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RELATED: Full race results | Standings | Chase Grid

Breaking down the full field for the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway:

1. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Twice, Larson had to overcome problems on pit road. Twice, Larson beat Chase Elliott on restarts from the front row. The second one, with 10 laps to go, was the difference. Larson gets his first Sprint Cup win in his 99th start and his ticket punched to the Chase. Well done. Grade: A

2. Chase Elliott, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Restarts, restarts, restarts. Elliott lost the first race at Michigan because of poor restarts and it happened again Sunday. And just like in June, Elliott finished second. Grade: A-

3. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. The native of Michigan posted his sixth straight top 10 at his home track but to his chagrin remained winless in the Irish Hills. Grade: A

4. Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Ford, Wood Brothers Racing. Blaney needs a win to make the Chase, and he drove like it Sunday, posting his first top 10 in 10 races. Grade: A

5. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick led 33 laps, and his 3.56 averaging running position topped the field. Grade: A

6. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson was a factor — and the leader — until his green-flag pit stop on Lap 109. But his gas man had trouble refueling the No. 48, and from that point forward Johnson was playing catchup. His 37 laps led were second to Kyle Larson’s 41. Grade: A-

7. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards now has two wins, seven top fives and 15 top 10s in 2016. That’s what he had all of last season. Grade: A

8. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray finished eighth for the third consecutive week. He holds the last spot in the Chase standings by 15 points over Ryan Newman with two races to go before the field is set. Grade: A

9. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin’s sixth straight top-10 finish is the longest active streak. Grade: A

10. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. All of the polesitter’s strength came at the start of the race. A slow final pit stop left him 17th on the last restart. Grade: A-

11. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle had a nice finish, but he was never a factor. Only Kyle Busch’s 26 laps in the top 15 were fewer than Biffle’s 44 among drivers who finished in the top 20. Grade: B

12. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Borrowing a page from Greg Biffle … Busch was not a factor, either, and only his brother’s 24.84 average running position was worse than his 17.34 among drivers who finished in the top 20. Grade: B

13. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. In the first 12 races of the season, Kenseth led 398 laps. In the next 12, 79 laps, including eight Sunday, his first laps led since his victory last month at New Hampshire. Grade: B

14. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne is going to need a win — or a miracle — to make the Chase field. He trails Jamie McMurray by 52 points for the final Chase-eligible spot after finishing outside the top 10 for the eighth straight race. Grade: B

15. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. Allmendinger finished in the top 15 in four consecutive races for the first time since the end of the 2011 season. Grade: B

16. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon is 15th in the Chase standings with a 21-point cushion over Ryan Newman in 17th. Grade: B

17.  Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Newman should consider himself fortunate to be only 15 points out of 16th with two races to go for the Chase field is set — he hasn’t had a top-10 finish in his past five races. Grade: B-

18. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Regular readers of The Rundown know we have been enthralled by Menard’s propensity to finish 18th. He racked up his sixth of the season Sunday. Grade: C

19. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch’s troubles at Michigan continued when he got loose in Turn 4 on the 26th lap and went for a spin. His average finish in his past seven starts at Michigan is 32.0 with one finish on the lead lap — and it wasn’t Sunday. Grade: C

20. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex’s shot at winning or having a top finish ended on Lap 66 when the jack man lowered the car before the left rear tire was changed. The damaged left-rear quarter panel was an issue the rest of the day. Grade: C-

21. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. The driver with a win and five top fives in a seven-race stretch has finished 30th and 21st in his past two races. Is the mojo gone? Grade: C

22. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears finished outside the top 10 at Michigan for the 13th consecutive race. Grade: C

23. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. This marks the first time in Patrick’s four full-time Sprint Cup seasons she has not finished in the top 20 in at least one of the two Michigan races. She finished 21st in June. Grade: C

24. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne went into last week’s race at Bristol eight points out of the final Chase spot. He leaves Michigan 58 points back. Grade: C

25. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Michigan is one of two tracks on which Almirola has made at least 10 starts and has yet to post a top 10. (The other is Pocono.) Grade: C-

26. Regan Smith, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Smith posted his best finish at Michigan since a career-best 13th in August of 2011. Grade: C

27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Since scoring a career-best 15th at Michigan in August 2014, Stenhouse’s finishes at the 2-mile track are 25th, 26th, 29th and 27th. Grade: C-

28. Brian Scott, No. 44 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Sunday’s race was something to build on: In his first race at Michigan in June, Scott left with a 36th-place finish and a DNF (crash). Grade: C

29. David Ragan, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. Because of Ragan’s proximity to Chris Buescher in the standings, he will continue to be one of the most-watched drivers through Richmond. On Sunday, Ragan took a nibble out of Buescher’s points lead and is now seven points behind Buescher for 30th in the standings. Grade: C

30. Alex Bowman, No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Bowman started sixth and was running in the top five when the car’s ignition failed. A day of promise ended right there, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s replacement finished five laps back. Grade: D

31. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Chevrolet, Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing. McDowell won Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Road America, but his string of top-20 Sprint Cup finishes ended at a season-best two. Grade: D

32. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. DiBenedetto battled brake issues all day. Grade: D

33. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. A blown tire brought out the fourth and final caution, and Annett finished five laps back. Grade: D

34. Cole Whitt, No. 98 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Whitt produced his worst finish in six starts at Michigan. Grade: D

35. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. With so much at stake, the No. 34 team could not afford the engine woes that dumped Buescher to 35th — he finished 20th at Michigan in June — but at least he didn’t finish last. Those extra five points might make the difference between making the Chase and major disappointment. Another positive takeaway: David Ragan could muster only a 29th-place finish. Grade: F

36. Reed Sorenson, No. 55 Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports. Sorenson finished seven laps off the pace. Grade: D

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 32 Ford, Go Fas Racing. Earnhardt had an accident in practice and was in a backup car. He finished eight laps back. Grade: D

38. Josh Wise, No. 30 Chevrolet, The Motorsports Group. Wise’s finish was his worst at Michigan since a 39th-place run in August 2013. Grade: F

39. Landon Cassill, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Suspension woes limited Cassill to 174 laps and left him with his first DNF of the season. Grade: F

40. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Bowyer said before the race he had his best car of the year. Yikes! Vibrations sent the No. 15 behind the wall, but Bowyer avoided a DNF, although he did finish 40 laps off the pace. Grade: F

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Watch the live stream here | Michigan results

 

NASCAR.com will live stream post-race inspection Tuesday from 8-11:30 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

 

Tune in for a three-and-a-half-hour view of the inspection floor of the 61,000-square-foot shop, bringing you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials tear down and inspect Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.

 

The three cars selected for further evaluation at the R&D Center this week are:

 

— The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet of race winner Kyle Larson
— The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of race runner-up Chase Elliott
— The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of seventh-place finisher Carl Edwards

Of note, the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of third-place finisher Brad Keselowski failed post-race laser inspection at Michigan. Any potential penalties will likely be announced later this week.

RELATED: No. 2 of Keselowski fails post-race inspection


For more details about the inspection process, click here.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Instagram post causes PR freak-out

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Monday that Jimmie Johnson had asked him to borrow one of his father’s old uniforms to complete his retro look for this weekend’s NASCAR throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway.

Earnhardt Jr.’s remarks came on Monday’s edition of the “Dale Jr. Download,” a 70-minute episode that he co-hosted on his Dirty Mo Radio network.

Earnhardt did not provide a health update on the concussion-related symptoms that have forced him to miss the last six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, but offered an anecdote about his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, who will be running a blue-and-yellow paint scheme on his No. 48 Chevrolet that pays tribute to Earnhardt’s father and the legendary David Pearson — both NASCAR Hall of Famers.

“He’s texting me, he’s like, ‘You got one of your dad’s old uniforms and all that stuff?’ ” Earnhardt said of a recent exchange with Johnson. “He wanted to actually wear it to intros, and it would fit probably. It smells like … every bit of 40 years old.”

Earnhardt Jr. clarified that Johnson had asked about a different uniform than the one from the 1982 season that he recently modeled on social media. He also had to clarify for Johnson the level of Lowe’s involvement with stock-car racing back in 1979, the elder Earnhardt’s rookie season.

“He sends me a picture of this car, and I said ‘David Pearson ran second in that car at Talladega in relief for my father,’ ” Earnhardt Jr. said. “My father was out four weeks with broken collarbones (from a crash at Pocono), and David drove that car, ran second. That was the only race Lowe’s was on the hood. I don’t know why. Must’ve been a local chain, but they had Lowe’s on the hood for that race, and that race only.

“And so, it’s kind of unique, kind of weird. Jimmie gets excited about it and then I have to tell him the story. He’s like, ‘Man, I’m going to run one of your Dad’s throwbacks,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, David Pearson drove that car and Lowe’s was on the hood for just that race,’ but it’s still really cool. I’ve always wondered what that paint scheme would look like on one of the modern cars.”

Earnhardt will be replaced by interim driver Jeff Gordon in this Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM) as his recovery from concussion-related issues continues. Earnhardt said he was “real sad” he won’t be driving his own throwback paint scheme, a No. 88 Chevrolet that pays homage to Buddy Baker’s “Gray Ghost” look from the early 1980s.

 

Alex Bowman made his second substitute start last weekend at Michigan International Speedway, placing 30th after slowing early with engine trouble. Still, Earnhardt Jr. gave him a vote of confidence.

 

“That was disappointing. I know Alex was upset,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “He doesn’t know how many opportunities like that he’ll get to show he’s capable. I believe in him, and I know he’s got the ability to do it, to be in the Cup Series and to be in a competitive car and do a good job behind the wheel. It was a shame because I think he could’ve shown again — like he did at New Hampshire — that he belongs.”

 

Though Earnhardt Jr. will sit out Sunday’s event at Darlington, co-host Mike Davis — brand and communications director for Earnhardt and his JR Motorsports team — teed up what’s scheduled to be a busy week for the 41-year-old driver.

 

Earnhardt Jr. is scheduled to participate in competition meetings Tuesday, before traveling to a Wal-Mart in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, for a Wednesday driver appearance. Wednesday’s schedule also includes an interview on Nickelodeon’s “NASCAR Hammer Down” program, hosted by Karsyn Elledge, Earnhardt Jr.’s niece.

 

Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports organization in the NASCAR XFINITY Series also has a busy week on tap. Davis said JRM planned to unveil nostalgic paint schemes for its three Darlington entries, which will be piloted by XFINITY regulars Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler, plus Sprint Cup star Kevin Harvick.

 

Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: Full Darlington coverage | Throwback paint schemes


Jeremy Clements Racing is excited to announce they will be fielding a Throwback paint scheme this coming Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway.

The No. 51 Camaro SS will be sponsored by long time partners www.repairablevehicles.com and will feature the “Black Widow” paint scheme that was driven by a number of racing greats in the late ’50s in the likes of Hall of Famers Buck Baker and Rex White and powered by the renowed engine buliders of the time, Jeremy’s grandfather and great uncle, Crawford and Louis Clements.  

Crawford and Louis both also crew chiefed as well for some all time  greats. Crawford crew chiefed Hall of Famers Junior Johnson, Buck Baker and AJ Foyt all to wins the early ’60s, and Louis crew chiefed Rex White to the 1960 Cup Championship.

“I’m really proud to honor my grandfather (who started me in racing) and my great uncle with this cool Black Widow Paint Scheme from the ’50s,” Jeremy said. “Even more excited to represent them and Clements Racing Engines in our home state at Darlington Raceway.” 



Buck Baker in his Black Widow.

Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: Full Darlington coverage | Throwback paint schemes


Sugar Hill, GA (August 29, 2016) – RSS Racing is pleased to announce that Tri County Landscape will return as a primary sponsor for three more races in 2016 starting at Darlington Raceway. In addition to Darlington, TCL will be on the No. 39 car at Richmond and Charlotte.


At Darlington, the team will run a special throwback paint scheme resembling the famous colors that Dale Jarrett ran in the late ’90s.


Ryan Sieg commented, “I’m thrilled to have TCL back for three more races and I’m honored to drive this special color scheme at Darlington. Growing up, our family always stayed at the same condo in Daytona as Robert Yates, Dale Jarrett, and their team. He was always one of my favorites and I think I even got tossed in the pool by DJ a few times one year! Needless to say, this will be a fun weekend for everyone involved.”


Sieg continues to hold down the 12th spot in points with three races left before the Chase begins for NASCAR’s XFINITY Series. The RSS team will have two practices on Friday before qualifying and racing Saturday at Darlington.


Dale Jarrett’s red-white-and-blue paint scheme from 1997

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CONCORD, N.C. (Aug. 29, 2016) – In conjunction with a NASCAR industry-wide effort to offer free NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and XFINITY Series tickets for children 12 and under next season, Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE: TRK) announced a company-wide Fans First initiative Monday to price select children’s tickets at just $10 each to Cup Series events at its eight premier speedways beginning in 2017.

 

“Coming to the races should be about fun, not finances,” said Speedway Motorsports’ President and Chief Executive Officer Marcus Smith. “Now a parent can get his or her child through the gates for an entire weekend of NASCAR events — including pole night, a Camping World Truck or XFINITY Series race and a Sprint Cup Series race — for just $10. This is one of the best, if not THE best, family values in all professional sports.

 

“NASCAR fans have passed down their passion for motorsports from generation to generation for decades, and through this new Fans First initiative, we’ll continue that legacy by introducing young fans to the sport and engaging them for years to come.”

 

With an adult ticket purchase, fans can buy up to two $10 tickets for children ages 12 and under to that same event in select seating sections. This offer is available at all of the 13 Sprint Cup Series events shown below next season.

 

Tickets for many of Speedway Motorsports’ 2017 events are already on sale. A complete schedule of the company’s Sprint Cup Series races is below:

 

March 5: Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway

March 12: Kobalt 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway

April 9: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, Texas Motor Speedway

April 23: Food City 500, Bristol Motor Speedway

May 20: NASCAR All-Star Race, Charlotte Motor Speedway

May 28: Coca-Cola 600, Charlotte Motor Speedway

June 25: Toyota/Save Mart 350, Sonoma Raceway

July 8: Quaker State 400, Kentucky Speedway

July 16: New Hampshire 301, New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Aug. 19: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway

Sept. 24: New England 300, New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Oct. 7: Bank of America 500, Charlotte Motor Speedway

Nov. 5: AAA Texas 500, Texas Motor Speedway

 

Fans can obtain tickets to any Speedway Motorsports event by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or the individual Speedway Motorsports subsidiary facility websites.

Posted on by Nascar

RELATED: Chase bubble update | Results

BROOKLYN, Mich. — He lost the race off pit road, and in his mind, victory had slipped from his grasp once again.

So often. So many close calls.

“I thought that was the race right there,” Kyle Larson admitted.

But this time he said it from Victory Lane. Where Sunday at Michigan International Speedway fate chose to frown on someone else.

Confetti flew, fans cheered and fellow competitors stopped by to offer congratulations. Kyle Busch, one of the first to pit road, was waiting for Larson when the young driver finally pulled in for the celebration. Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski also dropped in. So, too, did Jamie McMurray, Larson’s teammate.

Larson, driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, is 24. And he’s now a first-time winner in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, capturing the Pure Michigan 400 in his 99th career start.

The win secured one of the final playoff spots for this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Championship dreams were rekindled for a driver and team that had ridden on the razor’s edge almost since his arrival in NASCAR.

There have been fuel-mileage plays that didn’t pan out, late charges that ended with bent sheet metal and crushed hopes.

But not this time.

“No question the kid has talent; the kid can drive,” Ganassi said. “We just have to put a weekend together.”

Ganassi knows. He’s won in six different series in which his various teams compete. If it has wheels and goes fast, Ganassi has likely fielded a winner.

Sunday’s outcome was still in question when the late-race battle between Larson and Chase Elliott began to unfold. When the two drivers — both young, eager and winless — hit pit road for green-flag stops on Lap 158, Larson was the race leader.

When they exited just seconds later, Elliott, after all others had stopped for service, was out front.

Larson charged, trimming the deficit to Elliott in half. Lapped traffic erased the gains. And then the caution flag, this one for debris, appeared for a final time.

While crew chief Chad Johnston said he thought the team’s final stop “was a little bit slow,” he refused to change the team’s game plan.

“It’s hard to talk yourself into staying out two more laps or three more laps when you know those guys are gaining … track position with each lap, but the worst thing you can do is let them force your hand and then run it out of fuel at the end,” Johnston said. “So we stood our ground and pitted when we needed to pit, just lost a lot of ground through lapped traffic. …

“We needed that last restart, and Kyle did everything he needed to do to have the lead off (Turn 2).”

Second at Fontana and Loudon and Kansas two years ago; second at Dover this year. Larson’s been third, fourth and fifth several times as well. Often enough that some have questioned how badly he wanted to win, but they’ve never questioned his talent.

“There have been a couple where I could have done things differently to get the win,” Larson, flanked by son Owen and Johnston, said afterward. “For a few months you guys keep asking, ‘What if?’ … Now I’ve won so we don’t have to talk about that anymore.”

Winning races isn’t new for the Elk Grove, California, native. Winning quickly hadn’t been either. Until he got to NASCAR’s top level. Even then, he showed flashes of potential, but potential didn’t outrun everyone.

“This feels different for me because it’s taken me a lot longer than in any of the other stuff to get a win,” Larson said. “It took me a couple of months to win my first sprint car race … a few months to win when I got into USAC. I guess it took me a few years to win an Outlaw race, but I’d still been winning sprint car races.

“But this, after the way my rookie season started, coming close a few times, not getting it done, you can visualize the win that early in your career. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen. But it just never happened.

“This one’s different just because of how long we had to wait and how much harder I’ve had to work for it. It’s special because all the hard work’s paid off.”

Ganassi brought Larson up to Sprint Cup when he was only 20. Too soon, some said. He’ll be gone elsewhere, others speculated, where he can be with a winning team.

“That wasn’t the case at all,” Ganassi said, recalling how he once asked his young driver about other teams expressing interest.

“I’ll never forget his answer,” Ganassi said. “He said, ‘They all had a shot at me the first time around and they passed.’ “

They’ll celebrate throwbacks next weekend at Darlington Raceway when the Bojangles’ Southern 500 weekend gets underway. On Sunday at Michigan they were throwing it forward. There’s a new Sprint Cup winner in town.

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RELATED: Race results | Standings | Chase Grid

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Unable to park his No. 24 in Victory Lane for the first time in his young career, Chase Elliott stood on pit road Sunday at Michigan International Speedway visibly disappointed as he was comforted by the man who won three premier series championships in the very same Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon.


“We just talked about the race a little bit,” the dejected Elliott said of his conversation with Gordon. “And some of the things we battled and just looking at the positives, I guess, and trying to get down the road.”


The Pure Michigan 400 was a familiar scene at the 2-mile track for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Candidate, who walked away with a dominant car but earned a less-than-satisfying runner-up finish. During the June stop at MIS, Elliott led for 35 circuits but finished second, behind Joey Logano.

Elliott battled 1-2 at the second Michigan stop with eventual race winner Kyle Larson, even leading 31 of 200 laps, but watched the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet take the lead following a Lap 191 restart; Larson never let go.

“Once that guy (Larson) got out front, it was really hard to pass,” Elliott said of the restart. “My guys did such a good job today of making the most of pit road. That was the only place you could make a large sum of ground in a short period of time. They did exactly what I asked them to do. I said, ‘You guys are going to have to bail me out here, I messed up.’ (And) they did. They got us the lead just like I asked and I gave it away again.”

Alan Gustafson, crew chief of the No. 24 team, saw other issues during the day’s final restart.

“(It’s) just a huge factor getting into Turn 1,” Gustafson explained while decompressing with the team, sans Elliott, in the garage area. “It’s the push, obviously. The guys in (the) second row were pushing really hard and the 2 (of third-place finisher, Brad Keselowski) and 42 (of Larson) did a little better than the 24 and the 21 (of Ryan Blaney, fourth).”

The 20-year-old clocked in his seventh top-five finish and his first since the season’s first race at the Irish Hills, breaking a stretch of nine consecutive results outside not only the top five, but the top 10.

Elliott now sits 11th in standings — six points ahead of Austin Dillon — and 14th on 16-spot Chase Grid, the highest for anyone in the 2016 rookie class.

The Sprint Cup Series field heads to Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 (Sept. 4, 6 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and Elliott only wishes for one thing.

“Hopefully another fast car (which) is all you can ask for,” he said. “Just trying to hunker down and keep everybody’s head up.”

And Gustaftson promises, “We’re gonna do everything we can to do that.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Larson wins, Newman drops out

 

Below is the updated Chase Grid following the race at Michigan International Speedway:

 

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Carl Edwards

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Jimmie Johnson

7. Matt Kenseth

8. Kurt Busch

9. Joey Logano

10. Martin Truex Jr.

11. Kyle Larson

12. Tony Stewart

13. Chris Buescher

14. Chase Elliott

15. Austin Dillon

16. Jamie McMurray

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Provisional Chase Grid


Here’s a breakdown of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Grid and bubble picture after Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

NEW WINNER, NEW SHAKE-UP

Kyle Larson‘s victory in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 altered the complexion of the provisional Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff grid, securing another postseason berth for a first-time winner. The result means one less postseason berth for drivers hoping to qualify for the Chase on points, knocking Ryan Newman out of the provisional field of 16. Jamie McMurray, Larson’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, currently clings to the final Chase berth with two regular-season events (Darlington, Richmond) remaining.


FORMALLY WIN AND IN

Tony Stewart wound up 21st in his final Michigan race, two laps off the leader’s pace. It was enough to formally clinch a postseason spot, pairing his Sonoma victory in June with a steady hold on 26th in the driver standings. Stewart missed the first eight races of his final championship campaign with a back injury.


BUESCHER’S STANDING

Chris Buescher limped to a 35th-place finish, slightly weakening his grasp on a postseason slot. Buescher prevailed at Pocono Raceway earlier this month to check one requirement for Chase eligibility; the second is a place among the top 30 in the Sprint Cup driver standings. Buescher remains 30th in the standings, but his margin over 31st-place David Ragan shrank from 13 to seven points.


LOCKED IN

Drivers who have clinched a spot in the Chase are: Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin (all with multiple wins), along with one-win drivers Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. Chris Buescher is currently in the Chase Grid, but has not clinched a spot. After Sunday’s 400-miler, just two regular-season races (Darlington, Richmond) remain before the 16-driver postseason field is settled.


BUBBLE WATCH

With 24 of 26 regular-season races complete, just three at-large spots (at present) for non-winners remain available. Here’s how that picture looks post-Michigan.


Editor’s note: The standings below are the Chase Grid standings, not the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers’ standings.

CHASE BUBBLE WATCH

STANDING DRIVER POINTS DIFFERENTIAL FROM CUTOFF
14 Chase Elliott +27
15 Austin Dillon +21
16 Jamie McMurray +15
————————– CUT-OFF LINE ————————–
17 Ryan Newman -15
18 Kasey Kahne -52
19 Trevor Bayne -58
20 Ryan Blaney -71
21 AJ Allmendinger -72
22 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -88
23 Greg Biffle -144
24 Dale Earnhardt Jr. -155
25 Paul Menard -162
26 Danica Patrick -166
27 Aric Almirola -194
28 Clint Bowyer -208
29 Casey Mears -222
30 Landon Cassill -259