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).
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]