Kevin Harvick was able to overcome a flat-right front tire early in the race and would later stretch the fuel in his No. 4 Mobil 1 Mustang on Sunday on the way to his second win of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season in the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday.
Harvick led 22 laps en route to victory, taking the checkered by 1.054 seconds over runner-up Denny Hamlin. Kyle Larson finished third, while Martin Truex Jr. and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-five finishers.
“It was a day of a little bit of adversity that we were able to overcome,” Harvick said. “We had a really fast car all weekend. Our car handled really well today, and with the multiple lanes (due to the PJ1 traction compound), we were able to run all three lanes pretty well and make our way through traffic.
“They (the team) put a really fast race car on the track, and we were able to capitalize on it, so that’s always fun.”
Although the Playoffs are steadily looming closer, Harvick’s Crew Chief Rodney Childers still feels like there’s plenty of time for their Stewart-Haas crew to hit their stride, especially with two wins in the last four races.
“I still feel like it’s a long time before the Playoffs,” said Childers in the Media Center. “We have a lot that we need to get better. You know, we’ve just – we started the year off, and our cars weren’t where we needed to be, and we’ve continually got better and better. I think to be able to get a win on a 550 track and get a win on a 750 track, that says a lot about the race team right now, to sit on the pole at Pocono and have speed there.
“We’ve definitely made gains on it. We’re not perfect by any means, and we’ve still got to get a lot better. But we’re definitely in a lot better shape than we were at the beginning of the year.”
Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-10. Playoff bubble drivers Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson both faced issues in the race, as both drivers made hard contact with the wall during the race. Bowyer would be faced with a 37th-place DNF while Johnson would finish 34th, eight laps down.
Six cautions slowed the race for 24 laps, while eight drivers swapped the lead 19 times. The next race on the schedule will be at the Bristol Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s annual event at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
It has been a frustrating season for Clint Bowyer and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team. His best finish this season was second at Texas in March. Since then, Bowyer has had up and down results.
It seems as though when Bowyer would finish in the top five or top 10 in one race, he would wind up the 20s or 30s in the next race. He’s finished seventh at Bristol, third at Richmond, 29th at Talladega, ninth at Dover and fifth Kansas, while finishing 24th at Charlotte, fifth again at Pocono, 35th at Michigan, 11th at Sonoma, 37th at Chicago and 34th at Daytona prior to Kentucky.
After the stretch of bad luck, Bowyer and his team were hoping to leave Kentucky Speedway with a decent finish, at least a top-10, and if the opportunity presented itself, a win. He came close to doing just that.
On Friday afternoon, he qualified in the seventh position giving him good track position at a track where you need it if you want to have a shot at the win.
As the race started, Bowyer had a decent car throughout the night. He ran as low as 34th, obviously after green flag pit stops. He finished 18th in Stage 1 but earned a fifth-place finish in Stage 2.
When Stage 3 began, Bowyer was out front leading the race with former teammate Kurt Busch. He led from Lap 164 to Lap 201 for 38 laps. It would be the only time Bowyer was out front, as he would settle for a sixth-place finish.
At the end of it all, Bowyer was pleased with the effort and the speed of his No. 14 team.
“It was really crazy,” Bowyer told PRN in his post-race interview. “You look at that and think, could’ve, would’ve, should’ve with a fifth place run right there. However, with the month of June we had, where you go for it in that situation and get wrecked out, we can’t afford any of those. We gave up a position there. Again, you’re frustrated with that, but a good momentum boost for our team, a positive night for us.”
“Made some good calls on the box, Mike (Bugarewicz, Crew Chief) gave us some good track position. Our cars are really fast out front. Our Stewart-Haas cars have shown great speed, we have to work on race trim in traffic, things like that. We have some good tracks coming up for us, have a little positive mojo back for a change. Hell, I’ll take it.”
It was Bowyer’s ninth top-10 finish of the season and he currently sits 14th in the playoff standings. He will need more consistent finishes like those and possibly a win if he wants to compete for a championship later this season.
Kevin Harvick sneaks past Chase Elliott to take the pole in the penultimate race of the 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Series season at ISM Raceway for the Can-Am 500 with a time of 25.836 seconds at 139.340 mph.
With the penalties from last weekend’s encumbered win at Texas Motor Speedway, Harvick’s usual crew chief, Rodney Childers, is serving a two-race suspension. Interim crew chief Tony Gibson is calling the shots for the No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing team. That didn’t faze Harvick one bit.
“It’s pretty awesome to see a group of people come together — old man Tony Gibson and Nick (DeFazio, interim car chief) — coming out to fill the gaps for the suspensions,” Harvick told NBCSN. “Like I told the radio a second ago, everybody on our Busch Light Ford has been there before and we know what we need to do. This is a great race track for us. I really wasn’t expecting that. Our cars are usually a lot better in race trim than in qualifying trim, and just got fortunate to hit a good lap right there and it came at a good time.”
Throughout the three stages, Harvick wasn’t always up toward the front. In fact, all eight of the Playoff drivers were spread out across the top 21 positions, but still advancing to the second round of qualifying. Matt Kenseth quietly ran fastest and was the only driver in the 138 mph speed bracket. Austin Dillon was second fastest, with Harvick as the first Playoff contender in third.
In Round 2, half of the Playoff drivers were eliminated, including the other three Stewart Haas drivers: Kurt Busch (14th), Clint Bowyer (16th) and Aric Almirola (18th). Martin Truex Jr. missed the final round of qualifying by only three-thousandths of a second. To put it in even further perspective, positions eight through sixteen were only separated by one-tenth of a second, as the fight for the final transfer spots were a tight battle as Elliott ran fastest in the second round.
“It was a battle,” said Truex, who was 20th-fastest in Friday’s practice. “Kind of par for the course for us here lately, so I say 13th is a pretty good starting spot for the day we’ve had. I really didn’t get a good crack at anything in practice and we didn’t end up having much time and we were pretty far off. Made some good gains for sure. I wish we could’ve ran again. I definitely feel like I could pick up some more. Car was just pretty tight, so we’ll start 13th and get to work tomorrow.”
In the final round, Harvick claimed his 25th career pole by holding off Elliott, who will be clawing for every point possible in Sunday’s race and try to steal a spot in the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.
“That’s not bad,” Blaney said with a shrug as he glanced at the speed charts. “We got better each round, which is good, so that was nice, but we just didn’t quite have the speed and obviously not pole speed, but it was good.”
Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard and Brad Keselowski completed the top 12 in the final round of qualifying.
Cody Ware, who crashed during Friday’s lone practice for the series, did not make a qualifying attempt in the Rick Ware Racing No. 51 Ford.
In the last race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, Cole Custer sets the pace for the pole position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the inaugural DC Solar 300 with a speed of 179.295 mph at 30.118 seconds.
“Yeah, that was one of the craziest qualifying sessions I’ve had,” Custer shared on pit road after winning his fifth career pole in the XFINITY Series.
Custer was over two-tenths faster than Austin Cindric, who edged out Elliott Sadler and Christopher Bell by thousands of a second between those three drivers. Ross Chastain fought his way to a fifth place effort.
Shane Lee in his first 1.5 mile oval attempt stayed in the top ten of qualifying all day, and will start in sixth. JR Motorsports teammates Tyler Reddick, Justin Allgaier and Michael Annett will start seventh through ninth respectively. The last two drivers to attempt a qualifying time in the final round were Ryan Sieg and Ryan Reed.
Jeremy Clements was the only driver in the final round that did not make an attempt to qualify, so his No. 51 Chevrolet will start in the 12th spot in today’s race.
Last Second Lap gives Custer the Pole in the First Round of Qualifying
The No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford set the pace early in qualifying with a speed of 177.032 mph in the first round of qualifying. After struggling to get through the inspection line, Custer was able to finally pass inspection, finish their final preparations and cross the start/finish line to begin their qualifying attempt with 40 seconds left on the clock. JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and Tyler Reddick were close in the top three. Christopher Bell and Elliott Sadler completed the top five, but Shane Lee was the one who held the top spot the longest for his first 1.5 mile race.
During the first stage of qualifying, many cars failed inspection, mostly in the rear end. A few teams even failed the second time, putting the car chiefs in jeopardy. According to NASCAR’s rulebook, if a team fails inspection three times, the car chief is ejected from the race and facility for the rest of the weekend. Because of this, some teams elected to not to go through inspection. Matt Tifft was one driver that failed inspection for a third time, so his car chief was ejected for the remainder of the weekend.
David Starr qualified 24th in the first round to be the last driver to move into the second round. He will start in that spot for Saturday’s DC Solar 300. Photo by Rachel Myers for Speedway Media.
Qualifying was halted for a red flag incident with Garrett Smithley, who collided with the outside wall. In qualifying, any incidents that would usually be a yellow flag in race conditions is a red flag. This halts the timer, but inspections continued to give teams a little extra time. Smithley would have to start at the rear of the field in a backup car.
David Starr held the last transferable spot going into the second round, as he beat Timmy Hill.
The drivers that either elected to not attempt a qualifying run or were held up with tech inspection included Daniel Hemric, Stan Mullis, Matt Tifft, Brandon Jones, Ryan Preece and Ryan Truex.
Custer Sweeps Both Stages of Qualifying
Cole Custer kept his top spot in the second round of qualifying with a speed of 178.406 mph. Ross Chastain found himself in the top 10 of qualifying for the first time with a runner-up effort. Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell completed the top five of the second round.
Roughly four drivers made some last run attempts to get into the final round of qualifying but fell short of the top 12. The closest of these was Chase Briscoe, but as he took the green flag, the car got loose and was close to hitting the outside wall at the exit of Turn 4. He pulled out onto the track earlier in the session, but after he took the green flag, the car bobbled in the bumps of Turns 1 and 2, so he wisely backed out to get a better attempt later in the session.
Four drivers in the second stage did not set a qualifying time: Ray Black II, Cole Rouse, BJ McLeod and David Starr.
Starting Lineup Las Vegas Motor Speedway Inaugural DC Solar 300
Kevin Harvick took his seventh Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season at Michigan International Speedway in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400, leading 108 laps and sweeping all three stages for the third time in 2018. The win gave Stewart-Haas Racing a season sweep at Michigan, as Clint Bowyer took the win there in June.
It was his 44th Cup Series win which ties him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott for 17th on the all-time wins list.
Harvick took the checkered flag 3.23 seconds ahead of second-place Brad Keselowski.
“We kind of clawed all day and had some good restarts with the Discount Tire Ford and got all we could get out of it but just ended up one spot short and that is so frustrating,” Keselowski said after the race.
Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five with Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano rounding out the top-10.
The race was slowed by eight cautions for 37 laps, while there were 15 lead changes among nine drivers.
“What a car,” Harvick said. “The most important thing is winning races right now and positioning yourself for Homestead. And that’s all we want to do. We don’t want to learn anything, we don’t want to work on anything, we want to win.”
Harvick was met on the start-finish line by his son Keelan, who walked up the track and retrieved the checkered flag from the starter’s stand before riding along with his father on the way to Victory Lane.
“He told me before the race, ‘Dad, if you win, I want to go out and wave the checkered flag.’ And I said, ‘Well if you do that, you’ve got to take the victory lap with me,’” Harvick said of Keelan’s post-race antics.
He went on to describe the importance of sharing the experience with his son.
“For him to be here and able to do that and be a part of NASCAR and bring your son to work and do all the things that we get to do with our kids, I have had him with me by myself the last three weeks and we have had a ball. I couldn’t be happier to be a dad and be a part of NASCAR where they let your family come to the race track and be a part of it.”
There are three races left before the championship Playoffs begin in Las Vegas next month. The MENCS tour goes under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 18, on NBC Sports.
Unofficial Race Results for the Consumers Energy 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race
In a race that appeared to be in Aric Almirola’s hands in the final 45 laps, a late caution in the Foxwoods 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway essentially set up a finish between two of the top three title favorites.
Aggression prevailed on a day where rain seemingly encompassed the 1.058-mile speedway. Finally getting the green flag around 4:25 p.m. ET, pole-sitter Kurt Busch appeared to be the early race favorite.
Leading 94 of 301 laps, Busch’s bid for the win was derailed by a near crash on pit road with fellow Ford racer Ryan Blaney.
Meanwhile, Almirola’s car came to life during a long green flag run, taking the top spot within the final 50 laps before Clint Bowyer crashed into the wall between Turns 3 and 4. Consequently, the final pit stop proved costly for Almirola.
On the other hand, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick suddenly found themselves with a chance to score the win. During the final 10 laps, Kyle Busch’s advantage over a hard-charging Harvick evaporated like the rain at Loudon. Both past Cup champions navigated the high line at Loudon, not wanting to give an inch to each other.
With five laps to go, Harvick decided to use the chrome horn on Busch, rooting the Las Vegas native from the top spot in turn two. While Busch saved his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota from the wall, Harvick piloted his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford to his sixth win of the 2018 season.
To say the least, the Bakersfield, California native relished his late race move at “The Magic Mile,” living up to his moniker as “The Closer.”
“I just didn’t know if I was going to get there again,” Harvick said. “It felt like that was my best opportunity to do what I had to do to win. I didn’t want to wreck him but I didn’t want to waste a bunch of time behind him.”
Despite scoring wins at Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dover, and Kansas, Harvick’s focus on a second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title has been precise. On the other hand, the grizzled veteran noted how Loudon, Pocono, and Watkins Glen were tracks he hoped to improve on given his dominant regular season.
“Winning is important,” Harvick remarked. “You’ve got to take every opportunity you can. My car was better in the lane I needed to be in and as you get to the end there, you need to be aggressive.”
While Harvick, Busch, and Almirola earned podium finishes, Martin Truex Jr, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top-10.
Following a weekend in the Granite State, the premier division treks down to Pocono Raceway for the Gander Outdoor 400, where Kyle Busch looks to repeat his victory from last year. Round 21 of the season goes green shortly after 2:50 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
Aric Almirola is off to the strongest start of his career, as he sits 10th in points and is currently in position for the Playoffs.
After leaving Richard Petty Motorsports last year, it was announced in November of 2017 that Aric Almirola would replace Danica Patrick in the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Fusion driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. After the opening 10 races of the season, Almirola finds himself in the top 10 in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup driver points standings and is currently in position to qualify for the Playoffs. In perspective, the No. 10 team’s previous best result in points was 24th in both 2014 and 2015. This year, they have two top-10 finishes and were one turn away from winning the iconic season opener Daytona 500. The team has finished no worse than 13th, which came at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Almirola placed a third fastest time during a final run at the end of the first practice at Auto Club Speedway and securing a 1-2-3 result for Stewart-Haas Racing alongside teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer, respectively. Regardless of the recent rains, all the Cup teams are experiencing high speeds and fast times.
“It’s crazy how gripped up these cars are and how fast we’re going at this race track,” he said when I asked him about the grip from the recent rains and no other series racing here lately. “Usually, you think about coming to Auto Club Speedway and you think about slipping and sliding around, but here in qualifying trim it is insane how fast we’re going.”
One concern about Almirola visiting the 2-mile oval was the familiar yet rough and bouncy backstretch. Last year, Almirola was involved in a fiery crash with Joey Logano and Danica Patrick. Entering Turn 1, Logano had a brake rotor snap in half, which pulled his car into Patrick’s and the two crashed into the outside wall. With oil on the track behind them, Almirola could not turn in time to avoid the collision. His impact into Logano’s car was heavy enough to pick the rear wheels up off the ground. Medical personnel had to lift Almirola through the roof after cutting it open and took him to a local hospital. After evaluations, Aric had broken his back, and the violent wreck caused the driver to miss roughly eight weeks of Monster Energy Cup Series competition.
Despite the history of his back injury, Aric was relieved the surface caused no issues with his back and that he’s never felt better.
“Surprisingly well,” Alrimola said with a hint of relief. “The very first test that I did on the seven-post shaker rig after I broke my back to make sure that my back felt OK enough to get back in the race car was we ran the track mapped file from Auto Club Speedway because it’s the roughest race track that we go to. So six weeks after I broke my back, I went to Ford’s seven-post shaker rig and sat in my race car on that shaker rig with the car running a mock lap around this race track and I remember thinking to myself, ‘Holy cow, is it really that rough?’ And then we showed up back here and the answer is yes, it really is that rough. But my back feels great.
“Thank you for asking. I feel like I am better than 100 percent. I feel like I’m more physically fit and in better shape than I was pre-accident just because after my accident, I had to be really diligent with my rehab and my physical therapy just to be able to hurry up the process to be able to get back in the car, so I feel like right now I’m probably in the best shape of my life.”
Despite the successful practice session this morning, Almirola has yet to finish in the top-10 at Fontana. His previous best finish was 11th three years ago but has only finished in the top-20 two other times (14th and 19th). However, this isn’t stumbling his confidence level at all.
“Every race car driver at this level has been really good at everything they did before they got here or else they wouldn’t have gotten here,” Almirola stated. “It is gonna take a while to build my confidence back up and get to where I need to be to. I’ve historically not run well at Vegas. I’ve historically not run well at Atlanta. Phoenix has been an OK track for me, but to go to those race tracks and produce the results that we have had me really excited about the race tracks coming down the pipe that I feel like are race tracks that I’ve excelled at even with the slightly underfunded team and not the best race cars.
“I’ve still been able to run well and produce results at those race tracks, so I’m excited to see what we can accomplish when we get to those kinds of race tracks.”
The No. 10 Stewart-Hass Racing team missed qualifying, despite finishing third in first practice on Friday, and will start 27th for Sunday’s race. The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series waves the green flag for the Auto Club 400 on Sunday, March 18 at 12:30 p.m. local time.
In this day and age of video clips and instant clicks, it isn’t hard to look up moments from Kurt Busch’s career, moments that would, no doubt, in retrospect, be pretty embarrassing. Remember his “back of the field” gesture to Jimmy Spencer at Indy in 2002? Or his countless radio blow-ups when driving for Penske? What about his raging toward Dr. Jerry Punch in 2011?
All very embarrassing, no doubt. Busch has proven himself time and again to be very competitive and to hold himself and his team to a higher regard. He’s a champion. He’s won on every type of venue. He’s undoubtedly one of the best in the business driving for one of the best organizations in the business. Eighteen years after his Cup debut, we’re now seeing a man who seems to be at peace after all he’s accomplished and endured in a sport he loves.
Sunday at Las Vegas, Busch’s No. 41 was quietly running near the front when the car got away from him, sending him into Chase Elliott and the wall beyond. A frustrating end to an otherwise strong run, with Busch exiting the remains of his Ford and taking the mandatory trip to the Infield Care Center. Instead of showing anger and the once-familiar Busch rage, he was apologetic to Elliott, telling Fox Sports that he “hated it for all of the Chase Elliott fans and Kurt Busch fans.”
Later on, in a Twitter video posted to his account, Busch still seemed upset due to the day’s events, only to be surprised by his wife, Ashley Busch.
Not the result I had in mind. Can not believe I wrecked. I let everybody down and in the process, ruined @chaseelliott day. Then this happened… S/O to #FelixSabatesFordCharlotte thank you! And my love @MrsAshleyBusch for the surprise! pic.twitter.com/DK5IpilJHs
This was a side of Busch that’s always been there. It just hasn’t been seen as often as his angry side. Many are quick to credit this to his return to the sport following a brief suspension in early 2015 on allegations of domestic violence. In the days after, it did seem like he was mellowed, calmer, and for the most part quieter. Others credit his marriage to Ashley. After a previous marriage ended in divorce and a well-publicized break-up with a long-time girlfriend, Busch seems to be at peace with things and himself.
The results have translated into success. He won the 2017 Daytona 500 and ended the season with six top-fives and 15 top-10s. Also worth noting was his track-record pole win at Texas Motor Speedway in November. In 2018 he’s had two crashes, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s run near the front in all three races this season, including his first-ever stage win at Daytona.
Busch isn’t winning as much as his teammate Kevin Harvick; he hasn’t won since his Daytona 500 in. No doubt that’s a priority for him and there’s no question that it pains him that he hasn’t won since then. But his new demeanor, that of a relaxed, quiet, at-ease veteran whose competitive streak has transformed but not diminished, will carry him to a win in 2018. He’s capable, as is his team, and his cars this year are good enough to carry him to Victory Lane. It will happen this year.
It’s been a while, but the recliner is set for another great season of NASCAR action.
I hope there is more action in the Daytona 500 than the Advanced Auto Parts Duel at Daytona because riding around in single file and the big one happening on the final lap doesn’t mean action to me.
It looks like the new ride height rule has crew chiefs and engineers scratching their heads about how to make the car handle at Daytona. Thankfully they have a couple of days to run simulations and get a plan together and hopefully bring us an action-packed Daytona 500.
The idea behind this column is to share the perspective of a fan. If there is something you want to comment on, feel free to e-mail me jdhwood20@aol.com. I am here for you.
Time for some Bold Predictions from the Recliner.
The five crew members over the pit wall will be a mess and before NASCAR gets to Charlotte for the All-Star Race, that rule will change.
Ryan Blaney will win the Daytona 500.
I will be the new owner of BK Racing. Well, not really, but Ron Devine won’t be soon.
When we hit the intermediate tracks, every Ford driver will be complaining that Chevy and Toyota will have an unfair advantage.
The Danica Double will end with wrecks at Daytona and Indy.
Chase Elliott will get his first win and they will keep coming after that.
Furniture Row Racing will have the Championship hangover and Martin Truex Jr. will not make the final four at Homestead.
The final four at Homestead will be: Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney.
The 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion will be Kyle Larson.
There are a few things I will be watching for this year.
I want to see how Aric Almirola performs in Stewart-Haas equipment. He was respectable at Richard Petty Motorsports, but he knew most weeks that a top-15 was what he could hope for. Now that he is in a top-notch ride, he needs to prove he is the driver who can handle the equipment.
I hope Bubba Wallace gets enough funding and RPM has the patience to see him develop as a driver at the Cup level. I think he has the talent and I hope he gets the chance to prove it.
I am looking forward to finding out how the Hawkeye inspection platform works and if we will have 20 cars late for qualifying.
It truly is an honor to have this space to share my thoughts on a sport I love.
Enjoy the Duels and the rest of Speedweek.
We’ll talk soon when I share The View From My Recliner.
It’s only a short time until the annual Media Tour at the Hall of Fame in Charlotte. We will learn a lot there, but a couple things are obvious. There will be 24 major teams running next year (10 Fords, nine Chevrolets, and five Toyotas). Each camp has stars in their lineup, but Toyota’s dominance of the 2017 season (with only six competitive cars) is favored. Let’s look at each team’s lineup.
Chevrolet has the four Hendrick Motorsports cars. HMS fell on hard times last year despite their dominance for several years. Jimmie Johnson will be back in the Lowe’s Camaro. You read that right. The older SS they have fun the last few years is no longer being manufactured, so a change had to be made. Besides, finding a dealer with a Chevy SS was about as hard as finding a needle in a haystack anyway. After Johnson, the rest of the team will be made up of a group of youngsters. Chase Elliott is back, this time taking his father’s No. 9, William Byron, in the 24, and Alex Bowman in the 88. Of this team, only Johnson has ever won a Cup race. You might call this a rebuilding year for HMS.
Richard Childress Racing will field the 31 for Ryan Newman, the 3 for Austin Dillon, and the 27, with the driver rumored to be Brennan Poole, but nothing has been announced. Both Newman and Dillon won races last year.
Chip Ganassi Racing will feature Kyle Larson in the 42, coming off an excellent season. Jamie McMurray will be back in the No. 1 Chevrolet.
Ford will field one more competitive car in 2018. Team Penske has expanded to three cars with Brad Keselowski in the No. 2 and Joey Logano in the No.22 Fords. Ryan Blaney, who earned his first victory in 2017 with the Wood Brothers will pilot the No. 12 Ford. The team’s alliance with the Wood Brothers continues with Paul Menard taking over the driving chores. Penske bought a charter for the No. 12 from Roush Fenway Racing, meaning the No. 16 is not coming back. The Charter was leased to the No. 37 JTG Daugherty team last year.
Roush Fenway will see their improved team have the same driver lineup. Trevor Bayne in the No. 6 and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the No. 17. Stenhouse won two restrictor plate races in 2017 and Bayne won the Daytona 500 in 2011.
Stewart-Haas Racing will see it’s lineup jumbled somewhat. The Ford team will have Aric Almirola move over from the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 and drive the No. 10, formerly driven by Danica Patrick. Otherwise, things stay the same with 2017 Final Four driver Kevin Harvick in the No.4, Clint Bowyer in the 14, and Kurt Busch in the 41.
Toyota saw its field go down a car this year. The Joe Gibbs Racing stable will have the 11 with Denny Hamlin, the 19 with Daniel Suarez, the 18 with Kyle Busch, and Erik Jones, who raced for Furniture Row Racing in 2017 in the No. 20. Much like Team Penske does with the Wood Brothers, Furniture Row and 2017 champ Martin Truex, Jr. will field the 78 Toyota. Furniture Row did not have sponsorship for the No. 77 car, so Toyota’s stable goes from six to five for 2018
These are the teams that I predict will land in victory lane in 2018. Oh, we may get a surprise winner, but these 24 teams will battle race in and race out for the checkers. We will know more in a couple of weeks when the teams meet with the media in Charlotte, but this how I see it now. A big hole was left in the sport with the retirements of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Danica Patrick and Matt Kenseth at the end of the year. How many will stay away from the sport because these drivers are not in the lineup? Time will tell.
