FOX previews NASCAR Michigan weekend
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| NASCAR pulls into Michigan |
FOX Sports offers a quadruple-header of stock-car racing in the Midwest this weekend, including the NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES, NASCAR XFINITY SERIES and ARCA RACING SERIES tripleheader from Michigan International Speedway, in addition to the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES from Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill.
More than 25 hours of live FOX Sports coverage from Michigan and Illinois culminates with the Cup Series race live on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, June 14 (1:00 PM ET), with pre-race coverage beginning at 11:30 AM ET with NASCAR RACEDAY.
On Sunday, Mike Joy leads the FOX NASCAR booth from the two-mile oval with analysis from NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds. The trio is joined on pit road by Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum. Chris Myers hosts the network’s coverage alongside analyst Michael Waltrip.
Kicking off Sunday’s Cup Series coverage is a 90-minute edition of NASCAR RACEDAY at 11:30 AM ET on FOX Sports 1. It includes: A “Hot Seat" segment with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in which he answers off-the-track questions; a piece on Martin Truex Jr.; and interviews with Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.
Adam Alexander calls Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race at 1:30 PM ET alongside Michael Waltrip and driver analyst Danica Patrick. Patrick is the final of five NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES drivers who rotated in the FOX and FOX Sports 1 booth for FOX Sports’ coverage of the 2015 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES season. Preceding her were reigning champion Kevin Harvick, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, 2012 champ Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer. Reporting from the XFINITY Series pits at Michigan are Vince Welch, Neville and Yocum.
NASCAR RACEDAY-XFINITY brings viewers up to speed before the XFINITY Series takes the green, hitting the air at 1:00 PM ET on Saturday on FOX Sports 1 with Danielle Trotta, Larry McReynolds, Kenny Wallace, Welch and Neville.
Sandwiched between the NASCAR XFINITY and CUP SERIES events is the NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES, live under the lights on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday, June 13 (8:30 PM ET) in its eighth stop of the season. Ralph Sheheen calls the action alongside analysts Phil Parsons and two-time series champion Todd Bodine, with pit reporting by Hermie Sadler and Kaitlyn Vincie.
NCWTS SETUP, hosted by John Roberts and analyst Ray Dunlap, sets the stage for the Truck Series race Saturday at 8:00 PM ET. Featured in the pre-race show are: A look back at Matt Crafton’s win last week at Texas; a flashback to Darrell Wallace Jr.’s victory at Gateway last season; a feature on the 2015 Truck Series winners; a “Where Are They Now?" feature with Terry Cook and John Wesley Townley, who currently are working together as driver coach and driver, respectively; a lighthearted word association game regarding Gateway; interviews with Townley and Crafton, who sits at 199 career top-10 finishes, and is poised to become only the second driver in Truck Series history to reach 200 (Ron Hornaday Jr. – 234).
On-track action begins Friday at 11:30 AM ET on FOX Sports 1 with Cup Series practice. FOX Sports GO, the critically acclaimed app that provides live streaming video of FOX Sports content at home or on the go, offers live streaming of all NASCAR and ARCA RACING SERIES programming in 2015. Customers of participating video providers may access the live streams of the race through the FOX Sports GO app for iOS devices, as well as on desktops through FOXSportsGO.com. For the latest NASCAR news and information, please visit www.FOXSports.com and follow @NASCARonFOX on Twitter.
The ARCA RACING SERIES caps FOX Sports’ stock car coverage on Friday from Michigan, live on FOX Sports 2 at 5:30 PM ET. Ray Dunlap has the call alongside analyst Phil Parsons with Jim Tretow and Yocum reporting from pit road.
Below are quotes from FOX NASCAR analyst Larry McReynolds, NASCAR RACE HUB guest analyst/crew chief Chad Knaus and this weekend’s FOX Sports 1 driver analyst Danica Patrick on the week’s headlines and the race ahead, as well as the full FOX NASCAR programming schedule from Michigan International Speedway and Gateway Motorsports Park.
KNAUS (ON NASCAR RACE HUB) ON THE NO. 78 TEAM REMINDING HIM OF HIS NO. 48 TEAM A FEW YEARS AGO:
“We’ve been pitted next to these guys now for the last few weeks. Watching the way that team operates, watching that group of young men work on that race car really reminds me of the 48 car about eight to 10 years ago when we were all younger. Now we’re a little bit older and a little bit slower obviously. But these guys are really good. Their attention to detail is very high. I think them being next to the 4, next to the 22, next to the 48, these teams in that end of the garage area has helped elevate those guys probably at a faster rate than even they thought was possible. And they’re getting it done. I think they’re doing a great job."
KNAUS (ON NASCAR RACE HUB) ON HOW FAR MARTIN TRUEX JR. AND THE NO. 78 TEAM COULD ADVANCE IN THE CHASE:
“If they can continue through the summer months and lead laps and contend for wins the way they’re doing right now, they’ll definitely go into the Chase a contender. If they start to waiver, if they start to break down a little bit, then they’ll have some problems. But if they can continue to win, not necessarily even win, but to lead laps, because if you lead laps, you put yourself in position to advance in the Chase. Man, they could make it all the way to Homestead."
MCREYNOLDS ON HOW FAR TRUEX JR. COULD ADVANCE IN THE CHASE:
“I see no reason Martin Truex Jr. can’t go all way to the championship round at Homestead with three other drivers. He has 13 top-10 finishes in 14 races. We’ve raced at seven of the 10 Chase tracks already, and he knocked down top 10s at each of those. The No. 78 team is very good on mile-and-a-half tracks, which comprise half the Chase races. At the very least, we know one driver will advance to the final round based on points alone, so I see no reason, based on his performance this year, Truex won’t advance all the way to the final round. And how cool would it be for a single-car team to make it to the championship round?"
PATRICK ON WHETHER THERE ARE ANY NERVES AS SHE PREPARES TO JOIN THE FOX SPORTS 1 TEAM FOR SATURDAY’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES RACE:
“I wouldn’t really say I’m nervous. I enjoy trying new things and I’m looking forward to getting in the booth and sharing my perspective with all the fans watching at home."
PATRICK ON KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM WATCHING OTHER SPRINT CUP SERIES DRIVERS IN THE FOX SPORTS 1 BOOTH THIS YEAR:
“Those guys have definitely done a great job so far this year and it’s been great to hear their insight each week as I watched the XFINITY races. I think there are definitely a few things I’ve picked up from watching each of them and we’ll see how well I can put that to use on Saturday."
PATRICK ON WHETHER TEAMMATE KEVIN HARVICK HAS GIVEN HER ANY TIPS FOLLOWING HIS TIME IN THE FOX SPORTS 1 BOOTH:
“Kevin (Harvick) and I talked a bit at Dover a couple weeks ago. I went up to the booth while he was there for the XFINITY race just to see what it was like so I know what to expect this weekend. He showed me a few things and gave me a few pointers."
MCREYNOLDS ON WHETHER THE NO. 48 TEAM CAN GET 10 WINS IN 2015 AS IT DID IN 2007, WITH THE TEAM’S STATS ON-TRACK TO DO SO AT THIS POINT IN THE SEASON:
“It's a 50/50 chance because the Chase is a lot different now than it was in 2007. Two of Johnson’s four wins this year were the result of Chad Knaus and Johnson rolling the dice. At Kansas, they stayed out while others pitted, and with 50 laps on their tires at Dover, they also stayed out. Would they gamble like that in the Chase? I don’t know. When you have wins in the regular season, you tend to throw caution to the wind more than you would in the Chase. I don’t think they’ll hit 10 wins this year, but they could easily win eight, which, given today’s level of competition, is unbelievable."
MCREYNOLDS ON WHAT’S MORE IMPRESSIVE IN 2015 — JIMMIE JOHNSON’S FOUR WINS, HARVICK’S 10 TOP-TWO FINISHES OR TRUEX JR.’S 13 TOP-10 FINISHES:
“They're all very impressive in their own right. Johnson winning four of 14 races is so hard to do, when winning one Sprint Cup race alone is one of the most difficult things in all of motor sports. For Truex Jr., who had only one top-five finish last season, to have scored 13 top 10s is an unbelievable feat given the variety of tracks the series has been to. And Harvick scoring 10 top-two finishes is remarkable. That hasn’t been done since the 1970s, and the competition is a lot tighter now than it was then. If you finish in the top two every week, you’ll make it to the championship round. But he needs to get back to Victory Lane soon. Will finishing second in the championship round win a championship? Ask Ryan Newman – probably not."
MCREYNOLDS ON KYLE BUSCH COMPETING IN SATURDAY’S NASCAR XFINITY SERIES RACE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE HIS INJURY AT DAYTONA:
“I don’t challenge that one bit, especially with this new rules package. I’ve heard Kevin Harvick say several times that running the NASCAR XFINITY Series races on Saturday, because of the rules being a little closer, mainly with the decreased horsepower, has helped him. I heard Austin Dillon say the same thing. Kyle has been out of the race car for several weeks, so maybe more seat time with this rules package will help him on Sunday."
NASCAR & ARCA ON FOX SPORTS 1 & FOX SPORTS 2
AT MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY & GATEWAY MOTORSPORTS PARK
PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE
*All times live/Eastern unless otherwise indicated & subject to change
Friday, June 12
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (11:30 AM-1:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY Series practice (1:00-2:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice (2:30-4:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying (4:00-5:30 PM ET) (FS2)
ARCA Racing Series race (5:30-7:00 PM ET) (FS2)
Saturday, June 13
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (9:00-10:00 AM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying (10:00-11:30 AM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR RACE HUB WEEKEND EDITION (11:30 AM-12:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice (12:00-1:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR RACEDAY – XFINITY (1:00-1:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR XFINITY Series race (1:30-3:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying (5:30-7:00 PM ET) (FS2
NCWTS SETUP (8:00-8:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race (8:30-11:00 PM ET) (FS1)
FOX SPORTS LIVE (11:00 PM-12:00 AM ET) (FS1)
Sunday, June 14
NASCAR RACEDAY (11:30 AM-1:00 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (1:00-4:30 PM ET) (FS1)
FOX SPORTS LIVE (4:30-5:30 PM ET) (FS1)
NASCAR FANS SPEAK (5:30-6:00 PM ET) (FS1) (delayed)
BEING: STEWART-HAAS RACING (6:00-7:00 PM ET) (FS1) (delayed)