Brooklyn, Mich. — For two decades, Michigan International Speedway was regarded as a Ford track, for whatever reasons. Much of that had to do with the success of two drivers at the wide, 2-mile oval—David Pearson, who won nine races here, eight in the 1970s with the Wood Brothers, and Bill Elliott, who had seven victories and eight poles here, all with his Harry Melling-backed team in the 1980s.
(Ford team owner Robert Yates once tried to explain that Ford's success at Michigan had also to do with the weight distribution in the old, pre-1992 Ford small-block, which he said was more favorable to big, high-speed tracks such as
Michigan and Atlanta. If you've ever heard Robert try to explain something that complex, you'll know that that kind of talk often goes right through the ears of a novice.)
MIS, however, looked like anything but a Ford track after two rounds of practice Friday, in preparation for Sunday's Batman Begins 400 — the race named for a motion-picture. Greg Biffle and Elliott Sadler were the only Ford drivers to crack the top 10 in the opening runs, with Biffle, fourth on the sheet, nearly half a second off the pace of leader Ryan Newman. Newman's best lap was in 37.478 seconds (192.164 mph), two-tenths ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 2000 track record.
In the late-day runs, the Dodges of Newman and Jeremy Mayfield ran identical times, both hitting 37.481 to rise to the top of the board. Among the Ford Tauruses, Mark Martin nudged up to fifth on the sheet at 37.685, with Sadler staying fairly steady, showing 12th at 37.876.
More worrying for the Ford teams is that cars that are fast in practice generally are fast in qualifying and continue to be fast in the race. This track, and the California Speedway, which was built according to the Michigan pattern, tend to reward pure speed in the car, as there is plenty of room to maneuver and pass.
Qualifying trials are scheduled for 12:10 p.m. ET Saturday.
Two question marks are the affects of weather and the consequences of NASCAR's impound procedures, used here for the first time this week. The weather Friday was cool and cloudy, with temperature in the 60s. Forecasts call for some warming through the rest of the weekend.
Under the impound protocol, cars are qualified, then locked down by NASCAR, with no further work permitted on them until the start of Sunday's race. Most teams tried at least half a fuel run in practice Friday, with Mayfield running a continuous 44 laps in the afternoon session.
Geoff Smith, president of Roush Racing, said Friday that the Roush lineup for 2006 is all but complete, with sponsors and drivers for four of its five Nextel Cup cars showing no major changes. DeWalt will return to Matt Kenseth's No. 17, National Guard/Subway/etc. to Greg Biffle's No. 16, Rubbermaid/Smirnoff and others with Kurt Busch's No. 97, and all races accounted for with Carl Edwards's No. 99.
The million-dollar question, of course, has been who will take over for retiring veteran Mark Martin in the flagship No. 6. Sponsor Pfizer will leave after this season, as has been known for weeks, but Smith said the sponsor issue is more a matter of placing the right company with the right driver.
Smith continues to hint that Jon Wood, still under contract with Roush while driving on loan in the Busch Series, could be the front-runner for the job. "We have at least one sponsor who is very interested in Jon," Smith said.
Smith also dismissed reports that Valvoline, one-time primary sponsor of Martin and the No. 6, could return as sponsor of Martin's Roush-backed Craftsman Truck effort next season. Smith said Roush Racing has a company-wide supplier agreement with Quaker State, and that such a nostalgic coupling would not be possible.
Although the level of support is not comparable, Ford cars did very well in Friday's ARCA preliminary, with perennial champion Frank Kimmel sweeping past Ken Weaver with 14 laps to go and winning by 1.7 seconds. Kimmel has won the past five ARCA championships, leads this year's standings, and is bidding to surpass Iggy Katona's record for number of series championships all-time.
Other Ford runners in the top 15 were A.J. Henricksen (fourth), Danny O'Quinn (sixth), Bubba Pollard (11th), and Dominic Vara (12th). There were 13 Ford cars in the 40-car field.
