Bubba Wallace drives No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro to ninth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Data Skrive

Bubba Wallace finished ninth in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.

The top-10 finish for Wallace added 28 points to his season total.

Wallace now sits at No. 20 in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 384 points. A total of 16 drivers qualify for the postseason.

Wallace started in 24th position. The fourth-year driver has earned two top-five and seven top-10 finishes in his career.

Saturday’s race was Wallace’s fifth career start at Michigan International Speedway.

The Mobile, Alabama native began the race one spot behind his career mark of 23.3, but finished 13 places ahead of his career average of 21.5.

Wallace’s ninth-place finish was against 39 other drivers. The race endured nine cautions and 43 caution laps. There were 12 lead changes.

Kevin Harvick earned the victory in the race, and Brad Keselowski finished second. Martin Truex Jr crossed the finish line third, Ryan Blaney brought home fourth, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.

As well as earning a race victory, Harvick won Stages 1 and 2 to complete an impressive day in Brooklyn.

Bubba Wallace Driver Page | Get Wallace Gear | Race Center

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Holly Cain

Kevin Harvick’s victory in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway gave the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team a weekend race sweep and a whole lot of momentum as the NASCAR Cup Series closes out its regular-season schedule at the end of this month.

Harvick’s win is a series-best sixth of the season and 55th of his career – placing the 44-year-old Californian in 10th on the NASCAR Cup Series all-time wins list, tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. Sunday marked the first time since 1971 (Richard Petty) that a driver has won back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series races on back-to-back days.

RELATED: Official race results | At-track photos

It was the fourth win in the last five Michigan races for Harvick and his weekend double earned the prestigious Michigan Heritage Trophy for Ford Motor Company – honoring the weekend’s top make in America’s auto manufacturer’s backyard.

Harvick was able to pull away from the field on a restart with 30 laps remaining but had to hold off a charging Denny Hamlin in a duel between the series’ two winningest drivers in the final handful of laps. Ultimately Harvick took a .093-second win over Hamlin.

“That was a big challenge,” Harvick acknowledged of the final-lap contest with Hamlin. “When you look at my team, we’ve been together going on seven years now and you look at the confidence everyone has in each other, the details of the race cars, everything that goes into everything that we do, that’s untouchable. That’s what it takes, details to make these race cars go fast.”

SHOP: Harvick gear

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch finished third and fourth followed by Team Penske’s Joey Logano. Harvick’s teammate Aric Almirola was sixth. Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.

Hamlin, a five-race winner in 2020, climbed out of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota disappointed in the outcome, but well aware that the head-to-head battle between his team and Harvick’s was foreshadowing an exciting season championship contest.

“Once we finally got to second, I knew we had something for them,” Hamlin said. “I just got stalled there, he was tight and I was tight and we were better, that’s for sure. But he just had the track position and could control the lanes there.”

Of the tight championship race, Hamlin said, “Proud of this FedEx team, just hate giving up wins to the No. 4.”

When asked if they bring out the best in each other, “No question. I’ve got tremendous amount of respect for everyone on that team and Kevin. As we’ve gotten older, we’ve gotten wiser and learned to really appreciate what each other does on the race track and obviously, they’ve having a great season as well.”

Not only did Harvick become the first driver in series history to win back-to-back races in consecutive days at the same track but he did it by leading the most laps each day as well. He paced the field for 90 of the 156 laps Sunday. And his Stage 2 win was his third stage victory of the weekend after he swept both stages on Saturday. Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer won the opening stage on Sunday.

The start to the race was calm – the first two of the five total cautions coming out only for the scheduled two stage conclusions. However, just past the second stage, on Lap 96 Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski collided while contesting the lead.

MORE: Blaney, Keselowski wreck racing for lead

Keselowski was running low on the track hoping to get around race leader Blaney but his No. 2 Ford shot up the track, making contact with Blaney’s No. 12 Ford – both cars ended up in the wall and ultimately into the garage. They were scored 38th (Blaney) and 39th (Keselowski) in the 39-car field.

“Just slipped, lost the back a little bit and tried to collect it and he was there and I wiped him out and myself,” a dejected Keselowski said after being checked out in the infield care center. “I feel terrible for everyone at Team Penske and especially for Ryan Blaney. Gosh, he didn’t deserve that.”

The Cup Series’ next race is the Go Bowling 235, scheduled Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM) on the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. It will mark the series’ first event on the oval-road course layout.

Note: Post-race inspection was completed with no major issue in the Cup Series garage. The only minor issue: one lug nut not safely secured for the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of William Byron, discovered in a post-race check. … NASCAR plans to bring Harvick’s winning No. 4 Ford back to the Research & Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further inspection, along with four other cars — The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet (driver Austin Dillon), the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (Chase Elliott), the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Martin Truex Jr.), the No. 22 Team Penske Ford (Joey Logano). This is part of a routine review for competition officials, who periodically monitor trends in the field at the R&D Center.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Staff Report

Team Penske drivers tangled in the final stage of Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Race-leader Ryan Blaney and teammate Brad Keselowski were side-by-side racing into Turn 1 on Lap 96 when Keselowski got loose in the No. 2 Ford, sliding into the left-rear quarter panel of Blaney’s No. 12 Ford. The contact sent both drivers hard into the outside retaining wall at the exit of Turn 2.

Keselowski’s car came sliding to a halt on the backstretch, while Blaney was able to nurse his car back to the garage area. Both drivers were forced to retire from the 156-lap event due to the significance of the damage. Both drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

Keselowski took full responsibility for the incident.

“I just lost it,” Keselowski told NBC Sports. “It’s my fault. I feel really bad for my teammate, Ryan Blaney. He didn’t deserve that. I just came off of Turn 4 and the 4 car (Kevin Harvick) was behind me and he gave me a push and I swear I went into the corner like 20 miles an hour faster than I had been all day and got past the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and I went to get underneath the 12 and I just slipped.”

Blaney explained both he and Keselowski had showcased good speed throughout the race before the incident.

“It’s just unfortunate for the whole Penske organization,” Blaney said. “… We were so fast. We had to battle back from having to pit again and got to 10th for the second stage and then got the lead. I was like, ‘All right, we can finally go back at it,’ and just got together there. That’s unfortunate, but it’s not gonna carry over. Things happen. Mistakes happen. It’s just a shame both of us got taken out.”

Keselowski finished in the 39th and final position, while Blaney finished one spot ahead in 38th.

Blaney and Keselowski are locked into the NASCAR Playoffs with race victories. Blaney earned a victory at Talladega Superspeedway, while Keselowski has wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Keselowski finished second in Saturday’s Cup Series first race at the 2-mile oval, while Blaney finished fourth.

Posted on August 9, 2020August 12, 2020 by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Tuesday, Aug. 11
1 p.m., ARCA Menards Series West racing (tape delay), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
10 p.m., NASCAR Race Classics (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, Aug. 12
12:30 p.m., IMSA Auto Racing: Pilot Challenge (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
9 a.m., Crew Call

Thursday, Aug. 13
Noon, IMSA Auto Racing Special Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA: Road America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
1 p.m., IMSA Auto Racing: Prototype Challenge (re-air), NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Friday, Aug. 14
Noon, ARCA Menards Series West racing (tape delay), NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
5 p.m., ARCA Menards Series General Tire 100 at the Daytona Road Course

Saturday, Aug. 15
2:30 p.m., Countdown to Green: Daytona Road Course, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: UNOH 188 at the Daytona Road Course, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Post-Race Show: Daytona Road Course, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App

On MRN:
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: UNOH 188 at the Daytona Road Course

Sunday, Aug. 16
8 a.m., 1979 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
8:30 a.m., NASCAR Classics: 2010 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
11:30 a.m., NASCAR RaceDay: NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at the Daytona Road Course, FS1/FOX Sports App
Noon, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Sunoco 159 at the Daytona Road Course, FS1/FOX Sports App
2 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
3 p.m., Countdown to Green: Daytona Road Course, NBC/NBC Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona Road Course, NBC/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series Post-Race Show: Daytona Road Course, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at the Daytona Road Course (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
8:30 p.m., NASCAR Classics: 2010 Daytona 500 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Sunoco 159 at the Daytona Road Course
2 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Go Bowling 235 at the Daytona Road Course

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Staff Report

Richard Petty Motorsports driver Bubba Wallace confirmed to NBC Sports that Chip Ganassi Racing has made him an offer to drive the No. 42 Chevrolet in 2021.

The report came from NBC Sports’ Marty Snider during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway (NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). McDonald’s, a primary sponsor on the No. 43 Chevrolet of Wallace, is also a primary sponsor on the No. 42 car currently driven by Matt Kenseth.

The 26-year-old driver also confirmed he has held an ownership stake in RPM since the 2019 season, noting the 43 team has also made an offer for next season with an additional ownership stake.

Wallace is currently competing in his third season with the Richard Petty-owned organization, which has been highlighted with a second-place finish in the 2018 Daytona 500 and a third-place result in the 2019 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Staff Report

Erik Jones said Sunday that he was mildly surprised when told that he wouldn’t return to Joe Gibbs Racing next season, adding that he has a “great few opportunities” for 2021.

Jones’ remarks came in an interview with NBC Sports ahead of Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (4:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) at Michigan International Speedway in his home state. He said that he was informed of the organization’s decision Thursday morning; the news broke later that day.

“I was blindsided a little bit,” Jones told NBCSN. “I didn’t really expect it coming from our talks. I thought we were moving in a good direction, but at the end of the day, I’ve had a great really eight years almost with Joe Gibbs Racing between Xfinity and Cup, and I’m thankful for that time. It’s good to see the support that’s been out there the last few days on social media, and everybody that’s coming out in support has been awesome. We’ve got a great few opportunities out there, which has been good to see over the next few weeks.

“Hopefully, we can have some good talks. Excited about that, and excited about the next 15 races, too.”

Jones is the latest driver to become a key free agent ahead of the 2021 season. He is in his third season driving JGR’s No. 20 Toyota and ranks 15th in the Cup Series standings.

Posted on August 9, 2020August 10, 2020 by Staff Report

Team Penske revealed a retro paint scheme Sunday for NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway, unveiling a No. 12 Ford for driver Ryan Blaney that pays tribute to the early stages of Paul Menard’s career.

RELATED: 2020 Cup Series schedule

The release during Sunday’s ARCA Menards Series broadcast carries some significance. The design, chosen by Blaney, takes cues from Menard’s first ARCA victory — in 2003, for team owner Andy Petree at Talladega Superspeedway. The paint scheme was also featured in Menard’s debuts in both the Xfinity and Cup Series.

The family-owned Menards home improvement business has been a prominent sponsor in motorsports, partnered with Team Penske in NASCAR and IndyCar since 2016.

Paul Menard retired after the 2019 season, accumulating one Cup Series victory and three Xfinity Series wins. His lone Cup triumph came at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2011.

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Staff Report

Multiple cars will move to the rear for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway (4:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN), including the No. 17 of pole-sitter Chris Buescher for going to a backup car.

Other cars moving to the rear include: The No. 3 of Austin Dillon, the No. 6 of Ryan Newman, the No. 8 of Tyler Reddick, the No. 10 of Aric Almirola, the No. 34 of Michael McDowell, the No. 37 of Ryan Preece, the No. 38 of John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 41 of Cole Custer — all for going to backup cars.

The No. 15 of Brennan Poole will move to the rear for an engine change, and the No. 7 will go to the rear for a transmission change and a driver change from Joey Gase to Josh Bilicki.

Preece’s No. 37, along with the No. 74 of Reed Sorenson and the No. 96 of Daniel Suarez, had two inspection failures. The Nos. 74 and 96 will also start from the rear.

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by Zack Albert

The career milestones have come quickly for Kevin Harvick in recent years, and Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series triumph at Michigan International Speedway checked off yet another. Given recent performance, the next landmark win could come in a 24-hour turn.

Harvick continued inching his way up NASCAR’s all-time win list Saturday, scoring his 54th premier-series victory to pull into a tie for 11th place with three-time series champion Lee Petty. He’ll aim for the weekend doubleheader sweep in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (4:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM) at the 2-mile Michigan track. Doubling up would mean career win No. 55, which would tie him with Rusty Wallace in the sport’s record books.

Harvick says he’s well aware of the elite territory he’s entering, nearer and nearer to stock-car racing’s all-time top 10. It’s a neighborhood populated with drivers — ahead of him and behind him on the list — who have been feted with the blue jackets awarded to NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees.

“Yeah, well, that’s a lot of pressure,” Harvick said after leading 92 of the 161 laps in Saturday’s FireKeepers Casino 400. “I ask myself that all the time. It’s what have you done for the sport, what are you doing for the sport because when you start talking about Junior Johnson and Lee Petty and Rusty Wallace and Ned Jarrett, all those guys that are on that list around my name on the win list, there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that for our sport.

“I think as you look at that number, I’ve been fortunate to drive a lot of really fast race cars and we’ve been fortunate to be successful throughout the years, but when you start getting up there with those names and those icons in our sport, they’ve been a part of a lot of big moments and helping change the sport in a positive direction. That’s the way I look at it and the responsibility that I think I have.”

Harvick’s fifth victory of the year pulled him even with Denny Hamlin in the 2020 win column, and he’s in the midst of his eighth consecutive season with multiple wins. He’s also made the most of the opening race when consecutive Cup Series events have been held at the same track this year, a scheduling wrinkle that sprang from necessity after a two-month-plus shutdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

MORE: 2020 Cup Series schedule | All-time winningest drivers

Harvick won the Darlington Raceway opener May 17, three days before the Cup Series held a second race at the South Carolina venue. He also opened Pocono Raceway’s Cup weekend doubleheader June 27th with a win. In both of those instances, Hamlin prevailed in the second leg of the Cup Series two-fer.

So what’s to keep Hamlin, who finished sixth Saturday, from following the pattern and cashing in Sunday at Michigan? For Harvick’s part, his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford will have to rise from the 20th starting spot after an inversion of Saturday’s top 20, but crew chief Rodney Childers says he isn’t planning for many drastic adjustments before the green flag.

“Right now, I don’t know how we could make our car better going into tomorrow, so that’s kind of where we’re at,” Childers said after Saturday’s win. “I think we’ll probably start with what we had today and see what it does mired back there in traffic. I heard a lot of guys today from different teams saying that their cars were really loose and out of the race track back there in traffic, and we heard some guys talking about they were too tight back there in traffic. So it was kind of hard to judge off other people, so we’re just going to hopefully roll with what we have and go from there.”

Note: Harvick’s victory handed Ford its fifth straight Michigan win. Another Ford triumph on Sunday would seal the Michigan Heritage Trophy, awarded to the top-performing manufacturer at the 2-mile track.

Posted on August 9, 2020August 9, 2020 by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

As we saw in yesterday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, Michigan International Speedway’s smooth surface results in very little tire wear.

This, in turn, allows crew chiefs the opportunity to roll the dice on tire and pit strategy in order to leapfrog cars ahead and try to steal that all-important track position.

This also opens the door for prop-betting value as drivers priced as longer shots can either race their way toward the front, or even steal better finishes by nailing strategy.

After examining yesterday’s results and performance metrics, here are two drivers bettors should target for top-10 finishes in today’s Consumers Energy 400 (4:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN).

NASCAR at Michigan Odds, Betting Picks

*Odds as of Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET

Erik Jones (+270) for a Top-10 Finish

This is my favorite bet of the day. For the same reasons I think there’s value in betting Jones to win, there’s certainly a big enough edge to play him for a top 10 as well.

In yesterday’s race, Jones tied for the fourth-best average running position, had the fifth-best driver rating and ran the sixth-most fast laps.

However, his 11th-place result has led oddsmakers to undervalue just how fast that race car was.

This has value all the way down to +100.

[Bet now at FanDuel. NJ, PA, CO, IN and WV only.]

Cole Custer (+1000) for a Top-10 Finish

I get that Custer will start 34th today. I get that Custer will need to run a backup car after spinning and backing it into the wall yesterday.

Despite all of that, this price is nuts.

Custer has four top-eight finishes in his last six races, which includes Saturday’s result.

In addition, Cole won at Kentucky on this very same tire combination, showing he can, at the very least, compete for a top-10 finish on a surface similar to Michigan.

Remember, betting odds are nothing more that probabilities. At 10-1 odds, the betting market is implying Custer has a 9.09% chance to finish in the top 10.

I put Custer’s chances at closer to 20%, which means there’s meat on this bone down to +400.

[Bet now at FanDuel. NJ, PA, CO, IN and WV only.]