekend’s race will start at 4:30 p.m. on TNT, with the race to start about an hour after.
TOP TEN: 1-Martin 2-Gordon 3-Hamlin 4-Edwards 5-Biffle 6-Montoya 7-Stewart 8-Kurt Busch 9-Vickers 10-Bowyer
NOTABLE FINISHES: 13-Kyle Busch 14-Earnhardt Jr. 18-Harvick 20-Kenseth 21-Kahne 22-Johnson 23-Newman
CAUTIONS: Three for 16 laps. Lap 72-77, 121-124, 150-155
LEADERS: Ten lead changes among six drivers. Kyle Busch 1-8, Johnson 9-73, Kyle Busch 74, Johnson 75-117, Edwards 118, Johnson 119-152, Hamlin 153, Biffle 154-194, Johnson 195-198, Biffle 199, Martin 200
POINT STANDINGS: 1-Stewart, 2189 points 2-Gordon, -47 3-Johnson, -142 4-Kurt Busch, -228 5-Newman, -255 6-Edwards, -262 7-Biffle, -276 8-Martin, -321 9-Kyle Busch, -329 10-Hamlin, -340 11-Kenseth, -341 12-Burton, -379