BROOKLYN, Mich. — Speeds at Michigan were supposed to taper off after Thursday’s test session, as the track heated up and Nationwide and ARCA cars laid rubber on the racing surface.
That didn’t happen. In Friday’s final Cup practice, Greg Biffle made a mock qualifying run around the two-mile track in 35.172 seconds. That translates to a staggering 204.708 mph.
Biffle was at a loss to explain why speeds haven’t abated. He approached his run in qualifying trim expecting to find a slicker racetrack. Instead, the driver of the No. 16 Ford found just the opposite.
“To be perfectly honest with you, after our first practice today — going into our second — I knew we would do all qualifying,” Biffle told the NASCAR Wire Service. “I went back to my motor home, and I am soaking wet, and I took off my suit and hung it up and let it dry out. I put it back on and came back to do qualifying and I thought it was going to be a disaster, because I thought the track would be slick and we would be sliding all over.
“I thought we would be frustrated going into (qualifying on Saturday) not knowing what to expect with track conditions. That was totally not the case. It caught me off guard how fast the track was and how much grip it has right now. Quite frankly, maybe the heat — it is pretty damn hot out there — maybe the heat is actually providing a certain amount of that grip. That could be. Normally it works in reverse. It could be the surface and the tire combination.”
All told, 14 drivers in final practice posted laps in excess of 200 mph, promising a wild qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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