Cup Category

By Matt Crossman, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Sitting in his racecar during a red flag delay near the end of the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Kyle Larson pondered the possible routes to an overtime victory. He was in fourth-place and would restart for the final two-lap shootout behind leader Martin Truex Jr. Larson hadn’t had a fast racecar all day at Michigan International Speedway, but he thought with a gutsy move on the restart, he could steal a win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup SeriesRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Pit strategy helped Chris Buescher score a top-10 finish in the Pure Michigan 400. Buescher was off-sequence throughout most of the race before finally finishing in sixth. After staying out and catching a caution with 13 laps to go, Buescher found himself one of eight yet to pit. With just 14 drivers on the lead lap, crew chief Trent Owens’s strategy worked out. Buescher’s No. 37 Bush’s Grillin’ Beans Chevrolet SS was primed for a to-10 run. The late-race pit strategy for the JTG-Daugherty RacingRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway was a bright day for just Erik Jones while the rest of the 2017 Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contenders in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series struggled. All four of the ROTY contenders have experience at the 2-mile oval. Erik Jones was the best rookie, finishing third in the No. 77 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota Camry after running inside the top-five all day long. Jones battled for both the lead and the race win.Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor The 2017 season hasn’t gone quite to plan for Trevor Bayne and his No. 6 team. While his Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has visited victory lane twice and will be one of the 16 drivers competing for the championship in the playoffs, Bayne had managed only two top-10 finishes prior to Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway. Despite the struggles his team has faced this season, Bayne came into the Pure Michigan 400 ready to turn things around and when the checkered flagRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor When the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series rolls into Michigan twice a year, the battle between the three manufacturers in the series takes on a new life with two of the three being based down the road in Detroit. After Brad Keselowski, a Ford driver, won the pole for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 on Friday evening to give Ford the top three drivers in qualifying, comments were made indicating that he thought Toyota, which has been the dominant manufacturer in recent weeks, was sandbagging atRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Matt DiBenedetto and his Go Fas Racing crew chief Gene Nead will not have to worry about their 2018 plans as they will return to their Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team. DiBenedetto, Nead, and Go Fas Racing team owner Archie St. Hilaire made the announcement at Michigan International Speedway. DiBenedetto is the first driver to compete for an entire season for Go Fas. He also earned the team their first two top-10 finishes. Both of those came in some of NASCAR’s crown jewel races,Read More

By NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – Brad Keselowski will start on the pole for Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 (at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN), after taking the top spot from fellow Ford driver Ryan Blaney, who had posted the fastest times to that point, but bobbled twice in his run in the final qualifying round on Friday at Michigan International Speedway. Keselowski grew up in Rochester Hills, Mich., a Detroit suburb 99 miles from Michigan International Speedway. He is a big fan of Detroit and University of Michigan sportsRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor With Chevrolet ceasing production of their current car model, the Chevrolet SS, at the end of the year, the manufacturer set about choosing a new car model for their Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series entry for 2018 and beyond. After months of speculation, Chevrolet officially unveiled the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as their new car model that will debut on track next season. The new ZL1 model will look to build on the success that its predecessor has had in its run in the Cup Series,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Racing at Michigan International Speedway often comes down to fuel mileage on the fast, two-mile oval, especially with long green flag runs and a scarcity of caution flags to slow the race pace down. In this week’s “Throwback Thursday Theater,” we’ll look back at one of those races that saw the lead swap three times over the last six laps when the leaders fuel tanks began to run dry. Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch would lead the field to green in the 2009 LifeLock 400,Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After last weekend’s race at Watkins Glen saw Martin Truex, Jr. score his fourth win of the season in a fuel mileage thriller, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the second time in 2017 to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit in Sunday’s running of the Pure Michigan 400. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning thisRead More