1996 Miller 400 (Michigan)

1996 Miller 400

Race details
Race 14 of 31 in the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1996 Miller 400 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
Date	June 23, 1996
Official name	28th Annual Miller 400
Location	Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Average speed	166.033 miles per hour (267.204 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Bobby Hamilton	Petty Enterprises
Time	38.884
Most laps led
Driver	Sterling Marlin	Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Laps	78
Winner
No. 2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South
Television in the United States
Network	TNN
Announcers	Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, Buddy Baker
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1996 Miller 400 was the 14th stock car race of the 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 23, 1996, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. Depending on fuel mileage, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would manage to drive a conservative race for the last 52 laps of the race to take his 44th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte and Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Sterling Marlin would finish second and third, respectively.

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).

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 21, at 3:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, June 22, at 10:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-38 would be decided on time,^[3] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points.

Bobby Hamilton, driving for Petty Enterprises, would win the pole, setting a time of 38.884 and an average speed of 185.166 miles per hour (297.996 km/h).^[4]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

*Time not available.

The Daytona 500 was covered by CBS with Ken Squier, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Ned Jarrett and 1979 race winner Buddy Baker in commentary. Mike Joy, David Hobbs and Dick Berggren handled pit road for the television side.