Nascar SCS Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan Intl Speedway Sunday August 17 on ESPN at 1:00 PM ET

Nascar ^

[mabarker1]

Just in via Race Hub: Jeff Burton will sub for Tony Stewart this Weekend at Michigan.

[happydogx2]

The right decision.

Hope the weather’s good for the race. First one in awhile that I can sit back and enjoy.

[McGruff]

I don’t see why. It won’t bring the young man back and it makes him seem guilty of something. Hang in there Smoke. It was a tragic accident, nothing more.

[mabarker1]

Because He still has to wrap His head around the whole thing and He would not be 100% in the Race mentally.

Now the next question is will NASCAR give Him the Exemption so He would still be eligible for the Chase.

[mabarker1]

BTW- since they added Jeffy to the Chase last Season I think they should give Tony the Exemption

[mabarker1]

I agree

[happydogx2]

Respect. To the Ward family. To the racing community. To the enormity of the horrific accident.

[nascarnation]

I’m surprised, the way to get your head straight is to do something challenging, not let it grind on your psyche.

Not sure if it’s reported nationally but he hired Jim Voyles, the top “celebrity” attorney in Indy. Voyles has a long time association with racing and was an owner of the 16th Street Speedway (a local dirt track) with the Hulman-George family.

[McGruff]

How many races are appropriate? He already sat out one race. That was the right thing to do. Now it’s time to move on. IMHO

[Chode]

not good

[happydogx2]

Until the accident investigation has concluded and results announced. Unfortunately for Tony he will live with this for the rest of his life and, its quite possible, taking the statements from the Ward family at face value, that Tony will face a wrongful death civil suit regardless if any charges are filed or not.

[happydogx2]

Wanna take a road trip? I haven’t been down to Pebble Beach since my Carmel days in the 80’s. Oh, you might bring some spare change from the cookie jar too.

http://www.businessinsider.com/classic-cars-auctioned-at-pebble-beach-2014-8

[kjam22]

Yep.... he’ll be sued. You know... he ran over another driver while doing 35mph under caution. School is starting back up. I hope no one lets him drive through school zones. Those little people run out in the street too....

[tubebender]

Would love to go but a lot is happening in Benderville that weekend… like yard sales, salmon festival, the Bender county fair and the BBQ at the Bender Lutheran Church…

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Interesting link. I looked for one driver of local fame and he wasn’t on there but some surfing around did lead me to this story about his kid from Arcata.

The Junkyard Ferrari
http://barnfinds.com/the-junkyard-ferrari/

[mabarker1]

I understand what You are saying however I will say that aside from Tony's personal reasons that that the lawyerzone is having an influence on the decision to wait until the Investigation is completed. Base on what I've heard coming from Mr. Ward Sr. this will be the Witch Hunt (read Burning at the stake) of the year even if the S.O. finds no or minimal charges are to be filed against Tony. Anybody even remotely connected Financially to Tony will be drawn into this. This will not end well. The mediascum will jump on the bandwagon and scream from the rooftops to try to crush Tony's life. I will be Praying for All involved in this.

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Stewart To Sit Out Michigan; Jeff Burton To Serve as Interim Driver for #14 Team: Tony Stewart has decided not to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event this weekend at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Veteran driver Jeff Burton, a winner of 21 Sprint Cup races, will pilot the #14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) in place of Stewart. This driver change pertains only to Michigan. Stewart's plans for upcoming Sprint Cup races have yet to be determined. At 10:00am/et on Friday in the deadline room of the infield media center at Michigan, Burton will be part of a press briefing featuring SHR executive vice president Brett Frood and SHR vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli.(True Speed Communication/Stewart-Haas Racing)
AND By skipping an entire weekend, he would need NASCAR to waive the requirement that a driver must qualify or race every weekend to be eligible for the Chase. NASCAR officials would not speculate Thursday whether they would grant a waiver if one is requested(Sporting News)(8-14-2014)

[mabarker1]

Wood Brothers forms alliance with Penske; names Ryan Blaney as driver: Wood Brothers Racing announced that it has formed a technical alliance with Team Penske and will race a partial-season schedule in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with up-and-coming driver Ryan Blaney. Blaney, who has raced as a Team Penske development driver since 2012, will compete in at least 12 races for Wood Brothers Racing next season in the iconic #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion as he continues his rapid NASCAR development. Blaney will also practice and qualify the #21 this weekend at the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway while current Wood Brothers driver Trevor Bayne competes in the Nationwide Children's Hospital 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Bayne will return in time to start the Sprint Cup race at the back of the field. Blaney is scheduled to make his official debut for Wood Brothers Racing in the 2015 Daytona 500. He will race for the team in events at Daytona, Las Vegas, Texas, Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan and Indianapolis, among others. In addition to driving the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion for the Wood Brothers, Blaney will drive a Team Penske Mustang in the 2015 Nationwide Series.(Wood Brothers Racing)(8-14-2014)

[mabarker1]

Teams to test 2015 rules changes Monday at Michigan: Nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will remain at Michigan International Speedway one additional day on Monday to test aerodynamic and engine combinations for the 2015 racing season. According to NASCAR officials, the test is designed to validate extensive work done by the sanctioning body's racing development team. Gene Stefanyshyn, vice president Innovation and Racing Development for NASCAR, said two different packages featuring various changes would be tested on the 2-mile track at MIS.
"We have a prime rules package and also will be doing a low downforce package, because some of the drivers have been very vocal," Stefanyshyn said. "They think (low downforce) is a solution ... so we're going to try one of those." The prime rules package will include the use of dive planes, a 9-inch spoiler, six-percent rear differential gear ratio, three different power levels (engine horsepower) as well as a driver adjustable track bar. Dive planes are small strips on the left and right side of the front bumper areas about halfway between the splitter and hood.
The engine changes will vary from the current 850 horsepower to 800 and 750 hp. Stefanyshyn said those changes would be made during Monday's test through the use of different sized restrictor plates in order to gauge the effects. If it is determined that less horsepower works best with the aerodynamic changes being considered, how best to accomplish that for next season would still have to be decided.
The test is slated to get underway at 9:00am/et with six different sessions scheduled throughout the day. Teams are expected to make single-file 15-lap runs in every other session, with double-file runs making up the remaining 15-lap sessions. Drivers scheduled to participate are: #1-Jamie McMurray, #5-Kasey Kahne, #10-Danica Patrick, #27-Paul Menard #2-Brad Keselowski, #17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., #43-Aric Almirola, #11-Denny Hamlin, and either #15-Clint Bowyer or #55-Brian Vickers.(NASCAR.com)(8-14-2014)

[mabarker1]

Goodyear Tires Notes / Fast Facts

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

Set limits:
Sprint Cup: 5 sets for practice/qualifying and 10 sets for the race

Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4558; Right-side — D-4586

Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 87.48 in. (2,222 mm);
Right-side — 88.50 in. (2,248 mm)

Technical Inspection Inflation:
Left Front — 30 psi; Left Rear — 30 psi;
Right Front — 55 psi; Right Rear — 50 psi

Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 26 psi; Left Rear — 26 psi;
Right Front — 57 psi; Right Rear — 54 psi

Notes: Teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series will run different tire set-ups at Michigan this weekend . . . in Sprint Cup, this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires they ran at Michigan in June . . . Cup teams have run this left-side tire code (D-4558) at Michigan since last season . . . this is the first year for this right-side tire code (D-4586), and these teams have run it at both Michigan and Kansas already . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Michigan . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

[mabarker1]

EVENT SCHEDULE
(Sprint Cup Series)

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Times are local to the Track

Thursday, August 14
6:00PM NSCS HAULERS ENTER

Friday, August 15
7:00AM NSCS GARAGE OPENS
11:00AM NSCS ROOKIE & SPOTTER MEETINGS & RANDOM DRAWING
12:00 - 1:20PM NSCS PRACTICE
4:40PM NSCS QUALIFYING
6:30PM NSCS GARAGE CLOSES

Saturday, August 16
7:00AM NSCS GARAGE OPENS
8:30 - 9:20AM NSCS Practice
11:00 - 11:55AM NSCS FINAL PRACTICE
3:00PM NSCS GARAGE CLOSES

Sunday, August 17
7:00AM NSCS GARAGE OPENS
11:00AM NSCS DRIVER/CREW CHIEF MEETING
12:30PM NSCS DRIVERS INTRODUCTION
1:00PM NSCS Pure Michigan 400 RACE

NSCS = Sprint Cup Series
SUBJECT TO CHANGE

All times above are listed in LOCAL Time

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PRACTICE & QUALIFYING
Dates / Times / TV coverage

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(times in eastern time)

• Practices:
  Friday, August 15, 12:00 - 1:20 pm/et, TV-FS1
  Saturday, August 16, 8:30 - 9:20am/et, TV-ESPN2

• Happy Hour 'Final' practice: Saturday, August 16, 11:00 - 11:55am/et, TV-ESPN2

• Qualifying: group qualifying for positions 1-36, Friday, August 15 at 4:40 pm/et, TV-FS1, re-air scheduled at 8:30pm/et on FS1; and 3:30am/et on FS1.

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PURSE/RACE AWARD

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2014: TBA
2013: $5,243,575
2012: $5,190,785
2011: $5,079,398
2010: $5,126,880
2009: $5,279,259
2008: $5,239,780
2007: $5,138,579
2006: $5,038,926
2005: $4,912,254
2004: $4,926,541
2003: $4,265,337
2002: $3,880,083

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TRACK/RACE NEWS

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• Track Specifications:
  Superspeedway: 2.0-mile D-shaped oval
  Banking: turns: 18 degrees; straights: front stretch 12 degrees, backstretch 5 degrees
  Front stretch Length: 3,600 feet
  Backstretch Length: 2,242 feet
  73 feet wide with 10-foot apron in turns, 45 feet wide with 12-foot apron on straightaways
  Pit lane is 50 feet wide and contains space for 44 individual pit areas
  Pit Road Speed: 45mph
  Pace Car Speed: 55mph
  Seating: 84,000 [was 108,000, and 137,243]
  Opened: 1968
  

• Race Festivities/Officials:
  Grand Marshal: TBA
  Command to start engines: TBA
  Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: Lowell Broesamle
  Invocation: TBA
  National Anthem: TBA
  Flyover: TBA