NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Next Race: Pure Michigan 400

The Place: Michigan International Speedway

The Date: Sunday, Aug. 16

The Time: 2:30 p.m. (ET)

TV: NBCSN, 2 p.m. (ET)

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM Ch. 90

Distance: 400 miles (200 laps)

‘Top-30 for No. 18’: A Kyle Busch Production

A mere 11 races after returning from a broken leg and foot suffered in February, Kyle Busch has cracked the top-30 in the point standings and is now eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Busch will qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs if he can stay in the top-30 at the end of next month’s Richmond race.

Busch currently mans the 30th spot in the driver standings, six points ahead of 31st-place Cole Whitt and one point behind 29th-place Justin Allgaier.

The No. 18 Toyota driver started off slow with just one top-ten finish in his first four races back (Pocono), but has been on an absolute tear since, winning four of the last seven races along with a runner-up.

Over the last seven races Busch has dominated most of the statistical categories, leading the series in wins (4), driver rating (116.3), laps led (317) and points (283). No other driver has multiple wins during the span. Brad Keselowski’s 209 laps led marks the next-best total, while Kevin Harvick’s 107.5 driver rating is the second highest. The 283 points are 22 more than Joey Logano’s second-best total (261).

Busch’s run of wins has overshadowed the consistency of some other drivers in the Sprint Cup Series. Harvick and Joey Logano rank tied with Busch with five top-five finishes over the seven-race span.

Furthermore, Harvick and Kurt Busch lead with six top-tens each in the last seven races compared to Busch’s five. Keselowski, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth also claim five top-tens.

No. 22 Gets Two:

Logano Wins for First Time Since Daytona, Becomes First to Sweep The Glen

One day after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Watkins Glen International, Joey Logano passed leader Kevin Harvick on the last lap and coasted to victory in Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 at The Glen. Logano became the first driver to sweep both of NASCAR’s top series at the central New York road course.

The win was the first for Logano since the Daytona 500 in February. Although he hadn’t visited Victory Lane in a while, Logano has racked up high finishes before his Watkins Glen win. He ranks second in the Sprint Cup Series to Harvick in top-fives (13) and top-tens (16).

Brad Keselowski – The Michigan Missile

Brad Keselowski has won a lot of Sprint Cup Series races.

To be exact, he’s visited Victory Lane 17 times at 12 different tracks.

One track Keselowski has failed to conquer is his home state track – Michigan International Speedway.

The 2012 Sprint Cup Series champion will try to become the ninth active driver to win in his home state, joining Kyle Busch (Nevada), Jeff Gordon (California), Jimmie Johnson (California), Kevin Harvick (California), Aric Almirola (Florida), Ryan Newman (Indiana), Tony Stewart (Indiana) and Denny Hamlin (Virginia).

Gordon Can Secure Spot in Chase with Repeat Win at Michigan

Despite finishing 41st due to mechanical issues at Watkins Glen International, Jeff Gordon sits 13th on the Chase Grid, 58 points above the cutoff line with four races left in NASCAR’s regular season.

Gordon’s position seems cushy, but only if there is no new winner. The No. 24 Chevrolet driver holds just an eight-point advantage over Clint Bowyer who now claims the last Chase spot.

Gordon can assure himself of a Chase berth by becoming that new winner by taking his second straight visit to Victory Lane in the August Michigan race. The 44-year-old set the track qualifying record, then led 68 laps on his way to the win.

In 45 career starts at Michigan, Gordon boasts three wins, 19 top-fives (42.2%), 27 top-tens (60%) and six Coors Light Pole Awards. Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports team swept the Michigan races last year with Jimmie Johnson winning in the spring.

Bowyer’s Back in Town and Ready for a Tenth Straight Michigan Top-Ten

Here’s a quick NASCAR trivia question that will probably stump you.

Q: Who owns the longest active top-ten streak at a specific track and which venue is it?

A: This might surprise you. And it’s kind of a trick question. There’s a tie, and Clint Bowyer owns both streaks. Bowyer has nine consecutive top-tens at both Michigan International Speedway and Dover International Speedway.

Bowyer will get the chance again to notch a tenth straight top-ten at the two-mile track in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400. The No. 15 Michael Waltrip Racing driver will need it as he tries to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Bowyer holds the last points spot (50 points above the cutoff line), but could get bumped if there’s a new winner. The last driver with ten consecutive top-tens at a track was Jimmie Johnson, who did it at Kansas in October of 2013.

Another driver racking up consecutive top-tens at Michigan?

Paul Menard.

The No. 27 Richard Childress Racing driver has four straight top-tens in the Great Lakes State, including three fourth-place finishes in a row from August 2013-August 2014.

Michigan – Greg Biffle’s Playground

Currently 19th on the Chase Grid and 80 points out of the last spot, Greg Biffle essentially must win to get into NASCAR’s playoffs.

Luckily for him, he’s headed to the right place this weekend – Michigan International Speedway.

Michigan has been Biffle’s personal playground over the years. He leads active drivers with four wins there and his ten top-fives and 15 top-tens are his most at any track. Biffle won consecutive races at Michigan by taking the checkered flag in the August 2012 race and June 2013 event. His team owner Jack Roush boasts a track record 13 wins at Michigan.

Only Four Races Remain Until Chase

Just four races remain in the regular season for drivers to secure a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs. A win in any of the next four races would secure a driver one of the five remaining spots in the Chase. Otherwise, he or she has to qualify based on points.

If the season ended today Aric Almirola would be the first driver out with the following drivers above him making the Chase: Jamie McMurray (+73), Paul Menard (+60), Jeff Gordon (+58), Ryan Newman (+51), Clint Bowyer (+50).

McMurray and Menard have never made NASCAR’s playoffs before. 

Four to Go: Chase Spots Dwindling

In the blink of an eye, playoff spots vanished at Watkins Glen.

That’s exactly what happened when Joey Logano won his second race of the season. In addition, Kevin Harvick’s strong finish (combined with Jamie McMurray’s subpar one) guaranteed that the regular season points leader will have at least one win. Harvick didn’t clinch the regular season points lead. But, only the drivers who already have wins can overtake him.

Those two events all led to this: Aside from Kyle Busch, all drivers with at least one win have locked up a spot in the Chase, assuming they start the remaining races in the regular season.

In all, ten spots taken. Six are still up for grabs, but if Kyle Busch stays in the top-30, five.

And with 11 different winners, and only four regular season races remaining, it also means that at least one winless driver will earn a Chase spot.

But it won’t happen this weekend.

The only driver who can clinch a Chase spot on Sunday at Michigan will be the winner of the race, as long as he or she has also clinched a top-30 spot. A clinching driver needs to have a win and a 145-point lead over 31st to lock up a spot.