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  • Grant Enfinger claims regular season title

    Grant Enfinger claims regular season title

    Coming into the Corrigan Oil 200, ThorSport Racing driver Grant Enfinger knew he had an excellent chance to win the regular-season title giving him an automatic lock into the Playoffs, despite not winning a single race this year.

    Only something catastrophic like not starting the race would have prevented the Alabama native from winning the title. Even though we’ve seen crazier things in NASCAR, Enfinger was able to fire up his truck and was declared the regular-season champion.

    “It’s been a hard road for the most weekends out of the year but I feel like we’re making the most out of every opportunity,” Enfinger said to MRN Radio. “I think God has blessed us with everything we need, everything we wanted.”

    “We’ve been close to some checkered flags but today was not one of them. We still overcame a lot from yesterday. We had a terrible F-150 yesterday but we had a good one today, capable of running up front. Really big to get this regular-season championship for the driver points, as well as the owner points. That’s a big deal for the Playoffs. I can’t say thank you enough to Duke and Rhonda Thorson, everybody at ThorSport Racing. LTI Printing who came on this weekend, Champion Power Equipment, Curb Records, Protect The Harvest, everyone who lets us do this.”

    This is the first time in Enfinger’s career that he has won the regular-season championship.

    He finished sixth and third in both stages in the Corrigan Oil 200 to complete what has been a successful season so far for the Alabama native. He has earned seven top fives and 13 top-10 finishes along with two poles and 236 laps led.

    Enfinger will be seeded second when the Playoffs begin Thursday night, August 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He also is seeded second in the owners’ championship.

  • Austin Hill holds off Creed and Dippel in overtime win

    Austin Hill holds off Creed and Dippel in overtime win

    In an overtime restart, Austin Hill in No. 16 Hattori Racing Toyota was able to hold off Sheldon Creed and Tyler Dippel for his second win of the 2019 season.

    “I definitely didn’t want to do a green-white-checkered; we were kind of close on fuel,” Hill told MRN Radio. “I got a really good push out the back by the 18 (Harrison Burton), kind of propelled us and put us out front, then I just started to throw blocks and luckily, they were racing two and three wide out back and kind of gave us a gap out front, we were able to keep that gap.”

    “I thought the 2 (Sheldon Creed) was going to have a shot at it going into (Turn) 3, he got a really big run but we were able to protect that bottom because that’s the lane he was trying to go. Can’t thank Hino, AISIN enough for coming on board.”

    It was the regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway for the Truck Series regulars. Drivers like Sheldon Creed, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Tyler Dippel, Gus Dean and Ben Rhodes had one more shot to make it into the Playoffs with a win.

    Fan-favorite Ross Chastain sat on the pole in his No. 45 Niece Motorsports truck with Christian Eckes on the outside pole. Playoff potential Matt Crafton had issues with his clutch during qualifying and made an engine change to be the cautious side, therefore had to start in the back.

    Stages were broken into 20/20/60 to make up the 100 lap race.

    Stage 1: Lap 1- Lap 20

    Nothing major happened in Stage 1 to bring out the caution. However, Tyler Ankrum and Austin Wayne Self were posted for a start violation and both were black flagged and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

    Norm Benning never had the chance to get his truck started when the command to Start Your Engines was issued. Benning unfortunately had to sit out for the rest of the race, not completing a single lap and wound up 32nd.

    Chastain went on to lead every lap in Stage 1 to take the stage win. Ben Rhodes, Eckes, Bret Moffitt, Todd Gilliland, Grant Enfinger, Austin Hill, Harrison Burton, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-10 finishers in the first stage.

    With his consistency throughout the season, Enfinger was able to lock up the regular-season title by just starting the race.

    A melee broke out on pit road during the stage break. The No. 9 of Codie Rohrbaugh was trying to pull into his pit for a scheduled pit stop but made contact with Chastain and Sauter who were trying to pull out at the same time. Chastain suffered major damage from the incident and would wind up not finishing the race.

    Gilliland was sent to the rear for a crew member over the wall too soon. Wayne Self was also sent to the rear for passing on the left on pit road.

    Stage 2: Lap 27- Lap 40

    Only one incident brought out the caution during the second stage on Lap 32 as Christian Eckes spun off Turn 2 due to a flat tire. This would be the only caution during Stage 2.

    With Chastain out of the race, Moffitt played pit strategy by staying out and taking the lead going into Turn 1 with three laps to go. Moffitt hung on to win Stage 2.

    Hill, Enfinger, Jordan Anderson, Rhodes, Self, Dean, Gilliland, Creed and Bayley Currey rounded out the top-10 finishers for the second stage.

    There were no incidents during the stage break on pit road.

    Stage 3: Lap 47- Lap 105

    There were a few laps of green flag racing before the caution flew once again on Lap 56. This time it was the No. 04 of Cory Roper who slapped the Turn 2 wall and suffered right rear damage. Roper would eventually be out of the race with a broken track bar. He finished a disappointing 28th. TJ Bell who was driving the No. 38 Niece Motorsports truck was also out for the rest of the day due to a mechanical issue. Hill was sent to the rear for speeding on pit road.

    Moffitt and Self stayed out under caution to assume the lead. However, neither could make it on fuel and would be six laps short to finish if the race remained green the rest of the way. But, another caution broke out on Lap 65 for Rohrbaugh, who spun off the exit of Turn 4. This saw race leaders Moffitt and Self pit under caution with Sauter also making a pit stop.

    The race had a short green flag run until 15 laps to go when Eckes found trouble once again with a right rear flat that went down causing him to spin out. During the green flag run, Rhodes suffered a flat tire, ending any chance to compete for the championship.

    The restart came with 10 laps to go and it was crunch time for many drivers who needed a win and were close on fuel for the finish. Fortunately, some of those drivers caught a break with another caution flying again for Eckes with eight to go.

    This set up a restart with four to go that saw Ankrum, Hill, Crafton and Moffitt in the top spots. When the restart came Crafton accidentally pushed Ankrum a little too hard which then sent him spinning in front of the field collecting Natalie Decker, Alfredo and Sauter. The DGR-Crosley drivers had the most damage with Sauter able to pull away.

    With the wreck, the race went into overtime with five extra laps added to the originally advertised distance. Despite the overtime finish and drivers like Dippel and Creed giving it one last shot, the Winston, Georgia native was able to hang on and win for the second time this season.

    “Our Toyota Tundra was really fast today, Hill said.”We had to come from the back. I sped on pit road, had issues on getting the right front tire off all day long. We had to fight a lot of adversity. This is a brand new truck for us, to be able to go one for one with it, it’s an awesome way to start this truck off. With playoffs being next week, this gives us a confidence booster going forward.”

    There were 11 lead changes among 17 lead changes with eight cautions for 35 laps.

    Playoff Seedings

    1. Brett Moffitt
    2. Grant Enfinger -3
    3. Stewart Friesen -8
    4. Ross Chastain -10
    5. Austin Hill -10
    6. Matt Crafton -11
    7. Johnny Sauter -13
    8. Tyler Ankrum -17

    Official Results

    1. Austin Hill
    2. Sheldon Creed
    3. Tyler Dippel
    4. Brett Moffitt
    5. Austin Wayne Self
    6. Bayley Currey
    7. Grant Enfinger
    8. Stewart Friesen
    9. Ray Ciccarelli
    10. Matt Crafton
    11. Harrison Burton
    12. Johnny Sauter
    13. Gus Dean
    14. Jordan Anderson
    15. Christian Eckes
    16. Trey Hutchens
    17. Codie Rohrbaugh
    18. Josh Reaume
    19. Jennifer Jo Cobb
    20. Joe Nemechek
    21. Jesse Iwuji
    22. Spencer Boyd
    23. Ben Rhodes, Two laps down
    24. Todd Gilliland, OUT, Crash
    25. Tyler Ankrum, OUT, Crash
    26. Anthony Alfredo, OUT, Crash
    27. Natalie Decker, OUT, Crash
    28. Cory Roper, OUT, Crash
    29. T.J. Bell, OUT, Clutch
    30. Ross Chastain, OUT, Crash
    31. Camden Murphy, OUT, Vibration
    32. Norm Benning, OUT, Engine

    Up Next: The Round of Eight starts at Bristol Motor Speedway Thursday, August 15 live on Fox Sports 1.

  • Dillon and Hemric qualifying times disallowed

    Dillon and Hemric qualifying times disallowed

    It was announced by NASCAR after the Monster Energy Cup Series qualifying that the times of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric were disallowed due to having unapproved alternators.

    As a result of the L1 infraction, Dillon and Hemric will lose 10 driver points and 10 owner points will be deducted as well. Each crew chief will also face a $25,000 fine. Dillon originally qualified seventh and Hemric was 11th but they will now start from the back of the field for the Consumers Energy 400 Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

    Updated starting lineup:

    1. Brad Keselowski
    2. Kevin Harvick
    3. William Byron
    4. Alex Bowman
    5. Clint Bowyer
    6. Chase Elliott
    7. Ryan Blaney
    8. Joey Logano
    9. Paul Menard
    10. Jimmie Johnson
    11. Daniel Suarez
    12. Aric Almirola
    13. Kurt Busch
    14. Denny Hamlin
    15. Martin Truex Jr
    16. Erik Jones
    17. Kyle Larson
    18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
    19. Matt Tifft
    20. Ryan Newman
    21. Ty Dillon
    22. Kyle Busch
    23. Michael McDowell
    24. David Ragan
    25. Chris Buescher
    26. Bubba Wallace
    27. Matt DiBenedetto
    28. Landon Cassill
    29. Ryan Preece
    30. Ross Chastain
    31. Corey LaJoie
    32. Quin Houff
    33. Austin Theriault
    34. Cody Ware
    35. Reed Sorenson
    36. Spencer Boyd (Making first Cup Series start)
    37. Austin Dillon
    38. Daniel Hemric
  • Brad Keselowski wins the pole at Michigan, Ford sweeps top spots

    Brad Keselowski wins the pole at Michigan, Ford sweeps top spots

    Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Team Penske Ford, won the pole on Friday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway with a time of 37.80 seconds at 190.471 mph. This was the 16th pole of his career and his second at Michigan.

    “We will find out as we go through race trim practice, but for right now, we’re going to celebrate and enjoy being the fastest car in qualifying,” Keselowski said to MRN Radio. “Really proud of our team here, our Discount Tire Ford Mustang. We unloaded so fast and made good adjustments to keep up with the changes in the track.”

    “Of course everyone else was getting faster. Good start, so let’s keep it up.”

    The top spot was traded many different times with Chevrolet holding the top spots before the Fords got on track and took the first two positions.

    The other Ford driver was Kevin Harvick who held the pole briefly before Keselowski took it. Harvick qualified second with a time of 37.87.

    “Yeah, it’s a good day for No. 4 Ford Mustang,” Harvick told MRN Radio. “I think track position is important everywhere we go. Coming to Michigan, it’s more important. That’s a good start to the weekend.”

    Keselowski also noted whether or not track position will be needed for Sunday’s race.

    “I’m not sure if track position will be quite as important as it was here in the spring,” Keselowski added. “You know, they put the PJ1 down and all that, I’m not complaining.”

    Speaking of track position, the winners have come from various starting spots here in the past five races. Joey Logano won from the pole in June, Harvick won from the pole last August, Clint Bowyer won from 12th in June of 2018, Kyle Larson won from ninth in August of 2017 and first in June of 2017.

    Keselowski was second fastest in pre-qualifying practice with a similar time of 37.90.

    All cars had tech inspection after practice and no drivers had any issues getting through inspection, therefore the lineup will be official. However, there will be another round for tech inspection on Sunday morning. Should a driver fail more than two times, they will be sent to the back of the field.

    Drivers will get to practice in race trim mode on Saturday as they have two more practice sessions. The second practice is slated for 8:35 a.m. ET live on CNBC and final practice will be at 11:30 a.m. ET live on the NBC Sports App.

    Please note: The qualifying times of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric were disallowed due to having unapproved alternators. As a result of the L1 infraction, Dillon and Hemric will lose 10 driver points and 10 owner points will be deducted as well. Each crew chief will also face a $25,000 fine. Dillon originally qualified seventh and Hemric was 11th but they will now start from the back of the field.

    Updated Starting Lineup:

    1. Brad Keselowski
    2. Kevin Harvick
    3. William Byron
    4. Alex Bowman
    5. Clint Bowyer
    6. Chase Elliott
    7. Ryan Blaney
    8. Joey Logano
    9. Paul Menard
    10. Jimmie Johnson
    11. Daniel Suarez
    12. Aric Almirola
    13. Kurt Busch
    14. Denny Hamlin
    15. Martin Truex Jr.
    16. Erik Jones
    17. Kyle Larson
    18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    19. Matt Tifft
    20. Ryan Newman
    21. Ty Dillon
    22. Kyle Busch
    23. Michael McDowell
    24. David Ragan
    25. Chris Buescher
    26. Bubba Wallace
    27. Matt DiBenedetto
    28. Landon Cassill
    29. Ryan Preece
    30. Ross Chastain
    31. Corey LaJoie
    32. Quin Houff
    33. Austin Theriault
    34. Cody Ware
    35. Reed Sorenson
    36. Spencer Boyd (Making first Cup Series start)
    37. Austin Dillon
    38. Daniel Hemric

  • NASCAR Schedule for Michigan and Mid-Ohio

    NASCAR Schedule for Michigan and Mid-Ohio

    This weekend the Monster Energy Cup Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series head to Michigan International Speedway while the Xfinity Series travels to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

    Kevin Harvick is the Cup Series defending race winner at the 2-mile track with only four races remaining in the regular season. Brett Moffitt returns to defend his Truck Series victory at Michigan in the final race to determine the regular season champion. Justin Allgaier won the previous Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio and with six races left in the Xfinity Series regular season will be looking for his first victory this season.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, August 9

    Michigan:

    12:35 p.m.-1:25 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/MRN
    1:35 p.m.-2:25 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series First Practice – No TV
    3:05 p.m.-3:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Final Practice – No TV
    5:05 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Qualifying – Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – NBCSN/MRN

    Mid-Ohio:

    1:35 p.m.-2:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App
    4:05 p.m.-4:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

    Saturday, August 10

    Michigan:

    8:35 a.m.-9:25 a.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Second Practice – NBC Sports App/MRN
    9:35 a.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Qualifying – Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – FS2
    11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App/MRN
    1 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Corrigan Oil 200 – (Stages 20/40/100 Laps = 200 Miles) – FS1/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/MRN

    Mid-Ohio:

    11:40 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Multi-Vehicle/Two Rounds – NBC Sports App
    3 p.m.: Xfinity Series B&L Transport 170 – (Stages 20/40/75 Laps = 169.35 Miles) – NBCSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/MRN

    Sunday, August 11

    Michigan:

    3 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Consumers Energy 400 – (Stages 60/120/200 Laps = 400 Miles) NBCSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/MRN

  • NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Michigan

    NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Preview-Michigan

    After a week of slinging dirt, the Truck Series regulars return to asphalt this weekend for their regular season finale at Michigan.

    The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series has quite possibly been the most exciting series all season long in the three touring series divisions of NASCAR. It is now crunch time for the drivers who have not won yet and are outside the playoffs.

    Drivers like Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, Sheldon Creed, Tyler Dippel, Austin Wayne Self and Gus Dean all will be trying to fight for the remaining spots. One exception is championship points leader Grant Enfinger. Enfinger has a 52 point lead over his teammate Crafton in the standings and will clinch a spot in the playoffs by starting the race.

    This means that more than likely, Enfinger will win the regular season championship title after Michigan. If Crafton wants to win the regular season championship, Enfinger would have to finish last and Crafton would have to win both stages and the race. It’s a tall order for the California native, but anything can happen in the world of NASCAR.

    With all that said, here is a look at five drivers who might punch their ticket in victory lane Saturday afternoon, along with a look at the drivers who are on the outside looking in.

    1. Ben Rhodes – With being in somewhat of a slump in the past few races, Michigan could be the track where Rhodes finds his confidence again and wins the race on Saturday potentially knocking someone out of the playoffs. In three races, Rhodes has a best finish of sixth twice (2016, 2018). The Kentucky native has led just four laps. Despite having some solid finishes, Rhodes will have to work on his qualifying game in order to have a shot at the win. His best qualifying effort is 14th that came in 2017. In terms of stage finishes, in 2017, Rhodes finished fourth in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2 while in 2018, he finished sixth in Stage 1. Keep an eye on Rhodes and his No. 99 ThorSport team who could be a winner on Saturday.

    2. Stewart Friesen – Last week’s Eldora winner will need to continue his momentum in Michigan this weekend where he’s been decent at best. In two starts, the Canadian has a best finish of eighth in 2018 after starting fifth and leading 12 laps. Since Friesen only has two starts at the 1.5-mile track, his average finish is 10.5. He didn’t earn any stage finishes in 2017, but in 2018, Friesen was able to win Stage 1 and finish ninth in Stage 2. The Halmar Racing has been decent on 1.5-mile tracks this year where it’s either been second finish or bust for Friesen. Should Friesen win, the playoff standings will remain the way they are and no one else will get themselves in.

    3. Todd Gilliland – A driver that could solidify themselves in the 2019 championship playoffs is Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland. Gilliland only has one start that came in 2018 but started on the outside pole and finished fifth after leading eight laps. The KBM driver has stage finishes of third and eighth in his only start. In 2017, now Xfinity Series driver Christopher Bell took the No. 4 truck to a second-place finish. Gilliland will be piloting chassis number KBM-04. “The No. 4 JBL team has prepared chassis KBM-041 for this weekend’s Corrigan Oil 200. This chassis was last used earlier this year by Gilliland at Dover and has been driven to one win by owner-driver Kyle Busch at Chicago in 2016. Gilliland will be in the playoffs if he wins Saturday’s race.

    4. Grant Enfinger – Speaking of the regular series points leader, Enfinger just might nab his first win of the season at Michigan this weekend. It’s hard to believe that even though Enfinger has had consistent finishes, he has not won at all in 2019. The 1.5-mile track has seen the Alabama native finish inside the top-10 in all three of his starts with a best finish of seventh in 2018. Enfinger has also led 16 laps and has an average finish of 7.7. As far as stages go, Enfinger finished 10th in Stage 2 in 2017, while finishing fifth in Stage 1 and winning the second stage. There couldn’t be a better moment for Enfinger if he wins the race and the regular season championship Saturday afternoon. As far as clinch scenarios go, the Alabama native will clinch a spot by just starting the race.

    5. Christian Eckes – One driver that might be an upset winner Saturday is Christian Eckes who will be driving the No. 51 once again this season. Eckes competed in last week’s race at Eldora where he finished sixth. At Michigan, however, Eckes will be making his first Truck Series start. Despite not having any Truck Series experience at the track, he does have one ARCA start where the KBM driver finished seventh after starting second. For the chassis. “The No. 51 SiriusXM team will unload chassis KBM-038 for Saturday’s Corrigan Oil 200 at Michigan International Speedway. This chassis has been raced 14 times and has ended up in Victory Lane in six outings. It was most recently raced to the win at Martinsville earlier this season by owner-driver Kyle Busch, and Chandler Smith started on the front row and finished eighth with it at Iowa in his first start. Noah Gragson, Christopher Bell and William Byron have all also had victories in this chassis.”

    Drivers on the outside looking in:

    1. Matt Crafton – Currently sitting second in the points, Crafton is on the bubble for the playoffs. It is hard to imagine that it’s been two years since the California native has won a race in the Truck Series. At Michigan, Crafton has 17 starts with a best finish of second in 2014. Other stats include 81 laps led, four DNFs, three top fives and eight top-10 finishes with an average finish of 13.9. Should there be no new winners or if his teammate Enfinger wins, Crafton will receive a spot in the playoffs. The only way he can race his way in on points is if he scores 53 points and Enfinger does not start the race, which is a tall task.

    2. Harrison Burton – Burton has no starts at Michigan, which will put some added pressure to win the race on Saturday. As far as 1.5-mile racetracks go this season, he has four top-five and two top-10 finishes with a best finish of third multiple times. He will have to win in order to have a chance at the championship.

    3. Sheldon Creed – Like Burton, Creed will have to win the race Saturday in order to compete for the championship. Even though his last couple of finishes did not go well at Kentucky and Pocono, Creed has been on the rise after Fort Worth in June. Creed has managed three top-10 finishes. No truck starts at Michigan for the GMS driver, but he does have three starts in the ARCA Series with a win in last year’s race. If Creed wants to make the playoffs, he will have to some luck and do what he did in the ARCA race last year.

    4. Tyler Dippel – Michigan might be a learning curve for the Youngs Motorsports driver. Dippel has no track starts at the 1.5-mile speedway. He will have to reach deep down and pull off a wildcard upset to win the race Saturday. His finishes have been so-so at 1.5-mile tracks this season with a best finish of eighth at Texas in March. It would be an amazing story for Dippel and his team if they can make it, but they will need a lot of luck from other drivers circumstances.

    5. Gus Dean – Win or bust for Dean and his No. 12 Youngs Motorsports team this weekend. Like Creed, Dean does have starts in the ARCA Series to his credit. His best finish at Michigan in ARCA is fourth in 2018 and he finished fifth in 2017.

    Other drivers scheduled to compete this weekend includes Daniel Sasnett in the No. 0 for Jennifer Jo Cobb, Jordan Anderson returns to his own No. 3 after Carson Hocevar drove it at Eldora. Cory Roper will also return to the track in his own No. 04 team. It’s Roper first race back since his ninth-place finish at Fort Worth in June. Joe Nemechek is back in the No. 8 while Codie Rohrbaugh is in the No. 9. Trey Hutchens is in the No. 14, Anthony Alfredo in the No. 15 and Spencer Boyd is back in the No. 20 after sitting out Eldora due to injury.

    Josh Reaume will compete in his own No. 33 machine, Jesse Iwuji in the No. 34, Bayley Currey returns in the Niece Motorsports No. 44, Ray Ciccarelli in the No. 49, Natalie Decker in the No. 54 and Camden Murphy in the No. 87.

    Michigan International Speedway has hosted 19 races dating back to 1999. Greg Biffle, Travis Kvapil and Brett Moffitt have been the only repeat winners at the track. Other winners include Robert Pressley, Brendan Gaughan, Dennis Setzer, Johnny Benson, Erik Darnell, Colin Braun, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Nelson Piquet Jr, James Buescher, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace.

    As far as stage winners go, Kyle Busch swept both stages in 2017 with Friesen winning Stage 1 and Enfinger winning Stage 2 in last year’s race.

    For the manufacturer side of things, Toyota has the most wins with seven, Chevrolet and Ford have five wins each and Dodge has two.

    Want to win at Michigan? The past five winners have seen the winner start as low as 21st and as high as fifth. Only once has the driver won from the pole position set by Kvapil in 2007. Moffitt won from the 21st starting spot in last year’s race. Otherwise, winners have come from the second, third, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th starting positions.

    Friday will see a day of practices for the Truck Series. First practice is set for 1:35 p.m. ET with final practice scheduled for 3:05 p.m.ET, both lasting 50 minutes. There will be no live TV coverage for either practice. Qualifying will be early Saturday morning at 9:35 a.m. ET live on Fox Sports 2.

    The Corrigan Oil 200 is slated to take the green flag shortly after 1 p.m. ET live on Fox Sports 1 and MRN Radio. Stages will be broken into 20/40/100 to make up the 200-mile distance.

  • The weekend schedule for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup at Michigan and the Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio

    The weekend schedule for Monster Energy NASCAR Cup at Michigan and the Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio

    This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Gander Outdoors Truck Series travel to Michigan International Speedway for the second time this year. The Xfinity Series will compete at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course while you can compete at the best nz casino sites and win.

    Kevin Harvick is the Cup Series defending race winner at the 2-mile track while Brett Moffitt returns to defend his Truck Series victory at Michigan. Justin Allgaier won the previous Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio and would be a good one to place a bet on to win.

    The Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway will be televised live Sunday, August 11 beginning at 3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Coverage of this week’s Mid-Ohio 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will be televised live on Saturday, August 10, beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on NBCSN. It will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.

    All times are Eastern.

    Michigan

    Friday, August 9

    12:35 p.m.-1:25 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series First Practice – NBCSN/MRN
    1:35 p.m.-2:25 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series First Practice – No TV
    3:05 p.m.-3:55 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Final Practice – No TV
    5:05 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Qualifying – Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – NBCSN/MRN

    Saturday, August 10

    8:35 a.m.-9:25 a.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Second Practice – NBC Sports App/MRN
    9:35 a.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Qualifying – Single Vehicle/One Lap All Positions – FS2
    11:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App/MRN
    1 p.m.: Gander Outdoors Truck Series Corrigan Oil 200 – (Stages 20/40/100 Laps = 200 Miles) – FS1/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/MRN

    Sunday, August 11

    3 p.m.: Monster Energy Cup Series Consumers Energy 400 – (Stages 60/120/200 Laps = 400 Miles) NBCSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/MRN

    Mid-Ohio

    Friday, August 9

    1:35 p.m.-2:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series First Practice – NBC Sports App
    4:05 p.m.-4:55 p.m.: Xfinity Series Final Practice – NBC Sports App

    Saturday, August 10

    11:40 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Multi-Vehicle/Two Rounds – NBC Sports App
    3 p.m.: Xfinity Series B&L Transport 170 – (Stages 20/40/75 Laps = 169.35 Miles) – NBCSN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio/MRN

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Michigan

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Michigan

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: Logano started on the pole and survived an overtime restart to win at Michigan, giving Penske Racing its fifth win of the season.

    “That’s five wins for Penske,” Logano said. “Joe Gibbs Racing has nine. The rest of the field has one. That should be very alarming to NASCAR. It may be the ultimate in competition cautions.”

    2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished fifth in the FireKeepers Casino 400 and is now second in the Monster Energy Cup points standings, nine points behind Joey Logano.

    “My brother Kurt almost got the win,” Busch said. “But alas, he finished second, which, interestingly enough, is better than he finishes when our parents rank their children, and they only have two kids.”

    3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished sixth at Michigan as Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano took the win after starting on pole.

    “It was a great day for Ford Motor Company in its place of origin,” Keselowski said. “Six of the top nine cars were Fords. I was lucky enough to dine with the Ford family on Thursday night. They, like me, will tell you that nothing beats ‘home cooking.’”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished third in The FireKeepers Casino 400 after Joey Logano pulled away on a late restart to get the win.

    “I feel like Logano jumped the restart,” Truex said. “By the letter of the rule book, NASCAR officials should have penalized Logano and taken the win from him. That’s not unusual. You saw it in the Canadian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel finished first on the track, but a controversial penalty dropped him to second, and left him fuming. Vettel wnnt from ‘F1 to FU.’”

    5. Chase Elliott: Elliott came home 20th at Michigan, his worst finish of the season.

    “Sunday was rained out,” Elliott said. “And we didn’t start on Sunday until 5 p.m. because Fox wanted to televise women’s World Cup soccer. It’s just further proof that NASCAR will always lose out to some sort of football. Ironically, in soccer, people complain because there’s too much passing.”

    6. Kevin Harvick: Harvick started third and finished seventh at Michigan, and remained winless on the season.

    “I’m very frustrated with my lack of wins,” Harvick said. “It’s hard for me to verbally express my dissatisfaction, so I’ll do so with the No. 4 car sponsored exclusively by Busch beer. It’s ‘total Busch-it.’” 

    7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin took 11th in the FireKeepers Casino 400.

    “We all love driving in races sponsored by casinos,” Hamlin said. “Little known fact: drivers gamble on more than just fuel mileage. Poker is the game of choice for most drivers. We take that to the next level by playing during races. ‘How can you drive, shift, and hold your cards?,’ some may ask. Well, with the help of the ‘HANDS Device,’ of course.”

    8. Kurt Busch: Busch chased Joey Logano to the end at Michigan, but couldn’t manage to make the pass and settled for the runner-up sport.

    “Several drivers tossed a football with fans during the rain delay,” Busch said. “I’m not the most athletic guy, so I didn’t participate. Heck, my last interaction with ‘pigskin’ was when I met with a back-alley plastic surgeon who suggested hog ear cartilage for reconstructive surgery.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished ninth at Michigan, scoring his first top-10 result since a fourth at Bristol in April.

    “Former NASCAR CEO Brian France pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated,” Blaney said. “His grandfather Bill is a member of the NASCAR Hall Of Fame; now Brian can finally say he got ‘busted,’ as well.”

    10. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 10th at Michigan, the top finisher among Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

    “HMS used to win championships,” Bowman said, “much less races. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. HMS used to be the preeminent race team. Now, it seems Hendrick has entered the ‘post-eminent’ stage.”

  • Joey Logano wins in overtime at Michigan

    Joey Logano wins in overtime at Michigan

    Joey Logano started on the pole for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, led 163 laps, and won in overtime, claiming his second win of the season Monday evening.

    But it wasn’t quite as easy as it sounds.

    After posting the fastest time on Saturday to claim the pole, the race was postponed to Monday due to rain. Logano had the most dominant car throughout the race, winning Stage 1. Austin Dillon, however, won the second stage taking advantage of fuel strategy while the leaders had to pit.

    Early on it looked as though Kevin Harvick, a two-time winner at Michigan, might provide some competition for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. But toward the end of Stage 1, Harvick had to pit because of a loose wheel, causing him to go a lap down. Harvick eventually received the free pass to get back on the lead lap and even led 15 laps during the race. He started seventh in overtime but it was too little too late.

    During the final pit stops which began on Lap 173, several teams tried varying strategies to gain an advantage with some drivers taking four tires, while others took two. Brad Keselowski elected to take fuel only. Logano, who only took two tires, retained the lead.

    As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race wound down it looked as though no one could catch Logano but with five laps to go, Erik Jones had a tire go down, spinning into the grass, and bringing out the final caution which led to a 2-lap overtime restart. Logano had to hold off a hard-charging Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. to capture his third victory from the pole at the 2-mile track and his 23rd series career win.

    Logano called it a “perfect day,” for both him and the fans.

    “It is so hard to have perfect days like that,” he said. “I made one mistake on the restart and let the 4 (Harvick) get to the outside of me and really made me mad at myself. I was able to make that up, which is great, we are keeping Hudson up past his bedtime. This is a good place for him to get ready for sleep I guess. It feels so good to get into victory lane. I gotta thank the fans, everyone that stuck it out through the rain yesterday and came out today to watch a great race and a wild ending. You don’t want to see cautions there at the end when you are the leader but as a fan that is like the one thing you do want to see. I am glad we got the best of both worlds.”

    Kurt Busch finished second, saying, “I had a blast. That was the tightest I ever put my belts at the end of a race because we’ve got enough stage points. Today, it was like hell, we don’t need to get anything but the win. And, we got second today. ey) Logano’s car was tough. I really wanted it to go green at the end and push (Martin) Truex, Jr. through to the No. 22 (Logano). That was my best shot at it.

    “What a day for our Camaro, Chevy and Monster. Thank you, guys. We’ll get it. We’ll get it. This gives us reason to smile and be happy. We ran up front. We were strong. We were in our manufacturer’s backyard, but got second today.”

    Truex, who finished third, was unhappy with Logano’s start in overtime. In a post-race interview, he said, “He just went way early before the restart zone, jumped it, so I don’t know how we get a no-call on that. Maybe the rules are, maybe you can just do whatever you want on restarts now. Clearly, he went way before the box so that’s the way it goes, they didn’t call it and he wins. But he had a faster car than we did anyway so it’s a kind of a moot point.”

    Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. Brad Keselowski was sixth as Harvick, Ryan Newman, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman completed the top 10.

    Daniel Hemric was the highest finishing rookie in 12th. Logano leads the standings by nine points over Kyle Busch.

    The next race for the Monster Energy Cup Series will be on Sunday, June 23 at Sonoma Raceway.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

    Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 15
    Race Results for the 51st Annual FireKeepers Casino 400 – Monday, June 10, 2019
    Michigan International Speedway – Brooklyn, MI – 2. – Mile Paved
    Total Race Length – 203 Laps – 406. Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos Pts Status
    1 1 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 203 1 0 50 Running
    2 7 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 203 5 4 48 Running
    3 16 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 203 6 3 47 Running
    4 9 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Demo Day Ford 203 0 0 33 Running
    5 15 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Hazelnut Toyota 203 0 6 37 Running
    6 8 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 203 10 0 32 Running
    7 3 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford 203 0 2 39 Running
    8 18 6 Ryan Newman Coca-Cola Ford 203 0 0 29 Running
    9 13 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Wrangler Riggs Ford 203 0 0 28 Running
    10 20 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Chevrolet 203 2 9 38 Running
    11 4 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 203 0 0 26 Running
    12 11 8 Daniel Hemric # Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet 203 0 7 29 Running
    13 6 21 Paul Menard Menards/NIBCO Ford 203 9 0 26 Running
    14 22 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 203 7 0 27 Running
    15 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 203 0 0 22 Running
    16 31 37 Chris Buescher Kroger Thrill of the Grill Chevrolet 203 0 10 22 Running
    17 2 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield/Meijer Ford 203 4 5 33 Running
    18 21 24 William Byron Hendrick Autoguard Chevrolet 203 0 8 22 Running
    19 10 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Ford 203 0 0 18 Running
    20 17 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 203 8 0 20 Running
    21 29 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota Express Maintenance Toyota 203 0 0 16 Running
    22 25 13 Ty Dillon Twisted Tea Chevrolet 203 0 0 15 Running
    23 32 32 Corey LaJoie Harvest Investments Ford 203 0 0 14 Running
    24 26 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Sunscreen Ford 203 0 0 13 Running
    25 28 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 203 0 0 12 Running
    26 12 3 Austin Dillon Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet 202 0 1 21 Running
    27 23 34 Michael McDowell Melling Engine Parts Ford 202 0 0 10 Running
    28 27 43 Bubba Wallace Victory Junction Chevrolet 201 0 0 9 Running
    29 30 0 Landon Cassill(i) Superior Essex Chevrolet 201 0 0 0 Running
    30 36 15 Garrett Smithley Victory Lane Quick Oil Change Chevrolet 200 0 0 0 Running
    31 14 20 Erik Jones Craftsman/Sport Clips Toyota 199 3 0 14 Running
    32 35 77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 198 0 0 5 Running
    33 34 52 Josh Bilicki(i) Chevrolet 197 0 0 0 Running
    34 24 38 David Ragan Citgard Heavy Duty Engine Oil Ford 195 0 0 3 Running
    35 5 14 Clint Bowyer Haas Automation/ITsavvy Ford 130 0 0 2 Accident
    36 33 51 Kyle Weatherman(i) Jacob Companies Ford 69 0 0 0 Accident
  • Rain postpones Monster Energy Series race at Michigan

    Rain postpones Monster Energy Series race at Michigan

    Staff Report | NASCAR.com (Contributing: NASCAR Wire Service)

    Persistent rain forced the postponement of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race to a Monday start at Michigan International Speedway.

    The FireKeepers Casino 400 is now set for Monday at 5 p.m. ET, airing on FS1, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    NASCAR officials made the decision to reschedule the 200-lap, 400-mile event following an attempt to get the race started after a one-hour delay Sunday afternoon. The 36-car field completed several pace laps in hopes of reaching a 3:02 ET green flag, but another rain shower forced the cars back to pit road.

    Track-drying briefly resumed, but inclement weather continued to halt the process. The track was almost dry by 4:15 p.m. when another rain cell struck. NASCAR officials made the decision at 4:30 p.m. ET to postpone Sunday’s scheduled at-track activity.

    Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie passed the time during the rain delay by throwing a football, eventually lobbing it into the grandstand and playing catch with fans who braved the rain.

    Clint Bowyer, the defending winner of the race, will line up fifth as Ford drivers make up eight of the top 10 starting spots.

    Corey LaJoie-Photo by Tim Jarrold/Speedway Media.
    Bubba Wallace-Photo by Tim Jarrold/Speedway Media.

    Corey LaJoie and Bubba Wallace during Sunday’s rain delay at Michigan International Speedway.