2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400

2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400
Race details[1][2][3][4][5]
Race 15 of 36 in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season

Date June 13, 2010 (2010-June-13)
Location Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
Course Permanent racing facility
2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643.7 km)
Weather Scattered thunderstorms with a high around 82; wind out of the West at 7 mph. Chance of precipitation, 40%.
Avg Speed 156.386 miles per hour (251.679 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Kurt Busch Penske Racing
Time 37.90 seconds
Most laps led
Driver Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 123
Winner
11
 Denny Hamlin
 Joe Gibbs Racing
Television
Network Turner Network Television
Announcers Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty

The 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on June 13, 2010 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps, it was the fifteenth race of the 2010 Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Denny Hamlin for the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Kasey Kahne finished second, and Kurt Busch, who started first, clinched third.

Pole position driver Busch maintained his lead into the first turn to begin the race, but Jamie McMurray, who started in the second position on the grid, passed him to lead the first lap. Hamlin soon became the leader and would lead a race high of 123 laps. On the final restart, Hamlin started beside Kahne. Hamlin held onto first to claim his first Sprint Cup Series win at Michigan and his fifth of the season.

There were four cautions and nineteen lead changes among nine different drivers throughout the course of the race. The result left Kevin Harvick in the first position in the Drivers' Championship, twenty-two points ahead of second place driver Kyle Busch and forty-seven ahead of Denny Hamlin. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, six points ahead of Toyota and thirty-eight ahead of Dodge, with twenty-one races remaining in the season. A total of 95,000 people attended the race, while 4.3 million watched it on television.

Contents

Report

Background

The track, Michigan International Speedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.[6] The standard track at Michigan International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[7] The track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees. The back stretch, has a five degree banking.[7] Michigan International Speedway can seat up to 119,500 people.[8]

Before the race, Kevin Harvick led the Drivers' Championship with 2,063 points, and Kyle Busch stood in second with 2,044 points. Denny Hamlin was third in the Drivers' Championship with 1,927 points, Matt Kenseth was fourth with 1,893 points, and Kurt Busch was in fifth with 1,881 points.[9] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 100 points, twelve points ahead of their rival Toyota. Dodge, with 61 points, was three points ahead of Ford in the battle for third.[10] Mark Martin is the race's defending champion.[11]

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were scheduled before the race — one on Friday, June 11, 2010, and two on Saturday, June 12, 2010. The first practice session lasted only 70 minutes, but was scheduled to be 90 minutes. The Saturday morning and afternoon sessions each lasted sixty minutes.[12] In the first practice session, which was held under mostly cloudy conditions conditions, Juan Pablo Montoya was fastest, ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch in second and third. Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon followed in fourth and fifth.[13] In the morning practice session, Paul Menard was the quickest, with a time of 38.824 seconds while Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon followed in second, third, fourth and fifth.[14] During the third practice session, Jimmie Johnson, was the fastest, ahead of Paul Menard in second, Denny Hamlin in third, Jeff Gordon in fourth, and Kevin Harvick in fifth.[15]

During Friday afternoon's qualifying session, forty-six cars were entered, but only the fastest forty-three were able to enter the race.[16] Kurt Busch clinched his second pole position of 2010, with a time of 37.898 seconds.[17] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Jamie McMurray. Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne shared the second row in the third and fourth position, while Jeff Burton, with a time of 38.00 seconds, qualified fifth. The three drivers that failed to qualify were Dave Blaney, Michael Waltrip and Johnny Sauter.[16]

Race summary

The race, the fifteenth out of a total of thirty-six in the season, began at 1 p.m. EDT and was televised live in the United States on TNT.[1] To begin pre-race ceremonies, at 1:00 p.m. EDT, Fr. Geoff Rose, OSFS, from Lumen Christi High School in Jackson, Michigan, gave the invocation.[18] Then, the Army Chorus A Capella Team performed the national anthem, and Adam Sandler and Kevin James delivered the command, "Gentlemen, start your engines!"[19] Three drivers had to move to the rear from making major adjustments to their race car after first practice, they were Kyle Busch, with an engine change, Clint Bowyer, who changed to a back-up car, and Kevin Conway because of a transmission change.[18]

Kurt Busch made a good start, retaining the first position; Jamie McMurray behind him maintained the second position. At the end of the first lap, McMurray passed Busch. One lap later, Busch reclaimed the first position. By lap 3, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson had passed McMurray to put him in the fourth position. McMurray dropped to sixth place on the sixth lap. On lap 7, Kahne started catching the leader, and McMurray announced on the team's radio that his car was loose. On lap 11, Max Papis went to the garage (the place where teams repair or park their car) because of overheating problems. On lap 18, Marcos Ambrose spun through the grass, to cause the first caution. Afterward, most drivers pitted for fuel and tires while Joe Nemechek decided to stay out to lead one lap. On the same lap, Todd Bodine drove his car to the garage.

On lap 22, the green flag waved, as Tony Stewart led Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Kasey Kahne on the restart. Stewart dropped to third after being passed by Kurt Busch and Montoya. Two laps later, Joe Nemechek went to garage with electrical problems. On lap 26, Jimmie Johnson moved into the third position after passing Montoya. By lap 27, Kurt Busch had a two second lead over Tony Stewart. Johnson, Stewart and Kahne were battling three-wide for the second position on lap 30. One lap later, Nemechek returned to the track after having electrical problems. On lap 33, the top-five positions were single file with Kurt Busch in first, Kahne in second, Johnson in third, Denny Hamlin in fourth and Stewart in fifth. A lap later, Bobby Labonte went to garage because of overheating problems. On lap 37, Landon Cassill went to the garage with rear gear problems. Afterward, on lap 41, J.J. Yeley drove to the garage because of overheating problems, but he returned to the track four laps later.[18]

On the forty-eighth lap, debris in turn two brought out the second caution. Robby Gordon and David Gilliland stayed out while the other teams pitted. Gordon and Gilliand pitted the next lap and gave the lead to Kurt Busch. Kurt Busch brought the field to the green flag with Hamlin in second, Montoya in third, Johnson in fourth, and Kahne in fifth on lap 51. After Hamlin made a good restart he passed Kurt Busch on lap 52. Afterward, on lap 54, Landon Cassill returned to the track while J.J. Yeley returned to the garage. Kahne passed Montoya for the third position. After 67 laps, Hamlin had a 2.4 second lead over Kurt Busch in the second position. On lap 87, green flag pit stops began. One lap later, most drivers in the first ten positions pitted. Denny Hamlin, who was in the first position, came to pit road on lap 92, but had problems leaving which gave Kurt Busch the lead.[18]

On laps 94–95, Kurt Busch in first, and Kahne in second were battling for the lead, but Kahne did not pass Kurt Busch until one lap later. After the green flag pit stops, Kahne was first, Kurt Busch in second, Hamlin in third, Montoya in fourth and Jeff Gordon in fifth. On lap 99, Scott Speed spun after contact with his team-mate Casey Mears, and brought out the third caution. One lap later, Sam Hornish, Jr. stayed out as other teams pitted. On lap 101, Casey Mears collided with David Ragan while on pit road. Mears drove to the garage the following lap. On lap 103, Hornish, Jr. led Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin and Kahne on the restart. Three laps later, Kurt Busch passed team-mate Hornish, Jr. Afterward, Hornish, Jr. dropped to fourth. On lap 113, Hamlin passed Kurt Busch for the lead in turn three. On lap 119, Kahne passed Kurt Busch for the second position.[18]

On lap 126, Hamlin had a 2.8 second lead over Kahne. Seven laps later, Stewart passed Jeff Burton for the fifth position. By lap 134, the green flag pit stops began. Hamlin, Kahne, and Stewart pitted, as Matt Kenseth became the new leader. Two laps later, Hamlin regained the lead from Kenseth. On lap 146, Hamlin was in first, Kahne in second, Kurt Busch in third, Jeff Gordon in fourth, and Greg Biffle in fifth. Four laps later, Ryan Newman told his crew that his car was not running correctly from hitting a piece of aluminum. On lap 154, Hamlin was leading by seven seconds over Kahne. Most teams started pitting for fuel only on lap 161. On lap 177, Kahne became the leader as Hamlin pitted. Kahne pitted on lap 178 to give the lead back to Hamlin;. On lap 179, Hamlin was leading by nine seconds. With twenty laps to go, Hamlin was first, Kahne was second, Kurt Busch was third, Jeff Gordon was fourth, and Biffle was fifth.[18]

The fourth caution came out on lap 181 because of debris on the back straightaway. The first nine positions stayed off of pit road while the rest pitted. On lap 186, Hamlin made a good start and maintained the first position. On lap 188, Jimmie Johnson, who restarted twelfth, had moved up to the sixth position. On lap 193, Hamlin had a growing lead over Kahne. Denny Hamlin crossed the line to win the race, a second ahead of second place Kasey Kahne. Kurt Busch maintained third while Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart finished fourth and fifth.[18][20]

Post-race

We’re constantly trying to make our car better. We’re not going to get complacent. Even though it looked strong, it’s not as easy as it looked today. Friday and Saturday were somewhat of a struggle for us. We got lucky, qualified seventh simply because we went out early. [We] probably would have qualified about 15th or 20th in my opinion if we had went out any later.We just capitalized and did everything we were supposed to do.

Denny Hamlin, speaking after the race.[21]

Denny Hamlin appeared in victory lane after his victory lap to start celebrating his fifth win of the season, and his first Sprint Cup win at Michigan International Speedway,[21] in front of a crowd of 95,000 people.[22] "It’s so easy to drive cars like this," Hamlin said. He also stated, "We never stop working, regardless of whether we’ve got a nine-10ths-of-a-second lead or a nine-second lead."[21]

Kasey Kahne, who finished second, said, "I hung with him for about three laps running in his kind of dirty air. I was right there. Then he just slowly crept away. It felt good. We were close. That’s a huge improvement. I was pretty happy."[21] "We had a similar [fuel] issue at the start of the Pocono race last year where we broke a fuel cable," Hamlin said after the race. "I thought maybe that’s what we did. When I went to take off [after his stop], it immediately shut off. While it was “a downer, I was pretty confident we weren’t going to have it again. Because Mike [Ford, crew chief] never really gave me an alarm we were going to be stretching it on fuel."[21] In the subsequent press conference, Hamlin's crew chief said, "Towards the end of last season, where I said the best is yet to come, I strongly felt that way because towards the end of last season we closed out the season strong. I knew that was a catalyst to really turn up the team, to get a little bit more out of everyone. Denny goes down with his knee injury. He comes back, obviously not 100 percent. The team steps up. We narrow the gap to try to pick him up knowing he's not going to be there, and we start winning races, even with a driver that is not 100 percent. Now that he's coming back healthier each week, we're winning more and more. I simply think that's the catalyst for us to move forward. It's easier when the morale is high to get a little bit more out of your guys. Our benchmark is ourselves and we're just trying to work on that."[23]

The race left Kevin Harvick leading the Driver's Championship with 2,169 points.[24] Kyle Busch, who finished twentieth, was second on 2,147, twenty-five points ahead of Hamlin in second and ninety-six ahead of Kurt Busch in third.[24] Matt Kenseth was fifth with 2,019 points.[24] Chevrolet maintained their lead in the Manufacturers' Championship with 103 points.[10] Toyota placed second with 97 points, and Dodge followed with 65 points, now even with Ford.[10] 4.3 million people watched the race on television.[25]

Results

Pos Starting Pos Car Driver Team Make Sponsor
1 7 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx Ground
2 4 9 Kasey Kahne Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Budweiser
3 1 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge Miller Lite Vortex
4 6 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet National Guard Job Skills / DuPont
5 17 14 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot
6 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's
7 27 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard
8 5 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Caterpillar
9 16 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3M
10 12 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota The Home Depot
11 26 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Insignia HDTV / Best Buy
12 19 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford Aflac
13 10 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Target
14 39 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford Crown Royal Black
15 24 47 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota Clorox / Kleenex
16 21 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet GoDaddy.com
17 13 56 Martin Truex, Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota NAPA Auto Parts
18 9 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine
19 31 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil
20 15 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota M&M's Pretzel
21 11 19 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Stanley
22 25 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper
23 23 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies
24 2 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet GE Reveal
25 22 98 Paul Menard Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Sylvania / Menards
26 18 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. Penske Racing Dodge Mobil 1
27 33 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge No Sponsor
28 29 82 Scott Speed Team Red Bull Toyota Red Bull
29 28 21 Bill Elliott Wood Brothers Racing Ford FordParts.com
30 43 26 David Stremme Latitude 43 Motorsports Ford Air National Guard
31 34 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford Long John Silver's Ice Flow Lemonade
32 8 39 Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet U.S. Army
33 20 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota SpeedFactory.tv
34 14 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford UPS
35 36 37 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford Taco Bell
36 32 83 Casey Mears Team Red Bull Toyota Red Bull
37 37 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota FrontRowJoe.com
38 35 09 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet No Sponsor
39 40 46 J. J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Dodge TheSpeedPlant.com
40 42 34 Kevin Conway Front Row Mototsports Ford Extenze
41 30 71 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet No Sponsor
42 41 64 Todd Bodine Gunselman Motorsports Toyota Gunselman Motorsports
43 38 13 Max Papis Germain Racing Toyota GEICO
Source:[20]

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings[24]
Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 2,169
2 Kyle Busch 2,147
3 Denny Hamlin 2,122
4 Kurt Busch 2,051
5 Matt Kenseth 2,019
Manufacturers' Championship standings[10]
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 Chevrolet 103
2 Toyota 97
3 Dodge 65
4 Ford 65

References

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  2. ^ "Race Information". Jayski.com. http://www.jayski.com/next/2010/15mis2010.htm. Retrieved 11 June 2010. 
  3. ^ "Kurt Busch Wins Second Pole Position". Speedtv.com. 11 June 2010. http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-kurt-busch-wins-mis-pole/. Retrieved 5 September 2010. 
  4. ^ "2010 Race Information". Fox Sports.com. http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/raceTrax?gameId=20100613006&state=RACE. Retrieved 14 June 2010. 
  5. ^ "Denny Hamlin Wins 2nd Consecutive Race". CBS Sports.com. http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing/story/13518595/hamlin-stays-on-roll-makes-michigan-fifth-win-of-season. Retrieved 14 June 2010. 
  6. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/. Retrieved 3 September 2010. 
  7. ^ a b "NASCAR Tracks—The Michigan International Speedway". speedway-guide.com. http://www.speedway-guide.com/Michigan-International-Speedway.html. Retrieved 3 September 2010. 
  8. ^ "Michigan International Speedway is NASCAR's Great Escape". Michigan International Speedway. http://www.mispeedway.com/About-MIS/About-MIS.aspx. Retrieved 3 September 2010. 
  9. ^ "Driver's Championship Classification". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/14/data/standings_official.html. Retrieved 3 September 2010. 
  10. ^ a b c d "Manufactures' Championship Classification". Jayski.com. http://www.jayski.com/stats/2010/manu2010.htm. Retrieved 3 September 2010. 
  11. ^ "2009 LifeLock 400". racing-reference.com. http://www.racing-reference.info/race/2009_LifeLock_400/W. Retrieved 3 September 2010. 
  12. ^ "Race Preview". Michigan International Speedway.com. http://www.mispeedway.com/Articles/2010/02/June-2010-Schedule-of-Events.aspx. Retrieved 7 June 2010. 
  13. ^ "First Practice Results". NASCAR.com. http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/15/data/practice1_speeds.html. Retrieved 11 June 2010. 
  14. ^ "Second Practice Results". NASCAR.com. http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/15/data/practice2_speeds.html. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  15. ^ "Practice Results". Fox Sports.com. http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/raceTrax?gameId=20100613006&state=PRACTICE. Retrieved 12 June 2010. 
  16. ^ a b "Race Lineup". NASCAR.com. http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/15/data/lineup.html. Retrieved 11 June 2010. 
  17. ^ "Penske's Busch on pole, edges Ganassi's McMurray". NASCAR. 11 June 2010. http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/headlines/cup/06/11/kbusch.pole.michigan.1/index.html. Retrieved 3 September 2010. 
  18. ^ a b c d e f g "Race Lap-By-Lap Summary". NASCAR.com. http://www.nascar.com/2010/races/lapbylap/06/13/lap.by.lap.michigan/index.html. Retrieved 13 June 2010. 
  19. ^ "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!". NASCAR.com. http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2010/post_race/highlights/06/13/cup_mic_high_one.nascar/index.html. Retrieved 13 June 2010. 
  20. ^ a b "Official Race Results". NASCAR.com. http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/15/data/results_official.html. Retrieved 13 June 2010. 
  21. ^ a b c d e Bruce, Kenny (13 June 2010). "Denny Hamlin dominates Sprint Cup race at Michigan for second straight win". Scene Daily. http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Denny_Hamlin_dominates_Sprint_Cup_race_at_Michigan_for_second_straight_win.html. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
  22. ^ "2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400". racing-reference.com. http://www.racing-reference.info/race/2010_Heluva_Good_Sour_Cream_Dips_400/W. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
  23. ^ Martin, Bruce (14 June 2010). "Hamlin's winning streak could spoil Johnson's 'Drive for Five'". Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/bruce_martin/06/14/Denny.Hamlin.Michigan/index.html. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
  24. ^ a b c d "Point Standing". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/15/data/standings_official.html. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
  25. ^ "2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Ratings". Jayski.com. http://www.jayski.com/pages/tvratings2010.htm. Retrieved 4 September 2010. 
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