Paul Menard is the only former race winner entered this week as a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship battle that has proven to be one of the most competitive from the drop of the season’s first green flag at Daytona Beach heads to Michigan International Speedway for Saturday’s LTi Printing 250 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
But Menard is only competing for bragging rights on Saturday, as he contends for points in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Championship leader, Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick, and his closest contenders, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, are pacing the title run. All three drivers have won multiple races.
The reigning series champion Reddick holds a hefty 77-point lead over Bell, but he has never won at the two-mile Michigan track. Bell has three wins this season as does Cole Custer, who has the most recent victory – at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway last weekend. Custer also boasts the best finish at Michigan among the top three. His average finish is 6.5 in three races.
Michigan presents a rather unique challenge for the field with a series of different winners. Nine different drivers have hoisted a trophy in the last nine races. Austin Dillon won last year but won’t be competing this week. And this race in 2016 marked a historic event in NASCAR history with Mexican driver Daniel Suarez scoring his first-ever major NASCAR win.
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
