The intensity is building as the NASCAR Cup Series moves closer toward the playoffs.
After last weekend’s controversial finish at Richmond, three races remain in the regular season. The playoffs begin Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Here’s a look at where things stand for each Cup organization heading into Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on USA).
23XI Racing — Good news: Tyler Reddick has four top-three finishes in the last five races. … He has gained 59 points on first place in the season standings in the last six races and is five points out heading to Michigan. … Reddick has a series-best 10 top-five finishes this season. … He also has a series-best 16 top-10 results this season, including a career-best six top 10s in a row. … Bubba Wallace moved to three points above the playoff cutline after the penalty this week to Austin Dillon. … Wallace has four top 10s in the last five races. … Wallace collected his first career pole at Michigan in 2022. Bad news: Reddick has never finished better than 18th in five Cup starts at Michigan and has placed 29th or worse in his last three starts there.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Todd Gilliland has finished 17th or better in 11 of the last 12 races. Bad news: Michael McDowell has never finished better than 20th in 17 career starts at Michigan.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Kyle Larson remains the points leader. … Chase Elliott is the only driver in the series who has been running at the finish of all the races this season. He is on a career-long 36-race streak without a DNF. … This weekend marks the 700th race as a Cup crew chief for Alan Gustafson, Elliott’s crew chief. Bad news: William Byron has not led a lap in the last nine races — the longest drought in his Cup career. … Alex Bowman has an average finish of 24 in 14 career starts at Michigan.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Martin Truex Jr. has four runner-up finishes at Michigan, including last year. … Truex has scored seven consecutive top 10s at Michigan. … Christopher Bell has won a series-best 10 stages this season. … Denny Hamlin has the best average running position (8.96) this season. Bad news: The organization has not won in the last five races, it’s longest winless streak of the season. … JGR is winless in the last 13 races at Michigan. … Truex is winless in the last 39 races. … Bell has five pit road speeding penalties this season. … Ty Gibbs has only four top 10s in the last 17 races this season.
JTG Daugherty Racing — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has four finishes of 11th or better in the last seven races. Bad news: Stenhouse has failed to finish five races due to accident this season, including twice in the last three races.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: This will be AJ Allmendinger’s seventh start in the last nine Cup races for Kaulig Racing. Bad news: While Allmendinger has a win in the Xfinity Series at Michigan (2021), he has never scored a top 10 in a Cup race there in 22 starts. … Daniel Hemric has finished 30th four times this season, including each of the past two races.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two Cup races in his native Michigan. … The team also announced this week that Jones has agreed to a contract extension to remain in the No. 43 car beyond this season. Bad news: Since placing eighth at New Hampshire, John Hunter Nemechek has finished no better than 28th in the next five races.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon snapped a 68-race winless streak, scoring his first victory since August 2022 at Daytona. … Kyle Busch was 12th at Richmond, marking the second time in four races he had finished 12th or better. He had done that only once in the previous seven races. Bad news: Busch has not scored a stage point in the last six races. ... NASCAR’s penalty removed the playoff eligibility with Dillon’s win at Richmond.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware makes his fifth start of the season and his third in the last four races. Bad news: Justin Haley is winless in his last 128 starts, the longest streak among active drivers with at least one Cup victory.
RFK Racing — Good news: Chris Buescher is the defending winner at Michigan. He’s also the defending winner of next week’s race at Daytona. ... Buescher holds the final playoff spot after the penalty to Austin Dillon this week. … Michigan native Brad Keselowski has an average finish of 12.3 at Michigan, including 14 top 10s in 26 career Cup starts. Bad news: Keselowski has two top 10s in the last eight races.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar tied his career-best finish of eighth at Richmond. … Corey LaJoie has been running at the finish in all but one of the last 76 Cup races. … Zane Smith has five top-20 finishes in the last nine races. Bad news: LaJoie is 30th in the points and Smith is 33rd in the season standings.
Stewart-Haas Racing — Good news: SHR cars have won six of the last nine Michigan races (Kevin Harvick has five of those wins, Clint Bowyer has the other). … Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece each has more top-10 finishes at this point this year than they did at this time last year. Bad news: The organization has gone 71 races since its last victory (August 2022 at Richmond by Harvick).
Team Penske — Good news: Joey Logano has three Michigan wins, tied for the most among active drivers with Kyle Larson. … Ryan Blaney has three top 10s in a row at Michigan, including a win in 2021. Bad news: Austin Cindric has one top 10 since his victory in June at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Daniel Suarez finished 10th at Richmond, giving him back-to-back top 10s for the first time this season. Bad news: Ross Chastain fell out of a playoff spot at Richmond.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: The organization ranks second with 11 victories at Michigan (RFK Racing has 14 wins there). Bad news: Harrison Burton has finished 30th or worse in 12 races this season, including the last three.
