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#00 - Kenny Wallace
Quoted: "I really enjoy racing at Michigan International Speedway. The straightaways are long, and there are many lines that we drivers can choose to run in the corners. If the car is not running well on the low side of the racetrack, I can try running the high line. This track is a racer's dream."
#01 - Joe Nemechek
Quoted: "We have some unfinished business to attend to at Michigan. If we can keep the fenders on the car and all of the mechanical parts in check, we should have a pretty good day. It was a bad deal for us because we really had a strong run going. Michigan is the kind of track that suits the car we're bringing. It's a stout machine – one of my favorite cars. In Texas, California and Michigan we should have finished in the top-10 or better, but something would bite us and spoil the run. In Texas it was a broken spark plug, in California we ran out of fuel with two laps remaining and there was that blown engine in Michigan. We're due and this could be a good weekend for the Army team."
#02 - Hermie Sadler
Noted: Hermie has two career top 20 starts in a Cup car with one of those coming at Michigan when he started 18th in the June 2003 race.
#09 - Bobby Hamilton Jr
Quoted: "The best part of Michigan International Speedway is how wide it is and how you can race just about every inch of the track. You can go high and you can go low."
#0 - Ward Burton
Quoted: "We qualified pretty well in Michigan the last time around and had a couple of good practice runs. The NetZero Chevrolet was a little off during the race, but we were able to make some adjustments to it to help us and it got better and better as the day went on. Unfortunately, we had some mechanical problems and we couldn't bring home a good finish. Bill is bringing back a different car than we had in June. He and the guys have really done a lot of work on these bodies, so hopefully we can get ourselves out of this rut that we've been in. We've got good Hendrick horsepower and that's what you need at Michigan. Maybe a little bit of good luck thrown in would be nice too."
#2 - Rusty Wallace
Quoted: "M.I.S. can be a driver's dream, but an engine man's nightmare. While us drivers are out there grinning from ear to ear and blasting down those long straightaways, I'll bet you don't see too many of the engine guys smiling and cutting up back in the pits. Most of 'em are nervous as heck."
#4 - Jimmy Spencer
Noted: Jimmy has led 9 laps in 28 career Cup races at Michigan.
#5 - Terry Labonte
Quoted: "We've had fairly good runs there the last couple years, in qualifying and on race day. We're taking a brand new car to Michigan; it hasn't been raced yet, but we tested last month and were very happy with it."
#6 - Mark Martin
Quoted: "We are excited about going to Michigan. Michigan is a track where if you have a good car, you can pass some people. We are taking the Indy/Chicago car and it's been really strong in those races, so we are pretty excited about seeing what we can do at Michigan this week. We were strong there last time, but had a problem on the first lap of the race and had to ride around all day several laps down. Hopefully this weekend we can get the finish we were hoping for last time. This team continue to amaze me. We've had so much go wrong, and yet they just keep coming back. I don't care what the points say, this is a top-five team we have here and we run that way every week to show it. It's silly that we are even talking about he top-10, because we should be up a lot higher than that, but well just keep fighting and see what happens. No matter what I love this team and I really appreciate their effort."
#8 - Dale Earnhardt Jr
Quoted: "We tested Michigan for two days last week. The car was OK, but it seemed like the track had a lot more grip, and I'm not sure it will be that way this weekend. We worked on several things. Hopefully we can apply what we learned. We sure as hell don't have a lot to go off of from the last Michigan race. We finished 21st, but the car probably wasn't even that good. We put (spring) rubbers in to try to make it turn better, we took 'em out, we moved 'em from the back to the front, we took two tires… we did it all. When you do all that and it's still slow, then you know it's time to go test. So that's what we did."
#9 - Kasey Kahne
Quoted: "At Michigan, you can go high, low or the middle, wherever you want, and make your car work. You have the ability to move around during the course of the race, searching for the best line. That's why I'm better at those kind of tracks. I can find what is better for my car. If you can look around long enough, you can usually find a line that works better and gain spots."
#10 - Scott Riggs
Quoted: "We started 20th in June and dropped quickly to the back," he commented. "Doug (crew chief Doug Randolph) and the team figured some things out and made some adjustments and we drove back to 20th. This time we'll take what we learned and drive to the front looking for that finish."
#11 - JJ Yeley
Quoted: "I am more excited than nervous, especially after we tested so well at Michigan in a NEXTEL Cup car a few weeks ago. I am really looking forward to it from a sponsorship standpoint as well because two of our sponsors on the Busch car, Vigoro and The Home Depot, are coming along for the ride. They have shown a great amount of support and confidence in me, as well as everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, so it's exciting for me to have those companies involved in this effort."
#12 - Ryan Newman
Quoted: "Michigan just keeps getting better and better for the ALLTEL team. The win there in June meant a lot to us, and seemed to get the monkey off of our backs as far as needing a win. Another win there on Sunday would be just as important to us."
#13 - Greg Sacks
Quoted: "We're excited to get back to Michigan. I've had some success there. I finished second there in 1990. It's a great track for racing and letting you work with the car. It's a really wide track, and one where we can move around to make the car work for us. Simply put, it's a driver's track. It's multi-grooved and an awesome place to race. After the test we had, it's tough for me not to be excited to get back there."
#15 - Michael Waltrip
Quoted: "We were just in Michigan (June) where we finished 10th after making it all the way up to the second position. We made an adjustment to the car toward the end of the race that gave me a tough time and we were lucky to end up with a top-10. We learned a lot from that day about our set up and we hope to fine tune our June Experience to give us a top-five this round."
#16 - Greg Biffle
Quoted: "We've got a couple of wins at Michigan in the truck series and we had a really good run there last August in the Cup car. Other than that we've struggled at times there, but much of our problems were things out of our control. I really like the track and it's fun to race on. There are plenty of different racing grooves, so if your car isn't working in one place you can search around and find a line that may be better. The wide surface allows for lots of side-by-side racing so the fans usually get a pretty good show when we race at Michigan. Our National Guard car has been rebuilt to match our Pocono and Indy cars because we liked the way they performed. We led a lot of laps at California earlier in the year before we had a transmission problem, so we'll take much of that setup and apply it to the Michigan car. Most importantly, we've got 'The Flash' this weekend and hopefully that will give us a little extra speed."
#17 - Matt Kenseth
Quoted: "It's always good to get back to Michigan, which is Roush Racing's home track. Everyone on our teams wants to win this race and run as well as we can in front of the fans. I think we can do both this weekend with the car we're bringing. I'll also be running the Busch car here so the extra laps will help translate some information across the garage for me on Friday and Saturday—and hopefully, that will make for a good Sunday afternoon."
#18 - Bobby Labonte
Quoted: "Michigan has always been my favorite track. It just has everything going for it. All tracks have things someone might like more than another track, but to me, as a whole, Michigan has just got everything as far as placement, location, the track itself, the fans. A little bit of everything just seems like it goes a long way there. It's always a treat to go to Michigan, and when you run good there it helps."
#19 - Jeremy Mayfield
Quoted: "We pretty much know what kind of bit us (at Michigan) last time, the reason we didn't have a good finish there last time. But, we're going to go out there and go into it just like we would each and every week, and Friday morning, roll off the truck and do what we always do, and not change the way we do things, and just go from there. A couple weeks ago, I was the one making comments, 'You know the guys in the top 10 have all the pressure and the guys out of the top 10 don't.' But I'll tell you now; the pressure is not really on us. We've got nothing to lose, we're just going to keep racing like we've been, and we're going to go to Michigan and improve drastically from the first race. I mean, we're going to be a lot better, and should be in good shape there if nothing happens."
#20 - Tony Stewart
Quoted: "Michigan is such a big track and such a wide track that it makes Michigan a track all to its own. It's a unique track to where depending on how your car is driving you can go anywhere on the race track you want to go."
#21 - Ricky Rudd
Quoted: "Michigan has always been one of my favorite tracks to go to and the reason for that is that it is so wide. We run on some wide tracks, but Michigan is so user friendly. If your car doesn't work well on the bottom of the race track you can move around and find somewhere on the race track where your car will do well. Three-wide happens a lot during the day, but two-wide is pretty much an all-day long situation. You get two guys racing each other and one guy will go down to the bottom and one will move to the top and they can come down the straightaway together. To me, it is kind of a throwback to the way racing used to be. A lot of tracks have tried to copy that, but for whatever reason they just haven't had the success that Michigan has had. Those are the pros. The cons are that if you are down at the bottom of the race track and you have some kind of a problem - you wreck, or spin, or have some kind of a failure or you run over something with a tire, it is a long way up to the wall and it usually stings pretty hard if you hit it. But, it is a fun race track to drive and a lot of fun to run at Michigan, so I enjoy racing there."
#22 - Scott Wimmer
Noted: Scott started 29th and finished 14th in his only Cup race at Michigan.
#24 - Jeff Gordon
Quoted: "I love racing here because even if the car isn't handling well, you can search for a line in the corners that works for you. And the great horsepower these Hendrick engines are producing down the straightaways doesn't hurt, either."
#25 - Brian Vickers
Noted: Vickers has two NASCAR starts at Michigan (1 Cup, 1 Busch). He has started in the top 10 both times.
#29 - Kevin Harvick
Quoted: "For whatever reason, Michigan is one of those places that fit my driving style. You can drive into the turns down on the bottom in the flat, or in the middle, or right around the wall. Depending on handling, you can move up or down to make your car work. It's a lot of fun to race on and usually boils down to some sort of fuel mileage. It's one of those racetracks where we've always, always been competitive."
#30 - Jeff Burton
Quoted: "Michigan is actually one of my favorite tracks, I really enjoy going there. I think it's a great track to start another relationship and start building on something because it's a track that is very smooth, not a bunch of bumps but does have a bunch of different grooves to run. I would much rather be going to Michigan than to be going to Bristol with a new team. This will give us a little bit of time together, so I think that's a good thing."
#31 - Robby Gordon
Quoted: "We had a great qualifying effort at Michigan in June and had a great Cingular Wireless Chevrolet to boot. There was a little bit of a rough transition from qualifying trim to race trim, but by the time we finished up practice on Saturday we were good to go. Then, I made a wrong move on the first lap and got into the No. 77. That setback pretty much set the pace for us the rest of the race. The guys did a great job repairing the car and getting me back out there. It was just a very disappointing race, especially after qualifying so well and then having to turn around and leave on such a different note was tough. We had a good race car, too. I don't know how they did it. Even after that early spin, they replaced the majority of the front of the car and had me back out running competitive laps. We just lost too much ground in the middle of everything. We're not taking the same car that we raced in June back to Michigan, but we're taking a car that couldn't be anymore similar. It's a really fast car and the same car we raced at Texas earlier this year."
#32 - Ricky Craven
Quoted: "Michigan is one of my favorite racetracks...it is just a fun racetrack. It has a little bit of everything...speed, braking, accelerating, handling, aerodynamics. It is just a fun place to race. Statistically, it has been a good place for the Tide team. In the spring of 2003, we were running in the top-five all day and got caught up in an incident with a lapped car, which cost a good finish. The year before, we were hauling the mail and had a flat tire. Back to 2001, we won the pole and finished second in the race. Everyone on the Tide team was convinced had it not rained, we would have had another trophy because we were just a few laps from passing Sterling Marlin and it started raining really hard."
#33 - Kerry Earnhardt
Quoted: "I've been waiting to get back to Michigan since we missed the race in June. I really feel like we need to redeem ourselves. We spent all day last Tuesday (8/10) at Michigan working on our qualifying setup, so we should be in good shape when it comes time to qualify on Friday."
#35 - Kenny Hendrick
Noted: If Kenny qualifies, this will be his first Cup start.
#38 - Elliott Sadler
Quoted: "I think it's cool to be making my 200th start in NEXTEL Cup racing. I tell people all of the time that I've been privileged enough to drive for the best two teams in racing. The legendary Wood Brothers and Robert Yates have taught me a lot about racing and a lot about life. I'm still great friends with the entire Woods' family and I'm looking forward to every race that I run with Robert Yates Racing. I've had some ups and downs throughout the 200 races but have grown as a driver and now I am enjoying the best season of my career."
#40 - Sterling Marlin
Noted: This will be Sterling's 39th career Cup race at Michigan. He has also started 3 Busch races at Michigan.
#41 - Casey Mears
Quoted: "It was extremely tough to be that quick at the last Michigan race and know there was nothing we could do about it. We are taking the same car back so I am very confident in what we can accomplish this weekend. Michigan has been a good track for me, so I'm looking forward to going back. We continue to prove that we are capable of running up front and being extremely competitive. Getting that first top five last weekend meant a lot to me and the entire Target team. We had been so close before that it feels great to finally get the finish. If we can put together a string of top fives, a win is just around the corner."
#42 - Jamie McMurray
Quoted: "This is going to be a crucial weekend for us. We were able to gain a little ground on the top 10 in points last weekend at Watkins Glen, but we need to come out of the box strong this weekend in Michigan and hopefully get even closer to making the cut off for the Chase for the Championship. We're taking the same car to Michigan this weekend that we had there back in June. While we didn't qualify well, we had raced our way into the top five before the motor let go. If we can keep everything together, we should be a contender this weekend."
#43 - Jeff Green
Quoted: "We just never really got our Cheerios Dodge where we wanted it on the first visit to Michigan. We tried a lot of different things, but we were never really able to get it to where I like to drive it. I think we're going to be better this time. We've made a lot up with our engines and that has helped. Our engine will be better this weekend and I think that's going to help us go a long way. We're bringing a different car too. After everything was all said and done, I don't think that particular car was the one we needed. We're going to bring a different car and see what happens."
#45 - Kyle Petty
Quoted: "Usually distance is what makes a race track stand out. That's what you judge them by. Daytona is two-and-a-half-miles. Martinsville and Bristol are half-miles. Michigan is a two-miler but it is the only speedway that is probably judged by drivers more for its width than its length. I don't know what the exact measurements are and Michigan might not be our widest race track, but the width comes into play there more than just about anywhere else. There are at least three racing grooves at Michigan. I've seen cars go low there, go high there and run the middle there, and all have been equally successful. There is even a much higher groove that can be used sometimes. The slighter banking helps with the racing, it tends to keep the cars closer together and makes it more difficult for one to leave another. Having several grooves helps too because you can use the race track to adjust the car. If you are a little tight coming off two, maybe you move up the track a little further to ease that. At a lot of tracks you just can't do that. There isn't another racing groove to move up to."
#48 - Jimmie Johnson
Quoted: "Michigan is a great track for us. Not to bring up the transmission thing again, but coming to pit road earlier this year, we had a rare failure with a transmission on an oval and I didn't have third gear on the re-starts. I led some and was up front, but the restarts would kill me. I ended up fourth with a few re-starts late in the race; I was even higher than that I believe. I would get passed and then I'd have to pass those cars back in making forward progress to the front. But we had an incredible race car. Both the No. 24 and the No. 48 were very strong. If I remember right, Hendrick was one-two- three in qualifying with the No. 24, the No. 25 Brian Vickers, and myself. So we're looking forward to a strong qualifying effort – hopefully a red hat (pole award). We could use another one of those. It's going to be a good track for us."
#49 - Ken Schrader
Quoted: "Back to Michigan and everybody immediately starts mentioning fuel mileage. Yes, you better have a firm grasp on the minimum number of stops it'll take you to get to the finish, but it takes a lot more than a calculator to be competitive. Michigan requires a lot of horses under the hood, because it's a big track with wide, sweeping turns, and you're not out of the throttle very long. The track is multi-grooved and you'll see guys running several different lines throughout the race. It works out because once the tires start going away, you can adjust your line and not lose too much speed. But, make no mistake about it - the preferred line is the bottom of the race track. The cars that can handle well and run fast around the bottom are generally the guys who are up front at the end of the race. Makes sense; it is the shortest distance around the track."
#50 - Todd Bodine
Noted: Todd has failed to finish 11 of his 12 Cup races in 2004.
#51 - Kevin Lepage
Noted: Kevin's best Cup finish at Michigan is 17th in 10 races.
#72 - Kirk Shelmerdine
Noted: Kirk has never finished on the lead lap and has failed to finish 14 of his 15 career Cup races.
#77 - Brendan Gaughan
Noted: 2 of Brendan's 3 best Cup finishes have come at 2.0 mile tracks.
#80 - Carl Long
Noted: This will be Carl's first career Cup race at Michigan.
#84 - Kyle Busch
Quoted: "The goal for the Kentucky test is just to learn a little bit about the car. We need to find out what changes really help it out, as far as getting the nose down and the attitude right. Figuring out those two areas is really going to help us get up to speed for Michigan. We're shooting to put the No. 84 CARQUEST Chevy in the race and get some quality laps under our belts. We've had some struggles on the Cup side, but we're focusing on the future and hopefully getting in the show."
#88 - Dale Jarrett
Quoted: "Obviously I look forward to it because it is a track where this team has historically run well and it is a track I particularly enjoy because of all that it offers - a wide race track with room for plenty of side-by-side racing. We ran well here in June and I think we've learned even more since that race that will help us out this weekend. I think what we did in Indianapolis and learned there about our car will help us and we're probably going into this weekend's race with more confidence than we had here two months ago."
#89 - Morgan Shepherd
Noted: this would be Morgan's 502nd career Cup start.
#97 - Kurt Busch
Quoted: "My first couple of trips here weren't all that successful for the No. 97 team, but other than that, I've always enjoyed coming to Michigan. It's got multiple grooves and you can race two and three wide in the corners. Fuel mileage also seems to usually play a part in the final outcome so there is a strategy element involved that keeps everyone on their toes.
#98 - Derrike Cope
Quoted: "Well, it's not exactly home home, but it's a track that I really enjoy racing. Until there is a speedway built in Washington, Michigan will just have to be home for me. I don't know what it is specifically but I've always liked racing there. Enjoying where you are racing can make a big difference. Attitude plays a huge role in performance, regardless of what sport you are involved in. Attitude alone won't win races but it can cost you good finishes."
#99 - Carl Edwards
Quoted: "This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm really looking forward to getting in the No. 99 Green Lantern Ford this weekend and doing the best I can for Roush Racing and the entire No. 99 team. Bob (Osborne, crew chief) and the guys have worked extremely hard this year and I think that has showed. Hopefully we can work together to keep the momentum going and put the No. 99 Ford up front where it belongs."
Quoted: "I really enjoy racing at Michigan International Speedway. The straightaways are long, and there are many lines that we drivers can choose to run in the corners. If the car is not running well on the low side of the racetrack, I can try running the high line. This track is a racer's dream."
#01 - Joe Nemechek
Quoted: "We have some unfinished business to attend to at Michigan. If we can keep the fenders on the car and all of the mechanical parts in check, we should have a pretty good day. It was a bad deal for us because we really had a strong run going. Michigan is the kind of track that suits the car we're bringing. It's a stout machine – one of my favorite cars. In Texas, California and Michigan we should have finished in the top-10 or better, but something would bite us and spoil the run. In Texas it was a broken spark plug, in California we ran out of fuel with two laps remaining and there was that blown engine in Michigan. We're due and this could be a good weekend for the Army team."
#02 - Hermie Sadler
Noted: Hermie has two career top 20 starts in a Cup car with one of those coming at Michigan when he started 18th in the June 2003 race.
#09 - Bobby Hamilton Jr
Quoted: "The best part of Michigan International Speedway is how wide it is and how you can race just about every inch of the track. You can go high and you can go low."
#0 - Ward Burton
Quoted: "We qualified pretty well in Michigan the last time around and had a couple of good practice runs. The NetZero Chevrolet was a little off during the race, but we were able to make some adjustments to it to help us and it got better and better as the day went on. Unfortunately, we had some mechanical problems and we couldn't bring home a good finish. Bill is bringing back a different car than we had in June. He and the guys have really done a lot of work on these bodies, so hopefully we can get ourselves out of this rut that we've been in. We've got good Hendrick horsepower and that's what you need at Michigan. Maybe a little bit of good luck thrown in would be nice too."
#2 - Rusty Wallace
Quoted: "M.I.S. can be a driver's dream, but an engine man's nightmare. While us drivers are out there grinning from ear to ear and blasting down those long straightaways, I'll bet you don't see too many of the engine guys smiling and cutting up back in the pits. Most of 'em are nervous as heck."
#4 - Jimmy Spencer
Noted: Jimmy has led 9 laps in 28 career Cup races at Michigan.
#5 - Terry Labonte
Quoted: "We've had fairly good runs there the last couple years, in qualifying and on race day. We're taking a brand new car to Michigan; it hasn't been raced yet, but we tested last month and were very happy with it."
#6 - Mark Martin
Quoted: "We are excited about going to Michigan. Michigan is a track where if you have a good car, you can pass some people. We are taking the Indy/Chicago car and it's been really strong in those races, so we are pretty excited about seeing what we can do at Michigan this week. We were strong there last time, but had a problem on the first lap of the race and had to ride around all day several laps down. Hopefully this weekend we can get the finish we were hoping for last time. This team continue to amaze me. We've had so much go wrong, and yet they just keep coming back. I don't care what the points say, this is a top-five team we have here and we run that way every week to show it. It's silly that we are even talking about he top-10, because we should be up a lot higher than that, but well just keep fighting and see what happens. No matter what I love this team and I really appreciate their effort."
#8 - Dale Earnhardt Jr
Quoted: "We tested Michigan for two days last week. The car was OK, but it seemed like the track had a lot more grip, and I'm not sure it will be that way this weekend. We worked on several things. Hopefully we can apply what we learned. We sure as hell don't have a lot to go off of from the last Michigan race. We finished 21st, but the car probably wasn't even that good. We put (spring) rubbers in to try to make it turn better, we took 'em out, we moved 'em from the back to the front, we took two tires… we did it all. When you do all that and it's still slow, then you know it's time to go test. So that's what we did."
#9 - Kasey Kahne
Quoted: "At Michigan, you can go high, low or the middle, wherever you want, and make your car work. You have the ability to move around during the course of the race, searching for the best line. That's why I'm better at those kind of tracks. I can find what is better for my car. If you can look around long enough, you can usually find a line that works better and gain spots."
#10 - Scott Riggs
Quoted: "We started 20th in June and dropped quickly to the back," he commented. "Doug (crew chief Doug Randolph) and the team figured some things out and made some adjustments and we drove back to 20th. This time we'll take what we learned and drive to the front looking for that finish."
#11 - JJ Yeley
Quoted: "I am more excited than nervous, especially after we tested so well at Michigan in a NEXTEL Cup car a few weeks ago. I am really looking forward to it from a sponsorship standpoint as well because two of our sponsors on the Busch car, Vigoro and The Home Depot, are coming along for the ride. They have shown a great amount of support and confidence in me, as well as everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, so it's exciting for me to have those companies involved in this effort."
#12 - Ryan Newman
Quoted: "Michigan just keeps getting better and better for the ALLTEL team. The win there in June meant a lot to us, and seemed to get the monkey off of our backs as far as needing a win. Another win there on Sunday would be just as important to us."
#13 - Greg Sacks
Quoted: "We're excited to get back to Michigan. I've had some success there. I finished second there in 1990. It's a great track for racing and letting you work with the car. It's a really wide track, and one where we can move around to make the car work for us. Simply put, it's a driver's track. It's multi-grooved and an awesome place to race. After the test we had, it's tough for me not to be excited to get back there."
#15 - Michael Waltrip
Quoted: "We were just in Michigan (June) where we finished 10th after making it all the way up to the second position. We made an adjustment to the car toward the end of the race that gave me a tough time and we were lucky to end up with a top-10. We learned a lot from that day about our set up and we hope to fine tune our June Experience to give us a top-five this round."
#16 - Greg Biffle
Quoted: "We've got a couple of wins at Michigan in the truck series and we had a really good run there last August in the Cup car. Other than that we've struggled at times there, but much of our problems were things out of our control. I really like the track and it's fun to race on. There are plenty of different racing grooves, so if your car isn't working in one place you can search around and find a line that may be better. The wide surface allows for lots of side-by-side racing so the fans usually get a pretty good show when we race at Michigan. Our National Guard car has been rebuilt to match our Pocono and Indy cars because we liked the way they performed. We led a lot of laps at California earlier in the year before we had a transmission problem, so we'll take much of that setup and apply it to the Michigan car. Most importantly, we've got 'The Flash' this weekend and hopefully that will give us a little extra speed."
#17 - Matt Kenseth
Quoted: "It's always good to get back to Michigan, which is Roush Racing's home track. Everyone on our teams wants to win this race and run as well as we can in front of the fans. I think we can do both this weekend with the car we're bringing. I'll also be running the Busch car here so the extra laps will help translate some information across the garage for me on Friday and Saturday—and hopefully, that will make for a good Sunday afternoon."
#18 - Bobby Labonte
Quoted: "Michigan has always been my favorite track. It just has everything going for it. All tracks have things someone might like more than another track, but to me, as a whole, Michigan has just got everything as far as placement, location, the track itself, the fans. A little bit of everything just seems like it goes a long way there. It's always a treat to go to Michigan, and when you run good there it helps."
#19 - Jeremy Mayfield
Quoted: "We pretty much know what kind of bit us (at Michigan) last time, the reason we didn't have a good finish there last time. But, we're going to go out there and go into it just like we would each and every week, and Friday morning, roll off the truck and do what we always do, and not change the way we do things, and just go from there. A couple weeks ago, I was the one making comments, 'You know the guys in the top 10 have all the pressure and the guys out of the top 10 don't.' But I'll tell you now; the pressure is not really on us. We've got nothing to lose, we're just going to keep racing like we've been, and we're going to go to Michigan and improve drastically from the first race. I mean, we're going to be a lot better, and should be in good shape there if nothing happens."
#20 - Tony Stewart
Quoted: "Michigan is such a big track and such a wide track that it makes Michigan a track all to its own. It's a unique track to where depending on how your car is driving you can go anywhere on the race track you want to go."
#21 - Ricky Rudd
Quoted: "Michigan has always been one of my favorite tracks to go to and the reason for that is that it is so wide. We run on some wide tracks, but Michigan is so user friendly. If your car doesn't work well on the bottom of the race track you can move around and find somewhere on the race track where your car will do well. Three-wide happens a lot during the day, but two-wide is pretty much an all-day long situation. You get two guys racing each other and one guy will go down to the bottom and one will move to the top and they can come down the straightaway together. To me, it is kind of a throwback to the way racing used to be. A lot of tracks have tried to copy that, but for whatever reason they just haven't had the success that Michigan has had. Those are the pros. The cons are that if you are down at the bottom of the race track and you have some kind of a problem - you wreck, or spin, or have some kind of a failure or you run over something with a tire, it is a long way up to the wall and it usually stings pretty hard if you hit it. But, it is a fun race track to drive and a lot of fun to run at Michigan, so I enjoy racing there."
#22 - Scott Wimmer
Noted: Scott started 29th and finished 14th in his only Cup race at Michigan.
#24 - Jeff Gordon
Quoted: "I love racing here because even if the car isn't handling well, you can search for a line in the corners that works for you. And the great horsepower these Hendrick engines are producing down the straightaways doesn't hurt, either."
#25 - Brian Vickers
Noted: Vickers has two NASCAR starts at Michigan (1 Cup, 1 Busch). He has started in the top 10 both times.
#29 - Kevin Harvick
Quoted: "For whatever reason, Michigan is one of those places that fit my driving style. You can drive into the turns down on the bottom in the flat, or in the middle, or right around the wall. Depending on handling, you can move up or down to make your car work. It's a lot of fun to race on and usually boils down to some sort of fuel mileage. It's one of those racetracks where we've always, always been competitive."
#30 - Jeff Burton
Quoted: "Michigan is actually one of my favorite tracks, I really enjoy going there. I think it's a great track to start another relationship and start building on something because it's a track that is very smooth, not a bunch of bumps but does have a bunch of different grooves to run. I would much rather be going to Michigan than to be going to Bristol with a new team. This will give us a little bit of time together, so I think that's a good thing."
#31 - Robby Gordon
Quoted: "We had a great qualifying effort at Michigan in June and had a great Cingular Wireless Chevrolet to boot. There was a little bit of a rough transition from qualifying trim to race trim, but by the time we finished up practice on Saturday we were good to go. Then, I made a wrong move on the first lap and got into the No. 77. That setback pretty much set the pace for us the rest of the race. The guys did a great job repairing the car and getting me back out there. It was just a very disappointing race, especially after qualifying so well and then having to turn around and leave on such a different note was tough. We had a good race car, too. I don't know how they did it. Even after that early spin, they replaced the majority of the front of the car and had me back out running competitive laps. We just lost too much ground in the middle of everything. We're not taking the same car that we raced in June back to Michigan, but we're taking a car that couldn't be anymore similar. It's a really fast car and the same car we raced at Texas earlier this year."
#32 - Ricky Craven
Quoted: "Michigan is one of my favorite racetracks...it is just a fun racetrack. It has a little bit of everything...speed, braking, accelerating, handling, aerodynamics. It is just a fun place to race. Statistically, it has been a good place for the Tide team. In the spring of 2003, we were running in the top-five all day and got caught up in an incident with a lapped car, which cost a good finish. The year before, we were hauling the mail and had a flat tire. Back to 2001, we won the pole and finished second in the race. Everyone on the Tide team was convinced had it not rained, we would have had another trophy because we were just a few laps from passing Sterling Marlin and it started raining really hard."
#33 - Kerry Earnhardt
Quoted: "I've been waiting to get back to Michigan since we missed the race in June. I really feel like we need to redeem ourselves. We spent all day last Tuesday (8/10) at Michigan working on our qualifying setup, so we should be in good shape when it comes time to qualify on Friday."
#35 - Kenny Hendrick
Noted: If Kenny qualifies, this will be his first Cup start.
#38 - Elliott Sadler
Quoted: "I think it's cool to be making my 200th start in NEXTEL Cup racing. I tell people all of the time that I've been privileged enough to drive for the best two teams in racing. The legendary Wood Brothers and Robert Yates have taught me a lot about racing and a lot about life. I'm still great friends with the entire Woods' family and I'm looking forward to every race that I run with Robert Yates Racing. I've had some ups and downs throughout the 200 races but have grown as a driver and now I am enjoying the best season of my career."
#40 - Sterling Marlin
Noted: This will be Sterling's 39th career Cup race at Michigan. He has also started 3 Busch races at Michigan.
#41 - Casey Mears
Quoted: "It was extremely tough to be that quick at the last Michigan race and know there was nothing we could do about it. We are taking the same car back so I am very confident in what we can accomplish this weekend. Michigan has been a good track for me, so I'm looking forward to going back. We continue to prove that we are capable of running up front and being extremely competitive. Getting that first top five last weekend meant a lot to me and the entire Target team. We had been so close before that it feels great to finally get the finish. If we can put together a string of top fives, a win is just around the corner."
#42 - Jamie McMurray
Quoted: "This is going to be a crucial weekend for us. We were able to gain a little ground on the top 10 in points last weekend at Watkins Glen, but we need to come out of the box strong this weekend in Michigan and hopefully get even closer to making the cut off for the Chase for the Championship. We're taking the same car to Michigan this weekend that we had there back in June. While we didn't qualify well, we had raced our way into the top five before the motor let go. If we can keep everything together, we should be a contender this weekend."
#43 - Jeff Green
Quoted: "We just never really got our Cheerios Dodge where we wanted it on the first visit to Michigan. We tried a lot of different things, but we were never really able to get it to where I like to drive it. I think we're going to be better this time. We've made a lot up with our engines and that has helped. Our engine will be better this weekend and I think that's going to help us go a long way. We're bringing a different car too. After everything was all said and done, I don't think that particular car was the one we needed. We're going to bring a different car and see what happens."
#45 - Kyle Petty
Quoted: "Usually distance is what makes a race track stand out. That's what you judge them by. Daytona is two-and-a-half-miles. Martinsville and Bristol are half-miles. Michigan is a two-miler but it is the only speedway that is probably judged by drivers more for its width than its length. I don't know what the exact measurements are and Michigan might not be our widest race track, but the width comes into play there more than just about anywhere else. There are at least three racing grooves at Michigan. I've seen cars go low there, go high there and run the middle there, and all have been equally successful. There is even a much higher groove that can be used sometimes. The slighter banking helps with the racing, it tends to keep the cars closer together and makes it more difficult for one to leave another. Having several grooves helps too because you can use the race track to adjust the car. If you are a little tight coming off two, maybe you move up the track a little further to ease that. At a lot of tracks you just can't do that. There isn't another racing groove to move up to."
#48 - Jimmie Johnson
Quoted: "Michigan is a great track for us. Not to bring up the transmission thing again, but coming to pit road earlier this year, we had a rare failure with a transmission on an oval and I didn't have third gear on the re-starts. I led some and was up front, but the restarts would kill me. I ended up fourth with a few re-starts late in the race; I was even higher than that I believe. I would get passed and then I'd have to pass those cars back in making forward progress to the front. But we had an incredible race car. Both the No. 24 and the No. 48 were very strong. If I remember right, Hendrick was one-two- three in qualifying with the No. 24, the No. 25 Brian Vickers, and myself. So we're looking forward to a strong qualifying effort – hopefully a red hat (pole award). We could use another one of those. It's going to be a good track for us."
#49 - Ken Schrader
Quoted: "Back to Michigan and everybody immediately starts mentioning fuel mileage. Yes, you better have a firm grasp on the minimum number of stops it'll take you to get to the finish, but it takes a lot more than a calculator to be competitive. Michigan requires a lot of horses under the hood, because it's a big track with wide, sweeping turns, and you're not out of the throttle very long. The track is multi-grooved and you'll see guys running several different lines throughout the race. It works out because once the tires start going away, you can adjust your line and not lose too much speed. But, make no mistake about it - the preferred line is the bottom of the race track. The cars that can handle well and run fast around the bottom are generally the guys who are up front at the end of the race. Makes sense; it is the shortest distance around the track."
#50 - Todd Bodine
Noted: Todd has failed to finish 11 of his 12 Cup races in 2004.
#51 - Kevin Lepage
Noted: Kevin's best Cup finish at Michigan is 17th in 10 races.
#72 - Kirk Shelmerdine
Noted: Kirk has never finished on the lead lap and has failed to finish 14 of his 15 career Cup races.
#77 - Brendan Gaughan
Noted: 2 of Brendan's 3 best Cup finishes have come at 2.0 mile tracks.
#80 - Carl Long
Noted: This will be Carl's first career Cup race at Michigan.
#84 - Kyle Busch
Quoted: "The goal for the Kentucky test is just to learn a little bit about the car. We need to find out what changes really help it out, as far as getting the nose down and the attitude right. Figuring out those two areas is really going to help us get up to speed for Michigan. We're shooting to put the No. 84 CARQUEST Chevy in the race and get some quality laps under our belts. We've had some struggles on the Cup side, but we're focusing on the future and hopefully getting in the show."
#88 - Dale Jarrett
Quoted: "Obviously I look forward to it because it is a track where this team has historically run well and it is a track I particularly enjoy because of all that it offers - a wide race track with room for plenty of side-by-side racing. We ran well here in June and I think we've learned even more since that race that will help us out this weekend. I think what we did in Indianapolis and learned there about our car will help us and we're probably going into this weekend's race with more confidence than we had here two months ago."
#89 - Morgan Shepherd
Noted: this would be Morgan's 502nd career Cup start.
#97 - Kurt Busch
Quoted: "My first couple of trips here weren't all that successful for the No. 97 team, but other than that, I've always enjoyed coming to Michigan. It's got multiple grooves and you can race two and three wide in the corners. Fuel mileage also seems to usually play a part in the final outcome so there is a strategy element involved that keeps everyone on their toes.
#98 - Derrike Cope
Quoted: "Well, it's not exactly home home, but it's a track that I really enjoy racing. Until there is a speedway built in Washington, Michigan will just have to be home for me. I don't know what it is specifically but I've always liked racing there. Enjoying where you are racing can make a big difference. Attitude plays a huge role in performance, regardless of what sport you are involved in. Attitude alone won't win races but it can cost you good finishes."
#99 - Carl Edwards
Quoted: "This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm really looking forward to getting in the No. 99 Green Lantern Ford this weekend and doing the best I can for Roush Racing and the entire No. 99 team. Bob (Osborne, crew chief) and the guys have worked extremely hard this year and I think that has showed. Hopefully we can work together to keep the momentum going and put the No. 99 Ford up front where it belongs."