Michigan Preview

By: Derek Pierce

This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series will head to Michigan Speedway with just three races left in the regular season. Defending winner of this race, Chris Buescher, is looking to repeat as it would lock him into the playoffs, however his season hasn't gone as expected and isn't a favorite to win.

Looking at the past Michigan races, Ford has become the champion of this track being undefeated since 2018. Kevin Harvick was the winner in over half of those races winning five out of the nine, but with Harvick retiring the floor could possibly be open to more drivers. Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Chris Buescher are the only other drivers in this sample still racing.

In the last two races, the winner of the Richmond race ended up going back to back and winning at Michigan. That said, I would be shocked if Austin Dillon carries his speed from Richmond to Michigan considering it's never been a track he's had much success at and given the speed RCR has shown throughout the season. Across both races the only drivers that finished in the Top 10 were Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, and Erik Jones. 

Predictions

Unsurprisingly Hamlin and Larson are the top two favorites for this race with Blaney being the highest Ford driver right behind them. Other drivers that I think should also be in the conversation for favorites are Martin Truex Jr and Tyler Reddick. Both have had really good speed lately and are going a little under the radar. 

Of these drivers I would choose Hamlin to win the race. Seeing as he was just a couple hundred feet from winning last weekend before getting wrecked, he could be fueled by spite making him push that little bit harder. However, all five of the drivers above are ones to look out for across the entire weekend.

Playoff Picture

Another thing to look at the entire weekend is the playoff picture. Had Dillon's win at Richmond kept him eligible for the playoffs, there would have been a lot of shake up around the cut line, but even without it there's a close battle. Truex is currently sitting safely in 13th being 78 points above the cut. Ty Gibbs behind him is where it gets closer as he is only +18. The last two drivers in the playoffs currently are Bubba Wallace (+3) and Chris Buescher (+0). Tied with Buescher below the cut line is Ross Chastain. The next car back is Chase Briscoe who is basically in a must win situation being 99 points away from the playoffs. The rest of the top 20 is filled by Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland.