DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Clint Bowyer’s win at Michigan International Speedway earlier this summer snapped a three-race Michigan win streak for Kyle Larson. Historically speaking the super-fast two-miler has shown a tendency toward repeat victory – good news for Bowyer now, and for Larson as they prepare for Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400 (at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Ten drivers since 2001 have scored multiple wins at Michigan led by Greg Biffle, who had four (back-to-back in 2004 and 2005 and back-to-back 2012 and 2013). Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch join Larson as three-time winners since then. Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Jeff Gordon all have won twice in that timeframe.
In all, that’s 25 wins by 10 drivers.
And you can add in NASCAR Hall of Famers Dale Jarrett – who has three total wins at Michigan – and Mark Martin – who has four total wins – each picked up their final win during that time as well. Jarrett won in 2002 and Martin last won in 2009.
Among those with at least one win now are reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup championship leaders Kyle Busch (2011) and Kevin Harvick (2010), plus Jimmie Johnson (2014) and Bowyer.
Interestingly, five of the top-10 drivers in driver rating at Michigan have never won at the track before, including last week’s first-time Cup victor Chase Elliott, whose driver rating of 108.9 is tops among all active drivers here. He’s never finished out of the top-10 in five Michigan starts, including three consecutive runner-up finishes in his first three races.
Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings leader William Byron, who carries the seventh-best driver rating here, never ran a lap outside the top-15 in his debut in June. Erik Jones’ average finish is 10.3 in three races at Michigan.
And Jones’ fellow Michigan native Brad Keselowski has finished second or third four times – both Jones and Keselowski looking for their first home-state trophy hoist.
Source: Holly Cain | NASCAR Wire Service
