NASCAR did double the NASCAR at Michigan this weekend. Two races. Two days. Only one winner. Not by design on the one-winner part. Just kind of turned out that way.
Yes, Kevin Harvick swept the pair, putting him back ahead of Denny Hamlin in the most-wins race, which doesn’t mean a whole lot, and putting him up 13 on Hamlin in the playoff-standings-if-they-started-today, which could mean a whole lot.
It wasn’t bad racing, especially on Saturday, when Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch all led at times. But Harvick comes for us all eventually this year (at least, that’s how it went this weekend), and on Saturday he came for Kyle Busch:
No contact, but not a great look for the leader.
Of interest Sunday was a little bump-a-roo between Blaney and his teammate Brad Keselowski (who it should be noted gave Harvick a good charge at the end on Saturday):
No hard feelings, from the sounds of it.
The bubble continued to bubble, with Erik Jones gaining five points after finding out he was losing his ride for next year (Joe Gibbs Racing will be going in a different direction), and Jimmie Johnson losing one point. Here’s where it now stands:
Clint Bowyer 28 points ahead of William Byron
Matt DiBenedetto 25 points ahead of William Byron
William Byron Last man in
Erik Jones 26 points behind William Byron
Jimmie Johnson 26 points behind William Byron
Tyler Reddick 36 points behind William Byron
If a new winner wins this coming weekend and they aren’t ahead of Byron in the standings, DiBenedetto will become the new last man in—or Bowyer, if DiBenedetto passes Bowyer. And it’s possible we will get a new winner, because the race is at the Daytona Road Course, it’s the first-ever Cup Series race there, and there isn’t any practice or qualifying because of the coronavirus.
Four races left before the playoffs.
