Racing to heat up at Michigan International Speedway

CAMBRIDGE TWP. — It's always a big weekend when NASCAR rolls through Michigan International Speedway, which it will do this weekend for the 55th consecutive year.

The NASCAR Cup Series is entering the homestretch of the regular season as August marks the final month to earn a spot in the 16-driver playoffs. With four races left, the pressure is building to get a win to guarantee a spot in the field.

Twelve drivers have secured spots in the playoff, including current points leader Martin Truex Jr., William Byron – who has a series-leading four wins this season – Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Joey Lagano, Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher – who got his win Sunday at Richmond – and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

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Last year's FireKeepers 400 winner, Kevin Harvick, is 12th in the standings, but doesn't have a win this season. Rochester native Brad Keselowski is sitting in 14th, followed by Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell in the final playoff positions, but don't have wins this season.

On the outside of the top 16 and looking to burst someone's playoff bubble is 2021 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott in 20th, and rookie Ty Gibbs in 17th, who won at MIS in the Xfinity Series a season ago, along with AJ Allmendinger in 18th and Daniel Suarez in 19th.

"There is a lot of racing left," Suarez said in a press release prior to MIS weekend. "I told my guys all of us need to relax and have fun. That's when we perform our best. We have some really good tracks coming up for us. Trackhouse Racing has a great road course program and we have run really well at Daytona and Michigan."

Not only are playoff positions on the line in the FireKeepers 400, manufacturer bragging rights are as well.

MIS is host to the annual Michigan Heritage Trophy, awarded to the manufacturer of the winning car. Ford has won eight-straight races at MIS, sweeping both races in 2019 and 2020 before going down to one weekend a season in 2021. Of those eight wins, Harvick has clinched it five times, which is big for a driver who is looking to clinch a spot in the playoff.

The last win for Chevrolet was Kyle Larson's final leg of a three-peat in 2017. Toyota hasn't won since Matt Kenseth in 2015.

The FireKeepers Casino 400 is set for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug 6.

Xfinity Series

Drivers in the Xfinity Series have a little more time to seal their playoff positions with six races before the playoff begins.

Austin Hill and John H. Nemechek each have four wins to lead the series and sit No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the standings, followed by Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer, who picked up his first win of the season last week at Road America. Josh Berry is seventh and is the top driver without a win, while Sammy Smtih and Jeb Burton in eighth and ninth do have wins. Daniel Hemric, Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst are sitting in the final three spots.

One of the drivers looking to sneak into the playoffs with a win, currently on the outside of the top-12, is Brett Mofitt, who has two wins at MIS while in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Sitting in 13th is Parker Kligerman, who is in his first full season since 2013.

The CABO WABO 250 is scheduled to run at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5.

ARCA Menards Series

The ARCA Menards Series begins the second half of the season with 18-year-old Jesse Love leading the pack.

Love has five wins on the season and currently in second in the standings is another 18-year-old, Mexican driver Andres Perez de Lara, who has eight top-10 finishes and five top-5 finishes, though no wins.

Behind the 18-year-olds is 37-year-old rookie, Frankie Muniz. When the two leaders were born, Muniz was starring in the hit TV show Malcolm in the Middle and movies like Agent Cody Banks, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London and Racing Stripes. Muniz has seven top-10 finishes this season.

The Henry Ford Health 200 is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: NASCAR Cup Series heating up entering Michigan International Speedway