Casey Mears has big shoes to fill at Michigan; other odd streaks at MIS
Kenny Bruce
Kenny Bruce is a three-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association's George Cunningham Writer of the Year Award. He joined Street & Smith's Sports Group in 2001.
OK, so how many of you knew that Brian Vickers won the last three Cup poles at Michigan International Speedway? No? Me neither.
With Vickers still on the mend, it’ll be up to Casey Mears to put the Red Bull Racing Toyota up front. Mears finished sixth there last August (driving for Richard Childress Racing), by the way.
Winning three consecutive poles at the same track is noteworthy, but far from the Cup record. David Pearson holds that particular mark, qualifying No. 1 at Charlotte for 11 consecutive races (1973-78).
• Speaking of RCR, none of the organization’s current drivers – Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick – have won at MIS in Cup competition. Dale Earnhardt won twice there for the team, in 1987 and ’90.
• Did you know II: Four different Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won at MIS, and none of them is named Johnson. Yes, the 2-mile track is one of five at which Jimmie Johnson has yet to win a Cup race. The others are Infineon, Chicagoland, Watkins Glen International and Homestead-Miami.
Johnson was leading both events last year when he ran out of gas.
Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and former driver Ricky Rudd have won in Hendrick entries at MIS.
• What do Martin and Kurt Busch have in common at Michigan? Both drivers have won there for two different car owners. In addition to winning last year with Hendrick, Martin won four times at MIS while with Roush Racing. Busch notched a victory there with Penske Racing and Roush as well.
• Joe Gibbs Racing might have the hot hand with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin working their way into the top five in points, but neither has a Michigan win to his credit. JGR’s four Cup wins at the track came with drivers no longer with the organization – Tony Stewart (one) and Bobby Labonte (three).
• Forgettable finishes: When it comes to Michigan, Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya share a rather forgettable statistic. The three drivers finished last in their respective debuts at the track. Give Busch the edge, though, since he finished 43rd in his debut and 43rd in his second start there later that same year as well.
