BROOKLYN, Mich. — High speeds, harried restarts and high-pressure decisions will be on display in today’s Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
Today’s race is the 15th of the season. Eleven races will remain in the regular season after today. The green flag is scheduled for 2:19 p.m. ET on Prime.
Here’s a look at what to watch for in today’s race:
Today’s race will mark the third for Christopher Bell with new spotter Matt Philpott, who took over after Stevie Reeves left the team after Bell’s All-Star win last month at North Wilkesboro.
Let Bell, who starts 25th today, explain what Philpott will face in spotting today’s race:
“He’s in a for a rude awakening at this race track, let me tell you, because restarts here are probably the most intense restarts that we get all year long,” Bell told NBC Sports. “Massive draft runs. Lots of lanes to pick where to go.
“He’s been doing a lot of studying. He’s been doing a great job, too. I think for getting thrown in the middle of the season, he’s done everything you could ask for.
“From my side, really, there’s been a couple of really tight clears. I had my incident with a teammate Ty (Gibbs) at Charlotte that hindered his race, so that was a bummer, but we worked through that. It’s just me understanding his language and knowing his tone of voice, stuff like that.
“I think Adam (Stevens, crew chief) has had a little bit of direction for him, but he’s been doing a really good job every week and really taking care of our car and getting us to the end of the races. He’s doing a really good job.”
As Bell noted, restarts are a key part of the racing at Michigan because of how wide the track is, allowing drivers to use different lanes to get around cars.
Of course, it also can create calamity and multi-car crashes. Seven cars were involved in a crash shortly after a restart in last year’s race that eliminated Bell, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano.
Six of the top 10 starters for today’s race have yet to win a race this season.
Those are Chase Briscoe (starting first), Kyle Busch (second), Chris Buescher (sixth), Ty Gibbs (eighth), Bubba Wallace (ninth) and Zane Smith (10th).
Briscoe is starting on the pole for the third consecutive race. Busch is winless in his last 71 Cup races and finished fourth in this race a year ago. Buescher won here two years ago and finished sixth last year despite being involved in an incident. Gibbs finished third in last year’s race.
Four of the last five races have seen a driver score their first victory of the season. Those drivers were Ryan Blaney (Nashville), Ross Chastain (Coca-Cola 600), Joey Logano (Texas) and Austin Cindric (Talladega).
With pit crews able to change four tires quicker than a fueler can fill a car with gas, crew chiefs will be left with the decision of having to make their driver wait on fuel or leave when the tires changed and with less gas.
Fuel often plays a key role at this 2-mile track.
While restarts will be pivotal, gaining track position with a faster pit stop also can prove key. Watch when teams wait for fuel and when they don’t in today’s race.
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