Michigan Looms Large For Cup Playoff Bubble Drivers

On the surface it seems like a simple formula. Win a race and you’re in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Playoffs. And the three competitors closest to the 16-driver Playoff cutoff mark would insist that’s been their plan all year. Planning and executing are two different things, however.

All three of those drivers on the verge of Playoff standing – Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman – have won before at this week’s venue, Michigan International Speedway. With only four races remaining before the Playoffs begin, victory has never been more crucial and race management top priority.

Raising a trophy following Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 would not only be a saving grace but a huge motivator going forward for these three drivers in particular, with the 10-race Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs beginning Sept. 15 in Las Vegas.

Bowyer, the driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford visited Michigan’s Victory Lane most recently among the three – winning the rain-shortened 2018 early summer race. Johnson, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, won there in 2014. And Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 6 Roush-Fenway Ford, won back-to-back in 2003-04.

Bowyer is ranked 15th and holds a 12-point edge over Johnson and Newman, who are tied in the standings. Johnson is in the 16th – and final Playoff position – because he has posted the highest finish between himself and Newman.

At the series’ first Michigan race in June, Newman posted the best finish (eighth) among the three drivers. Bowyer has the most recent win and the seven-time Cup champion Johnson has led the most laps (700) in the field.

Bowyer brings some positive momentum to the Michigan weekend with a sixth-place finish at Kentucky and an 11th-place finish at Pocono prior to his frustrating 20th place showing at The Glen on Sunday.

Johnson picked up some important stage points last week at Watkins Glen before being spun out late in the race and settling for a 20th-place finish. He earned top-fives at Chicago (fourth) and Daytona (fifth) in July, but hasn’t had a top-10 in the four races since.

Newman is coming off his worst finish of the season – 25th at Watkins Glen. He has three top 10 efforts in the last five races, however, including a best of fifth at Daytona in July. The two-time Michigan winner has a pair of top-10 finishes in the last four races at the track and a fourth place in this race in 2017 is his best result since his 2004 win.

“There’s pressure in everything you do in this sport and that’s kind of the way we like it,” Bowyer said. “That’s what makes it fun. We are getting to the point in the season when the pay window is starting to open and it’s go-time. That’s when it’s fun for the drivers, teams and especially the fans. As the tension goes up, the sport gets more and more interesting.”

Mid-Ohio Is The Next Stop For NASCAR Xfinity Series

The always-anticipated road course portion of the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule continues this week with Saturday’s B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Austin Cindric earned his career first Xfinity Series victory last week at the iconic Watkins Glen International road course and shows up in Ohio an absolute favorite as well. He won the pole position last year at Mid-Ohio and led a race best 59 laps only to finish second to series veteran Justin Allgaier.

Allgaier proved himself the 2018 road course ace earning wins in two of the four events – answering his Mid-Ohio win with another at the next stop in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. He leads the series championship contenders with three career road course wins and could use another to secure his position in the 2019 Playoff field.

The JR Motorsports driver Allgaier is one of only two drivers ranked in the top-eight without a victory and that’s largely because the top-three in the standings have absolutely dominated the win column. Championship leader and defending series champ Tyler Reddick has three wins. Christopher Bell and Cole Custer have five victories each. Allgaier is ranked fourth just behind these multi-time winners.

Allgaier’s experience plus the fact that no member of that championship leading group of three has won on an Xfinity Series road course previously, certainly makes him a favorite heading into the weekend. He has a win, two top-fives and three top-10s in four Mid-Ohio starts.

Counting the last five road course events for the series, Allgaier has a pair of wins, four top-fives and is averaging a 4.6 finish in the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet.

Some of his fiercest competition this weekend may actually come from within the JR Motorsports group. Xfinity rookie Noah Gragson won a NASCAR K&N Series race on the Sonoma, California road course earlier this summer. He was ninth in his Xfinity road course race last week at Watkins Glen and was a perfect 2-for-2 in top-10s in his two Gander Outdoors Truck Series road course events.

The 21-year old driver of the No. 9 JRM Chevrolet has four wins in 10 road course races in the combined NASCAR K&N East and West series – five top-fives and seven top-10s.

“I really feel like this time of year is where we can really make move because of how comfortable I feel on road courses,” said Gragson, who is ranked seventh in the championship standings.

“We were able to come away with a good run despite some adversity last week in Watkins Glen and I am really confident that we can have an even better run in Mid-Ohio, despite having never been there before. It’ll be an interesting weekend for sure and I’m ready to get it going.”

Gander Trucks To Crown Regular Season Champ

A dramatic and action-filled NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series regular season culminates this weekend in the Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway. The series will crown its regular season champion and the eight-driver championship Playoff field will be set. For all intents and purposes there still remains one Playoff position to finalize.

Stewart Friesen’s career first victory last week on the Eldora Speedway dirt track secured his Playoff position. He joins a list of race winners that include defending series champion Brett Moffitt, a two-time winner as well as first-time championship contender, Ross Chastain, who has three victories. Daytona winner Austin Hill and Kentucky race winner Tyler Ankrum will also be making their Playoff debut. And two-time series champion Johnny Sauter rounds out the list of 2019 race winners.

Moffitt, driver of the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet is the defending Michigan race winner. In three starts there, he has two wins. He won the 2016 race leading only the last lap. He led five laps in the race last year, however took the victory on a last lap pass on Johnny Sauter.

Grant Enfinger has topped the championship standings for the last nine weeks and never been ranked less than second place. Although he hasn’t won a race this year, he has mathematically secured the championship triumph to move into the Playoffs with a 15-point Playoff point bonus for his season topping work.
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Matt Crafton, a former two-time series champion, is ranked second to Enfinger in the championship, but is also winless on the season. Should a new winner – other than Crafton – take the checkered at Michigan, Crafton would be eliminated from Playoff contention.

Crafton has the most starts at Michigan among those vying for the last Playoff position. The driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Ford has eight top-10 finishes in 17 starts, including a best showing of runner-up in 2014. He has top-10 finishes in the last five races and led laps in the last three races.

There remains, however, a substantial and substantially talented group of young drivers still hoping to win their way into the Playoffs this weekend. Ben Rhodes, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland and Sheldon Creed are all ranked among the top-eight in the championship standings but without a Playoff-qualifying win yet.

Rhodes, 22, is ranked ninth – 63 points behind Crafton in the standings. The driver of the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford has a pair of top-10 finishes in three Michigan starts.

Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland are ranked sixth and seventh in the championship. Burton, 18, will be making his Michigan debut in the No. 18 KBM Toyota. Gilliland, 19, started on the outside pole last year in his only Gander Trucks start at Michigan and finished fifth. He has five top 10s in the season’s last six races in the No. 4 KBM Toyota.

Creed, 21, is ranked eighth in the championship but still in need of a victory to break into the Playoff mix. The driver of the No. 2 GMS Racing Chevrolet finished runner-up last week at Eldora Speedway – his best finish of the season – and this will be his Michigan debut in the truck.

NASCAR Weekend Preview

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: Consumers Energy 400
The Place: Michigan International Speedway – Brooklyn, MI
The Date: Sunday, August 11
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN, 2:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400 miles (200 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 60),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 120), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
2018 Race Winner: Kevin Harvick
What to Watch For: NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough won the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in June, 1969. … David Pearson holds the record for race wins with nine and the record for pole positions with 10. Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano lead all active drivers with three wins. Logano has the most pole positions (four) among active drivers. … David Pearson holds the record for most consecutive poles (five from 1976-78 seasons). … Bill Elliott holds the record for most starts (61). Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch have the most starts (37) among active drivers. … Landon Cassill made his first series start at Michigan in June, 2010. … Among active drivers, J.J. Yeley is the only one to earn his first pole position at Michigan (June, 2007). … Ford has the most pole positions (30). … Joey Logano is the youngest race winner at 23 years, two months (August, 2013). … Nine drivers in history have won consecutive races. Ryan Newman (two, 2003-04) and Kyle Larson (three, 2016-17) are the only active drivers to do so. … Bill Elliott has the most consecutive wins – four – sweeping both the 1985 and 1986 seasons. … The first starting position is the winningest starting position on the grid, producing 22 winners. … The farthest back a winner has started is 32nd – Mark Martin won from there in 2009. … Martin Truex, Jr. has made the most starts (27) at Michigan without scoring a victory. … Kevin Harvick is tied with Darrell Waltrip for the most runner-up finishes (seven) all-time at the track. … Cale Yarborough has the most top-five finishes (21). Kevin Harvick has the most (12) among active drivers. … Among drivers with at least 10 starts, Carl Edwards boasts the all-time best average finishing position (9.4). … The closest Margin of Victory is .085-seconds when Jeff Gordon edged Ricky Rudd in June, 2001. … There have been six overtime races. Joey Logano won the last one in June. … Cale Yarbrough has led the most laps (1,308) in history at Michigan. Jimmie Johnson (700) has led the most among active drivers. … Jimmie Johnson holds the record for leading the most laps in a race (146) not to win. Joey Logano set the record for most laps led (163 of 203) in a winning effort in June, 2019.

NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: B&L Transport 170
The Place: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, OH
The Date: Saturday, August 10
The Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 169.35 miles (75 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 75)
2018 Race Winner: Justin Allgaier
What to Watch For: Justin Allgaier won this race last year by 2.095-seconds over Austin Cindric. … Two former race winners – Allgaier and 2013 inaugural race winner A.J. Allmendinger are entered this weekend. … No driver has won multiple races. … Three times in the six-year history of this race, the winning driver did not lead the most laps – 2018 (runner-up Cindric led race high 59 laps), 2015 (runner-up Alex Tagliani led race high 38 laps) and 2014 (third place finisher Brian Scott led race best 39 laps). … The farthest back a race winner has started on the grid is 16th – Justin Marks in 2016. … This race has been won from the pole position only once – Sam Hornish in 2017. Twice it’s been won from the seventh starting position, including Justin Allgaier’s win last year. … The closest Margin of Victory was .766-seconds when Regan Smith defeated Alex Tagliani in 2015. … The largest MoV was 3.707-seconds when Justin Marks beat Sam Hornish, Jr. in 2016. … There have been three Ford and three Chevrolet victories. … The most laps led by a winner is 73 – A.J. Allmendinger’s 2013 inaugural win. … The fewest laps led by a race winner is 38 – Regan Smith’s 2015 win over Alex Tagliani. … Austin Cindric (Watkins Glen, 2019) and Justin Allgaier (Mid-Ohio, 2018, Elkhart Lake, 2018 and Montreal, 2012) are the only two drives among the top-five in the championship standings with previous road course wins.

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
Next Race: Corrigan Oil 200
The Place: Michigan International Speedway – Brooklyn, MI
The Date: Saturday, August 10
The Time: 1 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 1 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 200 miles (100 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 100)
2018 Race Winner: Brett Moffitt
What to Watch For: This is the final race to crown the regular season champion and set the eight-driver Playoff field. Six drivers – Brett Moffitt, Ross Chastain, Johnny Sauter, Austin Hill, Tyler Ankrum and Stewart Friesen have secured a Playoff spot by winning a race. . … Grant Enfinger leads the series points standings by 52 points over the field. … Brett Moffitt, the reigning series champion and a two-time race winner in 2019, is the defending Michigan race winner. He is one of two drivers – also including Greg Biffle – to win this race multiple times (twice each). … Biffle won the track’s first two truck series races in 1999 and 2000 at Michigan. … Biffle is the only driver to win back-to-back races. … Moffitt started 21st in his victory last year – the farthest back on the grid a winner has started in the 19-year history of the event. … The front row of the grid has only produced three winners. … Travis Kvapil is the only polesitter to also win the race (2007). … Colin Braun earned his only victory in one of NASCAR’s three premier series when he won this race in 2009. … Brendan Gaughan’s 11.477-second win over Ted Musgrave in 2003 is the largest Margin of Victory in the race’s history. … Erik Darnell’s .005-second win over Johnny Benson in 2008 is the closest MoV in the race’s history. … The most lead changes in a race were 20 – in 2010. … Twice this race featured a single caution period – in 2003 and 2014. … Toyota leads all makes with six wins – including four of the past five races. Ford and Chevrolet each have five victories.