This Weekend in NASCAR – Michigan, Mid-Ohio

All three of NASCAR’s national series are racing this weekend. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series are at Michigan Speedway and the NASCAR XFINITY Series is on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Weekend storylines follow…

’30 For 18’: A Kyle Busch Production

A mere 11 races after returning from a broken leg and foot suffered in February, Kyle Busch has cracked the top 30 in the points standings and is now eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Busch will qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs if he can remain in the top 30 at the end of next month’s Richmond race.

Busch currently mans the 30th spot in the driver standings, six points ahead of 31st-place Cole Whitt and one point behind 29th-place Justin Allgaier.

The No. 18 Toyota driver started off slow with just one top-10 finish in his first four races back (Pocono), but has been on an absolute tear since, winning four of the last seven races along with a runner-up.

Over the last seven races Busch has dominated a majority of the statistical categories, leading the series in wins (4), driver rating (116.3), laps led (317) and points (283). No other driver has multiple wins during the span. Brad Keselowski’s 209 laps led marks the next-best total, while Kevin Harvick’s 107.5 driver rating is the second highest. The 283 points are 22 more than Joey Logano’s second-best total (261).

Busch’s run of wins has overshadowed the consistency of some other drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Harvick and Joey Logano rank tied with Busch with five top-five finishes over the seven-race span.

Furthermore, Harvick and Kurt Busch lead with six top 10s each in the last seven races compared to Busch’s five. Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth also claim five top 10s.

22 Gets 2: Logano Wins For First Time Since Daytona, Becomes First To Sweep The Glen

One day after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Watkins Glen International, Joey Logano passed leader Kevin Harvick on the final lap and coasted to victory in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. Logano became the first driver to sweep both of NASCAR’s top series at Central New York road course.

The win was the first for Logano since the Daytona 500 in February. Although he hadn’t visited Victory Lane in a while, Logano had been racking up high finishes prior to his Watkins Glen win. He ranks second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to Harvick in top fives (13) and top 10s (16).

Brad Keselowski – The Michigan Missile

Brad Keselowski has won a lot of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

To be exact, he’s visited Victory Lane 17 times at 12 different tracks.

One track Keselowski has failed to conquer is his home state track – Michigan International Speedway.

The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion will try to become the ninth active driver to win in his home state, joining Kyle Busch (Nevada), Jeff Gordon (California), Jimmie Johnson (California), Kevin Harvick (California), Aric Almirola (Florida), Ryan Newman (Indiana), Tony Stewart (Indiana) and Denny Hamlin (Virginia).

Gordon Can Secure Spot In Chase With Repeat Win At Michigan

Despite finishing 41st due to mechanical issues at Watkins Glen International, Jeff Gordon sits 13th on the Chase Grid, 58 points above the cutoff line with four races left in NASCAR’s regular season.

Gordon’s position seems cushy, but only if there is no new winner. The No. 24 Chevrolet driver holds just an eight-point advantage over Clint Bowyer who currently claims the final Chase spot.

Gordon can assure himself of a Chase berth by becoming that new winner by taking his second straight visit to Victory Lane in the August Michigan race. The 44 year old set the track qualifying record, then led 68 laps on his way to the win.

In 45 career starts at Michigan, Gordon boasts three wins, 19 top fives (42.2%), 27 top 10s (60%) and six Coors Light Pole Awards. Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports team swept the Michigan races last year with Jimmie Johnson winning in the spring.

Bowyer’s Back In Town And Ready For A 10th Straight Michigan Top 10

Here’s a quick NASCAR trivia question that will probably stump you.

Q: Who owns the longest active top-10 streak at a specific track and which venue is it?

A: This might surprise you. And it’s kind of a trick question. There’s a tie, and Clint Bowyer owns both streaks. Bowyer has nine consecutive top 10s at both Michigan International Speedway and Dover International Speedway.

Bowyer will get the chance again to notch a 10th straight top 10 at the two-mile track in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400. The No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing Driver will need it as he tries to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Bowyer holds the final points spot (50 points above the cutoff line), but could get bumped if there’s a new winner. The last driver with 10 consecutive top 10s at a track was Jimmie Johnson, who did it at Kansas in October of 2013.

Another driver who racks up consecutive top 10s at Michigan?

Paul Menard.

The No. 27 Richard Childress Racing driver has four straight top 10s in the Great Lakes State, including three fourth-place finishes in a row from Aug. 2013-Aug. 2014.

Michigan – Greg Biffle’s Playground

Currently 19th on the Chase Grid and 80 points out of the final spot, Greg Biffle essentially must win to get into NASCAR’s playoffs.

Luckily for him, he’s headed to the right place this weekend – Michigan International Speedway.

MIS has been Biffle’s personal playground over the years. He leads active drivers with four wins there and his 10 top fives and 15 top 10s are his most at any track. Biffle won consecutive races at Michigan by taking the checkered flag in the August 2012 race and June 2013 event. His team owner Jack Roush boasts a track record 13 wins at Michigan.

Only 4 Races Remain Until Chase

Just four races remain in the regular season for drivers to secure a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. A win in any of the next four races would secure a driver one of the five remaining spots in the Chase. Otherwise, he or she has to qualify based on points.

If the season ended today Aric Almirola would be the first driver out with the following drivers above him making the Chase: Jamie McMurray (+73), Paul Menard (+60), Jeff Gordon (+58), Ryan Newman (+51), Clint Bowyer (+50).

McMurray and Menard have never made NASCAR’s playoffs before.

4 To Go: Chase Spots Dwindling

In the blink of an eye, playoff spots vanished at Watkins Glen.

That’s exactly what happened when Joey Logano won his second race of the season. In addition, Kevin Harvick’s strong finish (combined with Jamie McMurray’s subpar one) guaranteed that the regular season points leader will have at least one win. (Note: Harvick didn’t clinch the regular season points lead. But, he did ensure that only the drivers who already have wins can overtake him.)

Those two events all led to this: Aside from Kyle Busch, all drivers with at least one win have locked up a spot in the Chase, assuming they start the remaining races in the regular season.

In all, 10 spots are spoken for. Six are still up for grabs (and if Kyle Busch stays in the top 30, five).

And with 11 different winners, and only four regular season races remaining, it also means that at least one winless driver will earn a Chase spot.

But it won’t happen this weekend.

The only driver who can clinch a Chase spot on Sunday at Michigan will be the winner of the race, as long as he or she has also clinched a top 30 spot (a clinching driver needs to have a win and a 145-point lead over 31st in order to lock up a spot).

Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher Returns To Defend Win At Mid-Ohio

Chris Buescher’s win last season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was the first of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career. This weekend the 2015 series points leader returns to defend his win at the 13-Turn course and further extend his standings lead over second-place Chase Elliott (-24) and third-place Ty Dillon (-24).

Roush Fenway Racing’s hottest driver, Chris Buescher posted his series leading ninth top-five finish this past weekend at Watkins Glen, finishing third.

In his track debut last season Buescher started fifth and drove to victory at Mid-Ohio.

“I really like road racing, but it’s not my background at all,” said Buescher. “It’s enjoyable. It’s something we get to come do that is different and we really get to learn a lot.”

Buescher seems to be a quick study. In the last two seasons his average finish on road courses in the NASCAR XFINITY Series is 12.8 – tied with Ty Dillon fourth-best among his championship contenders.

Dillon Ties Elliott, As Both Try To Cut Into Buescher’s Points Lead

Following his fifth top five of the season last week at Watkins Glen, third-place Ty Dillon has tied second-place Chase Elliott in the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings as both are now 24 points back from standings leader Chris Buescher.

Next up is Mid-Ohio, a 2.258-mile, a 13-turn road course that was the site of standings leader Chris Buescher’s first career win.

Cutting into Buescher’s 24-point lead will be difficult – but not impossible – this weekend. Elliott, in his series debut at Mid-Ohio in 2014, started ninth and drove to a fourth-place finish. In Dillon’s track debut last season at Mid-Ohio, he started fourth and finished 19th.

Both Elliott and Dillon have momentum on their side following Watkins Glen. Elliott managed to post his 16th top-10 finish of the season this past weekend, a series-high and two more than second-best Ty Dillon’s 14. Dillon also has hit a hot streak, posting his fourth consecutive top-10 finish in the last four races, including consecutive top-five finishes the past two weeks.

Over the last two seasons, Chase Elliott has had the best average finish on road courses among series championship contenders with a 5.3, followed by Elliott Sadler (7.8), Brian Scott (8.8), Ty Dillon and Chris Buescher (12.8 each).

Team Penske Going For Three In A Row

Team Penske heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 (on NBCSN at 3:30) looking to capture their third consecutive NASCAR XFINITY Series after triumphs at Iowa (Ryan Blaney) and Watkins Glen (Joey Logano) the past two weeks. Penske also currently leads the NASCAR XFINITY Series car owner standings by 81 points over second-place Richard Childress.

This week Penske has called in Alex Tagliani to drive the No. 22 Ford with crew chief Greg Erwin. Tagliani made his Mid-Ohio debut with Penske last season, starting second and finishing fifth.

JGR Sticking With The Road Course Specialists

The definition of a specialist is as follows, ‘a person who concentrates primarily on a particular subject or activity; a person highly skilled in a specific and restricted field.’ This week at Mid-Ohio several drivers specializing in road course type racing will grace the field in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Boris Said, a veteran road racer, will be back in the No. 54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing after starting seventh and finishing fourth last weekend at Watkins Glen. Said, a California native, has made three series starts this season for JGR, posting an average finish of 15.3. This will be Said’s series track debut at Mid-Ohio.

Kenny Habul will be joining Said as his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the second consecutive week. Habul piloted the No. 20 Toyota last weekend at Watkins Glen starting 18th but was caught in an accident and finished 29th. Habul ran at Mid-Ohio last season for JGR starting 10th but ultimately finishing 31st due to an expired engine.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Etc.:
Special Grand Marshalls This Week: Ten Patients Champions from the renowned Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus will serve as Grand Marshals for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 – and all have been paired with NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers to design their paint schemes, one of many special experiences that the children have been a part of leading up to and during the event.

Roush Fenway Racing Swaps Crew Chiefs: Roush Fenway Racing announced this week that the crew chiefs for the No. 6 and 16 cars will be swapping teams. Seth Barbour will move from the No. 16 team to now serve as crew chief for the No. 6 team with driver Darrell Wallace Jr., and crew chief Chad Norris will move from the No. 6 team to the No. 16 team with driver Ryan Reed.

Big Weekend For Brad Keselowski Racing

It’s a big weekend for Brad Keselowski Racing as its team sponsor hosts Saturday’s Careers for Veterans 200 presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation (1 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1). Series points leader Tyler Reddick and NASCAR Next alum Ryan Blaney will represent the team in the No. 19 and No. 29 Fords, respectively. Reddick claims two wins this season and leads second-place Matt Crafton in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points standings by 11. Blaney has made two NCWTS starts this year, finishing seventh at Dover and third at Kentucky.

Sauter Goes For Michigan Repeat

Johnny Sauter returns to Michigan as the defending race winner after capturing the checkered flag at the two-mile track. Travis Kvapil is the only other driver to win at Michigan expected in Saturday’s field. Repeating for Sauter will be a difficult task. The last 10 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Michigan have produced 10 different race winners.

Sauter currently ranks fourth in the NCWTS standings, 59 points behind Tyler Reddick. He has four top fives and eight top 10s in 12 starts this season.

Joe Gibbs Racing Development Driver Cody Coughlin Debuts At Michigan

Kyle Busch Motorsports will grant another young driver the opportunity to pilot one of its trucks when Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Cody Coughlin makes his team debut at Michigan. A Delaware, Ohio native, Coughlin had vast success running Late Models in the Midwest. He won the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour championship in 2013, and has won races at prestigious tracks such as Indiana’s Winchester Speedway and Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. Coughlin, 19, made his only NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start for Bill Venturini at Kentucky in July. Rain washed away all practice and qualifying, but Coughlin was still able to score a top-20 finish even after having never run a lap in a truck before taking the green flag.

Michigan Man: Erik Jones Set To Make First Start In Home State

If new Michigan Wolverines Head Coach Jim Harbaugh had to recruit NASCAR drivers, it would definitely be his No. 1 priority to keep Byron, Michigan native Erik Jones in state.

On Saturday, the NASCAR Next alum will make his first start at his hometown track (Michigan International Speedway) in the Careers for Veterans 200 presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation.

Jones is right in the thick of the competition for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship at third in the point standings, trailing leader Tyler Reddick by 16 points and second-place Matt Crafton by five. He has one win this season and leads the NCWTS in many significant loop data categories, including average running position (4.2), laps led (656) and driver rating 124.3.

Alex Bowman Set To Make Truck Series Debut With JR Motorsports

Alex Bowman will become the fourth driver to sit behind the wheel of the JR Motorsports No. 00 Chevrolet in Saturday’s Careers for Veterans 200 presented by Cooper Standard and Brad Keselowski’s Checkered Flag Foundation. The 22-year-old full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver for Tommy Baldwin Racing will make JRM’s eighth start this season and try to improve on its totals of two wins (Cole Custer, Kasey Kahne) and four top-10 finishes. Kevin Harvick drove the No. 00 Chevrolet to a second-place finish in the last NCWTS race at Pocono. Bowman made two XFINITY Series starts for JRM last fall, finishing 12th at Charlotte and 17th at Phoenix.