NASCAR officials announced Thursday that all three national series will use a ‘choose rule’ for restarts except at road courses and the superspeedways of Daytona and Talladega. The procedure will be in place starting with Cup Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series events scheduled this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
The rule was first used at the national series level in the NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on July 15. The first points-paying Cup Series race for the restart procedure will be Saturday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the first of two events in a Cup Series weekend doubleheader at the 2-mile Michigan track.
The ‘choose rule’ procedure — which had previously been limited to local and weekly racing competition — offers a strategy play that gives drivers the option to start on either the inside or outside lane in a double-file restart. Drivers can opt for the preferred groove or make a bid for track position in the non-preferred lane.
In Bristol’s All-Star event, race officials painted an orange “V” and box as a designated commitment point not far from the start-finish line on the track’s frontstretch. Competition officials indicated that the same marking will be used at Michigan and beyond.
“It will essentially look the same,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “There will be a few subtle differences to handle wave-arounds and free passes and a full field of cars, which we didn’t have at the All-Star event. But it will look very much the same. It will be exactly the same up front, but just some subtleties to handle wave-around, free pass and things like that.”
The rules will be in effect for all the remaining events except for the road courses/rovals and Daytona and Talladega, two superspeedways where aerodynamic drafting is most prominent. Miller said the reasons for excluding the ‘choose rule’ process from those venues differ.
“There’s a couple of differences for each one of them,” Miller said. “For superspeedways, as we have all seen in the past, teamwork is kind of a key thing, whether that be between cars of the same manufacturer or cars of the same team, and if we have the choose rule there, we would just sort of be enabling them to get together much easier on a restart, and we feel like it’s probably much better to have that happen organically with a standard starting procedure.
“Road courses are a little bit different situation. We will get the field to choose at the call from the tower of ‘one to go,’ and we do that sometimes at remote locations on a road course so we can get back to green quicker, and we wouldn’t have the ability to sort of manage the choose with the remote ‘one to go’ location, so we won’t be able to manage that so we opted out on the road courses.”
As with the All-Star Race, if a driver fails to commit to a lane before the painted box or change lanes after the mark, the driver would be penalized by restarting at the tail end of the longest line. The choose rule will also not be in effect for the initial start of each race.
NASCAR officials announced Thursday that starting lineups and pit-stall selection will be determined using a competition-based formula, eliminating the random-draw element from all three national series through the end of the season.
The changes are set to take effect for the NASCAR tripleheader weekend scheduled Aug. 15-16 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course.
The formula will use three performance metrics, which will be weighted and averaged to determine the lineup and pit selection order:
Finishing position from the previous race (weighted 50%)
Ranking in team owner points standings (35%)
Fastest lap from the previous race (15%)
The competition-based formula will also bring with it the awarding of the Busch Pole Award in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Cometic Gaskets Pole Award in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.
Since NASCAR returned to racing in May after a two-month shutdown because of the COVID-19 outbreak, only one race — the Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 — has been held with qualifying. Competition officials announced July 21 that racing would continue without pre-race practice or qualifying through the end of the year, a measure intended to limit at-track exposure for drivers, crew, safety personnel and officials.
In the majority of national series events since NASCAR’s May return, starting lineups have been set either by random draws according to groups ranked by team owner points or — in the case of consecutive events for a series at the same track — by an inversion of the top 20 finishers from the previous race. Pit stall selection had previously been determined by the finishing order from each series’ most recent race.
Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said the new structure would draw on performance from both individual races and season-long results, rather than leaving a range of starting spots up to chance.
“We kind of consulted the playoff teams and then a few other ones as to what would be the best way to go,” Miller said. “We beat up several different things and feel really good where we landed. We feel like where we landed kind of serves both ends of the field — the perennial front-runners and then the rest of the cars still will have an opportunity to improve their starting spot. We feel like these metrics actually serve the field pretty well.”
Current rules that include the grouped random draw will remain in place for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series events at Michigan International Speedway, plus the Xfinity Series’ Saturday visit to Road America. Miller said competition officials stressed the importance of implementing the new lineup formula before the playoffs began in each series, allowing some time for officials to make tweaks to the system as needed before each circuit decides its championship.
“We want the experience. We want the teams to get used to it,” Miller said. “Anything that we may need to slightly adjust, we would like to have all that fine-tuned by the time we get to the playoffs.”
The points standings for each series are reset at the start of the postseason and again after each round of the playoffs are completed. Therefore, those resets will keep championship-eligible drivers at the front of the field when the starting lineups are calculated in the playoffs.
The new procedure is just the latest shift in what’s been an unprecedented season of adaptation to hold races after the coronavirus outbreak. Competition officials and crew chiefs had previously held virtual meetings by teleconference for the starting lineup draws, and on-track time and team rosters have been streamlined in an effort to restrict the disease’s spread.
“It’s been a heck of an industry-wide cooperative effort to be able to get us here,” Miller said, acknowledging the flexibility of NASCAR’s partners to operate under pandemic conditions. “These changes, especially the lineup one, when we did the random draw thing in the beginning, we looked at that as temporary. I think we all looked at and hoped — had our fingers crossed — that COVID was going to be a short-term thing. Well, it’s turned out to be obviously quite the opposite of that. So leading into the playoffs, it was just apparent to us that the random draw thing had served us well, but the playoffs needed something different, for sure.”
NASCAR driver Spencer Davis revealed Thursday that he has tested positive for COVID-19. Davis will miss Friday’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Henry Ford Health System 200 at Michigan International Speedway. He was set to field the No. 11 truck for his Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series team but the team has withdrawn from the event.
Unfortunately i will be missing @MISpeedway, but looking forward to getting over this and back on track. Thanks to everyone who has reached out. pic.twitter.com/cSUeIgWmQT
Davis is required to meet three criteria — established by NASCAR officials since the sport returned to action in May after the coronavirus outbreak — in order to return. The requirements include two negative COVID-19 tests at least 24 hours apart, an absence of symptoms and medical clearance from a physician.
Davis has made nine Gander Trucks starts in the series this year with a best finish of 12th in his first start of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 21-year-old has 18 career Gander Trucks starts over the past three years.
Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson became the first NASCAR driver to report a positive coronavirus test on July 3. Xfinity Series regular Justin Allgaier served as his substitute in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet. Johnson missed one race before being cleared to return.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 6, 2020) – NASCAR today announced the final installment of events in the revised 2020 schedule, including the full Playoffs schedule for all three national series.
In the NASCAR Cup Series, all 10 playoff venues and dates will remain intact from the original 2020 schedule, with the postseason kicking off at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 6 (NBCSN, 6 p.m. ET) and culminating with the crowning of a champion for the first time at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, Nov. 8 (NBC, 3 p.m. ET).
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, one new venue, Talladega Superspeedway, has been added as the second race in the opening round of the playoffs on Saturday, Oct. 3 (NBCSN, 4:30 p.m. ET) while Bristol Motor Speedway moves to the regular season finale on Friday, Sept. 18 (NBCSN, 7 p.m. ET). The Playoffs will now begin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 26 (NBCSN, 7:30 p.m. ET).
The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will visit two new venues during the series’ playoff run – Kansas Speedway on Friday, Oct. 16 (FS1, 7 p.m. ET) and Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 25 (FS1, Noon ET), which is the new date for the race from Texas that was postponed on Friday, March 27. Bristol Motor Speedway will now serve as the Playoffs opener for the Gander Trucks on Thursday, Sept. 17 (FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET). Finally, the Gander Trucks will visit Richmond Raceway on Thursday, Sept. 10 (FS1, 8 p.m. ET) for the regular season finale – fulfilling the race that was originally scheduled for Saturday, Apr. 18.
NASCAR’s modified event procedures and protocols were designed in accordance with public health officials, medical experts and local, state and federal officials. NASCAR will determine if fans are allowed entrance to NASCAR events on a market-by-market basis, in accordance with local and state guidelines.
The final installment of the 2020 schedule is as follows. Note: Playoff opening races are in bold type.
Date
Track
Series
Distance
Network
Start Time (ET)
Sat., Sept. 5
Darlington
Xfinity
200 mi
NBC
12:30 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 6
Darlington
Gander Trucks
200 mi
FS1
2 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 6
Darlington
Cup
501 mi
NBCSN
6 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 10
Richmond
Gander Trucks
187 mi
FS1
8 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 11
Richmond
Xfinity
187 mi
NBCSN
7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 12
Richmond
Xfinity
187 mi
NBCSN
2:30 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 12
Richmond
Cup
300 mi
NBCSN
7:30 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 17
Bristol
Gander Trucks
107 mi
FS1
7:30 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 17
Bristol
ARCA
107 mi
FS1
9:30 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 18
Bristol
Xfinity
160 mi
NBCSN
7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 19
Bristol
Cup
266 mi
NBCSN
7:30 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 25
Las Vegas
Gander Trucks
201 mi
FS1
9 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 26
Las Vegas
Xfinity
300 mi
NBCSN
7:30 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 27
Las Vegas
Cup
400 mi
NBCSN
7 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 3
Talladega
Gander Trucks
250 mi
FS1
1 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 3
Talladega
Xfinity
300 mi
NBCSN
4:30 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 4
Talladega
Cup
500 mi
NBC
2 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 10
Charlotte Roval
Xfinity
155 mi
NBC
3:30 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 11
Charlotte Roval
Cup
253 mi
NBC
2:30 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 16
Kansas
Gander Trucks
200 mi
FS1
7 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 16
Kansas
ARCA
150 mi
FS2
10 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 17
Kansas
Xfinity
300 mi
NBCSN
3 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 18
Kansas
Cup
400 mi
NBC
2:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 24
Texas
Xfinity
300 mi
NBCSN
4:30 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 25
Texas
Gander Trucks
220 mi
FS1
Noon
Sun., Oct. 25
Texas
Cup
501 mi
NBCSN
3:30 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 30
Martinsville
Gander Trucks
105 mi
FS1
8 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 31
Martinsville
Xfinity
131 mi
NBC
4:30 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 1
Martinsville
Cup
263 mi
NBC
2 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 6
Phoenix
Gander Trucks
150 mi
FS1
8 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 7
Phoenix
ARCA West
100 mi
TrackPass
2 p.m.
Sat., Nov. 7
Phoenix
Xfinity
200 mi
NBCSN
5 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 8
Phoenix
Cup
312 mi
NBC
3 p.m.
The NASCAR Cup Series continues with a pair of races this weekend, Saturday, Aug. 8 and Sunday, Aug. 9, at Michigan International Speedway. Saturday’s race will air live at 4 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio while Sunday’s tilt will start at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
*The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races at Darlington (Sept. 6) and Kansas (Oct. 16) have been realigned from Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Eldora Speedway, respectively. The NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Richmond (Sept. 12) and Talladega (Oct. 3) have been realigned from Michigan and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, respectively.
Schedule times, dates and locations are subject to change.
NASCAR announced the final installment of the 2020 schedule on Thursday, a 30-race stretch for all three national series that starts with the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Sept. 5 at Darlington Raceway and ends with the NASCAR Cup Series championship race on Nov. 8 at Phoenix Raceway.
The 10-race schedule in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs remains as originally planned, beginning on Sept. 6 at Darlington, but changes have been made to the Xfinity Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series schedules.
For the Xfinity Series, a regular-season race on Sept. 12 at Richmond Raceway and a Round of 12 playoff race on Oct. 3 at Talladega Superspeedway have been added — the events are realigned from Michigan International Speedway and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, respectively. The Xfinity Series has made Talladega an annual stop on the schedule since 1992, but this year will mark the first time the Alabama track has hosted two races in a given season.
Additionally, the Xfinity Series playoff opener has been moved to Sept. 26 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, changes include a regular-season race on Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway and the Round of 8 opener on Oct. 16 at Kansas Speedway, with those races realigned from Canadian Tire Motorsports Motorsport Park and Eldora Speedway, respectively. The Gander Trucks playoffs will kick off Sept. 17 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The addition of Darlington to the Gander Trucks schedule marks the series’ first event at the historic track in more than nine years. The tour has run six times at the South Carolina oval (2001-04; 2010-11).
The final schedule also includes two ARCA Menards Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, plus an ARCA Menards West Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
“The one fortunate part of this latter part of the season and the playoffs is we were able to keep the original tracks and dates intact when it came to the Cup Series, but definitely they have had to be flexible with integrating some of the other series into those events so that they had a good championship schedule as well,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “It has been again, just like everything else, just a lot of great teamwork between the teams, NASCAR and the venues.”
NASCAR’s modified event procedures and protocols have been finalized in accordance with public health officials, medical experts and local, state and federal officials. NASCAR will determine if fans are allowed entrance to NASCAR Cup Series races on a market-by-market basis, in accordance with local and state guidelines.
See the full schedule for all three series below. Playoff openers are bolded.
The eNASCAR Heat Pro League (eNHPL) Season 2 will come to an epic conclusion on Wednesday, Aug. 19 as both the drivers and teams championship will be decided in one night of intense esports competition. There is a total of $70,000 on the line in the eNHPL Championship Finale for the competitors, with the ultimate driver champion taking home $30,000.
The full grid of 28 eNHPL drivers will take the flag using ASUS gaming PCs and Fanatec steering wheels for three back-to-back races that will determine the destination of the championships.
Originally planned to be held as an in-person live event, the outbreak of COVID-19 has dictated that the eNHPL Championship Finale will now be held online with all of the drivers racing on the PC version of the newly release NASCAR Heat 5, the video game officially licensed by NASCAR. This marks the first time in series history that all drivers will be competing on the same platform in the same race.
ASUS has been named as the official gaming hardware of eNASCAR and will provide each of the drivers with ASUS ROG Strix G15CK PC, ASUS ROG Strix PG248 monitor and ASUS ROG Strix GO 2.4 headset for the championship showdown.
Speaking about the new partnership with the eNHPL, Gary Key, Senior Director of Marketing at ASUS commented: “The eNASCAR Heat Pro League is leading the charge in bringing an unparalleled esports experience to race fans and motorsports professionals alike in this thrilling conclusion of the championship series. As the official gaming hardware partner for eNASCAR, ASUS is excited to expand its longstanding gaming legacy by supporting passionate racing fans, talent and dedicated esports communities with the tools they need to compete at their best and win.”
The drivers will also be using the Fanatec ClubSport Steering Wheel, officially licensed by NASCAR, which elevates the driving experience to the next level with its realistic 350 mm diameter.
Thomas Jackermeier, CEO of Fanatec, said: “The eNASCAR Heat Pro League has shown us that no matter what is going on in the world, competitive racing can still continue and prosper. We’re proud to work with Motorsport Games and their community of NASCAR fans, bringing one of the most intense racing series to the global esports stage, culminating in the Championship Finale race later this month. Fanatec will continue to support the series with our NASCAR-licensed products for many years to come.”
The eNASCAR Heat Pro League, a collaboration between Motorsport Games, the Race Teams Alliance and NASCAR, gives esports racers the chance to drive for one of 14 official eNHPL teams.
“It’s been a thrill to watch the eNASCAR Heat Pro League continue to grow in its second season and the championship race will mark yet another key milestone,” said Tim Clark, NASCAR Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer. “Having all 28 eNHPL drivers on track at the same time will be exciting for fans and competitors alike and wouldn’t be possible without ASUS’s incredible products and partnership.”
The eNHPL Championship Finale will be broadcast live online via motorsport.tv, the NASCAR Heat Facebook and Twitch accounts, eNASCAR.com, as well as taped delayed on MAVTV in the USA and on REV TV in Canada.
Heading into the finale, eight drivers have the chance to claim the individual eNHPL championship while the team’s title is still wide open. There will be three races on the night, each with a full grid of 28 drivers. The two lowest-finishing Driver’s Championship contenders will be eliminated from the running at the end of each race, meaning that the final shoot out will be between the four fastest drivers to advance through the first two events. Meanwhile, the Team’s Championship will be determined by points scored across the entire season.
Season 2 began in January with draft qualifying where the teams closely monitored the drivers to make their selection for the year. Once the draft was complete, three segments of three races were held with the top finisher on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One earning a place in the Championship Finale. Two further places were then secured via the Wild Card race.
The drivers competing for the Championship will be:
Justin Brooks, JTG Daugherty Throttlers
Daniel Buttafuoco, Germain Gaming
Maxwell Castro, Chip Ganassi Gaming
Slade Gravitt, Wood Brothers Gaming
Brandyn Gritton, Stewart-Haas eSports
Josh Harbin, Leavine Family Gaming
Josh Parker, Gibbs Gaming
Brian Tedeschi, Team Penske eSports
The current eNHPL Team standings:
Germain Gaming – 625
JTG Daugherty Throttlers – 563
Wood Brothers Gaming – 551
Stewart-Haas eSports – 522
Chip Ganassi Gaming – 508
Team Penske eSports – 481
Gibbs Gaming – 474
Petty eSports – 457
Leavine Family Gaming – 454
RCR eSports – 448
Roush Fenway Gaming – 441
Hendrick Motorsports GC – 437
JR Motorsports – 395
GoFas Gaming – 384
NASCAR Heat 5 is available now on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices, including the Xbox One X and on PC via Steam. The game delivers the ultimate NASCAR video game experience, with 34 authentic tracks across the country in single player, two-player split screen, and online multiplayer for up to 40 racers.
NASCAR’s Cup Series doubles up this weekend at Michigan International Speedway with a packed schedule that includes a Saturday-Sunday twin bill.
The Cup tour gets going Saturday with the FireKeepers Casino 400 (4 p.m. ET) and caps the weekend with Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (4:30 p.m. ET). All Cup Series events are to be broadcast on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
With plenty of high-speed miles ahead in the Great Lake State, here’s the lowdown on all the particulars for the 21st and 22nd races of the Cup Series season. Just four regular-season events will remain after the weekend.
Michigan International Speedway opened for IndyCar-style racing in 1968 and held its first event for NASCAR’s top division one year later. Detroit-area developer Larry LoPatin built the speedway, using a design for a 2-mile D-shaped oval created by Charles Moneypenny, who had also designed the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. Roger Penske took ownership in 1973, and the track became part of the International Speedway Corp. (ISC) portfolio in 1999. ISC merged with NASCAR last year.
RacingOne
The track sits on more than 1,400 acres in Brooklyn, Michigan, roughly 65 miles west-southwest of downtown Detroit. Its sweeping turns are banked at 18 degrees, with the curving frontstretch banked at 12 degrees. The 3,600-foot backstraight has 5 degrees of banking for drainage.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough became the Cup Series’ first winner at the track, surviving a last-lap tangle with Lee Roy Yarbrough to take the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Mercury to Victory Lane. Saturday and Sunday will mark the 102nd and 103rd Cup Series races at MIS. Michigan has held two Cup Series events each year since it opened, with the exception of 1973. Only one race for the series was held there that year as Penske attempted to rescue the facility from bankruptcy.
STAGE LENGTHS
In each event, Stage 1 is set to end at Lap 40, Stage 2 at Lap 85, with the final stage slated to conclude on Lap 156.
Both races are scheduled for 156 laps for a distance of 312 miles, a shift from the track’s traditional 200-lap, 400-mile standard designed to limit the wear and tear of running full-length races on consecutive days.
STARTING LINEUP
Both NASCAR Cup Series races will again be structured without practice and qualifying as the sanctioning body attempts to limit exposure for on-site personnel to limit the spread of coronavirus. The starting lineup for the front end of the doubleheader will be determined by a random draw among groups in the team owner standings:
Positions 1-12: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 13-24: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 25-36: Random draw from charter teams in those positions in owner points
Positions 37-40: Open teams in order of owners points
The starting lineup for Sunday’s event will be determined by an inversion of Saturday’s top 20 finishers, with the rest of the field from 21st on back filled out in Saturday’s order. Pit-stall selection for Saturday is based on the finishing order from last Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The 2020 NASCAR rules package for intermediate-sized tracks will be in effect with a tapered spacer used to set a target of 550 horsepower. The cars will use aero ducts in addition to other aerodynamic devices to increase downforce.
GOODYEAR TIRES
The NASCAR Cup Series and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will use the same combination of Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials this weekend. While this tire setup is new for Michigan, it has been used at a handful of intermediate-sized tracks — Texas Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway — already this season. Compared to the most recent Michigan race a year ago, both right- and left-side tires will feature a construction update; the left-side tires have a new compound to improve grip, and both sides will have compounds intended to introduce wear.
“With limited track time under the current schedules, teams enter this weekend’s races at Michigan already being familiar with this tire setup,” said Greg Stucker, director of racing for Goodyear. “In the past, under more ‘normal’ conditions, teams would be able to work through the practice sessions to dial in on their car setups, with a big part of that being finding the balance on how the tire is working with the track. We’ve aligned this recent group of race tracks based on the smooth track surfaces and similar factors like speeds and loads, and that helps teams as they build their notebooks from which to work. That will be enhanced this weekend, of course, as Cup teams will run races on consecutive days, so it will be interesting to see who unloads strong on Saturday and who will be able to make adjustments and improve for Sunday.”
Cup Series teams will be allowed six sets of tires for each race. Gander Trucks teams will have a four-set allotment for their 200-mile event Friday.
STATS TO KNOW
— Ford drivers have won four consecutive Cup Series races at Michigan, where the contest for manufacturer bragging rights runs especially high. The three automakers will be competing for the Heritage Trophy, which will reside with the top performing marque from the weekend. Chevrolet’s last Michigan win came in 2017, and Toyota last prevailed at the 2-mile track in 2015. Ford also leads all manufacturers with 39 Michigan wins, with Chevy second on the list at 26.
— Kyle Busch enters the weekend aiming to shake a season-long funk. His 20 winless races match the most to start a season since he joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 — this also happened in 2017 and he then won five of the next 13 races. Busch has one Michigan victory, which occurred in 2011. He has recorded top-10 finishes in each of his last six Michigan starts.
— Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have taken turns atop the Cup Series’ win column this year, and Hamlin enters the weekend with a 5-4 edge in the category. In the series’ most recent weekend doubleheader at Pocono Raceway, Harvick led Hamlin in a 1-2 finish in the Saturday opener, then the two flip-flopped their finishing positions as Hamlin won the Sunday capper. The two have finished 1-2 twice before at Michigan, in 2010 and 2019; Harvick won both times.
— Hendrick Motorsports has hit a recent rut, going the last five races without a top-five finish for any driver in its four-car fleet. Team owner Rick Hendrick has eight Michigan wins, but none since the 2014 campaign, when Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon combined for a season sweep.
— Aric Almirola is still enjoying what has been a career-best streak of consecutive top-10 finishes. The No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing driver pushed that string to nine last weekend at New Hampshire with a seventh-place run. He has also savored good fortune in the random draws for starting position, lining up in the No. 1 spot three times in the last seven races.
Source: Racing Insights, NASCAR statistics
LIVE COVERAGE
Tune in to television coverage both days on NBCSN or on the NBC Sports App; Saturday’s start is set for 4 p.m. ET, with Sunday’s race scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET. For full radio coverage from Michigan, dial in to MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90.
For a more interactive experience, steer over to NASCAR.com or the NASCAR app to check out an enhanced Race Center, live Lap-by-Lap coverage, the customizable live leaderboard with Scanner and the return of Drive (featuring in-car cameras).
Joey Logano turned in a dominant performance in Michigan’s June race last year, starting from the pole and leading 163 of 203 laps in the FireKeepers Casino 400. He outlasted a charging Kurt Busch in overtime to net the 23rd win of his Cup Series career.
In August, Kevin Harvick kept the manufacturer laurels in the Ford camp, benefiting from fuel-stop strategy and edging Hamlin at the end. Harvick’s third Michigan triumph marked win No. 47 in his Cup Series tenure.
See where your favorite driver will pit for Saturday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (4 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Michigan International Speedway.
NASCAR officials issued L2-level penalties Tuesday to Xfinity Series driver Alex Labbe and team owner Mario Gosselin for a violation of NASCAR’s testing policy.
Gosselin, who fields multiple Xfinity Series cars under the DGM Racing banner, was fined $50,000 and docked 75 points in the series’ team owner standings. Labbe was also hit with a 75-point penalty, dropping him from a tie for 16th place to 21st in the driver standings.
The infraction falls under the heading of Section 5.1.a. and d. in the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Rule Book, which strictly prohibits private vehicle testing.
Social media posts pictured Labbe driving a No. 91 Chevrolet during track time for the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) GT-1 class last weekend at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. The Xfinity Series is set to debut on the layout Aug. 15, without practice or qualifying scheduled beforehand.
DGM Racing indicated in a statement later Tuesday that it intends to appeal the ruling. “DGM Racing is aware of the allegations against us,” the statement on social media read. “We feel we followed all the proper protocol and will be appealing the penalty. We are unable to comment further. Thank you for the support we have received so far.”
NASCAR officials handed down penalties to six Cup Series teams after Sunday’s event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including a one-race suspension for Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 14 crew chief, Johnny Klausmeier.
The SHR No. 14 Ford was found with two lug nuts not safely secured after Clint Bowyer drove the car to an 18th-place finish in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. Klausmeier was fined $20,000 and suspended from the next Cup Series race, scheduled Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
An updated entry list Wednesday for Saturday’s Michigan race showed Greg Zipadelli, SHR’s competition director, will be the crew chief for Bowyer. Zipadelli won two Cup Series championships as the crew chief for Tony Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2002 and 2005. Earlier this year, Zipadelli filled in for the suspended Richard Boswell and guided driver Chase Briscoe to three NASCAR Xfinity Series wins.
Three other crew chiefs were assessed $10,000 fines after their cars were found with one lug nut not safely secured in a post-race check:
Jeremy Bullins, crew chief of the Team Penske No. 2 Ford driven by race winner Brad Keselowski
Randall Burnett, crew chief of the Richard Childress Racing No. 8 Chevrolet driven by rookie and 10th-place finisher Tyler Reddick
James Small, crew chief of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota driven by third-place finisher Martin Truex Jr.
Officials also issued L1-grade penalties to two teams for improperly mounted ballast, a violation found in pre-race inspection at New Hampshire:
No. 32 Go Fas Racing Ford driven by Corey LaJoie
No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Bubba Wallace.
Both organizations were docked 10 championship points in the drivers’ and team owners’ standings. On Sunday, both teams’ crew chiefs were ejected and the cars were forced to drop to the rear of the field for the start.
