Kevin Harvick sweeps stages at Michigan as Truex runs dry in Stage 2

Posted on August 12, 2018August 12, 2018 by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick passed Martin Truex Jr. on Lap 110 and went on to win Stage 2, sweeping the stage wins on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. With Truex Jr. conserving fuel, Harvick scooted past on the inside lane and cruised to his series-leading 12th stage victory of the 2018 season.

Truex had to come to pit road with one lap remaining in the stage because his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota was running dry. Since pit road was closed for the end of the stage, Truex was assessed a penalty.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Just like in Stage 1, Kyle Busch finished second in Stage 2 in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota, with Ryan Blaney third in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Kurt Busch, in the No. 41 SHR Ford, and Austin Dillon, in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, rounded out the top five.

Joey Logano rebounded from shock problems on the opening pace laps to finish sixth in Stage 2.

Erik Jones spun for the second time on Lap 83 bringing out a caution, but Jones had rebounded to 15th place by the end of the stage.

STAGE 2 RESULTS

Finish	Driver	Team	Race Points
1	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	10
2	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	9
3	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	8
4	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	7
5	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	6
6	Joey Logano	Team Penske	5
7	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	4
8	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	3
9	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	2
10	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	1

Stage 1

Kevin Harvick took the lead from Kyle Busch on a restart following a competition caution on Lap 25 and did not look back to win Stage 1.

Kyle Busch finished second in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney in the No. 12 Ford coming in third. Kurt Busch, in the No. 41 SHR Ford, and Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, rounded out the top five.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Truex rebounded from an early incident with the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driven by William Byron. The two collided in Turn 2 on Lap 15 with Byron taking the brunt of the damage. Truex, meanwhile, took no tires on the competition-caution pit stop to make up ground.

Erik Jones also brought out a caution by spinning in Turn 4 on Lap 8.

STAGE 1 RESULTS

Finish	Driver	Team	Race Points
1	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	10
2	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	9
3	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	8
4	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	7
5	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	6
6	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	5
7	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	4
8	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	3
9	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	2
10	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	1

Posted on August 12, 2018 by Staff Report

Ever wonder what goes on in a driver meeting? We’re here to help.

This year, we’ll publish the actual rules video your favorite Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers will watch before climbing into their stock cars. Above is the video for the Consumers Energy 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Michigan International Speedway.

Enjoy!

Posted on August 12, 2018August 12, 2018 by RJ Kraft

Denny Hamlin nabbed the Busch Pole Award before Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Michigan International Speedway and found himself a spot in my starting lineup as a result. After three practice sessions and qualifying, we’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you make roster decisions for the 23rd Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of 2018. Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2.

To the rear: Blake Jones (transmission change), Ross Chastain (driver change), David Ragan (transmission change).
There will be a competition caution on Lap 25.

RJ Kraft’s revised Fantasy Live lineup following practices and the lineup being set:
1: Kevin Harvick
2: Erik Jones
3: Joey Logano
4: Ryan Blaney
5: Denny Hamlin
Garage: Kyle Larson

PLAY NOW: Set your Fantasy Live lineup | How the new Fantasy Live works
MORE: Fantasy analysis for Michigan | Driver stats | Full lineup | 10-lap averages

Analysis: A few changes from my original lineup but before we get into those, let’s run through who I am keeping. I devised my Harvick usage plan around having him for Michigan and he’s looked solid, so he’s a must start for me. Jones led the way on the 10-lap average board in both of Saturday’s sessions and has six top-seven finishes in his last seven races. Logano has a good Michigan history, topped the speed chart in final practice and I’m in a pretty good spot with usages there. Larson’s solid showing in final practice keeps him in my lineup but shifting him to the garage. The three-time Michigan winner has plenty of confidence here and was third on the 10-lap average board in final practice.

Two lineup changes for me going into Sunday’s race. Out are Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. and in are Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin. Elliott has a good history here but seems a little off this weekend after his Watkins Glen win. Truex is hit or miss at Michigan over the past few years and this seems to be shaping up as a miss. He was 17th in final practice and struggled here in June as well. With two uses left, I will likely deploy him at Darlington and Indianapolis to close out the game.

Blaney moves into my lineup on the strength of placing in the top six in all three practice sessions and second on the 10-lap board in final practice. He won a stage here in June and had the fourth-most points in that race, so I am saying yes to YRB. Hamlin takes the last active spot in my lineup based on his pole position and a top-five showing on the 10-lap board in final practice. I started the weekend thinking I would avoid him, but feel pretty good about how he looks this weekend.

A spotty Michigan history combined with two uses left and wanting to use Kyle Busch for the two longest races left — Bristol and Darlington — lead me to keep him off the roster this weekend. The 2015 champion will be deployed as a stage winner for me as will Harvick, with “Happy” being my race winner pick after coming so close here in June.

Posted on August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 by Holly Cain

LEXINGTON, OHIO – Justin Allgaier pulled off the NASCAR version of a “spin and win” to take the Xfinity Series victory in Saturday’s Rock N Roll Tequila 170 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The JR Motorsports driver of the No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet rallied from late-race contact and a spin to pass Austin Cindric with three laps remaining, claiming his third win of the season and first at the famed 2.4-mile road course.

Cindric’s No. 22 Penske Racing Ford won the pole position and led a dominant 59 of the race’s 75 laps but his track position gamble out front on old tires couldn’t hold off a hard-charging Allgaier, who pitted for new rubber in the race’s final caution period with eight laps remaining.

Cindric held on for second place. Richard Childress Racing driver Daniel Hemric finished third, followed by teammate and Ohio native Matt Tifft. Ryan Truex rounded out the top five. Allgaier became the sixth different winner in as many Xfinity races at Mid-Ohio.

The race was typically “road course aggressive” with lots of bumping and banging throughout the field, particularly in the waning laps. And the final pass for the lead was the result of dramatic back-and-forth, give-and-take between Cindric and Allgaier, who exchanged the front position three times on a single lap before Allgaier pulled away for the checkered flag by 2.095-seconds.

“I thought we gave it away when I went off (course),” Allgaier said of his mid-race collision with Ford’s Cole Custer. “But that pit call (for tires) at the end is what did it. … We’ve been good this year, but to do it (win) at a road course is even better.”

And, he added with a smile, “it was a real barn-burner at the end.”

WATCH: Chase Briscoe spins

For his part, Cindric was understandably disappointed to come home runner-up because he had clearly been the class of the field all weekend. The 19 year old came just two seconds away from claiming his first Xfinity Series win, but did lead the most laps and earned a stage win as well.

“It was a big points day for me. But too bad we couldn’t capitalize with a dominant car,” Cindric said.

Four-time race winner and series points leader Christopher Bell ran as high as second place at one point, but heavy contact between him and veteran Elliott Sadler in the closing laps spun Bell’s No. 20 Toyota around and caused a final laps catch-up session. He ended up 11th and still holds a 17-point advantage over Hemric and Elliott in the standings with four races left to set the playoff field.

Former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year Andy Lally led seven laps and finished 15th – leading the road racing contingent to a good showing on the afternoon.

IMSA standout and former IndyCar driver Katherine Legge finished 30th, having to retire her car 10 laps from the end with engine problems. She is scheduled to compete with the Xfinity Series again at Road America in two weeks – as is NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who is coming out of retirement for that race.

The Xfinity Series races the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway next Friday at 7:30 p.m. (NBCSN).

Posted on August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 by Chase Wilhelm

BROOKLYN, Mich. — A fifth-place finish in the Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway may have been a good result for Todd Gilliland, but it wasn’t what he needed.

Gilliland was fast in the No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota, and held the lead for a total of eight laps en route to collecting his second straight top-10 finish and his second top five on the year. But the rookie still sits 12th in the playoff standings, 126 points down on Matt Crafton at the cutline.

That means Gilliland faces a must-win situation to make the playoffs in his Camping World Truck Series rookie season with Kyle Busch Motorsports. But, Gilliland is taking a realist approach to the task at hand.

“I think a lot of people are focused on just making the playoffs, but there’s more races after that,” Gilliland said leaning up against the No. 4 truck after Saturday’s race. “As a team, I don’t think we’re close enough yet to just try to get that one win.”

Of course, the fire to make the playoffs burns in Gilliland, but he’s focused on the whole picture.

“We just need to focus on getting more consistent every week,” Gilliland said. “If we would have finished top five the last few weeks in a row, it’d be a little bit different. But this is our best finish in a while and we need to take the positives out of it.”

Heading into the regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday night (8:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Gilliland plans to keep his head down and ignore all the pressure to make the postseason.

“It’s a place that I’ve won at earlier this year in the K&N Pro Series East,” Gilliland said. “Kyle Busch Motorsports always runs extremely well there. It’s just going to be about being consistent and not letting anybody get in my head. Just try to stay focused the best I can.”

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Chase Wilhelm

BROOKLYN, Mich. — The clock is ticking for Daniel Suarez to earn his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win to catapult him into the playoffs, but he’s not sweating it.

With four races to go in the regular season, Suarez is 19th in the playoff standings, 89 points behind Alex Bowman at the cutline. A win, of course, would solidify his fate, regardless of how others perform.

That’s a task Suarez feels is not out of reach for him and the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 team.

“The team is capable to winning races and I feel like I’m capable to win races,” Suarez told NASCAR.com. “Unfortunately, we put ourselves in this position because we didn’t run well three months ago. We had the speed sometimes and sometimes we didn’t. We weren’t doing a good job fixing the problem.

“Right now, it seems like we have the problem fixed, but we are in a bad position for the playoffs,” he added. “Hopefully we can keep rolling in the right direction.”

If Suarez wants to get that elusive first win in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), home of his first career Xfinity Series win, he’ll have some work to do after slapping the wall in the first round of qualifying. The 19 team stayed at the track late Friday evening to fix the damage to the right side of the car instead of rolling out the backup, but Suarez didn’t record a time and will start last.

The No. 19 in the garage Saturday morning at Michigan after the team fixed damage from Friday’s qualifying incident. Credit: Chase Wilhelm | NASCAR Digital Media

Suarez has momentum on his side after finishing in the top five the past two races — second at Pocono and fourth at Watkins Glen. A checkered flag appears tantalizingly close, but starting deep in the field at Michigan will make it a more difficult task.

“Any time you can have a top-five run, you can have a shot to finish in Victory Lane,” Suarez said. “We just have to give ourselves more opportunities just like we have done the last few weeks. If we can keep doing that, eventually the win will come.”

Even JGR teammate Erik Jones — who earned his first Monster Energy Series win last month in Daytona — feels like Suarez can break into Victory Lane at any moment.

“He’s definitely a lot closer than he was a month or two ago,” Jones said. “Looking at his last three or four races, he’s been close enough, if things go right, to win. It’d be cool for JGR to see him win. I’d be good to get all four cars in the playoffs this year, all five Toyotas. We’re all hoping he can in the next few.”

The recent upward trend for Suarez is also a credit to the support he has received from teammate Kyle Busch, who has won six races so far this season and is a favorite for the Championship 4 in Homestead.

“Kyle is a great guy, an amazing driver and a great teammate, as well,” Suarez said. “It’s not for nothing that he’s one of the Big 3. He’s been racing in the Cup Series for a long time and it’s always good to have advice, comments and all kinds of information from a friend like him. He’s been very helpful, especially in the last month or so.”

As the playoffs loom, it would be reasonable to assume that the weight of the world is on the shoulders of Suarez. But he’s staying cool and confident.

“This isn’t pressure,” he said, “this is fun. I like it.”

Posted on August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 by Reid Spencer

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Talk about perfect timing.

With a huge run through the final two corners, Brett Moffitt surged past Johnny Sauter right before the finish line at Michigan International Speedway to win Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race by .025 seconds.

Trailing Sauter at the white flag, Moffitt backed off in Turn 1 to create a gap between his No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota and the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet of Sauter. Moffitt charged into Turn 3, pulled even to the inside of Sauter’s truck as they rolled the corner and won a drag race to the finish line.

Moffitt picked up his second victory at Michigan, his fourth of the season—tying Sauter for the series lead—and the fifth of his career.

“Pretty amazing this little team’s gone to Victory Lane four times this year,” Moffitt said. “The whole last however many laps I was behind (Sauter), I would get to him, but I would push him with that air bubble between our bumpers.

“So I tried to back up (Turn) 1, let him get out there a little bit, and I knew the 8 (Polesitter and third-place finisher John Hunter Nemechek) was behind us—I was hoping he would actually get to us and be able to push us. But we were able to play it right and time it right, and, man, it’s just great to get here.”

Sauter had taken the lead on Lap 88 of 100 when he surged past both Moffitt and eventual fifth-place finisher Todd Gilliland. The disappointing finish left Sauter second-guessing himself.

“They said ‘Clear by three (car-lengths)’ coming off (Turn) 2, and I kept watching the mirror,” Sauter said. “I just felt like, if I ran the middle, I’d keep momentum up. I felt like when I went to the bottom, I was bogging a little bit.

“But I screwed up. No ‘ifs,’ ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about it. I should have run the bottom, but I do feel like maybe he would have squirted to the top. Sitting duck, kind of—for sure. You know he’s planning a run, but you just don’t know when… Pretty ticked at myself for giving away a win.”

Sauter wasn’t the only one. Stewart Friesen led 12 laps in a strong No. 52 Chevrolet, but his fueler drew a penalty for pushing the truck after handling the fuel can during the final pit stop under caution on Lap 80, sending Friesen to the rear for a Lap 84 restart.

Friesen fought his way back to eighth at the finish.

Noah Gragson ran fourth, followed by Gilliland. Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Friesen, Justin Haley and Matt Crafton completed the top 10. Sauter retained the series lead by 56 points over Gragson.

Moffitt’s victory ensures that at least two drivers will qualify for the NCTWS Playoffs on points—good news for Enfinger and Friesen, who are third and fourth in the standings, respectively. Crafton, who is sixth, will clinch a Playoff berth if no one outside the top eight in the standings wins next Thursday at Bristol.

Given his 53-point edge over Crafton, Enfinger can clinch a Playoff spot simply by starting the race at Bristol.

Notes: The No. 4 KBM truck of Gilliland had one lug nut found to be unsecure in post-race inspection.

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Reid Spencer

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Based on testing during successive weeks in July, Goodyear has opted to bring a slightly different tire for September’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course.

Goodyear is treating the Bank of America Roval 400 as a typical road course race, although the track configuration that includes the majority of the banked oval (with chicanes) and an infield portion will be raced for the first time.

“When we got to the organizational test (in July), we started seeing some heat that we didn’t really expect, to be quite honest with you,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of race tire sales. “I think it’s like anything — as you go from test to test to test, everybody gets a little faster.

“We saw enough signs in the first week of the organizational test that we decided to bring some of the controls (control tires) from our March test back and evaluate that as well, which we did in the second week (July 17).

“We felt like that was going to be a better choice for the race. The difference between the two is really a minor formulation change in the tread compound. It might have a little less grip, although when we did back-to-backs, nobody could really tell any difference. It’s just a slight change, back to where we were in March, and we felt like that was the right choice.”

MORE: Tricky spots abound at road course | Take a lap around the course

Goodyear will also bring rain tires to Charlotte — just in case. The rain tires are no different from those used at other road courses on the Cup circuit.

Posted on August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 by Staff Report

Joey Logano topped Saturday’s final practice session for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series prior to Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Michigan International Speedway. The two-time Michigan winner put down a fast lap of 197.580 mph in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford to pace the 65-minute session.

Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) came home second in practice with a fast lap of 197.520 mph while Alex Bowman (No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) took third with a speed of 197.320 mph. Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, 197.212 mph) and Kyle Larson (No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, 197.179 mph) rounded out the top five. Harvick was the runner-up at Michigan in June, while Larson has won three of the past four races at the 2-mile track.

Martin Truex Jr. was the only member of the “Big 3” to finish practice outside the top five as he posted the 17th-fastest speed.

Chase Elliott, who was last weekend’s winner at Watkins Glen, went for a spin off of Turn 4 in the opening minutes of practice. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has three runner-up finishes at Michigan in five starts there. He finished the session 18th-fastest.

WATCH: Elliott goes for a spin

The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Michael McDowell served a 15-minute practice hold in final practice for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice at Michigan.

Practice was moved up 15 minutes to give drivers extra track time after the day’s first practice was only 15 minutes because of heavy fog in the area this morning.

Erik Jones leads Saturday’s early practice

Erik Jones topped Saturday’s fog-shortened, early morning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice session at Michigan International Speedway. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led the way with a fast lap of 200.150 mph around the 2-mile track ahead of Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

William Byron (No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) came in second with a speed of 199.678 mph followed by Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Team Penske Ford) in third with a speed of 199.358 mph. June Michigan winner Clint Bowyer (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, 199.242 mph) and Joey Logano (No. 22 Team Penske Ford, 198.999 mph) rounded out the top five.

The morning fog delayed the start of practice by 40 minutes. The session was initially scheduled to start at 8:35 a.m. ET.

Pole sitter Denny Hamlin came in ninth in the session, while defending race winner Kyle Larson placed 12th.

Several teams were assessed 15-minute practice holds for this practice, but the fog delay gave the teams the option to serve the penalty in either of Saturday’s sessions. The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota team of Martin Truex Jr. (late to pre-race inspection at Watkins Glen), the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team of Kyle Busch (didn’t come to complete stop at the inner loop in practice at Watkins Glen), the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team of Daniel Suarez (didn’t come to complete stop at the inner loop in practice at Watkins Glen) and the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team of Ryan Newman (didn’t come to complete stop at the inner loop in practice at Watkins Glen) were all assessed holds.

Both the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet team of Bubba Wallace and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford team of B.J. McLeod were also assessed 15-minute practice penalties for being late to pre-qualifying inspection at Michigan. All teams elected to serve their penalties in this session.

Suarez hit the wall in qualifying — not recording a lap and he will start 40th in Sunday’s field — and the team has worked to repair the primary car.

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon (2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).