What to look for in today’s NASCAR Cup race in Michigan
BROOKLYN, Michigan – The drama of Richmond is behind us and the NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual trip to Michigan International Speedway.
Due to rain, qualifying was canceled and practice was limited on Saturday, leaving teams with little time on the track to prepare for today’s race (2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network).
MORE: Michigan’s starting lineup
Here are three things to watch for with three races left in the regular season.
1. Points race
There are points races worth watching throughout the table, with the top three places separated by six points – the closest the top three places in the table have ever been at this point in the season.
Kyle Larson leads the standings. Tyler Reddick is five points behind. Chase Elliott is six points behind Larson. Behind him lurks Denny Hamlin, who is 21 points behind Larson.
Reddick has been one of the best drivers, finishing in the top three four times in the last five races. Reddick starts second today. Larson has two consecutive top-10 finishes, including his win at Indianapolis. Larson starts fourth today. Elliott has three consecutive top-10 finishes. Elliott starts sixth today.
Austin Dillon talks about the response he received from a conversation he had with Kid Rock this week.
The points are just as exciting in the race for the playoffs. Four drivers are closely tied for the last three spots. Ty Gibbs is 18 points above the cutline. Bubba Wallace is three points above the cutline. Chris Buescher holds the final playoff spot. Ross Chastain is the first driver below the cutline, although he is tied with Buescher on points (Buescher has the tiebreaker).
Wallace starts today in fifth place, Chastain in seventh, Buescher in 18th and Gibbs in 19th.
Wallace goes into today’s race with two consecutive top-five finishes.
“We have shown a lot of pace in the last few weeks,” he said. “We have been fully focused on the game.”
The loss of playoff eligibility due to Austin Dillon’s win over Richmond impacts how much money RCR receives in the charter system.
Buescher secured the final playoff spot after NASCAR revoked his playoff eligibility tied to Austin Dillon’s win last weekend at Richmond. Richard Childress Racing has appealed the penalty, with a hearing set for Wednesday.
Buescher, who won the race in Michigan last year, says that finishing in the last playoff spot will not change his racing strategy.
“We knew at the beginning of the year, before we even got to Daytona, that … the only way to really feel comfortable going into the playoffs was to win,” he said. “And without a win, there’s really no way to get through the next three weeks feeling comfortable.”
2. Find the air
At last year’s race, some drivers spun while under another car, a situation that did not occur as often with the Next Gen cars.
Among the casualties of last year’s race was Christopher Bell, who was battling with Alex Bowman for the lead in the second stage when he lost control and crashed.
The exhibition race will take place on February 2, 2025 and is the first cup race on the historic track since 1971.
“When you drove under (another) car in the old car, you lost a lot of lateral force and that caused you to spin out,” Bell said. “With this car, we don’t rely nearly as much on lateral force and we were very cautious when driving side by side and over time you got more confident with it.”
“It’s like we’ve built more lateral force into this car over time and it’s paying off now with people spinning side by side, but we’ve certainly never driven these cars this aggressively, doing these maneuvers and driving hard into the corner with the guys on the doors.
“It happened to me last year and I’ve definitely learned from it and know not to put myself in that position again. This track is just really fast so you really rely on the aerodynamics of the car. Once the grip goes away you’re just going along with it. It’s just a track where it’s easy to make a mistake.”
3. Race against the radar
The weather forecast for today looks much better than it did earlier in the week, but there is still a chance of rain this afternoon, which could affect the drivers’ race results and the crew chiefs’ decisions.
With the end of the regular season approaching and so many drivers trying to get a win to make the playoffs, who could risk that and be rewarded? Or will it be a team that has already won this year that will risk a win and get the five playoff points?
This could add another dimension to today’s events.
