NASCAR News and Reviews: Michigan/Gateway

As we inch closer and closer to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, this weekend we head up to the Irish Hills of Michigan at Michigan International Speedway for the Firekeepers Casino 400. The Camping World Truck Series begin their playoffs with the round of 10 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and the Xfinity Series will also be at Michigan. 

For the Camping World Truck Series, the run to Phoenix for 10 drivers starts here. Austin Hill and John Hunter Nemechek will start the Toyota 200 from the front row. Sheldon Creed comes in as the defending race winner, who also went on to win the 2020 Championship. John Hunter Nemechek has also previously won at Gateway going back to 2017 when he drove for his father’s team. In terms of favorites for this race, you definitely can start with John Hunter Nemechek. He’s been on a tear and is for sure an early candidate for the championship. With him starting second, there’s a chance he could dominate and lock up a spot in the next round. As previously mentioned, Sheldon Creed won here a year ago, who also won at Darlington earlier this year. Gateway is a similar shape to Darlington, but with flatter banking. You could also look at a guy like Austin Hill who’s always in contention and I think could be a threat for the championship. 

Two drivers will be making the their first truck starts for this race. One being Chris Hacker, driving for Reaume Brothers Racing in the #34. The other will be Armani Williams, who is the first driver openly diagnosed on the autism spectrum, also driving for Reaume Brothers Racing in the #33. 

In other Truck Series news, a full-time Toyota truck team is expected to run in the Cup Series in 2022 with TRD support. It’s unknown who it is but some have said an announcement could be coming very soon. They would be the second truck team to make a jump to the Cup level along with GMS Racing. 

Alex Gray’s Pick Four:

John Hunter Nemechek

Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill

Chandler Smith

Moving over to the Xfinity Series, they inch closer to the playoffs as well as they will share the weekend at Michigan with the NASCAR Cup Series for the LTi Printing 250. The Xfinity Series last raced there in 2019 because they did not host a race for the Xfinity Series in 2020 due to the Pandemic. Tyler Reddick won that race in 2019. Looking at the favorites going in, Austin Cindric will definitely be a threat as he comes off winning last weekend at the Indianapolis Road Course. Ty Gibbs is entered in the Joe Gibbs Racing #54 Toyota and will for sure be a threat with the way he’s been performing this season as well. Gibbs has three wins already this season. AJ Allmendinger is riding on a high momentum wave, finishing second last weekend and winning the Cup Series race in Indy as well. Another guy that is hungry to win is Daniel Hemric, who is still chasing his first NASCAR win and has come close many times. Could this finally be the weekend for him? Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger will lead the field to the green flag on Saturday.

In other Xfinity Series news, it has been confirmed that Josh Berry will run Full-Time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Jr Motorsports next season. He won at Martinsville earlier this season and has been a breakout driver in 2021. It’s safe to say he, Sam Mayer, and Justin Allgaier will be back. Berry will also sub in for Michael Annett at Michigan, as Annett is still recovering from leg surgery. Bubba Wallace will also be making his first Xfinity Series start since 2017, driving the #61 Toyota for Hattori Racing, subbing in for Austin Hill who is racing at Gateway on Friday night.

Alex Gray’s Pick Four:

Austin Cindric

AJ Allmendinger

Ty Gibbs

Daniel Hemric

As for the NASCAR Cup Series, the top stars of NASCAR make their lone trip to Michigan for the Firekeepers Casino 400. Michigan in previous years hosted two races, in which both were put in a doubleheader last weekend due to the Pandemic. This season, Michigan lost a date on the schedule and retains its August date. Kevin Harvick won both races in 2020. As for Harvick, Stewart Haas Racing has struggled this season. One driver is guaranteed in the playoffs with his win at New Hampshire and that is Aric Almirola. Harvick is not safe and it’s still surprising that he has yet to win this season, considering the year he had a year ago. This could be the right race for him to go out and grab the win. After this weekend, it’ll be the season finale at Daytona and for the bubble drivers like Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, and others, the last thing you want is to head into Daytona on the bubble. Speaking of Reddick, he could be an underdog pick for this race. Reddick swept both stages at Indy but didn’t get the finish he needed, with a 21st place finish. Those extra points come in handy, maybe this weekend we will see Reddick get his first Cup Series win, and an important one to lock himself into the playoffs. However, when you think of Michigan, you have to bring up Kyle Larson’s name. The man who has been winning just about everything this season, including this week, winning the BC39 that was running at the dirt track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Larson got his first career win here in 2017 and he is going to be a threat as well as his teammate Chase Elliott. The action will heat up as we get closer and closer to playoff time.

Kevin Harvick comes in with 67 points over Reddick, who has 28 points over Dillon. No one is safe and we could still have two surprise winners. Josh Berry will pilot the Spire Motorsports #7 Chevrolet with Corey Lajoie sitting out due to COVID-19 Protocols.

Alex Gray’s Pick Four

Kyle Larson

Chase Elliott

Tyler Reddick

Kevin Harvick