Article published June 07, 2005
Drivers seek edge at MIS
Testing for Nextel Cup events
NASCAR driver Dave Blaney and crew members discuss results of yesterday's test run at MIS for the upcoming Batman Begins 400.
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THE BLADE/LORI KING
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By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
BROOKLYN, Mich. - Some of the half-dozen or so cars zipping around Michigan International Speedway here yesterday were covered only in a mundane gray primer. Others had a mismatched fender, or a plain paint job, looking very much unlike the endorsement-plastered cars that we see on the race tracks each Sunday in the Nextel Cup events.
But even while tooling around in these somewhat ugly ducklings, the drivers were all looking for the same thing - an edge. Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Dave Blaney hoped to find morsels of information that will help them get to the front in the first Cup race of the summer at MIS in less than two weeks.
"I've had some poles and five victories here at Michigan," said Wallace, who is in the midst of a farewell tour in his final season of racing full-time on the Cup circuit.
"I thought I had a good chance of winning both races here last year, but I had trouble in both of them. I'm here testing because I love this track. Today, I wanted to make sure I got the aero-package figured out with the softer tires and shorter spoiler. The way I feel after testing this morning, if we would start the race right now, we'd win."
Wallace and most of the other drivers raced at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, and will run at Pocono this weekend, but they flew to Michigan yesterday to meet their car haulers and crews for an intense testing session.
| AHEAD |
• ARCA/REMAX Series: Hantz Group 200, Friday, June 17, 5 p.m.
• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Paramount Health Insurance 200, Saturday, June 18, 3 p.m.
• NASCAR Nextel Cup: Batman Begins 400, Sunday, June 19, 2 p.m. |
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After a lap or two, it was back to the garages where crews wearing headsets and gripping stopwatches were staring anxiously into laptops that recorded all of the nuances of suspension settings, tire pressure and speeds along each one of the possible lines on the wide MIS track."We'll look at everything and try a bunch of different things, but I'm pretty pleased with where we're at," Wallace said. "A testing session like this gives you the opportunity, so it makes sense to take advantage of it."
Wallace, who is seventh in the Nextel Cup season points race, took a brief lunch break before climbing back in his Miller Lite car and returning to the track. Elliott, who is running a limited Nextel Cup schedule this season, said he comes to MIS with high expectations because he has seven wins on the two-mile layout.
"I've got a good history on this track," said Elliott, who swept both Cup races at MIS in 1985 and 1986. "When you come some place where you've won, you automatically expect to run well. I like the place, and it feels good to be back here, even if it's only for a few hours of testing."
Craftsman Truck Series driver Chad Chaffin also took part in the testing session, as did Erin Crocker, a driver for Evernham Motorsports who is expected to be in the field for the Hantz Group 200 ARCA/REMAX Series race on Friday, June 17, that kicks off the 2005 racing season at MIS. The Paramount Health Insurance 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race goes on Saturday, June 18, while the Nextel Cup race, the Batman Begins 400, runs Sunday, June 19.
Tickets for those events are available at www.MISpeedway.com, or through the MIS ticket hotline at 1-800-354-101.
Several of the drivers expect to continue testing today. Fans can watch the on-track testing from the viewing area near the MIS administration building off the main U.S. 12 entrance to the track. The viewing area is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.
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