NASCAR makes their annual trek to the Irish Hills this weekend, and many drivers are looking forward to it. Who could blame the drivers on this list for doing so because of how well they have performed at Michigan.
By the Numbers: 0 Wins; 3 Top-5s; 10 Top-10s; 144 Laps Led; 8.0 Avg. Finish; 12 Races
Breakdown: To my surprise, Chase Elliott leads the Cup Series in average finish at Michigan with an 8.0. While Elliott has never won at Michigan, he is always up front with only two finishes outside of the top-10 and no finishes outside of the top-20. With Hendrick Motorsports horsepower under the hood, Elliott is always a threat at high-speed race tracks.
By the Numbers: 2 Wins; 11 Top-5s; 17 Top-10s; 262 Laps Led; 12.6 Avg. Finish; 32 Races
Breakdown: It’s been since 2011 that Denny Hamlin visited victory lane at Michigan International Speedway, but he has been nothing short of spectacular at the track in recent years. Since August of 2019, Hamlin had four top-5s in five races with no finish worse than sixth. He’s also led multiple laps in each of the last seven races at the track.
By the Numbers: 3 Wins; 8 Top-5s; 18 Top-10s; 590 Laps Led; 12.2 Avg. Finish; 26 Races
Breakdown: Michigan is a track that Joey Logano tends to dominate at when he wins, but it is a big track for him sentimentally as well. He led 138 laps en route to a win in 2016 and 163 laps to win there in 2019. Michigan is also the track that Logano got his first win for Team Penske in 2013.
By the Numbers: 3 Wins; 6 Top-5s; 8 Top-10s; 220 Laps Led; 11.4 Avg. Finish; 14 Races
Breakdown: Will Kyle Larson become the next “King of Michigan”? He is off to a good start with three wins at the track in only 14 races, and those three wins were all in a row between 2016 and 2017. Despite not winning there since 2017, Larson has three consecutive finishes of seventh of better at the track.
By the Numbers: 6 Wins; 16 Top-5s; 22 Top-10s; 737 Laps Led; 11.0 Avg. Finish; 42 Races
Breakdown: Kevin Harvick leads the Cup Series in almost every meaningful category at Michigan, and he has been virtually impeccable in recent years at Michigan. His average finish is 5.8 since 2013, and he has won five of the last seven races at Michigan. This includes snapping a career-long 65 race winless streak last August.
Michigan is a track that is all about horsepower, and those drivers on the big teams tend to race well there. Will Harvick get his seventh Michigan win this weekend, or will another one of the drivers on this list continue their Michigan dominance? We will find out this weekend.
