BACK
06.14.15
Quicken Loans 400 Race-Report
Date: June 14, 2015
Event: Michigan 400 (Round 15 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (2-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 19th/16th (Running, completed 138 of 138 laps)
Point Standing: 19th (357 points, 219 out of first)
Winner: Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing (Chevrolet)
Danica Patrick and the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) left Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn with a 16th-place finish in Sunday’s rain-plagued Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race after crew chief Daniel Knost made a gutsy pit call.
Patrick started the race from the 19th position and was scored 21st when the caution flag waved for the first time for rain at lap 11. The event was red-flagged and she was able to consult with Knost about adjustments the team needed to make once the race went back to green-flag conditions.
Over the course of the first 50 laps, the event was delayed on three occasions by rain and then NASCAR’s efforts to dry the track surface. When the race restarted at lap 51, Patrick was scored in the 32nd position. The caution flag was displayed again one lap later, and with the threat of more rain looming in the distance, Knost called Patrick to pit road for a fuel-only stop in an effort to get the team to the halfway point on fuel. The pit call allowed the team to remain on track as the field cycled through green-flag stops. Patrick led laps 95 and 96 before pitting at lap 97 for four tires, fuel and air pressure, wedge and packer adjustments.
The green-flag stop left Patrick one lap down to the leader, but she was able to race her way up to the 25th position before the field started cycling through green-flag pit stops at lap 116. When the caution flag waved again at lap 124 for debris, Patrick was scored in the 16th position. With reports of rain in the area, Knost called for her to stay out and take the wave-around to put the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS back on the lead lap.
Knost’s pit strategy yielded dividends as Patrick had enough fuel to continue until the caution flag waved again at lap 138 due to rain. NASCAR brought the field down pit road and red-flagged the event before eventually calling the race official. Patrick was credited with a 16th-place finish.
“The car was completely sideways early in the race,” Patrick said. “Daniel and I were able to sit down during all of the rain delays and talk through the adjustments we needed to make to help the car handle better. Then he made the call to pit for fuel early in the race, and that put us in a position to stay out and take the wave-around there at the end and get a solid finish out of the day.”
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday at Michigan by winning the rain-shortened Michigan 400.
It was the 29th point-paying Sprint Cup win for SHR since its inception in 2009 and the organization’s fourth this season. Busch won earlier this year at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway and SHR teammate Kevin Harvick won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.
Busch started 24th and led six laps around the 2-mile oval to bring his laps-led total at Michigan to 448. It was Busch’s 27th career Sprint Cup victory, his second this season and his third at Michigan.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 28th.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS, led twice for 63 laps before finishing 29th. Harvick has now led a lap in 14 of 15 Sprint Cup races in 2015 for 1,225 total laps. Harvick has only led more laps than that in a single season once – in 2014 when he led 2,137 laps en route to the Sprint Cup championship
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second to Busch when the race was called official after 138 of the scheduled 200 laps when rain inundated the racetrack. Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five while Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Trevor Bayne and Clint Bowyer comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were five caution periods for 38 laps, with two drivers failing to finish.
With round 15 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 576 points, 15 ahead of second-place Truex. Busch is 11th with 426 points, 150 out of first. Patrick is 19th with 357 points, 219 out of first. Stewart is 26th with 269 points, 307 out of first.
The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action June 28 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for the Save Mart 350k. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.