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BROOKLYN, Mich. — The looming NASCAR Cup Series contest at Michigan International Speedway not only acts as the third to last race before the regular season’s 2024 conclusion, it additionally marks another chapter in what has been an intense four-wide battle for the Regular Season Championship.
The current quartet — Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin — sit first through fourth, respectively, in the standings and are separated by 21 points heading into Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). And with 15 bonus points on the line for the regular-season victor, the battle is certainly worth investing in as a championship-contending driver.
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“I feel good,” Elliott said regarding his current positioning and confidence over the regular season’s final stretch. “I think a lot of it, I mean, let’s be honest, it’s gonna be who gets through Daytona next week, and I think everybody knows that, but that’s not to say that you just write off the other two. I think it’s gonna require a really good run this weekend, it’s gonna require a really good run in Darlington. Personally wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t take a win to get it done, so we’ll see.
“But certainly, taking it a week at a time is kind of how I’m looking at it. Try to get through Michigan, try to give ourselves a shot to win here, and we’ll see about Daytona when it comes.”
The Larson-Reddick-Elliott trio are currently separated by six points, the closest-ever margin at this point of the regular season. And while Hamlin might not possess the same single-digit honor, the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver has had a knack for winning at tracks left on the regular-season schedule in Daytona International Speedway and Darlington Raceway.
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Larson, Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate and the last driver to win at Michigan in a Chevrolet (2017), believes it’s anyone’s guess as to which driver can pull out all the stops and prevail over the others.
“At least two of the three tracks allow a lot of opportunity for us to be good and get some points,” Larson said, “but when you look at it, I mean, Denny’s really good at all these tracks, Tyler’s really good at all these tracks. Chase is really good at all these tracks. So I think it’s gonna come down to what team makes the least amount of mistakes over these next few races and can gain a lot of stage points, too. I think it’s really important.”
No driver, however, has gained as much ground as of late as Reddick, who has gained 59 points on first place over the last six Cup races.
To the No. 45 23XI driver, it’s all about maintaining balance between aggressiveness and gaining as many points as possible.
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“We want to go out here and win races, but we don’t want to throw away a second or third-place finish, kind of like I did earlier in the year with racing against (Chris) Buescher,” Reddick said. ” … Just trying to keep that in mind. So I think it’s been good for me. In my past in NASCAR, I feel like when points have mattered and haven’t been buried in the standings and just only worried about wins, it’s been good for me as a driver. So it’s really cool that we’ve climbed out of the hole that we were in to start this year, and we’re now out there battling with those guys.”
And so the scene is set with the Irish Hills acting as the venue of choice. Elliott and Larson have each made double-digit starts at Michigan, with the No. 9 tallying 10 top 10s and the No. 5 driver amassing three Cup wins at the track. Reddick, meanwhile, has only raced in five Cup contests at the track and has yet to scoop up a top 10. Then, there’s the ever-steady Hamlin, who has two wins, 12 top fives and 18 top 10s in 33 Michigan starts, including six consecutive finishes inside the top five at the 2-mile oval. To say battle between contrasting track records at the track would be putting it mildly.
And a battle there certainly will be on Sunday. Hamlin will start from the pole, while Reddick, Larson and Elliott will start second, fourth and sixth, respectively.
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