Posted on by Staff Report

An early crash sidelined Kyle Busch on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.

Busch was racing with Ryan Blaney in a contest for 10th place during Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, which was pushed to a Monday finish by nagging rain. Busch’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet bumped alongside Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford, causing Busch to lose control through Turns 1 and 2.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Michigan

“They all run hard,” Busch said after he was evaluated and released from the infield care center. “They all want to race to crash and, you know, I tried to make a move and in the old days, guys who you’re racing, they let you go and have that spot and work for it later, but this day and age it’s completely different. So I got a guy that ran on my outside and took the air off.”

Busch’s No. 8 Chevy made significant contact with the outside retaining wall. He drove to the garage and retired from the race with just 14 of a scheduled 200 laps complete.

Busch was credited with a last-place finish for the second time in the last four weeks, marking his fifth DNF of the 2023 season. He dropped four spots in the Cup Series standings to ninth place with three regular-season races remaining.

Posted on by Staff Report

Rain has forced the remainder of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Michigan International Speedway to be postponed to a Monday finish.

The FireKeepers Casino 400 started after a one-hour, 43-minute delay, caused by a rain shower that halted the field during pace laps. The field completed 74 of the 200 scheduled laps until more rain dampened the 2-mile oval, bringing the field to a halt on pit road.

RELATED: Leaderboard | At-track photos: Michigan

With rain persisting and daylight waning, competition officials scheduled the race to resume Monday at noon ET (USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App).

Tyler Reddick is scored as the race’s leader in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. He is just ahead of second-place Alex Bowman, who has led three times for 19 laps in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Kyle Larson sits third, Martin Truex Jr. fourth and Michigan native Erik Jones fifth.

Truex, the Cup Series points leader, claimed his fourth stage win of the year in Stage 1. He has led the most laps — 30 — thus far in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Four drivers have already retired from the event because of crashes — Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron and Josh Berry. Berry, an Xfinity Series regular, was subbing in for the suspended Noah Gragson in the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet.

MORE: Elliott, Byron exit early | Stage 1 wreck ousts Kyle Busch

The event is the 23rd of a scheduled 36 races on the Cup Series calendar. Four races remain in the regular season before the 16-driver playoff field is determined.

Note: The Michigan track announced a multi-year extension with FireKeepers Casino on Sunday to remain as the Cup Series race’s entitlement sponsor. The track and the hotel and casino based in Battle Creek, Michigan, have been partners since 2016.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kevin Harvick came into Michigan as a race favorite with a strong history of success in the Irish Hills, but a tough day of practice and qualifying on Saturday pushed him back in Racing Insights’ projections. After qualifying 22nd and coming in 25th in practice, Harvick dropped from being projected as the race winner to instead finishing fifth.

FANTASY LIVE: Set your roster | Weekend schedule

Meanwhile, vaulting to the top of the list was Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. You might not think of Truex as being a good pick on a big track like the 2-miler at Michigan, but he owns the longest active top-10 streak there at six straight.

Plus, Truex finished first in practice and posted the fifth-best 10-lap average. Truex rolled off fifth when the green flag dropped for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400. The race was postponed due to rain after 74 of 200 laps, setting for a Monday resumption (noon ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), and Truex might have some extra motivation after signing a one-year contract extension to return to JGR in 2024.

OTHERS TO WATCH

CHRISTOPHER BELL: Bell set a blazing pole-winning speed of 193.382 mph in qualifying as he tries to bounce back from some recent subpar performances.

DENNY HAMLIN: Hamlin hasn’t won at Michigan since 2011, but he has two victories here and a top-10 streak of five straight races.

KYLE BUSCH: Busch has six career victories on tracks that are two miles in length, including one win at Michigan.

KYLE LARSON: Larson is a three-time winner at Michigan and has five victories on tracks that are two miles in length.

CHASE ELLIOTT: Elliott has finished in the top 10 in 10 of 12 Michigan starts, including three runner-up finishes.

Projections as of Sunday, Aug. 6.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results.

FinishCar NumberDriver
119Martin Truex Jr.
211Denny Hamlin
38Kyle Busch
424William Byron
54Kevin Harvick
622Joey Logano
79Chase Elliott
812Ryan Blaney
95Kyle Larson
106Brad Keselowski
1154Ty Gibbs
1220Christopher Bell
1317Chris Buescher
1448Alex Bowman
1523Bubba Wallace
161Ross Chastain
1745Tyler Reddick
1843Erik Jones
1999Daniel Suárez
2010Aric Almirola
213Austin Dillon
2214Chase Briscoe
2316AJ Allmendinger
2447Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2541Ryan Preece
2631Justin Haley
272Austin Cindric
2834Michael McDowell
297Corey LaJoie
3038Todd Gilliland
3177Ty Dillon
3221Harrison Burton
3351Cole Custer
3442Josh Berry
3515J.J. Yeley
3662Austin Hill
3778Josh Bilicki
 

Posted on by Dustin Albino

Michigan International Speedway is known for horsepower and speed. That was on full display during Saturday’s qualifying session, as Christopher Bell ran the quickest pole-winning speed since the 2020 Daytona 500. It was the fastest pole speed at Michigan since 2018. On top of that, there are about 15 cars I could think of potentially putting in my fantasy lineup this weekend, which is probably the most of the season. Let’s try to boil it down.

Dustin Albino’s race-day lineup:
Starter 1: William Byron
Starter 2: Christopher Bell
Starter 3: Kyle Busch
Starter 4: Joey Logano
Starter 5: Ross Chastain
Garage pick: Ty Gibbs

NEXT IN LINE: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin.

RELATED: Set your lineup | Odds for Sunday’s race

RISING: This weekend marks one year since Gibbs’ first top-10 finish. Consistently, he had a top-five car throughout practice and qualifying on Saturday, so this would be a good choice for using the No. 54 Toyota. All hands are on deck for Joe Gibbs Racing to try to get the rookie into the playoffs, sitting just 18 points below the cutline. The last time the Cup Series visited a high-speed track was Pocono, where Gibbs earned his best career Cup finish.

Over the last 10 races, Chastain has seven finishes of 22nd or worse. Since winning at Nashville Superspeedway in late June, the No. 1 team has cracked the top 20 just once in the final rundown. But the Trackhouse Racing team showed up to Michigan with plenty of speed, turning the third best lap in qualifying. Chastain also performed well at MIS last season by leading 29 laps. He just didn’t cap off the race; the same problem he’s had since early May.

FALLING: Harvick has been dominant at Michigan, having won five of the last seven races held at the 2-mile oval. The No. 4 car lacked speed on Saturday, as he ranked 25th in single-car speed during practice and was 18th of 21 cars that made a 10-lap run. Crew chief Rodney Childers is known for making wholesale changes that will improve the handling, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see Harvick contending for another win at Michigan. He’s missed the cut on my lineup.

All six Toyotas were slotted in Group B of practice and qualifying. Denny Hamlin ranked the slowest of the Toyota brigade in practice and missed the final round of qualifying. The No. 11 team has five straight finishes of sixth or better at Michigan, so he should still be considered for your lineup.

FEATURED MATCHUPS

Chris Buescher vs. Daniel Suárez: Buescher is carrying the momentum of his second win for RFK Racing in the last calendar year into Michigan. Suárez has consecutive finishes outside the top 30, but showed improvement in speed on Saturday, as the No. 99 car will start 14th. It’s hard to bet against Buescher, however, as he continues to have the most consistent season of his Cup career.

Ryan Blaney vs. Kevin Harvick: Though Blaney’s numbers at Michigan aren’t superb like Harvick’s have been, he does have consecutive top-five finishes at the track. Harvick tends to make the most out of his days and one should expect improvement from practice and qualifying to the race. But not enough to beat Blaney, who needs to get back on track before the playoffs begin (four finishes of 30th or worse in the last seven races).

Harrison Burton vs. Erik Jones: Jones won earlier this week, marrying longtime partner Holly Shelton. The No. 43 Chevrolet ranked better than Burton in all metrics in practice and qualifying, though neither driver made a 10-lap run. Unless Jones has an issue during the event, would pick him to easily outrun Burton.

Kyle Busch vs. William Byron: From what we saw on track Saturday, this has the potential to be the best matchup of the weekend. Both cars were inside the top five on one-lap and five-lap averages, while the Nos. 24 and 8 ranked first and second on a 10-lap run. Byron had slightly more speed in all three categories and out-qualified Busch by one position. Think either driver could win the race, but going into Sunday, Byron is my choice to score his season-high fifth win of the season.

Posted on by Brandon White

LANCASTER, N.Y. — The second win of Austin Beers’ brief NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career required him to hold off one of the best drivers in the discipline.

With Matt Hirschman all over his back bumper during the final 10 laps of Saturday’s Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 at Lancaster Motorplex, Beers did everything possible to defend his race lead before gradually inching away from Hirschman by the time the checkered flag was displayed.

The triumph at Lancaster proved to be emotional for Beers in several aspects. He dedicated the victory to both his mother and late crew member Nate Appell Jr.

“This is for Nate,” Beers said in Victory Lane. “We lost him last month, so this one is for him. My mom was here today, and she had to go to the hospital, so this one is for her, as well.”

RELATED: Complete results from Nu-Way Auto Parts 150

By defeating Hirschman on Saturday evening, Beers continued a stellar sophomore campaign on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

The son of former competitor Eric Beers, who won two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events between 2005-06, the younger Beers impressed many in the garage area by leading 102 of 150 laps from the pole at Richmond Raceway in March to score his maiden victory.

Since then, Beers has tallied two more poles (Riverhead Raceway and Wall Stadium) with both races seeing him lead more than 50 laps apiece. A 17th in the first Riverhead event is Beers’ only finish outside the top 10 in a year that has seen him complete all but one lap.

Beers carried that efficiency into his first Lancaster appearance on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. A time of 17.317 seconds in qualifying put him third on the starting grid behind Hirschman and three-time series champion Justin Bonsignore.

After dispatching Bonsignore on the first green flag run of the evening, Beers took advantage of a long pit stop from Hirschman to slot into the lead. Hirschman methodically worked his way back through the field to chase down Beers but ran out of time to claim his third win on the season.

A late caution for Anthony Sesely’s crash gave Hirschman one last chance to chase down Beers, but he saw his chances evaporate with every lap Beers led under green.

“We were just making up for lost ground on the pit stop there,” Hirschman said. “To make a better race, we needed a caution. We just gave up a little bit more than I would have liked to have seen. With every lap, [Beers] was inching away and [the pass] would needed to have come on the restart.

“I just didn’t get it done tonight.”

The start of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 had the makings of another dominant Hirschman victory after he passed the pole-sitter in Bonsignore. Hirschman’s other two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins in 2023 saw him lead 323 of 325 possible laps.

Although he was disappointed to come home second, Hirschman enjoyed the challenges provided by Lancaster’s unique layout. He hopes the speed and hard work shown on Saturday carries over into his next NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour appearance.

“I enjoy coming to Lancaster,” Hirschman said. I’ve always said this place is made for Modifieds. With that [late] caution, we made a race out of it. I would have liked to come out on top, but we’ll have to try again next time.”

With his victory, Beers joined Patrick Emerling as the only other driver to take home a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour checkered flag at Lancaster. Emerling’s triumph in the inaugural event came in 2021.

Trying to fight off Hirschman to become the second Lancaster winner was far from an easy task for Beers. Although he was flawless on track during the final laps, Beers said the crucial turning point was his crew perfectly executing their lone pit stop to get him the lead, which he did not surrender for the rest of the evening.

“This means a lot, especially with everything that has happened the last month,” Beers said. “Since we switched [tire] compounds, we’ve been struggling a little bit, but we’ve been trying to get back on track. This team did a hell of a job and had a hell of a pit stop.

“They won me this race.”

Beers still has plenty of ground to make up to get back in contention for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title, but his confidence is high as he looks to add to his win total over the final eight races of the year.

Ron Silk maintained control of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points lead with a third-place run over Bonsignore in fourth. Chuck Hossfeld completed the top-five finishers.

Tommy Catalano, Doug Coby, Bryan Narducci, Kyle Bonsignore and Kyle Ebersole rounded out the top 10.

A replay of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 at Lancaster Motorplex can be seen on CNBC on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 9 a.m. ET.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour gets a week off before embarking on a mid-week showdown at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. The Thompson 150 presented by FloSports.com will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. ET, with FloRacing providing coverage of the on-track action.

Posted on by Brandon White

Nu-Way Auto Parts 150

Lancaster Motorplex

Nuway150 Logo

  • Race results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 64 Austin Beers Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors 150
2 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 150 0.287
3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 150 2.129
4 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 150 3.659
5 14 Chuck Hossfeld Advantage Trucks/Anastasi Trucking 150 4.346
6 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprera 150 4.493
7 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 150 4.976
8 3 Bryan  Narducci* Florida Connection 150 6.681
9 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 150 7.923
10 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating, Inc. 150 10.229
11 77 Max McLaughlin Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast 149 1 Lap
12 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 148 2 Laps
13 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 146 4 Laps
14 9 Tommy Wanick* Wanick Construction Inc. 144 6 Laps
15 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 142 8 Laps
16 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 134 16 Laps
17 19 Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction Inc. 128 22 Laps
18 4 Tim Connolly* Connolly Companies LLC 125 25 Laps
19 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 115 35 Laps
20 25 Mike Leaty Northeast Industrial Technologies 112 38 Laps
Posted on by Cameron Richardson

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Entering Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Michigan International Speedway, Brandon Jones sat 61 points below the playoff elimination line with six races left in the regular season.

Seven stage points and a season-best third-place result later, the driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet leaves the Irish Hills with a boost of momentum and sit 45 points out, 16 points closer to cracking the 12-driver postseason field.

RELATED: Michigan results | Weekend schedule

Through 20 races in the Xfinity season, Jones lacked the type of results expected after shifting organizations from Joe Gibbs Racing to JR Motorsports, scoring just one top-five finish at Martinsville Speedway in April. He’s been the only driver for JRM to fall outside the preliminary playoff field with Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer locked in with wins and Josh Berry with a 100-plus point cushion to the elimination line.

With a good chunk of races to go before the playoff field is set, Jones feels like there’s a path to the playoffs on points after his Saturday run.

“Great momentum, right? That’s what the team really needs,” Jones said. “We just gotta get going here, man, and show for the fast race cars that we’re bringing to the track every week.

“We’re still in a position to point our way in, I think. You gotta really dominate some stages and you gotta get some good finishes. I think that’s the key to it. I don’t think that just finishing good at the end of the day is gonna get you there, kinda have to put the whole day together. I would like to just get a win and get it over with, but there’s a chance that we can still do it.”

As a whole, the JRM stable has just two wins through 21 races compared to eight checkered flags last year after the same amount of races.

But Jones believes the organization has finally found what they need to return to the bar they set last year.

“Ever since New Hampshire I would say has been kind of our next-level point,” Jones said. “We’ve just made really good results and good changes on these cars to kinda get that speed back. I know that these cars were so fast last year, right? We went through an offseason, had a rule change and some things that I think took us out a little bit but we’re doing a great job of just not really giving up on that and continuing to work in the shop and continue to make these cars better.

“HMS (Hendrick Motorsports) is getting a little bit better involved and helping us out some there too so shout-out to those guys. We’re just continuing to grow, and I think we’re really starting to get back to where we were last year to end last year’s schedule so yeah, these past three races, really nice to see the speed back.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Overcoming an early wreck, a late caution and an angry teammate, John Hunter Nemechek claimed a milestone victory in Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

The NASCAR Xfinity win was the 200th in the series for Joe Gibbs Racing. For Nemechek, it was the fifth victory of the season and the seventh of his career — all at different tracks.

RELATED: Race results | Weekend schedule

After Patrick Emerling pounded the Turn 3 wall to cause the seventh and final caution of the race on Lap 112, Nemechek pulled away from pole winner Josh Berry after a restart with seven of the scheduled 125 laps left.

Nemechek crossed the finish line 1.495 seconds ahead of Berry, with Brandon Jones, defending race winner Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

After he took the checkered flag, however, Nemechek tempered his victory celebration with contrition for a Lap 11 incident where he, Gibbs and fellow JGR teammate Sammy Smith stacked up on the backstretch.

Nemechek slid up behind Gibbs and got Gibbs’ No. 19 Toyota loose. A tap from Nemechek sent his teammate spinning. When Nemechek checked up, Smith rear-ended the No. 20 Toyota and turned Nemechek down toward the apron.

WATCH: JGR trio sparks multi-car Michigan crash

As the cars circled under the ensuing caution, Gibbs pulled up beside Nemechek and expressed his displeasure with an angry gesture.

The wreck knocked Smith’s car out of the race and also critically damaged the No. 77 Chevrolet of Carson Hocevar, who finished two laps down in 32nd.

“I have to apologize to Ty,” Nemechek said after exiting his car. “I’ve been the one who’s been very vocal about teammates here recently. I put him in a bad aero spot. I got him loose, and he couldn’t check up.

“It’s my mistake. I hate that we both spun early, but at least we were able to rebound. I know he’s not too happy with me, and he has every right not to be.”

MORE: At-track photos: Michigan

Berry’s No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet wasn’t handling well enough to allow the polesitter to take advantage of the final restart.

“We just felt really tight that last run,” Berry said. “I was kind of inching in on him for a while (before the last caution), and then we kind of leveled out… Overall, we were a little too tight to make a run at him there.”

Berry’s teammate, Justin Allgaier, had ample reason to be the race’s most disappointed driver. Allgaier won the first 30-lap stage wire-to-wire, but a slow pit stop during the break cost him eight positions in the running order.

After Allgaier worked his way to second by the end of Stage 2, contact from Gibbs on pit road sent Allgaier for a spin. In the midst of his next recovery, a pit-road penalty for a crewman over the wall too soon during a green flag stop on Lap 97 sent him deep in the field. Allgaier finished 14th in arguably the fastest car in the race.

With the victory, Nemechek gained a tie with Austin Hill for the series points lead. Nemechek owns the potential tiebreaker with five victories to Hill’s four.

Riley Herbst, Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton completed the top 10.

The Xfinity Series’ next race is scheduled next Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET, USA, IMS Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage at Michigan was completed without issue, confirming Nemechek as the race winner.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Brandon White

Nu-Way Auto Parts 150

Lancaster Motorplex

Nuway150 Logo

  • Qualifying results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed
1 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 17.293 104.088
2 60 Matt Hirschman Pee Dee Motorsports 17.311 103.98
3 64 Austin Beers Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors 17.317 103.944
4 14 Chuck Hossfeld Advantage Trucks/Anastasi Trucking 17.391 103.502
5 7 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 17.399 103.454
6 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 17.429 103.276
7 3 Bryan  Narducci* Florida Connection 17.444 103.187
8 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprera 17.468 103.046
9 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 17.499 102.863
10 77 Max McLaughlin Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast 17.507 102.816
11 19 Anthony Sesely Wanick Construction Inc. 17.549 102.57
12 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 17.574 102.424
13 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 17.577 102.407
14 25 Mike Leaty Northeast Industrial Technologies 17.582 102.377
15 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating, Inc. 17.583 102.372
16 4 Tim Connolly* Connolly Companies LLC 17.829 100.959
17 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 17.854 100.818
18 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 18.309 98.312
19 9 Tommy Wanick* Wanick Construction Inc. 18.496 97.318
20 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 19.032 94.578
Posted on by Cameron Richardson

BROOKLYN, Mich. — August marks the final month in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Four races remain in the final push to the 16-driver postseason that begins on Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway.

Trackhouse Racing drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez sit on inverse sides of the playoff elimination line but both are akin to a recent lull in performance over the last few races.

After scoring his first win of 2023 in June at Nashville Superspeedway, Chastain has a best finish of 13th (Pocono) and ran outside the top 20 in four of the last five races. Suárez placed second last month at Atlanta Motor Speedway and sat 15th in points. Since Atlanta, the driver of the No. 99 has two finishes outside the top 30 in the last three races.

Chastain and Suárez both said the team has lacked speed during the recent stretch.

RELATED: Cup playoff standings | Where bubble drivers stand

“We’ve been off on balance and we just can’t quite get the balance where we need to to go fast, and the window for being off and still having speed is closing with this new car,” Chastain said. “I think a year ago with the balance we have, I think we are actually a step better than we were a year ago, but everybody else took four steps.”

Suárez noted that recent races at New Hampshire and Richmond didn’t play into their hand.

“We’re not very surprised in the low downforce package because low downforce has been a little bit of a struggle,” he said.

Ahead of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App), Suárez sits 34 points below the elimination line.

With a pair of road courses still left on the regular-season calendar, Suárez is adamant he’s not in a must-win situation to reach the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

“We can easily do points,” Suárez said. “There’s a handful of races. If we have a good points race (Sunday), we can be on the other side of the (cutline). We have to be smart. I don’t think we are gonna be in a must-win situation in the next four weeks. But we’ll see. Thirty points can go either way in that race.

“I think we should be good (at Michigan). A win would be beautiful, but I think we can leave here with a top five, that would be very nice, especially heading into Indianapolis and Watkins Glen where we know we can be very competitive. I feel good about it.”

Chastain showed great pace in Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions at Michigan, placing a top-five single lap in practice and backing it up with a front row starting spot alongside polesitter Christopher Bell. Suárez will start 14th and was in the midpack in terms of speed off the hauler.

MORE: Sunday’s starting lineup

Despite the recent cluster of feeble on-track performances, the Trackhouse duo continues to keep the morale up in the shop and around the team.

During the week, the organization held an event at Charlotte Motor Speedway that had families of Trackhouse employees in attendance.

“Trackhouse Tuesdays at the Charlotte Motor Speedway legends track with school bus races and watching (Trackhouse owner) Justin Marks go up on two wheels and “Squeaks,” one of our mechanics on the 1 car, plow it into the concrete pit wall,” Chastain said. “We had a blast out there. Everyone was down in the Turn 4 suite and we had dinner and bounce houses for all the kids. It was really, really awesome watching those guys bang into each other.”

On Sundays, Suárez may not welcome the roughhousing on display like his teammates on “Trackhouse Tuesdays,” but he said he’s up for the challenge that awaits in the final four races that include the fight for the final playoff spots among fellow road-course aces Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger.

“It makes the challenge more fun. I know what I’m capable of,” Suárez said. “I know what my team is capable of and I know that we can be pretty strong and when we have the right strategy and moving in the right direction and in sync, we can be a team that is hard to beat. … I think that having a couple road courses in there I think that our chances can be as good as anyone.”