2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway

By Steve McCormick, About.com Guide

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Michigan International Speedway

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2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Preview:

Michigan International Speedway is fast and wide. This leads to a lot of safe green flag racing which puts a premium on fuel mileage and great pit work. Who will have the winning combination this weekend in the 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (800) 354-1010 or (517) 592-6672

The Track:

Built in 1968, Michigan is a 2 mile 'D' shaped oval with 18 degrees of banking in the corners. Even the front 'D' has 12 degrees of banking. This makes for high speeds on the smooth, wide oval.

Michigan's fast and wide racing surface leads to long green flag runs. This fact often brings fuel mileage and pit strategy into play during the race.

Race Distance:

200 Laps = 400 Miles

The Big Picture:

Kevin Harvick posted another strong top five finish and maintained his point lead over Kyle Busch. At the opposite end of the top twelve Clint Bowyer gained one spot in the points to slide up into twelfth in the overall standings.

The top twelve:

Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch -19
Denny Hamlin -136
Matt Kenseth -164
Kurt Busch -182
Jimmie Johnson -214
Jeff Gordon -236
Jeff Burton 0
Carl Edwards -334
Greg Biffle-336
Mark Martin -352
Clint Bowyer -377

Storylines:

Last week Joey Logano was battling to stay in the top five when he and Kevin Harvick got together on the track spinning Logano out of his top finish.

After the race Logano drove his car up to Harvick's and got out to have some words with him.

When the press finally caught up with Logano he still had a lot to say about Kevin Harvick calling him "stupid" and claiming that "his wife wears the firesuit in the family."

This isn't over yet. I expect a full investigation by the TNT crew into DeLana Harvick's firesuit before the green flag flies in this Sunday's race.

Media Coverage:

TV: TNT Sunday, June 13th, 12:00PM Eastern.

Radio: MRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 1:00PM Eastern

Recent Events:

2009 Winner: Mark Martin

2009 Polesitter: Brian Vickers

Last Year:

Mark Martin has seen many races slip away unexpectedly in his many years of racing. Last year the racing Gods gave him one back as he went from third to first on the last lap to win the 2009 LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Mark Martin only lead one lap, but it was the one that mattered most.

Fuel mileage had a big impact on the outcome as Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle both ran out of fuel while leading on the last lap allowing Mark Martin to slip past for the win.

Predictions:

Last year Jimmie Johnson seemed to have the fastest car. One more gallon of fuel would have been enough for him to win it all. Johnson desperately needs to stop the slide and post a good finish. Michigan is a great opportunity for him to do just that.

Jimmie Johnson has never visited Michigan's victory lane but he has had many strong runs and come up just short. This is the week that Jimmie gets his season back on track.

For my backup I am going with the other driver that had the lead on the last lap in 2009 without winning. Greg Biffle has two Michigan wins to his credit (2004, 2005) and was poised to pull it off again last year except for one extra splash of fuel. Biffle should be a factor again this year and makes a solid backup.