Marcos Ambrose won his first career pole position by posting a new track record speed in qualifying. He led the first five laps until Greg Biffle passed him on the sixth lap. He led the next twenty laps before Ambrose retook it for another five laps afterward. Biffle retook the lead on lap 54, holding it until Ambrose re-passed him to return to the front of the field fifteen laps later. Earnhardt took the lead for the first time on the 70th lap, and he kept the position for a total of 95 laps, more than any other driver. At the race's final restart on 141, Earnhardt led through the final round of green flagpit stops to win the race. There were a total of eight cautions and 23 lead changes among 14 drivers during the event.
The victory was Earnhardt's first in 143 races, his second at Michigan International Speedway, and the 19th of his career. The result moved him to within four points of Drivers' Championship leader Kenseth. Biffle maintained third place, and Jimmie Johnson moved past Denny Hamlin in fourth place. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship with 105 points, 18 points ahead of Toyota, 28 points in front of Ford, and 44 points ahead of Dodge with 21 races left in the season. The race attracted 5,284,000 television viewers.
In preparation for the race, NASCAR held two test sessions on June 12, 2012 for teams to test the newer pavement at Michigan, the first since 1995.[9] During the first test session (which was held in the morning and lasted for four hours) Mark Martin was quickest ahead of Kevin Harvick with a speed of 201.089 miles per hour (323.621km/h) and a time of 35.805 seconds, while Tony Stewart was fastest in the second and final test session with a time of 35.662 seconds and recorded a speed of 201.896 miles per hour (324.920km/h). Top speeds approached 218 miles per hour (351km/h) during the day; NASCAR determined that the installation of restrictor plates would not be required, and NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton spoke of his expectation that speeds would reduce as the surface rubbered in and track temperatures increased.[10]
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race. The first and second sessions that took place on Friday ran for 80 minutes, and the third additional practice session held on Saturday lasted 75 minutes.[3] In the first practice session, Martin was fastest with a lap of 35.754 seconds, almost six hundredths of a second faster than Earnhardt in second. Trevor Bayne, Stewart, Kenseth, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Paul Menard, and Truex followed in positions three to ten.[14] Biffle paced the second practice session with a 35.172 seconds lap. He was six hundredths of a second faster than Marcos Ambrose in the second position. Harvick, Edwards, Menard, Bayne, Johnson, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, and Kenseth completed the top ten ahead of the qualifying session.[14] The only incident in the Friday practice sessions was Jamie McMurray scraping the right-hand quarter of his vehicle when he made contact with the outside barrier.[14]
Marcos Ambrose had the first pole position of his career with a new track speed record of Michigan International Speedway.
Early average practice speeds approached 200mph (320km/h), breaking the official qualifying stock car speed record of 194.232mph (312.586km/h).[15] Blisters appeared on several front-side tires used by an estimated one-quarter of teams during the session, and that caused drivers to raise concerns about the speed they were driving at on the warm track surface and the hot weather temperatures that were experienced in the opening two practice sessions.[16] Harvick suggested that all the drivers slow to manage the wear of their tires when the track surface rubbered in,[16] while Edwards and Hamlin reported no issues with their tires; the former said he would discuss the situation with his crew chief Bob Osborne.[14] NASCAR's control tire supplier Goodyear advised all teams to scuff their tires, and run them through a heat cycle.[15] The tires run in practice were later utilized in the Saturday morning qualifying session.[17]
Forty-five drivers were entered in the qualifier on Saturday afternoon,[3][18] according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, 43 were allowed to race. Each driver was limited to two timed laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times.[3] Recording a track speed record of 203.241mph (327.085km/h) that broke's Ryan Newman's achievement in June 2005,[19][n 1] Ambrose clinched the first pole position of his career with a time of 35.426 seconds.[17] He was the fourth driver to complete a qualifying lap that was faster than 200mph (320km/h),[21] and it was the fastest speed set in any qualifier since Bill Elliott's 1987 Talladega Superspeedway lap.[19] He was joined on the grid's front row by Harvick who was 0.211 seconds slower, and held the pole until Ambrose's lap.[22] Biffle qualified third, Kahne took fourth, and Newman started fifth. Kenseth, Bayne, Stewart, Logano, and Johnson rounded out the top ten qualifiers.[19] Edwards' engine developed a possible fuel related issue on his warm-up lap, and he did not set a timed effort.[17][21] The two drivers who failed to qualify were David Stremme and Stacy Compton.[19] After qualifying, Ambrose said, "It is a good bragging right, I’ll give it that, I'm just really excited to get the speed, and to claim to be the fastest guy out there is just awesome. We’ve missed some poles — this is my first pole in Sprint Cup. We’ve missed some by thousandths of a second and conditions changing, so it's good that we actually got one to stick, and one that's got so many records attached to it."[23]
After qualifying, Goodyear changed the left-hand side tire combination to a more durable and harder compound after consulting teams and analysing data, but retained the original right-hand side compound. They transported 1,200 tires from a warehouse in North Carolina to ensure each team met NASCAR's requirement of using 10 sets of tires for the event, and they arrived in Michigan on Saturday afternoon.[n 2] An extra 75 minute practice session was scheduled following the track's Nationwide Series race.[24][25] Biffle was quickest with a lap of 36.801 seconds, followed by Johnson, Edwards, Kahne, McMurray, Kurt Busch, A. J. Allmendinger, Truex, Martin, and Harvick.[26] Top speeds approached no higher than 195.647mph (314.863km/h), but the new left-hand side tires received a mixed reception from drivers. Newman felt that NASCAR made the correct decision, and Edwards predicted that the while the cars were looser, it would improve the quality of racing.[25] Earnhardt, however, commented that he could not complete extra laps due to a handling difficulty,[27] and Ambrose noted a lower amount of grip and increased vehicular imbalance provided by the tires.[25]
Live television coverage of the race began at 12:01p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−05:00) in the United States on TNT.[29] Commentary was provided by Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Kyle Petty.[3] Around the start of the race, weather conditions were partly cloudy with the air temperature at 68°F (20°C); the air temperature was expected to reach a high of 83°F (28°C), and scattered showers were forecast to fall on the track. The start was delayed at 1:18 local time because jet driers were instructed to remove standing water. It began to drizzle 73 minutes later, and jet driers again circulated the track.[29] Doug Bradshaw, pastor of Williamston Free Methodist Church, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation.[3] Members of the United States Army Band performed the national anthem,[29] and Detroit Red Wings ice hockey starting goaltender Jimmy Howard and his son James commanded the drivers to start their engines.[30] During the pace laps, Johnson and Newman moved to the rear of the field because they had changed their engines.[3]
Matt Kenseth(pictured in 2009) led after passing Ambrose early in the race and eventually finished third after leading 17 laps.
The race commenced at 3:05p.m. local time. Ambrose broke free from the pack to lead on the approach to the first turn. The first caution came on the following lap when Kurt Busch spun on the backstretch. Ambrose maintained the lead at the lap five restart and held off a challenge from Biffle. On lap six, Biffle tried again, and was successful next time round, getting ahead of Ambrose to take over the lead. Josh Wise's engine failed on lap ten, necessitating the second caution as oil was laid on the track. During the caution, Earnhardt and Biffle made pit stops. The race restarted six laps later, with Biffle keeping his lead over Ambrose. After starting ninth, Logano had moved into the third position by the 21st lap. On the next lap, Kenseth passed Logano to move into third place. A competition caution was waved on lap 26 to mandate that teams made pit stops because of the new left-hand side tires, and the track's newer pavement. Ambrose led the field at the restart on the 31st lap. Kenseth overtook Ambrose to claim the lead on the next lap.[2][29][31]
After starting 34th, Kyle Busch was running in seventh by lap 34. As Kenseth increased his lead over Ambrose, Martin overtook Logano for third place on the 39th lap. Four laps later, Logano lost the fourth position to Biffle. That same lap, Keselowski got ahead of Almirola for tenth. Upfront, Ambrose closed the gap to Kenseth, and he overtook him for the lead on lap 49 despite the presence of Ken Schrader's slower car. A second competition caution for drivers to make mandatory pit stops came out on lap 51. The caution was withdrawn five laps later, and Biffle led the field at the restart, followed by Ambrose and Martin. On lap 60, Ambrose attempted to challenge Biffle for the first position but he could not pass him. Keselowski moved into fifth four laps later. On the 69th lap, Ambrose passed Biffle for the lead, and Earnhardt got ahead of Biffle soon after. On the next lap, Earnhardt overtook Ambrose to become the new leader. While Earnhardt increased his advantage at the front of the pack, Martin got by Biffle to advance into third by the 79th lap.[29][31]
In the meantime, drivers elected to make green flag pit stops between the 78th to 81st laps. On lap 82, the fifth caution was prompted when foam from a SAFER barrier beside the circuit had to be cleared by series officials. Drivers continued to make pit stops under caution conditions. At the lap 87 restart, Earnhardt was passed by Stewart on the entry to the first turn for the first position. Newman and Logano got ahead of Ambrose to move into sixth and seventh places on lap 90. Ambrose lost a further four positions to Martin, Keselowski, Menard, and Montoya during lap 91. By the following lap, Gordon was in fourth place. Later, Stewart increased his lead over Earnhardt to seven-tenths of a second by lap 97. However, eight laps later, Earnhardt closed the gap to Stewart and passed him to get back the lead. Green flag pit stops were made from laps 115 and 120, before a sixth caution came out for Kurt Busch who spun for a second time in the second turn on the 121st lap. Gordon led at the lap 126 restart, but his teammate Earnhardt passed him around the outside in turn two soon after.[2][29][31]
Dale Earnhardt Jr.(pictured in 2015) led a race-high 95 to end a 143-race winless streak and claim the 19th victory of his career.
On the lap, a seventh caution was prompted for a three-car accident, that began when Logano attempted to avoid hitting Gilliland (who made contact with the barrier), and lost control of his car. Logano turned back into the wall, collecting Gilliland and Kahne. Logano was transported out of the track via an ambulance as a precaution. The race restarted on the 133rd lap, with Earnhardt holding the lead over Gordon and Montoya through the first and second turns.[29][31] Soon after, the eighth caution was waved;[2] Hamlin and Newman made contact, sending Hamlin spinning on the exit to turn four,[32] and into the grass.[33] As Hamlin went down pit road with oil trailing from his car, its right-hand side caught fire, and he stopped in his pit box. Hamlin received assistance to exit his car by Newman's and Kyle Busch's pit crews, as safety officials extinguished the fire.[32][34] Hamlin was unhurt.[33] Earnhardt continued to maintain the lead through turn one at the lap 141 restart. Behind Earnhardt, Stewart kept second place from Gordon. Five laps later, Biffle passed Bowyer for fourth, and Ambrose was overtaken by Martin for tenth.[29][31]
Johnson got past Montoya on the 147th lap. Twelve laps later, Bowyer was passed by Kenseth. Biffle overtook Gordon to move into third on lap 160. The final round of green flag pit stops began on lap 163, as Earnhardt made his stop. Biffle, Bowyer, McMurray, and Keselowski each led the pack over the next seven laps, until Earnhardt regained the lead after all pit stops had been completed. On lap 186, Biffle lost third place to Johnson. Six laps later, Johnson lost third to Kenseth, and fell to fifth as Biffle got ahead of him.[29][31] In the meantime, Earnhardt opened his lead at the front of the field to more than five seconds, and he held it for the remainder of the race to win. It was his first victory in 143 races, his second at Michigan International Speedway, and the 19th of his career.[33] Stewart finished second, Kenseth was third, Biffle took fourth, and Johnson fifth. Gordon, Bowyer, Montoya, Ambrose, and Harvick rounded out the top ten finishers. There were 23 lead changes among 14 different drivers during the race. Earnhardt's 95 laps led was the most of any competitor.[2]
Post-race
"As soon as I got out of the car, my initial thoughts was about how many people were in their living rooms screaming at the top of their lungs, running out in their yard. I just wish I could see it all at once. That was the one thing I kept thinking about."
Earnhardt taking about his mindset in Victory Lane after the race.[35]
Earnhardt appeared in Victory Lane to celebrate his first win since the 2008 LifeLock 400 in front of the crowd of 82,000 people;[3] the win earned him $168,775.[2] He dedicated the victory to his fanbase and thanked his team and pit crew for supporting him,[33] "I was so nervous in the last few laps of that race four years ago. Today, this is the worst feeling, riding around there with 15 laps to go wondering what's going to happen or how you were going to lose. I was just thinking, man, those laps could not go by fast enough. It feels good to win, But in a day or two, I'll be thirsty for the next one."[36] Stewart conceded that Earnhardt had a faster car than his but insisted that the latter's victory was not designated as "a national holiday" due to its popularity, "This morning they were celebrating his fourth anniversary of his last win, so I guess we're all in a state of mourning now, because he's broke that string now, so I don't know what we're all supposed to think."[33] Third-placed Kenseth said of his race, "It was kind of a long day. We were pretty good in the beginning of the race and got shuffled back and it was tough to work traffic today. They got the setup good on the last two runs and had good pit stops and we were able to stand on the gas and work our way up there to third."[37]
Earnhardt received congratulations via text messages from various people and celebrities through Twitter, including former driver Mario Andretti, multi-instrumentalist Charlie Daniels and country music singer Brad Paisley. He also received a phone call from South Carolina Gamecocks football coach Steve Spurrier.[35][38]Steve Letarte, Earnhardt's crew chief, commented his belief that the driver and team's focus helped him to win, "I can't say enough about the group of guys we have here. They are a tremendous group. They deserve a tremendous amount of the credit. Dale deserves a tremendous amount of credit as well. He's not only a great driver, but he's a leader in the team. He does it in his own style and we love the style he brings. It was a fun day to finally get him to Victory Lane."[39] Tori Petry of sports radio station WGGG opined the victory helped NASCAR receive better exposure,[40] and Los Angeles Times writer Jim Peltz wrote he believed it would provide the series with an attendance and television ratings increase.[41]Jeff Hammond of Speed said the victory was the result of Earnhardt's team having improved momentum and better focus. He wrote of his expectation for Earnhardt to perform well for the remainder of the season.[42]
Hamlin's car bay fire on lap 133 was the first of his career.[32] He said it was an experience that he hoped to avoid in the future but praised the modern safety standards of racing vehicles, "Thankfully, we've got everything that we have safety-wise. One good thing at least is that Ryan's guys came and got me out – and a couple of the 18 (Busch's) guys. NASCAR is a family, and any time anyone is in trouble, everyone is going to try to help. It's good that those guys were around and willing to take a chance."[32] Logano commented that he believed he could have corrected his car in his three-car crash with Gilliland and Kahne, "It's a little frustrating, but we had a top-10 car today, I think we had a top 10 coming to us here – maybe a top five."[34] Ambrose, who led early in the event and then lost positions, said he would accept a top ten finish and was proud of his team, "We led some laps and looked good up there. It was a strong day for us. Not quite what we wanted, but we will take it and move along to Sonoma."[34]
The result kept Kenseth in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 523 points, ahead of Earnhardt who lowered his advantage from ten to four points. Biffle maintained third place with 548 points. With 532 points, Johnson moved ahead of Hamlin (514 points) to assume the fourth position. Harvick, Truex, Stewart, Bowyer, Keselowski, Edwards and Kyle Busch rounded out the top twelve.[43] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained the lead with 105 points. Toyota remained in second place with 87 points, ten points ahead of Ford, who in turn, were sixteen points in front of Dodge in fourth.[11] The race had a television audience of 5,284,000 million viewers and a 3.2 US rating, a 10 percent ratings increase and 8 percent more viewership than the 2011 race;[44] it took two hours, 52 minutes, and 29 seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 5.393 seconds.[2]
Race results
Race results
Pos.
Grid
No.
Driver
Team
Manufacturer
Laps
Points
1
17
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
200
4823
2
8
14
Tony Stewart
Stewart-Haas Racing
Chevrolet
200
431
3
6
17
Matt Kenseth
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
200
421
4
3
16
Greg Biffle
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
200
411
5
10
48
Jimmie Johnson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
200
39
6
28
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
200
391
7
13
15
Clint Bowyer
Michael Waltrip Racing
Toyota
200
381
8
21
42
Juan Pablo Montoya
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Chevrolet
200
371
9
1
9
Marcos Ambrose
Richard Petty Motorsports
Ford
200
361
10
2
29
Kevin Harvick
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
200
34
11
42
99
Carl Edwards
Roush Fenway Racing
Ford
200
33
12
16
56
Martin Truex Jr.
Michael Waltrip Racing
Toyota
200
32
13
25
2
Brad Keselowski
Penske Racing
Dodge
200
321
14
19
1
Jamie McMurray
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Chevrolet
200
311
15
5
39
Ryan Newman
Stewart-Haas Racing
Chevrolet
199
29
16
31
47
Bobby Labonte
JTG Daugherty Racing
Toyota
199
28
17
15
43
Aric Almirola
Richard Petty Motorsports
Ford
199
27
18
32
83
Landon Cassill
BK Racing
Toyota
199
26
19
20
22
A. J. Allmendinger
Penske Racing
Dodge
199
25
20
24
13
Casey Mears
Germain Racing
Ford
199
24
21
33
31
Jeff Burton
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
199
24
22
18
27
Paul Menard
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
199
22
23
38
34
David Ragan
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
199
21
24
22
33
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
198
—4
25
36
36
Dave Blaney
Tommy Baldwin Racing
Chevrolet
198
201
26
39
93
Travis Kvapil
BK Racing
Toyota
197
18
27
35
38
David Gilliland
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
197
181
28
12
78
Regan Smith
Furniture Row Racing
Chevrolet
197
16
29
14
55
Mark Martin
Michael Waltrip Racing
Toyota
195
15
30
26
51
Kurt Busch
Phoenix Racing
Chevrolet
194
14
31
40
32
Ken Schrader
FAS Lane Racing
Ford
193
13
32
34
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
157
12
33
4
5
Kasey Kahne
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
151
11
34
11
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
132
10
35
9
20
Joey Logano
Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota
125
9
36
41
10
Tony Raines
Tommy Baldwin Racing
Chevrolet
68
8
37
43
49
J. J. Yeley
Robinson-Blakeney Racing
Toyota
67
81
38
27
98
Michael McDowell
Phil Parsons Racing
Ford
41
6
39
29
19
Mike Bliss
Humphrey Smith Racing
Toyota
35
—4
40
37
87
Joe Nemechek
NEMCO Motorsports
Toyota
32
—4
41
23
23
Scott Riggs
R3 Motorsports
Chevrolet
27
3
42
30
26
Josh Wise
Front Row Motorsports
Ford
9
2
43
7
21
Trevor Bayne
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
7
—4
1 Includes one bonus point for leading a lap
2 Includes two bonus points for leading the most laps
3 Includes three bonus points for winning the race
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