The 2017 Irish Hills 250 was the 13th stock car race of the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and the 26th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, June 17, 2017, in Brooklyn, Michigan at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) permanent moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 125 laps to complete. At race's end, Denny Hamlin, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win in a close finish on the final restart with two to go.[1] The win was Hamlin's 16th career NASCAR Xfinity Series win and his first win of the season. To fill out the podium, William Byron and Elliott Sadler, both driving for JR Motorsports, would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
First practice
The first practice session was held on Friday, July 18, at 12:30 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[2] Spencer Gallagher of GMS Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 37.834 and an average speed of 190.305 mph (306.266 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 37.834 | 190.305 |
| 2 | 16 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 37.871 | 190.119 |
| 3 | 22 | Brad Keselowski (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 37.953 | 189.708 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Second and final practice
The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, July 18, at 3:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[2] Brad Keselowski of Team Penske would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 37.277 and an average speed of 193.149 mph (310.843 km/h).[4]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Brad Keselowski (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 37.277 | 193.149 |
| 2 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37.289 | 193.086 |
| 3 | 33 | Brandon Jones | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 37.675 | 191.108 |
| Full Happy Hour practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Saturday, June 17, at 10:00 AM EST.[2] Since Michigan International Speedway is at least 2 miles (3.2 km), the qualifying system was a single car, single lap, two round system where in the first round, everyone would set a time to determine positions 13–40. Then, the fastest 12 qualifiers would move on to the second round to determine positions 1–12.[5]
Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 37.197 and an average speed of 193.564 miles per hour (311.511 km/h) in the second round.[6]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Stage 1 Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Brad Keselowski (i) | Team Penske | Ford | 0 |
| 2 | 20 | Denny Hamlin (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Paul Menard (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 5 | 9 | William Byron (R) | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 42 | Tyler Reddick | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher (R) | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 3 | Ty Dillon (i) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 9 | 00 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 30
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 48 | Brennan Poole | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 11 | Blake Koch | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 33 | Brandon Jones | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 4 | Ross Chastain | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 01 | Harrison Rhodes | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 92 | Josh Williams | King Autosport | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Denny Hamlin (i) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0 |
Stage 3 Laps: 65
Standings after the race
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References
- ^ "Hamlin edges Byron in thrilling finish at Michigan". ESPN.com. 2017-06-17. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ^ a b c "2017 NASCAR XFINITY Michigan Race Info". ESPN.com. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2017-06-16). "Spencer Gallagher, Ryan Reed fastest in first Xfinity practice at Michigan". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (2017-08-12). "Brad Keselowski fastest in final NASCAR Cup practice at Michigan". NASCAR Talk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-05-16.
- ^ "NASCAR Qualifying Rules". ESPN.com. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- ^ Velat, Frank (2017-06-17). "Kyle Busch Captures Michigan NASCAR XFINITY Series Pole". Retrieved 2022-05-16.