Ricky Carmichael made his on-track debut at Michigan International Speedway for the VFW 200 and, after a rain-delayed race, brought home a 15th-place finish in his Monster Energy Chevrolet.
After a good run in the first practice, Carmichael felt comfortable in the cockpit of his truck and was prepared to make qualifying runs in the second practice session. However, Mother Nature wasn’t on NASCAR’s side as heavy rains caused officials to cancel the second practice session. Regardless, Carmichael made a strong qualifying effort that placed the No. 4 Monster Energy Chevrolet Silverado in 11th position to start the 100-lap race.
The first caution flag of the race flew on lap 3, and Carmichael immediately reported loose conditions to his crew. Crew Chief Mike Fritts kept his driver out on the track, but prepared the No. 4 Monster Energy crew to make major changes to the truck on its next pit stop.
That first stop came only three laps after the re-start of the race on lap 10. Carmichael was in the 18th-position when he came down pit road. After battling “very loose” conditions, the crew took the track bar down four rounds, put a right rear rubber in, gave Carmichael four tires and filled his Chevy full of Sunoco race fuel.
Though the changes did help, Carmichael continued to battle loose conditions into turn one of the two-mile speedway.
On lap 32, the caution flag was once again displayed for rain. NASCAR officials brought all of the drivers down pit road and parked the trucks to allow for the brief shower to blow through and the track to dry. Before the race went green, the No. 4 received another big swing of changes with five more rounds down on the track bar, four new tires, an air pressure adjustment and fuel.
On lap 47, Carmichael reported that the truck still needed to be tighter. “The adjustments definitely made it better, but I still really struggle in the center of turn one,” Carmichael said.
The VFW 200 was caution free for the next 35 laps, but the Monster Energy team made a green flag pit stop on lap 75 to give Carmichael four tires and fuel.
Only one more caution flag flew during the race and Carmichael finished the final lap in the 15th-position and gained one spot in the point’s standings, putting him in 9th place.
FAST FACTS:
Prior to his visit to Michigan, Carmichael raced with some of the biggest names in motorsports in this year’s “Prelude to the Dream” at the famed Eldora Speedway. The 15-time AMA champion competed on a dirt track for the first time on four wheels with Team St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in the Prelude and brought home a respectable 19th-place finish.
The Monster Energy Chevrolet team will enjoy some time off before returning to the NASCAR circuit on Sunday, July 11 at Iowa for the Lucas Oil 200 presented by SPEED on Mediacom. The race can be seen on SPEED TV, or heard on MRN Radio beginning at 1:30 pm Eastern time.
RICKY CARMICHAEL: “I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect at Michigan since I’ve never raced here. No matter how much research you do, and how many people you talk to, you don’t know how you’re going to perform until you actually get on the track. The guys brought a really good truck out here – our practice session was great and I was very comfortable in the car, but once the race started, I was fighting really loose conditions all day. It’s definitely not the finish I wanted, but it was good enough for us to gain a position in the points standings and that’s what’s important.”
CARMICHAEL: MICHIGAN RECAP
