Know Your Track: Michigan

Michigan International Speedway

Track Name: Michigan International Speedway

           

Nicknames: N/A

Location: Brooklyn, Michigan

Capacity: 72,000

Date of First Race: June 15, 1969

Layout: Michigan is a 2 mile asphalt "D-shaped" oval that features four turns with 18 degrees of banking. It has a curved, sweeping frontstretch and a straight backstretch. This track's design was used for the building of Auto Club Speedway.

Current Sprint Cup Races:

• June 14, 2015 - Quicken Loans 400, a 400 mile, 200 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.
• August 16, 2015 - Pure Michigan 400, a 400 mile, 200 lap regular season points race. This is a Sunday afternoon event.

Most Wins:         

• All-Time: David Pearson, 9 wins
• Active: Greg Biffle, 4 wins
• Latest Winner:
• 2015 Quicken Loans 400: Kurt Busch
• 2014 Pure Michigan 400: Jeff Gordon

Description: Located in the scenic, middle-of-nowhere Irish Hills of Michigan, Michigan International Speedway sits in amongst a couple of fields. But this quiet area lends itself to having the current fastest speeds in NASCAR. Jeff Gordon set the track record last August with a lap that averaged a speed of 206 miles per hour. 206! Since the track's repave a few years ago, cars have been going off into turn one at speeds of 220 before backing off about 30 mph to navigate Michigan's long turns. Simply put, those speeds are crazy for a stock car.

The only drawback with the repave is that passing (yet again) is difficult, but it is coming back around. Just this past August saw Gordon make a pass of Joey Logano on the restart, only to temporarily lose the lead and gain it back. It was pretty damn entertaining.

The sheer size of the track will never showcase nose-to-tail racing, but side-by-side racing is working its way back year after year. Both of the track's summer races will continue to provide key chances for someone to capitalize and win the race to secure their spot in the Chase.

Fun Facts: On race weekends, the city of Brooklyn booms from 1,200 to 170,000 in population, making it the third biggest city in Michigan for the weekend.