Kevin Harvick comes to Michigan to win. He’s already done it six times at the track, including a three-race sweep between 2019 and 2020.
He also hasn’t finished outside the top-fifteen at the track in eight years, either. Michigan is a track that rewards those drivers that know how to get around it, and Harvick knows that well.
It was his win last year that must mean the most for him, though. It not only got him into the Playoffs in a year where points positions were filled with more and more new winners, but snapped a 65-race winless streak.
“I think Michigan took a load off because we weren’t going to make the playoffs unless we won a race, and we’d gotten so far behind in the first half of the season that it just put us in that position to have to win,” Harvick said.
“In that position, you feel a little bit more pressure because you only have one option and points really weren’t an option last year. It definitely was a relief to put that behind us and then worry about the last part of the season.”
Though his Playoff position on points is secured on points this year, he’s still looking for his first win this year in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 in the Irish Hills (2:30 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), and will be hoping to put that understanding of the track to use in his final start before retirement.
“For me, the places where car placement comes into play and being able to repeat that lap after lap is something that kind of fits my driving style,” Harvick said.
“I think Michigan is one of those places where car placement and just putting yourself in the right position lap after lap after lap, and not making the mistakes that cost you a half-a-second a lap, and just making a half-a-tenth-of-a-second mistake instead of making those big mistakes and losing track position, and just doing all the little things right, is what you need to do at Michigan.”
His Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, on the other hand, all need a win with just four races to go in the regular season before the Playoffs begin. But strong runs at Richmond Raceway makes that look increasingly possible.
Ryan Preece finished fifth, his best finish of his return to the Cup Series at the team.
“I’m really proud of our team and how hard we’ve worked to get here,” he said. “If we consistently bring cars like that and all of us keep ourselves accountable, we’ll continue to be where we want to be.”
“I’m really happy with a fifth-place finish, but I know we can do even better and get those wins. That’s what we’re all here to do – win. We’ve all got the tools and the motivation to do it, and every week we’ve shown how strong we are. We’re going to keep doing that.”
Preece’s teammate Aric Almirola also scored a top-ten at the track. He won at New Hampshire last year in what proved critical to his making the Playoffs, and he’ll be hoping for a repeat.
“Every time we bring fast cars, it lights a fire in the team and gives us a lot of confidence moving forward,” Almirola pointed out. “It’s great timing heading into this last stretch when you’re in a must-win situation to make the Playoffs.”
With just four races to do it, Almirola needs to harness that confidence quickly.
On the other end of the scale, Ross Chastain has a win and is in comfortable position. But he wants momentum heading into the postseason and strong runs will do that.
“We want to win and contend for wins, lead laps, put ourselves at the front during the race,” he said. But “there’s no panic. Just go about our business and see the fruits of our labor.”
As for the track itself, repeated sentiment amongst the drivers was that it’s a fast one. The two-mile track has a significantly different feel compared to mile-and-a-half ovals, said Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe, who needs a win like his teammates.
“It’s a lot faster,” he said. You don’t have the same racing area as you do at some others. We’re all really fighting to run the same line, and when you’re trying to keep up your momentum getting into a corner, that becomes a really tight space.”
“You can’t really race Michigan the same as you do Fontana or the smaller intermediate tracks. You really need to have a car that handles well, like anywhere else, but you need to make sure you’re not making it worse with how you manage the speed we carry into the corners.”
Martin Truex, who sits in much better points position at the top of the standings with three wins, had a similar appraisal.
“Michigan is the fastest track we go to,” he said. “It’s really hard to hold your foot down going into turn one. Your brain is telling you that you need to start lifting, but usually the car can take a bit more. It’s super, super fast and the commitment level is very high.”
One team added to the entry list is Beard Oil Motorsports, with Austin Hill behind the wheel.
Linda Beard, owner of Beard Oil Motorsports, lives in Michigan native. Her late husband, a racer himself, was the team’s founder, and she said it means a lot for the family to compete at his home track when he could never.
“It was really a combination of many things that made it possible,” she explained. “The current car definitely helps a lot because there is more versatility to it.”
“When Austin Hill and his team came to us last year with the idea to race for us and add to the schedule, it was just a great opportunity to see how far we could take this. We have some great partners on board with us this season and that’s really kind of taken this racing program to a level we didn’t expect.”
Junior Motorsports hoping for Xfinity Series resurgence at Michigan
JR Motorsports has room for improvement. After a dominant season last year, the team comes into Saturday’s Cabo Wabo 250 at 2.0-mile Michigan International Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with less success.
Sam Mayer won at Road America and has six top fives. Justin Allgaier won at Charlotte and has nine top fives. Josh Berry has seven top five finishes, while Brandon Jones has just one.
But Allgaier and the whole JRM team has always been strong at Michigan. In the last two Xfinity Series races at the track, JR Motorsports has had three of the top six cars both times, including a runner-up finish for Allgaier.
“Michigan has been a strong place for this team, and really everyone at JR Motorsports for the last few seasons,” Allgaier said. “We came close to getting the win here last year, and hopefully we can be that one spot better this weekend.”
“We have had some unbelievable speed here lately. Hopefully, we can avoid any trouble out there and come away with the win when the checkered flag falls Saturday,” he added.
Sam Mayer, the series’ most recent winner, has been less successful at the track. But has momentum, he noted.
“Michigan has been a tough track for me in the past, but I’m looking forward to getting back up there this weekend, especially coming off the thrill of my first career win,” Mayer said.
“Road America was a dream come true, and now that we finally got that first one out of the way, I’m looking to keep this hot streak going and see what we can do in Michigan.”
There are six races left before the Xfinity Series Playoff field is set, and the battle for the regular-season championship has become a hotly contested affair. Austin Hill currently leads second-place John Hunter Nemechek by just 14 points.
NASCAR Cup Series
Next Race: FireKeepers Casino 400
The Place: Michigan International Speedway
The Date: Sunday, August 6
The Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $7,544,696
TV: USA, 2 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 400 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 120), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Cabo Wabo 250
The Place: Michigan International Speedway
The Date: Saturday, August 5
The Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,367,625
TV: USA, 3 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 250 miles (125 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 125)
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