SPEEDS HIGH DURING NASCAR TEST RUNS IN MICHIGAN

After four drivers posted laps of over 200 mph during a morning test session, Greg Biffle was asked if the fast new track at Michigan International Speedway might be good for the sport.

“Certainly this doesn’t hurt us,” Biffle said. “We don’t want to kill anybody, either, so we’ve got to walk that fine line of killing people and creating excitement.”

After being repaved in the offseason, the two-mile track at MIS was the talk of the Sprint Cup drivers Thursday. A NASCAR official said after the morning session he expected speeds to decrease before too long, but that didn’t happen in the afternoon. After four drivers exceeded 200 mph in the morning, seven did it during the second test session, including Tony Stewart, who set the day’s standard at 201.896 mph.

The track record for qualifying is 194.232 mph, set by Ryan Newman in 2005. All 43 drivers surpassed that speed Thursday afternoon. Qualifying is Saturday for Sunday’s 400-mile race.

“What we saw this morning is probably, for speed, the best shape that the track will be in. As they continue to run and lay down rubber, and the other series that will run here throughout the weekend, the grooves will widen out,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president for competition. “Maybe qualifying will get back to there, maybe. But for the most part, it will continue to slow down from here.”

Pemberton said restrictor plates weren’t in the plans. — Associated Press