Pure Michigan 400

Pure Michigan 400

Venue	Michigan International Speedway
Sponsor	Pure Michigan
First race	1969
Distance	400 miles (640 km)
Laps	200
Previous names	Yankee 600 (1969) Yankee 400 (1970–1972, 1974) Champion Spark Plug 400 (1975–1993) GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 (1994–1996) DeVilbiss 400 (1997) Pepsi 400 Presented by DeVilbiss (1998) Pepsi 400 Presented by Meijer (1999–2001) Pepsi 400 Presented by Farmer Jack (2002) GFS Marketplace 400 (2003–2006) 3M Performance 400 (2007) 3M Performance 400 Presented by Bondo (2008) Carfax 400 (2009–2010)

The Pure Michigan 400 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race being held annually at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan since 1969. However, during the 1973 season it was not held after Roger Penske replaced the race with a Champ car event. The inaugural event was scheduled to be 600 miles, but was shortened because of inclement weather. Afterward, the race distance was changed to 400 miles. The event has had numerous companies sponsor the race, including Pepsi and Carfax.

Overall, 26 different drivers have won the race, with David Pearson holding the record for most victories in the race with five. Pearson won the inaugural event, which was shortened from 600 miles to 330 miles because of rain. Bill Elliott has the record for most consecutive victories, winning three from 1985 to 1987. Ford has the most manufacturers' wins with 16. Kyle Busch is the most recent winner of the race, winning the event in 2011.^[1]

History

• 1970: Restrictor plates made their racing debut in the 1970 Yankee 400 and Charlie Glotzbach drove a Dodge Daytona to the win.

• 1974: Promoter Roger Penske reinserted the Yankee 400 to Michigan's schedule after 1973 after the Michigan 400 that June turned a strong profit. David Pearson and Cale Yarborough fought hard before Cale was stopped by a mismatched set of tires late in the race. The lead changed 45 times among eight drivers.

• 1975: A late yellow set up a five-lap finish; Pearson and Richard Petty went at it and the lead changed on every lap down to the finish as Petty edged Pearson by a nose.

• 1977: Rain postponed the race to Monday and Darrell Waltrip edged Pearson to the stripe.

• 1978: Pearson's final win for the Wood Brothers came on a one-lap shootout as he passed Waltrip. Richard Petty crashed in the final laps, setting up the finish; he was debuting a new Chevrolet after abandoning Dodge.

• 1979: Pearson was hired to drive Rod Osterlund's Chevrolet after Dale Earnhardt was injured at Pocono and he won the Michigan pole, ultimately finishing fourth. Buddy Baker led late but Richard Petty took tires on a late stop and gunned him down on the final lap; the win began a rally from a 229-point deficit to the season championship.

• 1981: The most competitive Michigan race ever erupted as Ron Bouchard won his first pole fresh off his electrifying Talladega win. There were 65 lead changes among 14 drivers and Richard Petty, who led 65 laps, roared from fifth to the lead with five to go and held off six other challengers. "This wasn't the toughest race, but it sure was the most aggravating," Petty said afterward.

• 1987: Fellow drivers revolted against Tim Richmond at Watkins Glen the week before when he reported to the prerace drivers meeting looking sickly and acting belligerently. Before Michigan qualifying Richmond had to be rousted out of his motorhome and when he arrived at the qualifying line asked aloud, "Where are we?" When NASCAR officials Les Richter and Dick Beaty asked Hendrick officials what was wrong with Tim, Richmond appeared from nowhere and confronted both of them, then showed up late for the prerace drivers meeting. During the 400 he had an anxiety attack and the engine blew; he drove to the garage and when the crew checked the tachometer they found it had been pegged, because Richmond had deliberately overreved the engine to blow it. It became his final race ever.^[2] Richard Petty rallied to the lead in the final 40 laps but had to pit on a late caution and crashed after colliding with Davey Allison on the final lap as Bill Elliott took the win, his sixth Michigan win in an eight-race span.

• 1991: Dale Jarrett stayed out on a late caution, and in the final laps Davey Allison ran him down, but became locked in a side-by-side battle won by Jarrett by inches for his first win and the first for the Wood Brothers since 1987 at Charlotte.

• 1994: Geoff Bodine cleaned house in the Yankee 400 on Hoosier Tires while Indycar veteran John Andretti turned heads qualifying second in Richard Petty's Pontiac after Wally Dallenbach, Jr. was released, but the story of the weekend was a savage crash in practice that left Ernie Irvan fighting to live; Irvan would recover from near-fatal injury over a year later.

• 1998: Irvan dominated the race, but Jeff Gordon ran down the leaders and won handily. Mark Martin was denied the win, the race coming days after the death of his father in a plane crash.

• 1999: Goodyear brought tires to Michigan designed for Fontana for Winston West racing, where Hoosier Tire was still a presence in competition against Goodyear; the new tire featured greater stagger and handled more like bias ply tires than radials. Dale Earnhardt grabbed the lead late and got into a spirited battle with Bobby Labonte before Labonte cleared for the win.

Winners

By season

Year	Date	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)
					Laps	Miles (km)
1969	Aug 17	David Pearson	Holman-Moody	Ford	165*	330 (531.083)	2:51:25	115.508
1970	Aug 16	Charlie Glotzbach	Ray Nichels	Dodge	197	401.8 (646.737)	2:48:32	147.571
1971	Aug 16	Bobby Allison	Holman-Moody	Mercury	197	401.88 (646.763)	2:40:54	149.862
1972	Aug 20	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	200	400 (643.737)	2:58:31	134.416
1973	Not held
1974	Aug 25	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	200	400 (643.737)	3:00:23	133.045
1975	Aug 24	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	200	400 (643.737)	3:43:05	107.583
1976	Aug 22	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	200	400 (643.737)	2:51:20	140.078
1977	Aug 22*	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	2:53:59	137.944
1978	Aug 20	David Pearson	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	200	400 (643.737)	3:05:14	129.566
1979	Aug 19	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	3:04:05	130.376
1980	Aug 17	Cale Yarborough	Junior Johnson	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	2:45:07	145.352
1981	Aug 16	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Buick	200	400 (643.737)	3:14:24	123.457
1982	Aug 22	Bobby Allison	DiGard Motorsports	Buick	200	400 (643.737)	2:45:53	136.454
1983	Aug 21	Cale Yarborough	Harry Ranier	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	2:42:42	147.511
1984	Aug 12	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	2:35:59	153.863
1985	Aug 11	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:54:38	137.43
1986	Aug 17	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:57:28	135.376
1987	Aug 16	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:53:06	138.648
1988	Aug 21	Davey Allison	Harry Ranier	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:33:00	156.863
1989	Aug 20	Rusty Wallace	Blue Max Racing	Pontiac	200	400 (643.737)	2:32:11	157.704
1990	Aug 19	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:52:53	138.822
1991	Aug 18	Dale Jarrett	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:51:34	142.972
1992	Aug 16	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	200	400 (643.737)	2:47:46	146.056
1993	Aug 15	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:46:01	144.564
1994	Aug 21	Geoffrey Bodine	Geoffrey Bodine	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:51:32	139.914
1995	Aug 20	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	2:32:09	157.739
1996	Aug 18	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:51:41	139.792
1997	Aug 17	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	3:09:09	126.883
1998	Aug 16	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	2:37:54	151.995
1999	Aug 22	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Pontiac	200	400 (643.737)	2:46:17	144.332
2000	Aug 20	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	3:01:00	132.597
2001	Aug 19	Sterling Marlin	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	162*	324 (521.427)	2:18:21	140.513
2002	Aug 18	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:50:45	140.556
2003	Aug 17	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing	Dodge	200	400 (643.737)	3:08:31	127.31
2004	Aug 22	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:52:35	139.063
2005	Aug 21	Jeremy Mayfield	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	200	400 (643.737)	2:49:33	141.551
2006	Aug 20	Matt Kenseth	Roush Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:57:39	135.097
2007	Aug 21	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing	Dodge	203*	406 (653.393)	2:37:45	117.012
2008	Aug 17	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	200	400 (643.737)	2:51:00	120.012
2009	Aug 16	Brian Vickers	Team Red Bull	Toyota	200	400 (643.737)	3:02:28	131.531
2010	Aug 15	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	200	400 (643.737)	2:46:38	144.029
2011	Aug 21	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	203*	406 (653.393)	2:41:26	150.898
*1969 race shortened from 600 miles (Only race to be 600 miles) to 165 laps(330 miles) due to rain. *1977 race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain. *2001 race shortened due to rain. *2007 race postponed twice from Sunday to Tuesday due to rain and extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.[1][3] *2011 race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.

By manufacturer

Rank	Manufacturer	Wins
1	Ford	16
2	Dodge	7
2	Chevrolet	7
4	Mercury	5
5	Buick	2
5	Pontiac	2
5	Toyota	2
6	Oldsmobile	1
Source:[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Race Results at Michigan International Speedway". Racing-reference.info. http://racing-reference.info/tracks?id=058. Retrieved August 20, 2011. 
2. ^ Poole, David (2005): TIM RICHMOND: The Fast Life And Remarkable Times Of NASCAR's Top Gun (Sports Publishing LLC, Champaign, IL), pp. 155–8
3. ^ ^{a b} "Race Winners of the Pure Michigan 400 1972 - 2011". NASCAR. http://www.nascar.com/kyn/nbtn/cup/data/tracks/mis_winners.html. Retrieved August 20, 2011.