See where your favorite driver will pit from for Monday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
BROOKLYN, Mich. – With 12 races remaining in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Austin Dillon is well aware that crunch time is approaching.
Dillon is coming off a pair of finishes outside the top 30, due to wrecks not of his own doing – getting caught up in Kyle Larson’s incident at Charlotte and taken out by Paul Menard last week at Pocono.
“The last two weeks have been a bummer getting wrecked,” Dillon told NASCAR.com. “To start off the season, we didn’t really finish outside the top 20. … When you have two bad weeks and a tight points battle, it looks pretty bad.”
RELATED: Dillon on Michigan: ‘Hold onto your hats, it’s going to be a good one’
Dillon said his Richard Childress Racing team has hauled fast cars to the track each week but capitalizing on Sunday has been a sore spot.
“We keep that up, we can turn it around and really put our season where we feel like it needs to be,” Dillon said. “We feel like we need to be in the playoffs and have a shot to win races each week.”
With NASCAR Salutes in full swing, the hood of a patriotic No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro this weekend — an ode to Dale Earnhardt’s 1996 Atlanta Olympics NASCAR All-Star Race car — features the names of more than 1,400 military veterans. Dillon also recently received a letter back from his former gasman Tyler Rader, who elected to join the U.S. Army and currently attends basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
“He’s one of my boys,” Dillon said. “He lived with me for a while and when he told me he wanted to join the military, I was really supportive and pumped for him. He’s just that type of guy that puts our country first. When I got that first letter back from him, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.”
Heading into Monday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM), Michigan International Speedway could provide the perfect opportunity for Dillon to ignite a potential streak of good finishes. Dillon finished fourth at Michigan last August and has four top 10s in his career at the 2-mile oval.
Between a fresh red, white and blue paint scheme, a letter from a close friend and a 12th-place start, it could all provide the jolt that Dillon’s 2019 season needs.
“We got to; I think there’s no other choice,” Dillon said. “We have to put everything we have into our race cars and put ourselves in position because we feel like we can compete with the best. We just have to go after it every single week and put ourselves in the best position we can come the end of this regular season.”
BROOKLYN, Mich. – The Ford drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series apparently took the words of Edsel Ford II to heart.
At a dinner with Ford drivers on Thursday night, the member of the Ford Motor Company board of directors emphasized the importance of putting a Mustang in Victory Lane after Monday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: Qualifying results | Full schedule for Michigan
On Saturday morning at the 2-mile track, Joey Logano took the first step toward fulfilling the mission outlined by the Henry Ford’s great-grandson. Taking a racing line that differed from that of his competitors, Logano covered the distance in 38.474 seconds (187.139 mph) to win the pole position for Monday’s race.
In winning his second Busch Pole Award of the season, his fourth at Michigan and the 22nd of his career, Logano led five Fords into the top six in time trials, edging Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola (187.047 mph) for the top starting spot by .019 seconds.
Logano demolished the rest of the field through Turn 3 and 4, entering the corner on the high side, arcing to the bottom in the center of the corner and getting off the bottom sooner than almost every other driver.
How did Logano develop the line he ran?
“I just got lucky—it was all luck,” Logano quipped. “Of course, we all work at things. We all try to figure things out and try to take an advantage when you have it. It’s always short-lived, but today we were able to take advantage of a lot of things and be able to have a fast car.
“Our (No. 22) Shell/Pennzoil Ford definitely has speed in it, for sure, especially for one lap. Hopefully, that maintains throughout the race to where we can stay up there. That (No. 1) pit stall is going to help a lot. The first pit stall here is quite the advantage. It’s nice to have that, and hopefully it keeps us up front and keeps us out of the big chaotic mess that I think is going to be toward the middle of the pack.”
But did the lap go according to plan.
“It was all luck,” Logano joked again. “Of course, it’s planned—I drive the car. I’m still the driver. At least it went where I told it to go. That part really helped a lot.”
Almirola’s Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 Ford wound up second in the qualifying session ahead of Monday’s 200-lap, 400-mile event. Almirola is scheduled to start second for the fourth time this season.
“Close but no cigar,” Almirola said. “What is that old saying, ‘Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades?’ … That is frustrating to get that close to getting a pole that often and only have one pole (this season). We seem to always get beat just by a little bit by somebody different every time. That is part of it.”
Kevin Harvick, a teammate to Almirola in the No. 4 Ford, was third with Denny Hamlin fourth and defending race winner Clint Bowyer completing the top five in another Stewart-Haas Racing entry. Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota was the only non-Ford among the top six. A total of eight Fords claimed the top 10 qualifying spots.
Monday’s event is the 15th of 36 points-paying races on the Monster Energy Series schedule. A dozen races remain in the regular season before the 16-driver playoff field is set.
Contributing: Staff reports
The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota of Martin Truex Jr. failed pre-qualifying inspection twice at Michigan International Speedway, resulting in the ejection of a crew member.
RELATED: Full schedule for Michigan
The violation came just before Saturday’s Busch Pole Qualifying for Monday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (5 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at the 2-mile track. In addition to the removal of a team engineer, Truex’s No. 19 team will also forfeit 15 minutes of practice time in the series’ next race, scheduled June 23 at Sonoma Raceway.
A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed that Truex’s car passed inspection on its third attempt. Saturday’s session serves as the final inspection before Monday’s 400-miler, with the field impounded after Saturday qualifying.
Greg Biffle rolled to a lucrative NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series triumph with a $50,000 payday in his comeback race Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway, sidestepping a flurry of crashes to win the first-ever race in the Triple Truck Challenge bonus program.
Biffle, a Gander Trucks champion in 2000, led just 18 of the 167 laps and guided his Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 Toyota into position for further bonuses over the next two races in the inaugural Triple Truck Challenge — “The Trip,” for short — pending Biffle’s availability on the entry list.
“Just excited to be here, man,” Biffle said. “I don’t even know what to say. Just so thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had to drive great trucks. This thing was really fast.”
RELATED: Race results | Full schedule for Michigan
Biffle’s second truck win at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track was the 17th of his Gander Trucks career. The event marked the 49-year-old driver’s first national series race since the 2016 Monster Energy Series season finale and his first race in a truck since 2004. With his high-profile return prodded along by team owner Kyle Busch, Biffle especially savored the briefcase full of extra cash presented to him in Victory Lane.
“That’s great. You know, I’ve been off work for a long time, so this is going to be great for us,” Biffle said.
Matt Crafton wound up second in the wreck-filled SpeedyCash.com 400. Tyler Ankrum recovered from a spin to finish a career-best third, and Grant Enfinger and Harrison Burton closed out the top five finishers.
Biffle was able to finesse his fuel mileage over the final stretch, but still had enough oomph to sit .963 seconds ahead at the checkered flag.
“I haven’t been this excited in a long time,” said No. 51 crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle. “It’s fun to win these things. I’ve won a lot of races, but never on fuel mileage — ever. I was praying to the fuel-cell gods there that we had enough fuel in the tank.”
Pole-starter Todd Gilliland and second qualifier Johnny Sauter made up the front row, but both drivers sustained heavy damage in crashes before the halfway point. The race was slowed by a record 13 caution periods, the most in the 44-race history of the series at Texas.
Sauter started second and led three laps, including the final lap of his Stage 1 win. But Lap 56 contact with Austin Hill’s No. 16 Toyota forced his ThorSport Racing No. 13 into the outside retaining wall in Turn 4.
Gilliland led twice for 32 laps, but lost control in a contest for the lead on a Stage 2 restart, backing his Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 4 Toyota into the Turn 2 barrier. The 19-year-old driver retired after completing just 69 laps.
“It still sucks that we’re out of this race — DNF — but still a lot of fun racing out there,” said Gilliland. “I was laying it all out there on the race track and I thought we were going to have something for them tonight. Just a couple more adjustments, but … I just need to be more patient. It’s not the end of the world if the 99 (Rhodes) gets by me right there and I finish this stage second or third. I just need to be a little bit smarter about that stuff. Felt really good to run up front. Proud of my Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra team. Hopefully we can come back stronger. We have an important couple of weeks right here. Keep the morale up and go into the next one even stronger.”
The series’ next race is scheduled Saturday, June 15 (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Iowa Speedway. The race will mark the second event in the Triple Truck Challenge, with the third and final race of the new program scheduled June 22 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
BROOKLYN, Mich. – To Kurt Busch, there were two distinctly different aspects to Friday’s opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Michigan International Speedway — in the draft and out of the draft.
“The cars by themselves are very stable, and there’s a ton of speed,” said Busch, who ran the eighth fastest single lap in the opening session at 187.490 mph. “Then you got in the draft, and it was magnified by 10 on how difficult the draft feels and how the car’s reacting.
“So I’m not sure where the balance needs to be between that raw speed versus the handling in the draft.”
RELATED: Full weekend schedule | Final practice results
That doesn’t mean Busch expects Monday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to resemble a superspeedway event, with cars racing in close proximity in large packs. But drafting will still be an integral part of the competition at the 2-mile track.
“Yes, it is, because you don’t know where you’ll end up in the corner,” Busch said. “You want the clean air in the corner, but you want the draft on the straightaway. There’s no way to have your cake and eat it, too, so you’ve got to work on the handling side of things to cover that base.”
Even though the fastest Cup cars were roughly 14 mph slower than they were last year with the current higher-downforce, lower-horsepower competition package, Busch said the cars felt edgy in the draft.
“Either everybody’s struggling with it, or for us in the 1 car and the 42 car (Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson), the drafting stability was compromised quite a bit,” Busch said. “I didn’t even check the overall lap times, but by itself, the car felt slower, and in the draft it feels faster.”
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Daniel Suarez explained his current contract situation with Stewart-Haas Racing on Friday, indicating that both he and the team have renewal options after the 2019 season. Suarez came to SHR this year after two seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing, where he lost his ride to make room for Martin Truex Jr.
“I feel very confident in where we are,” said Suarez, who was fourth fastest in Happy Hour and quickest in 10 consecutive lap average at Michigan International Speedway. “We have options on both sides, which is good. I have an option, they have an option, and I feel that is the best way to do things, especially when you have a lot of unknowns at the beginning of the year. We know where we are at and what we can do. We haven’t won races — that was my goal, but nobody has on the team.
RELATED: Full schedule for Michigan, Texas
“It isn’t like I am the only one not winning races like it was the last (two) years. It’s a way different situation. I feel like, when we move forward, we move forward together. I don’t feel like I am the guy that is struggling of the group. I feel like we are going to be in good shape. I feel like I am in a good home with Stewart-Haas Racing and Ford Performance and everyone in this group. I’m not really worried. I feel confident about it.
MORE: Suarez: ‘If you’re polite, you won’t last’
“But I will tell you that I felt confident about it as well last year and you saw what happened. You never know in this sport. I don’t like talking about it until it is 110-percent secure. The sport is at a point where anything can happen. What I can control is this weekend. I have to do my thing this weekend and try to win races. I feel like the rest will take care of itself.”
BROOKLYN, Mich. – According to Daniel Suarez, if you want to win races, a drastic change in behavior among competitors leaves no room for kindness on the race track.
During the Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s media availability Friday at Michigan International Speedway, Suarez dove into detail regarding how much driver etiquette has changed since he first came onto the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series scene, a conversation he and Ryan Blaney and Corey LaJoie actually had at dinner with fellow Ford Performance drivers Thursday night.
“In today’s racing, nobody gives respect,” Suarez said. “It’s way different than two years ago. When I came to the Cup Series in 2017, everyone was very polite. In the first half of the race, if someone was faster than me, I would let the guy go. But right now, … Lap 2 … we’re driving it with everything.
RELATED: Suarez fast early at Michigan | Full schedule for Michigan, Texas
“That’s how it is,” Suarez continued. “There’s just no more respect or polite drivers out there. If you’re polite, you won’t last.”
With track position at a premium based on how competitive the Cup Series field has become, Suarez noted restarts have become more aggressive, with drivers jockeying to gain every position possible.
“Everyone has to make positions,” Suarez said. “If you don’t make positions, you’re going to lose positions. You have to have that mentality.
“I’ve had a lot of good race cars in the past where I’m good on the long run, but on the restarts I’m not great,” he added. “It takes me seven laps to finally get going. In today’s racing, you can’t have that. It’s one of those things where you have to be at least decent on restarts to have a good trade off.”
Although Suarez acknowledged being nice doesn’t get you very far in today’s day and age, he’s also not complaining about it. He actually enjoys it.
“Nobody gives anyone a break,” Suarez said. “It’s very hard, but it’s fun. I like it, driving hard; I don’t have a problem with that. It’s just a different style of racing now.
“The lead cars — the guys out running the top 15, top 10 – I think it’s how it’s supposed to be. I don’t mind driving hard. That’s what we get paid for, right?”
RELATED: SHR cars lead 10-lap averages in Michigan practice
Despite the lack of give-and-take on the race track, Suarez believes firmly in drawing a line in the sand to separate what happens on the race track from relationships in the motor coach lots.
“Personally, I try to be good with everyone, but on the race track it’s a whole different deal,” Suarez said. “There’s a lot of drivers like that. Joey Logano … he’s a great friend of mine and we get along extremely well off the race track. But when we’re on the race track, we’re always banging and hitting and talking trash on the radio. That’s how it is and that’s how I like it to be.
“It has to be that way. He (Logano) does a good job on that. He’s an extremely aggressive driver. I will say, I’m the same way. Maybe some people will say sometimes it’s too much, I prefer to be on the too much side and not too little.”
If there’s any doubt that Suarez gets a thrill out of ultra-aggressive racing and standing up to his competition, he’s quick to remind of his scuffle with Michael McDowell at ISM Raceway in March.
“Do you see when I was fighting in Phoenix, I was smiling, too,” Suarez said with a grin. “I don’t have a problem with that. I’ve been in tougher situations, believe me.”
See the order that cars will go off for single-car qualifying on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway (12:05 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Click the print icon to see the complete qualifying order.
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Alex Bowman and the No. 88 team celebrated what would have been Tim Richmond’s 64th birthday in style on Friday at Michigan International Speedway.
Bowman and team unveiled their throwback paint scheme for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a video tribute in the media center ahead of this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at the 2-mile track. The scheme pays tribute to Richmond’s No. 25 scheme he competed with in 37 races for Hendrick Motorsports from 1986-87.
RELATED: Every angle of throwback | Darlington paint schemes
“If I was a NASCAR fan in that era, that’s who I would have cheered for,” Bowman told NASCAR.com following the announcement. “I think just the excitement, his personality and how good he was in a race car. He was pretty unbelievable.”
After the scheme failed to make it on the car for the 2018 running of the crown-jewel throwback event, Bowman’s intense push to make it happen finally paid off.
“I begged for it,” Bowman said. “I begged for it last year and we didn’t do it, but I’m glad we could make it happen. It’s something I really wanted to do. If I was going to pick a throwback scheme, it’s exactly what I would pick.”
FUN? FUN. FUN!
We’re bringing back Tim Richmond’s iconic colors on the #Axalta88 for #NASCARThrowback weekend at @TooToughToTame. pic.twitter.com/gGJoSW6a1k— Axalta Racing (@AxaltaRacing) June 7, 2019
Axalta, the primary sponsorship featured on Bowman’s No. 88 machine for Darlington, also played a big part in bring Bowman’s dream to life.
“Obviously, they’ve got a lot of paint schemes they could throw back to and it’s cool for them to be flexible and willing to let me do something different,” said Bowman.
With the throwback paint revealed, it now begs the question of whether or not Bowman will make an effort to mirror Richmond’s personal look with the iconic mustache and long mane. Based on team owner Rick Hendrick’s reaction to a previous encounter with Bowman’s effort to sport facial hair, he’s decided to let the paint scheme have all the glory.
“If I grew a mustache out … I tried for the All-Star (Race) and it didn’t work out so well and I got made fun of a lot, Bowman said. “Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) walked up to me and just stared at me for a second before he would talk to me, so I think that was shave the damn mustache off your face, so I did. Yeah, that probably won’t happen.”
RELATED: Tim Richmond’s career in photos
As the team continues to bring strong cars to the track consistently, Bowman is hopeful he’ll be able to turn his Darlington luck around. In 2018, Bowman qualified fourth, but he only managed a 23rd-place result after troubles from earning the infamous ‘Darlington stripe.’
“It’s just hit and miss,” Bowman said. “That place is really tough. Really tough to kind of correlate practice with what you’re going to have in the race just because you race at night and practice during the day. It’s so hot and slick. It’s a tough place for me so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
As far as Monday’s race at Michigan (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is concerned, Bowman noted that the team elected to bring a nearly-identical car to what they unloaded at Kansas Speedway in May where he earned his third of three-consecutive second-place finishes.
“I’m really confident coming here, just with how strong we were at Kansas and how similar the two race tracks are,” Bowman said. “I think we could be really good here with it. This is one I’ve had circled here for a while and I’m looking forward to it.”