he NASCAR Xfinity Series rolls into the Irish Hills of Michigan to the 2-mile D-shaped oval, Michigan International Speedway, for the Menards 250, a 125 lap feature. 40 drivers will be competing for 40 spots for the race on Saturday. The Menards 250 will be the 13 race of 33 for the season.
Michigan International Speedway is 2-miles in length. The turns are banked at 18 degrees. The frontstetch is banked at 12 degrees, and the backstretch is banked at five degrees. The track was last repaved in 2012.
This will be the 25 time the NASCAR Xfinity Series has made a trip to the Irish Hills. 21 different drivers have won a pole, while there have been 17 different race winners. Three races have been won from the first starting position, with the last race being in 2010 by Brad Keselowski. Mark Martin holds the race record set in 1995 with a speed of 169.571 mph. Joey Logano has the qualifying record of 193.637 mph set just last yer.
Although the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be testing out a potential aerodynamic package for 2017, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will continue with their 2016 rules package.
After the race at Pocono, Daniel Suarez holds an 11 point lead over Elliott Sadler, followed by, Ty Dillon (-18), Brendan Gaughan (-45), and Erik Jones (-49).
Because of Detroit being a major auto manufacturing hub, teams will be competing for bragging rights by winning at Michigan.
In their weekly releases, drivers talk about what racing at Michigan brings to the table.
“Michigan is a really fun and really fast race track. There are multiple lanes that you can run which is always fun for us as drivers as well as the fans. I feel really good about where we are as a race team and look forward to getting to the track every weekend. The guys have worked extremely hard getting our ARRIS Camry ready for this weekend, so hopefully we can go out and put on a good show for the fans and come away with our first win of the season,” says Daniel Suarez, Xfinity Points Leader.
“Drivers love wide racing surfaces and Michigan is one of the widest we run on all year. It’s fun to race and be able to move around and try different things to gain grip and speed. Our OneMain team has been fast all year and we’re going after another win this weekend,” says Elliott Sadler.
“Michigan is a really fast race track with a lot of grip. It’s pretty easy to run wide open but at the same time you have to be good in traffic to race well,” said Dakoda Armstrong.
Teams will hit the Michigan International Speedway for the first time at 12:30 pm on Friday. for the first of two practice sessions.
Friday, June 10
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice, FS1
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1
Saturday, June 11
10 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Menard’s 250 presented by Valvoline, FS1, Motor Racing Network
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