Michigan 400 Race Review

Michigan International Speedway -- 06/15/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Monday Jun 16 2008 3:23am

It's been a weird week in NASCAR, and the finish of Sunday's Sprint Cup race in Michigan just added to the oddness.

The week started with breaking news of a $225 million lawsuit brought against NASCAR by a former Nationwide Series official, an African-American female, alleging racial discrimination and sexual harassment by fellow employees.

While this news was still being digested, NASCAR officials convened a surprise meeting with Cup drivers before Friday morning's practice session. In what is already being widely referred to as the "Shut Up and Drive" meeting, NASCAR President Mike Helton apparently told the drivers to stop complaining about the Car of Tomorrow/Today and appreciate their position in the elite series.

The meeting prompting Tony Stewart's sarcastic reply Sunday to a reporter's question about the race: "Ask Mike Helton. I don't know what we're allowed to say and what we're not. I'm just thankful we're allowed to be here and be a part of this. It's just a privilege for us to be here and, according to Friday, we've all got it a lot better than a lot of us think. We're not allowed to have opinions now. We've all got it made here. We've all got it great. At least, that is what we've all been told."

Then there was the race itself, a relatively calm affair which ended under caution in a green-white-checkered finish, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the finish line - on Father's Day - evoking recollections of his famous father, racing legend Dale Earnhardt.

It was all a little too perfect for some fans, who immediately cited the fact that Junior passed the pace car under caution (more than once) in an attempt to save fuel as proof that NASCAR handed him the race on a silver platter.

For his part, Dale Jr. acknowledged the controversy right away. "I can understand how it might look, especially if you’re not Dale Jr. fans,” he said after the race. “I know exactly what they’re going to say Monday. I mean, my fans are happy and I’m happy for them. The other half are going to tear this apart on how we won this race, but I got the trophy, and I got the points.”

At the same time, Brian Vickers, who finished 4th, called out NASCAR after the race for a strange ruling that he thought took away his shot at victory: "I felt like we had the car to win there at the end. We kind of got it taken away from us. We passed the 8 car about two laps before the caution came out, and for some reason NASCAR wanted to put them back in front of us. I’d love an explanation. I’m not sure exactly how that works. It wasn’t even like we were side-by-side. We passed them like two laps before the caution and that pretty much cost us the race right there in my mind. The 8 car was the only thing saving us from the 17."

The No. 17 car of Matt Kenseth finished one spot ahead of Vickers in 3rd. Kenseth had his own weird in-race occurrence, when a NASCAR official inadvertently blocked Kenseth's exit from his pit box during a two-tire stop.

"I could never run somebody over and hurt them, but he saw my guys were all coming back, and usually when they walk out there they will go all the way to the right side, but if he would have kept walking, I would have eased on out there," said Kenseth. "But the problem was with guys crossing this way, and he was going this way and he stopped right in front of my right front headlight."

Overall, the race lead bounced back and forth between five drivers, all of whom finished in the top seven. Much of the passing occurred on pit road and, pit/fuel strategy was key in the finishing order.

Jimmie Johnson led the most laps, 65, and finished 6th.

Brian Vickers led 44 laps and finished 4th.

Matt Kenseth led 41 laps and finished 3rd.

Carl Edwards led 21 laps and finished 7th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led 14 laps and finished 1st.

Although Earnhardt Jr. won for Hendrick Motorsports, Roush-Fenway had a good night overall, as many predicted, with four drivers finishing in the top 10. Along with Kenseth and Edwards, David Ragan came in 8th and Jamie McMuray, 10th. The final Roush driver, Greg Biffle, finished 20th after suffering a mishap on pit road.

Once again this week, the top 4 drivers in the series - Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Carl Edwards - held on to their spots in the point standings, with Jimmie Johnson climbing to 5th and Kasey Kahne to 7th.

Just outside the top 12, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., and Brian Vickers each climbed a spot to 14th, 15th, and 16th respectively. David Ragan in 13th is just 10 points below the Chase cutoff at present.

This week, the Cup series heads to Sonoma for the first road course race of the 2008 season, where Juan Pablo Montoya notched his first Cup win in 2007.

Meanwhile, I predict more NASCAR weirdness to come throughout the week ahead.