Posted on by Data Skrive

AJ Allmendinger crossed the finish line third in the B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday. It’s Allmendinger’s first top-five finish of the season.

Austin Cindric secured the win in the race with Christopher Bell finishing second. Tyler Reddick took fourth place followed by Noah Gragson to round out the top five.

Stage 1 was won by Chase Briscoe while Jack Hawksworth finished out front in Stage 2.

Allmendinger earned 40 points over the weekend giving him 42 on the year. He ranks No. 41 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series overall points standings.

The fifth-year driver did not earn any playoff points this week and still is in search of her first playoff points of the season.

Allmendinger qualified in the sixth position at 95.715 mph.

The Los Gatos, California native has collected two career victories, four top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 4 races.

There were 38 cars in the field and the race saw six cautions and 17 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag, there were 10 lead changes.

With Cindric driving his Mustang to glory for Roger Penske, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 755 points, followed by Chevrolet in the No. 2 spot with 749. Ford sits at No. 3 with 746 points on the season.

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Ty Dillon placed 11th in the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.

Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in the race, with Denny Hamlin finishing second and Kyle Larson crossing the finish line third. Martin Truex Jr. took fourth place, followed by Daniel Suarez to round out the top five.

Stage 1 was won by Truex Jr. while Kyle Busch took Stage 2.

Dillon earned 26 points over the weekend, increasing his total to 383 on the season. He ranks No. 24 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings.

The sixth-year driver did not pick up any playoff points this week and still is in search of his first playoff points of the season.

Dillon qualified in 21st position at 186.601 mph.

Dillon still is looking for his first career win but owns one top-five finish and three finishes in the top 10.

There were 38 cars in the field and the race endured six cautions and 24 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag, there were 19 lead changes.

With Harvick driving his Mustang to glory for Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 837 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 816. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 782 points on the season.

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Posted on by Data Skrive

Ryan Preece finished seventh in the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. It’s Preece’s third top-10 finish of the season.

Kevin Harvick brought home the win in the race with Denny Hamlin finishing second and Kyle Larson placing third. Martin Truex Jr. took fourth place, followed by Daniel Suarez to round out the top five.

Truex Jr. won Stage 1 and Kyle Busch finished out front in Stage 2.

Preece earned 30 points over the weekend, increasing his total to 299 on the year. He ranks No. 27 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings.

The second-year driver did not earn any playoff points this week and still is in search of his first playoff points of the season.

Preece qualified in 29th position at 184.044 mph.

Preece still is looking for his first career win but owns one top-five finish and two finishes in the top 10.

There were 38 cars in the field and the race endured six cautions and 24 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag, there were 19 lead changes.

With Harvick driving his Mustang to victory for Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 837 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 816. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 782 points on the season.

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Daniel Suarez finished fifth in the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. It’s Suarez’s third top-five finish of the season.

Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in the race, with Denny Hamlin finishing second, and Kyle Larson crossing the finish line third.

Stage 1 was won by Truex Jr. while Kyle Busch took Stage 2.

Suarez earned 32 points over the weekend, increasing his total to 553 on the year. He ranks No. 17 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings.

The third-year driver did not pick up any playoff points this week and still is in search of his first playoff points of the season.

Suarez qualified in 11th position at 188.462 mph.

Suarez still is looking for his first career win but owns six top-five finishes and 28 finishes in the top 10.

There were 38 cars in the field and the race endured six cautions and 24 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag, there were 19 lead changes.

With Harvick driving his Mustang to victory lane for Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 837 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 816. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 782 points on the season.

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Kyle Larson crossed the finish line third in the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. It’s Larson’s fifth top-five finish of the season.

Kevin Harvick finished out front in the race, with Denny Hamlin finishing second. Martin Truex Jr. brought home fourth place, followed by Daniel Suarez in the No. 5 spot.

Truex Jr. took Stage 1 and Kyle Busch finished out front in Stage 2.

Larson earned 34 points over the weekend, giving him 624 on the year. He ranks No. 13 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series overall points standings.

The seventh-year driver did not pick up any playoff points this week and still is in search of his first playoff points of the season.

Larson qualified in 17th position at 187.573 mph.

The Elk Grove, California product has collected five career victories, 51 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 90 races.

There were 38 cars in the field and the race saw six cautions for 24 laps. Prior to the checkered flag, there were 19 lead changes.

With Harvick driving his Mustang to victory lane for Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 837 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 816. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 782 points on the season.

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Denny Hamlin finished second in the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday. It’s Hamlin’s 12th top-five finish of the season.

Kevin Harvick finished out front in the race, with Kyle Larson placing third. Martin Truex Jr. took fourth place, followed by Daniel Suarez in the No. 5 spot.

Stage 1 was won by Truex Jr., while Kyle Busch won Stage 2.

Hamlin earned 44 points over the weekend, increasing his total to 815 on the season. He ranks No. 4 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings.

The 15th-year driver did not pick up any playoff points this week and still is in search of his first playoff points of the season.

Hamlin qualified in 14th position at 188.093 mph. He led on two occasions for a total of six laps.

The Chesterfield, Virginia product has tallied 34 career victories, 153 top-five finishes and has placed in the top 10 in 249 races.

There were 38 cars in the field and the race endured six cautions for 24 laps. Prior to the checkered flag, there were 19 lead changes.

With Harvick driving his Mustang to victory for Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford added 40 points to its season totals. Overall, Toyota ranks No. 1 with 837 points, followed by Ford in the No. 2 spot with 816. Chevrolet sits at No. 3 with 782 points on the season.

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Posted on by Chase Wilhelm

BROOKLYN, Mich. — It was tumultuous day for drivers on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs bubble in Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.

Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson came into the 400-miler tied with Ryan Newman on the playoff cutline, but the No. 48 team’s postseason chances took a hit when Johnson scraped the wall at the exit of Turn 2 on Lap 15. Forced to make multiple pit stops for repairs, Johnson went an initial seven laps down and finished 34th — eight laps behind race winner Kevin Harvick.

RELATED: Johnson slams wall early | Official race results

After the race, Johnson placed the blame on himself for too much aggression too soon — a move that put him 12 points behind the postseason cutline with three races remaining in the regular season.

While one Stewart-Haas Racing driver reached Victory Lane, another faced a setback. Clint Bowyer sailed hard into the outside barrier in Turn 3 at the start of the final stage after Paul Menard got the No. 14 Ford Mustang loose. Bowyer was forced to retire as the repair clock expired per NASCAR’s Damaged Vehicle Policy, and he finished 37th — now just six points above the cutline in the 16th and final spot after holding a 12-point cushion prior to Sunday.

“You can talk about the bubble and worrying about points, but I am way more worried about getting established and running up front at these types of race tracks,” Bowyer said. “If you make the playoffs and can’t compete in it then what is the use? We have some things to work out.”

The biggest winners of the day included Newman and Daniel Suarez. Issues for Bowyer and Johnson allowed Newman to reap the benefits of a 12th-place finish at Michigan and pushed him into 15th in the driver standings, 16 points ahead of the cutline.

For Suarez, playing the fuel-mileage game worked to his advantage and helped him earn a fifth-place result. Suarez now sits just six points behind Bowyer after gaining 17 points on the cutline. Overcoming a wall scrape in Saturday’s final practice that obligated the No. 41 SHR squad to make repairs in lieu of a backup car, Suarez noted it was far from a perfect day.

“It was very wild, we were more aggressive than I was expecting,” Suarez said. “I knew with 25 laps to go, I was already saving a little bit, trying to race hard and pass people while I was already saving.”

During the final circuits, Suarez had trust in crew chief Billy Scott that his Ford Mustang had enough gas to make it to the finish line, but the situation still had him on edge.

“The team did a good job telling me, ‘You are good to go,’ but even when they’re telling me, ‘I think we are good to go,’ that ‘think’ makes me a little nervous,” Suarez said. “Overall, very proud of my team. Hopefully we can have more runs like this.”

As the focus now shifts to Saturday’s Bristol Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Suarez isn’t letting the intensity of the playoff push affect his approach toward postseason.

“We have to be smart,” Suarez said. “If I let pressure go over my head, I’m going to start making mistakes and I’m going to let down my team. We just have be calm, relax and have fun.”

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Kevin Harvick has passed post-race inspection at Michigan International Speedway with no issues.

The No. 4 was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400. Additionally, the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of runner-up Denny Hamlin and No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of third-place Kyle Larson also cleared inspection with no issues. The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of fifth-place Daniel Suarez will be taken to the NASCAR R&D Center.

With the post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Full Michigan results | Michigan stage recaps

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” according to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutineering. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier-series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Staff Report

Keelan Harvick went to Michigan International Speedway on Sunday with one checkered flag.

He left with two.

According to Kevin Harvick’s wife, DeLana, 7-year-old Keelan brought a bit of good luck with him to the Consumers Energy 400 — his father’s race-winning Michigan checkered flag from a year ago.

That was the victory where then-6-year-old Keelan went for a ride around the track in his dad’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford after Harvick collected his seventh win (of eight) in 2018.

This time, after Harvick outlasted other drivers on fuel, Keelan had to run down pit road to join his father for another ride on the 2-mile track in celebration.

Keelan got a ride straight to the flag stand, where he proceeded to collect his second consecutive souvenir from Michigan.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

Recovering from a punctured-right front tire that cost him track position early in the race, Kevin Harvick passed Joey Logano on Lap 183 of 200 and cruised to a 1.595-second victory in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

During a closing 48-lap green-flag run that began with a restart on Lap 153, Harvick charged from seventh to first, recording his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, his third at the 2-mile track and the 47th of his career.

RELATED: Race results | Stage recaps
SHOP: Harvick gear

“It was a day of a little bit of adversity that we were able to overcome,” Harvick said. “We had a really fast car all weekend. Our car handled really well today, and with the multiple lanes (thanks in part to the application of traction compound in the high grooves), we were able to run all three lanes pretty well and make our way through traffic.

“They (the team) put a really fast race car on the track, and we were able to capitalize on it, so that’s always fun.”

When Harvick crossed the finish line, leading his 22nd lap of the afternoon, Denny Hamlin was running second after Logano pitted for a splash of fuel on Lap 197. Kyle Larson ran third, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Daniel Suarez, who re-entered the playoff picture when two drivers on the bubble ahead of him — Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer — had disastrous days in the Irish Hills.

Thirty-one laps into the race, Harvick steered his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford onto pit road with a flat right-front tire. But with the first 60-lap stage running green from start to finish, Harvick was able to drive up to sixth by the end of the stage.

Martin Truex Jr. won Stage 1 after starting from the rear because of two pre-race inspection failures, but his No. 19 Toyota wasn’t as strong in traffic late in the race than it had been early on. Kyle Busch won Stage 2, but his car, like Truex’s, wasn’t as effective in traffic after pit stops at the end of the stage scrambled the running order.

Likewise, Hamlin’s car was best in the heat of the day on a hot, slick track, but the speed in Harvick’s car prevailed as the asphalt cooled down.

“Well, it seemed like we generally had the best-handling car when it was really hot and slick, but as the day went on and the track cooled off, the guys that had built more speed into their car, it kind of handicapped it for them,” Hamlin said. “Nothing I could really do, just didn’t have enough speed. The 4 was about a half second faster than us in qualifying, and when we were holding it wide open there at the end, just couldn’t overcome it.”

Kyle Busch ran sixth, and Ryan Preece came home seventh, posting his first top 10 outside of Daytona or Talladega. The Hendrick Motorsports trio of William Byron, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman completed the top 10.

Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson wasn’t as fortunate. On Lap 15, his No. 48 Chevrolet slapped the outside wall, severely damaging the right side of the car. Johnson finished 34th, eight laps down.

Bowyer’s misfortune came on Lap 137, after contact with the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford of Paul Menard. Bowyer’s car slammed into the Turn 3 wall, and efforts to repair the car proved futile. Bowyer retired from the race in 37th place.

WATCH: Johnson hits wall early | Bowyer clips wall late

Johnson dropped two places to 18th in the series standings, 12 points behind Bowyer and 12th-place finisher Ryan Newman, tied for the last Playoff-eligible position. Suarez moved past Johnson to 17th in the standings and trails Newman and Bowyer by four points with three races left before the cut-off at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The series’ next race is scheduled for Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Contributing: Staff reports