Race Weekend Central

Numbers Game: 2014 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan

0 – Laps led by Roush Fenway Racing Sunday at a Michigan track where they’ve won eight times and entered the Quicken Loans 400 defending champs (Greg Biffle). Last season, RFR led 92 of 400 Cup laps run at MIS.

1 – Michigan win in 25 career starts for Jimmie Johnson. There are only four tracks left on the current Cup schedule where Johnson hasn’t won: Kentucky, Watkins Glen, Chicagoland and Homestead.

2 – Top-five finishes for Paul Menard this season, including a fourth at Michigan. The rest of Richard Childress Racing has yet to earn one (Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon and rookie Brian Scott).

– Second-place finishes in the last five races for Kevin Harvick. He has not won during that same stretch.

4 – Laps led Sunday for Brad Keselowski, whose four straight top-10 finishes (including three of third or better) have lifted him up to fifth in Cup Series points.

5 – Consecutive races won by Hendrick Motorsports. (Johnson has three, Kasey Kahne zero, while Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have one apiece). It’s the first time HMS has matched that streak on the Cup level since 2007.

6 – Laps led, in total for Joe Gibbs Racing the last two weeks. They scored a total of one top-10 finish, combined at Pocono and Michigan (Denny Hamlin, Pocono).

7 – Chevrolets in the top 10 at Michigan, including six of the first seven finishers. Only Brad Keselowski (fourth – Ford), Joey Logano (ninth – Ford), and Clint Bowyer (10th – Toyota) broke their stranglehold at the top.

8 – Cautions for 36 laps at Michigan. It’s the fourth time in the last five race at MIS there have been exactly eight yellow flags.

9 – Straight top-20 finishes for rookie Kyle Larson, including an eighth on Sunday. He’s been the top-finishing Sprint Cup freshman in all but one (Coca-Cola 600).

10 – Sprint Cup winners in 15 races this season. However, the sport has now been without a “new” visitor to victory lane since the Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day Weekend (Johnson).

10 – Points positions lost by Brian Vickers after running 42nd or worse in two of the last three races. Vickers’s engine blew at Dover and then, during the first lap at Michigan he wrecked on his own.

13 – Different leaders at Michigan, due to mostly pit strategy over the course of 400 miles, accounting for 25 lead changes.

204.557 – Pole speed for Michigan, in mph, a new track record and the fastest on the Sprint Cup circuit this season.

$126,650 – Money won by Kahne Sunday for finishing fifth.

$130,801 – Money won by Dillon Sunday for finishing 30th.

About the author

The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.

You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.

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