Carson Hocevar Overtakes Josh Berry for Rookie Points Lead

Despite his hotheaded driving style, rookie Carson Hocevar is surprisingly proving to be one of this year's most consistent drivers. His tenth-place finish at Michigan gave him his second straight top ten and his ninth finish of 17th or better in the last ten races. Despite his 25-point rough driving penalty at Nashville and not […]

Denny Hamlin Recovers to Ninth After Sunday Spinout

Despite starting on the pole according to the scoring metric after qualifying was rained out, Kyle Larson made a three-wide pass on Hamlin, and eventual winner Tyler Reddick and Hamlin never led at the line. He certainly came close as he was running second directly behind Bubba Wallace late in Stage 1 when he spun […]

Ross Chastain Back Over Cut Line, but Michigan Still a Wasted Opportunity

Once again, Ross Chastain snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as his 25th-place finish marks yet another instance this year where he finished much worse than he ran, but in a race where all three of the principal bubble drivers spun out, he did overtake Bubba Wallace by a single point for the final […]

William Byron Comes up Short in Late-Race Duel at Michigan

William Byron finished second in yesterday's FireKeepers Casino 400. In a race where nobody dominated, Byron set the fastest average speed for the first time this season even though he failed to win. While Byron consistently ran in the top 10, he didn't seem to have potentially race-winning pace until the closing stint of the […]

Chris Buescher the Only Bubble Driver to Recover From His Spin at Michigan

Chris Buescher entered this weekend's Michigan race holding the tiebreaker over Ross Chastain for the last playoff spot, but in a race where all three bubble drivers spun out, Buescher managed to recover from his spin while Chastain and Bubba Wallace could not. Buescher drove from 18th to eighth and looked to have one of […]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr's Speed Decline Has Received Little Notice

Ricky Stenhouse's significant decline in speed has somewhat flown under the radar for most of the year because fans tend to be harsher towards the drivers who crash most often than drivers who are merely slow even if their actual performance is worse. However, the spotlight did switch to Stenhouse in a big way in […]

Intermediate Tracks Still Don't Suit Ryan Preece

It's unclear whether Ryan Preece will be back in the NASCAR Cup Series again after this year with his team owner and biggest advocate Tony Stewart leaving the ownership ranks at the end of 2024. Preece has become an afterthought in the NASCAR Cup Series as his fellow Stewart-Haas teammates have not given him as […]

John Hunter Nemechek Still Struggling to Learn Next Gen Car

Although John Hunter Nemechek did win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Michigan last year and finished third in yesterday's edition of that race, the prospects of him having a good run in today's Cup Series race seem dim. He still does not seem to have fully figured out the nuances of the Next Gen […]

Joey Logano Likely Ignoring Michigan to Focus on Playoffs

A week after Austin Dillon wrecked Joey Logano to win at Richmond and Logano retaliated by driving dangerously in a crowded pit lane, today's FireKeepers Casino 400 feels almost like an afterthought for both drivers. Logano's quite flukish win at Nashville locked him into the playoffs even though he has hardly had winning speed all […]

After Release from Spire Motorsports, Corey LaJoie Has Seemingly Lost Motivation

Now that his NASCAR Cup Series career seems to be coming to a close, it seems that Corey LaJoie may not be putting as much effort in as he was before Spire Motorsports released him. In last week's Richmond race, Carson Hocevar ranked 10th in speed while LaJoie was 35th-fastest. Although fans seem to disagree, […]

RFK Racing's Michigan Prowess May Help Justin Haley's Satellite Team

Justin Haley has consistently run mid-pack in his NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan in the past. Although he did finish all three of his Cup Series starts, his average finish of 21.7 has been quite mediocre. However, he and new crew chief, Chris Lawson, have been generally outperforming their results in recent years and […]

Despite Increased Penske Speed, Austin Cindric Remains a Longshot at Michigan

Although Austin Cindric is frequently strong in qualifying, he continues to be consistently slower over a full race distance than in qualifying sessions for the most part, particularly outside road courses and drafting tracks, where he has gotten most of his top-10 finishes. Cindric is one driver who could possibly surprise when considering the speed […]

Chase Briscoe Mediocre at Michigan, Like Most Intermediates

Chase Briscoe has generally struggled on intermediate superspeedways in NASCAR Cup Series particularly since last year. Michigan is not an exception, as both his average finish and average running position at the track are around 21st--although he admittedly had one of his strongest intermediate runs in the 2022 Fontana race (a similar track in length). […]

Josh Berry's Michigan Chances Might Hinge on Rodney Childers's Setups

Josh Berry starts 16th in today's Michigan race. Although he unsurprisingly tends to be fastest on short tracks due to his vast late model experience, his team and crew chief, Rodney Childers, did win five of the last eight races at Michigan with Kevin Harvick behind the wheel. Berry also made a pass for the […]

AJ Allmendinger Full-time Again in 2025, but Likely Won't Deliver at Michigan

AJ Allmendinger will be making his first start in the NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan this afternoon after it was just announced on Thursday that he would return to the Cup Series full-time in 2025. However, don't expect much from him this weekend, as Michigan has never been one of his better tracks. He has […]

Momentum From Olympic Break Carries Daniel Suarez to One of His Best Runs

As predicted here, despite Daniel Suarez's generally mediocre Richmond record, the positive momentum from his Olympic break gave him one of his best NASCAR Cup Series races ever. Despite Suarez's general lack of speed this season, his team significantly benefited from going on the option tires before any others did, enabling him to drive from […]

Despite Lackluster Run, Kyle Larson Retains Points Lead with Seventh-Place Finish

Kyle Larson had a mediocre run by his standards at Richmond, but still garnered a seventh-place finish to retain a five-point lead over Tyler Reddick and a six-point lead over Chase Elliott but he did lose points to both of them. Larson still finished best amongst the Hendrick drivers although none of them ran very […]

Austin Dillon Wins at Richmond After Dirtiest Move in Years

Despite having almost certainly his worst NASCAR season, Austin Dillon stumbled to victory at Richmond after one of the dirtiest moves in recent memory, marking the third time he hit the leader to win. He actually ran better than in any of his previous wins, as he ran down Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to […]

Ross Chastain Finishes Fifth, but Still Drops Below Playoff Cutline

Although Ross Chastain exceeded expectations by finishing fifth at Richmond, which gave him his best finish in seven races, the race proved to be his worst playoff nightmare as not only did Austin Dillon's ignominious victory blow up the playoff bubble but Bubba Wallace finished fourth and scored stage points while Chastain did not, which […]

Daniel Suarez Riding High After Wedding, Win in Brazil, and Contract Extension

Despite Daniel Suarez's subpar performances since his win at Atlanta, the win and playoff bid proved enough for Trackhouse Racing and they extended his contract for the 2025 season on Friday. Suarez has some real momentum in his corner after his marriage to Julia Piquet, his win in the NASCAR Brazil Series last week, and […]

John Hunter Nemechek Improving, but Probably Won't Contend at Richmond

Although John Hunter Nemechek has won on this track before in the Craftsman Truck Series as recently as 2021, don't expect JHN to recapture the magic this weekend in the Cook Out 400. Much like Daniel Hemric, Nemechek has struggled significantly to adapt to the Next Gen car because his previous full-time season in 2020 […]

Short Tracks Remain Michael McDowell's Achilles' Heel

Although Michael McDowell has surprisingly been something of a qualifying juggernaut this year, he has consistently faded throughout the race on almost all unrestricted ovals, and he has generally had minimal speed on short tracks while his teammate, Todd Gilliland, has been considerably faster. McDowell starts 28th in this weekend's Cook Out 400 at Richmond, […]

Brad Keselowski Continues to Struggle in Qualifying, but Passes Well Enough to Compensate at Richmond

Brad Keselowski qualified 29th at Richmond this weekend, which is actually his worst starting position ever there. However, he's qualified badly more often than not this year and it hasn't affected his performance much because he has been one of the year's best passers. In the spring Richmond race, Keselowski drove from 23rd to 8th, […]

Erik Jones on a Major Short Track Dry Spell

Erik Jones has consistently lacked short track speed since Joe Gibbs Racing fired him, particularly since the introduction of the Next Gen car. Since 2021, Jones has never finished better than 12th or even led a lap on a short track, even in the anomalous spring Bristol race where it seemed like everyone else led. […]

Daniel Hemric Likely Too Slow to Contend at Richmond

As Daniel Hemric continues to get himself acquainted to the Next Gen chassis, he remains the second-slowest full-timer this season ahead of only Zane Smith. Although Hemric has scraped together some top-10 finishes this year, it seems like it takes significantly longer for drivers to learn this car than previous generations of chassis, so Hemric […]

Richmond May Interrupt Justin Haley's Run of Consistency

Although Justin Haley posted the slowest qualifying speed in the field at Richmond yesterday--even slower than his Xfinity Series regular teammate, Riley Herbst--his plodding, methodical style and Chris Lawson's traditionally brilliant strategy have combined to almost always give Haley better finishes than his average running position, as he seems significantly faster at the end of […]

Ross Chastain in Playoff Danger After Poor Richmond Qualifying Effort

Since Ross Chastain's breakout, he has typically qualified poorly by superstar standards but methodically moved through the field whenever he doesn't crash. His Richmond record is weirdly the exact opposite, as he had his best average starting position on a track he had raced at many times entering this weekend, but despite qualifying in the […]

Richmond May Be Kyle Busch's Best Remaining Chance to Make Playoffs

If Kyle Busch has any hope of turning his season around, Richmond may well be the place. It has always been one of Busch's best tracks. However, his greatness at Richmond is becoming a distant memory, as Busch has only led 46 laps in the last eight races and Richard Childress Racing has often lacked […]

Harrison Burton's Richmond Performances Steadily Declining

Although Harrison Burton's father Jeff was a dominant driver at Richmond Raceway for most of his stint at Roush Racing, little of that success rubbed off on Harrison as he has never finished better than 18th nor has he led a lap at the track in a NASCAR Cup Series car. If anything, his performances […]

Chris Buescher More Likely to Focus On Points Than Winning at Richmond

Chris Buescher starts seventh at Richmond this weekend, tying for his best career start at the track. While Richmond was not one of his best tracks with the Gen-6 chassis, he has been quite fast in the last two summer races in the Next Gen era. Buescher won last year's race despite qualifying 26th, his […]