CONCORD, N.C.— Last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Speedway was a highlight for Hendrick Motorsports, as it marked the second time this season that three teammates have finished inside the top six.
“Just definitely really proud of our team and the work that everybody at Hendrick Motorsports has put in,” Chase Elliott said at Pocono. “I felt like we had four really fast cars. I hope that's a good sign for races to come. We certainly had I feel like one of our best days of the year personally.”
This Sunday, Elliott and his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates will compete at the two-mile oval of Michigan International Speedway in hopes to build on that momentum and lock in a trip to Victory Lane.
And the track, nestled in the scenic Irish Hills of Michigan, is considered one of the fastest tracks of the season with its 73-foot wide racing surface and high 18-degree banking.
“Speeds are high at Michigan,” Jimmie Johnson said. “I think I’ve been clocked at 217 mph after they repaved it.”
This weekend’s race is one to watch for. Check out the key notes below to keep an eye on before the drivers hit the track in Brooklyn, Michigan.
BROADCAST INFORMATION: Sunday’s race will air live on FOX Sports 1 at 1 p.m. ET. Can’t make it to the television? Listen to the race live on MRN and SiriusXM to catch the radio coverage. Here is the full broadcast schedule:
Friday, June 10:
11:00 a.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
4:00 p.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
Saturday, June 11:
9:00 a.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Practice, FOX Sports 1
Noon ET: Sprint Cup Series Final Practice, FOX Sports 1
Sunday, June 12:
1:00 p.m. ET: Sprint Cup Series Race, FOX Sports 1
THIS WEEKEND’S PAINT SCHEMES: Kasey Kahne will drive the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS for this weekend’s race at Michigan International Speedway. NAPA AUTO PARTS will be the primary partner on board Rookie of the Year contender Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet SS. Johnson will pilot the No. 48 Lowe’s/Koblat Tools Chevrolet SS and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the patriotic No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS.
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT MICHIGAN: Hendrick Motorsports drivers have led 2,371 laps en route to eight wins, 49 top-five finishes and 90 top-10s in addition to 11 pole positions at Michigan. The organization swept both races at the two-mile oval in 2014, and in the June 2015 race at Michigan, Earnhardt earned a runner-up finish.
KAHNE AT MICHIGAN: Kahne has three poles at Michigan -- in 2006, 2010 and 2015. After starting the June 2006 race from the pole position, the Enumclaw, Washington, native led 19 laps and went on to take the checkered flag for his fifth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win. Kahne’s 2015 pole award at Michigan was his fifth while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
SPEEDWAY STATS: At tracks two miles or longer, Kahne has made 131 starts and notched four of his 17 wins. He’s also earned seven of his 27 Sprint Cup career poles in addition to amassing 25 top-five finishes and 48 top-10 results at speedways of that length. Kahne is coming off of a sixth-place finish at 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway as he heads to the Irish Hills this weekend.
TOP-10 TEAR: Elliott is on a top-10 tear, earning one in each of the past five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. Only two drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have more top-10 finishes than Elliott's 10 (Kevin Harvick with 11 and Kurt Busch with 12 -- both Sprint Cup champions). Additionally, in the non-points-paying NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Elliott raced his way to a sixth-place finish.
LONE MICHIGAN WIN: In Johnson’s 77 career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victories, only one has come at Michigan international Speedway. It took 25 attempts for Johnson to find Victory Lane at Michigan but persistence finally paid off on June 15, 2014. After starting seventh, Johnson led 39 laps and beat Kevin Harvick to the finish line by 1.214 seconds. Johnson has an average finish of 16.8 at the track just outside of Detroit.
VICTORY IN THE IRISH HILLS: Earnhardt has scored two wins at Michigan International Speedway. His most recent victory came on June 17, 2012, when he started 17th and led 95 laps before crossing the stripe with a 5.393-second lead to earn the victory. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native has earned two pole-position starts at the two-mile track, tying his career bests. He also has two poles at Texas Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. After finishing second at Pocono Raceway in the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS, he will be driving the bright red, orange and yellow scheme again this weekend for Axalta’s fourth of 13 races as the primary in 2016.
IN THE FOX BOOTH: The driver of the No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, Earnhardt, is scheduled to join the FOX NASCAR television booth as a guest driver analyst for FS1’s live coverage of the NASCAR XFINITY Series race from Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, June 11, at 1:30 p.m. ET. Earnhardt will team up with FOX NASCAR play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander and analyst Michael Waltrip to offer analysis for the entire race as several of his fellow drivers have done throughout the first portion of the 2016 season.