Last week at Pocono, Ryan Blaney became the 12th driver crowned as a winner in this 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
With this week’s race set to take place at Michigan International Speedway, should we expect another unique driver to emerge victorious? Let’s find out below with our preview for the names worth keeping an eye on from the Brooklyn near the Great Lakes.
In two-career Cup Series races at Michigan, Kyle Larson has yet to have a lackluster result. The current runner-up in total points in the drivers standings this season secured a third-place finish in his first crack at MIS last year, then followed that up with his maiden victory as a pro in the August race.
There’s basically been no better driver on 2.0-mile tracks than Larson ever since he entered the scene. He won another race on such a course just earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway, futher justifying why he’s the overall favorite to win this weekend.
Speed will be key once again for Martin Truex Jr., who has proven this season that he has one of the fastest cars on any given race. MIS should cater to Truex’s strengths this week, as he has secured top-10 finishes in 10 of his last 12 starts on non-restrictor plate races.
Let’s not forget that Furniture Row Racing’s lone wolf had already won a race just a month ago in Kansas and that he also has four-consecutive top-six finishes entering this week’s event.
As the reigning Firekeepers 400 champion, we’d best forget about Joey Logano’s current slump. The Team Penske standout has fallen outside of the top 20 in five-consecutive races right after winning his first race of the season in Richmond, but perhaps a return to MIS will cure his recent woes.
Logano has finished in the top 10 in nine-straight races held on 2.0-mile tracks and has a couple of victories from Michigan under his belt at that. His 356 laps led over eight appearances at MIS is also tops amongst all entrants in this week’s field.
Since the final week of April, 38-year-old Kurt Busch has hung around well enough with the rest of the young upstarts, bagging four top-10 finishes over the last six races.
With three wins at Michigan – most amongst all active drivers – The reigning Daytona 500 champion can certainly make a case in keeping his resurgent 2017 campaign on a high this week. Busch’s last win at MIS is relatively fresh as well, having won the 2015 edition of the Firekeepers Casino 400 at that.
A good number of fans and pundits expected Daniel Suarez to come out blazing in his rookie season, but there’s been too many better drivers this year that have impeded him from gaining any positive traction. Five-straight top-15 finishes entering this week’s race is nice and all, but the Mexican has yet to crack the top five in his young Cup Series career.
With plenty of speed demons itching to make good at MIS this week, perhaps we’ll have to wait another race for Suarez to truly prove that he can be taken as a serious contender.
