Posted on by Staff Report

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.

RELATED: How to follow the races | Michigan weekend schedule

TRACK DETAILS

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.

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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.

RELATED: See the pit stall selections for Saturday’s race

RULES PACKAGE

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.

RELATED: Ways to follow the races

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).

Be sure to set your lineup in Fantasy Live and make your picks in the NASCAR Finish Line App.

2019 RACE WINNERS

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.

RELATED: 2019 FireKeepers Casino 400 recap | 2019 Consumers Energy 400 recap

ACTIVE MICHIGAN WINNERS

Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth (three each); Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman (two); Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson (one).

Posted on by Staff Report

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.

RELATED: Penalty report from NHMS Cup weekend

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.”

Posted on by Staff Report

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.

RELATED: Race results | Cup Series standings

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.

MORE: DGM Racing, Labbe penalized for violation of testing policy

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JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — History for the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Navy, and NASCAR will have another chapter written come this weekend. LCDR Jesse Iwuji will make his debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Road America (Wisconsin) piloting the No. 13 MileMarker10 car owned by Carl Long.

LCDR Iwuji is the only current driver at the national levels of NASCAR that has ever served the country and still does. July 2020 Iwuji also earned a promotion in the U.S. Navy moving from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves.

“This next step in NASCAR is special not only for me, but for all of my fellow service members and others out there with big goals and dreams. Most will tell you that your goals and dreams are impossible and that you can’t do it,” said LCDR Iwuji. “This entire Navy to Nascar journey is me showing those that dare to dream it’s all possible! With this being my first start in the Xfinity Series, my goal is to go out there and learn from a field of some amazing drivers, stay in my lane, and be there at the end of the race to finish. We can build off that.”

This Xfinity debut opportunity for LCDR Iwuji would not be possible without the support of new partners MileMarker10 and G2Xchange. These brands are Veteran owned.

Posted on by Staff Report

Spire Motorsports is introducing a new number and “meatless” primary sponsor ahead of this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway as part of the new Netflix comedy series from Kevin James, The Crew.

The multi-camera sitcom, slated to premiere on Netflix in 2021, stars Kevin James as a crew chief for the fictional Bobby Spencer Racing team. When the owner steps down and passes the team off to his daughter, James finds himself at odds with the tech reliant millennials she starts bringing in to modernize the team. Freddie Stroma portrays Jake Martin, charismatic driver of the team’s No. 74 Fake Steak-sponsored car.

RELATED: NASCAR, Netflix to debut comedy series

Beginning at Saturday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, Reed Sorenson’s car will switch to the No. 74 Fake Steak Chevrolet. Throughout the weekend, NASCAR will capture footage of Spire’s renumbered car in competition at Michigan to be featured in the series.

James, star of the long-running The King of Queens as well as movies such as Paul Blart: Mall Cop, True Memoirs of an International Assassin, and Hitch, will star and executive produce the series. Jeff Lowell (The Ranch, Two and Half Men, Spin City) is the writer, showrunner, and executive producer. Jeff Sussman (The King of Queens, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, True Memoirs of an International Assassin), Todd Garner (Tag, Isn’t it Romantic, Mortal Kombat), Andy Fickman (Playing With Fire – Parental Guidance – The Game Plan) along with NASCAR’s managing director of entertainment marketing Matt Summers and chief digital officer Tim Clark serve as executive producers.

Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team has made a crew chief change with six races left in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Phil Surgen will take the reins of calling the shots for the team and driver Matt Kenseth, replacing Chad Johnston ahead of this weekend’s doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway.

RELATED: Full schedule for Michigan

Surgen has been a race engineer with the No. 42 team and has been with the organization since 2016. Surgen served as a fill-in crew chief for one race in 2016 with then-driver Kyle Larson, recording a third-place result at Michigan.

Johnston had been the crew chief for the past four-and-a-half seasons on the No. 42 team and earned six wins atop the pit box — all with Larson.

The Kenseth-Johnston pairing in 16 races produced just one top five and two top 10s. Michigan stands as Kenseth’s best track remaining in the regular season with three wins and an 11.3 average finish. He will enter the race weekend 28th in the point standings.

Posted on by Staff Report

JR Motorsports revealed a retro paint scheme Tuesday for the No. 8 Chevrolet that will take part in Darlington Raceway’s annual throwback weekend, a design that pays tribute to the memory of John Andretti.

Daniel Hemric is scheduled to drive the Poppy Bank sponsored entry Sept. 6 in the Xfinity Series’ Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200. The No. 8 design is reminiscent of the Kranefuss-Haas Racing cars that Andretti drove during the 1995-96 seasons.

Andretti won two NASCAR Cup Series races as part of a long career that established him as one of motorsports’ most versatile drivers. He also excelled in IndyCar, sports-car circuits and briefly in NHRA drag racing.

Andretti died Jan. 30, 2020 after a nearly three-year battle with colon cancer. In the last years of his life, he used his platform to promote awareness and encourage testing and early detection of the disease. His message of #Checkit4Andretti will also be featured on JRM’s car during Darlington weekend.

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Bob Leavine announced Tuesday morning that he sold his family-owned racing team, indicating that Leavine Family Racing will cease operations at the end of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Leavine has fielded cars in NASCAR’s top division since 2011, when it embarked on a four-race stint with veteran David Starr. The team currently campaigns the No. 95 Toyota for Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Christopher Bell, who ranks 23rd in Cup Series points.

In a teleconference with reporters, LFR team president Jeremy Lange did not identify the buyer(s), saying “it’s their news, and we’re going to let them make their announcement.”

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Midseason rookie review

Leavine indicated that the COVID-19 epidemic’s impact on the economy was an insurmountable hurdle. The coronavirus outbreak shut the sport down from mid-March to mid-May and also delayed the projected 2021 debut of the Cup Series’ Next Gen car, which forced LFR to shift its inventory and focus. That development — combined with the economic impact on Leavine’s Texas-based construction business, WRL General Contractors — factored into the team owner’s decision in what he called “a perfect storm in the wrong direction.”

“This decision has not been made lightly,” Leavine said in a statement. “Family has always been a part of the team’s name and this is how we view every member of our race team — as our family. There is no good time to make this announcement, but doing it earlier allows our people to explore employment opportunities, for next season, to provide for their families. There will be opportunities with the new owners which was important to our decision.”

Leavine Family Racing flew the banners of all three manufacturers during its time in the sport, transitioning from Ford (2011-2015) to Chevrolet (2016-2018) to Toyota (2019-2020). Its final shift to Toyota Racing Development included a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing, which will regain some assets from LFR after the sale.

“Everything that we own — charter, building, inventory — we sold,” Leavine said. “The things that were not were no chassis, no bodies, anything that came from JGR goes back to JGR.”

Other drivers who suited up for LFR’s No. 95 entry include Michael McDowell, Kasey Kahne, Matt DiBenedetto, Ty Dillon and Scott Speed. It was DiBenedetto who delivered the team’s best finish, a spirited second-place effort in Bristol’s annual night race last season.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Team Penske locked up one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ top free agents Monday, reaching a contract agreement to keep Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 Ford.

Terms of the contract extension were not disclosed. The deal keeps Keselowski with the Roger Penske-owned organization that has been his home since late in the 2009 season.

“I have been racing for Team Penske for the vast majority of my NASCAR career and to continue to represent Roger Penske, our partners and his organization is exactly where I want to be,” Keselowski said in a release provided by the team. “We’ve accomplished a lot of things together over the years, including winning both the Cup and Xfinity Championships, the Brickyard 400, the Southern 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Now, my goal is to win the Daytona 500, another championship and continue to build Team Penske into the best NASCAR team in the garage area.”

RELATED: Cup Series standings

Keselowski has scored 32 of his 33 career NASCAR Cup Series wins while driving Penske’s No. 2 Ford. That includes a convincing triumph in the series’ most recent race just one day ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He has also carried Team Penske to championships in the Cup Series (in 2012) and the Xfinity Series (2010).

Keselowski was among the most sought-after targets in NASCAR free agency. The 36-year-old driver had insisted that his contract status for 2021 did not pose a distraction, even as the uncertainty pushed into half of this season. Now Keselowski has resolution that meshes with his rise into a stronger-still championship contender.

“It’s good to get it done and not have to worry about next year,” Keselowski said in a Monday afternoon appearance on NASCAR’s Instagram Live. “It can really wear on you quick, I can tell you that. Really happy to check that box and get that one out of my head so I can just focus on winning races and doing the best I can do on the race track. So hopefully it’ll just keep taking care of itself as I go, but I’m glad. I’ve got a great team that’s really coming together, and to not have to worry about that, I’m very thankful for.”

The move solidifies Team Penske’s three-driver lineup on the Cup Series side for 2021 and possibly beyond. The organization announced March 6 that it had signed Ryan Blaney to a multi-year extension, and Joey Logano — Keselowski’s other teammate — re-signed with Penske in February 2017, reaching a deal that is set to run through at least the 2023 season.

“We are pleased that Brad will continue to be a part of our organization,” said team owner Roger Penske. “Brad not only demonstrates talent and skill on the track, but his leadership away from it and his dedication to our partners have had a huge impact in making our organization one of the best in NASCAR. I am proud that we will be able to able to keep the continuity we have with Brad, Ryan and Joey and look forward to competing for more wins and championships together.”