Kevin Harvick won for the fifth time this season and for the fourth time in Michigan.
Now can NASCAR’s overall point leader continue his 2020 dominance with a doubleheader win this weekend?
NASCAR is back in Michigan Sunday for the Consumers Energy 400 and Harvick has been installed as a heavy 2-1 favorite. He was 4-1 Saturday when he won the Fire Keepers Casino 400.
“This was just an awesome car to drive today,” Harvick said after Saturday’s win. “I think the confidence is high when we come to Michigan anyway. It’s a race track that’s been really good to us and for whatever reason just fits our style of cars, everything we do with our cars at Stewart-Haas Racing. (Crew chief) Rodney (Childers) and those guys have given me great race cars every time we’ve come. Just a really, really fast race car today.”
Harvick, who led 92 of the 161 laps Saturday, will get a chance to see how fast it is Sunday, as he tries to win for a sixth time this year and for the fifth time in Michigan.
Playoff Points: William Byron, with 507 points, is still holding onto the 16th and final playoff spot, with four races to go after Sunday. Eric Jones picked up nine points on Byron Saturday is just 16 point back. Rookie Tyler Reddick is 19 points back and seven-time Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson is 22 points back for the final spot.
Here’s how the Eckel 4, which includes Scott “Tobacco Road” Baker, Mike “Left Turn” Sweeney and Barry “Dr. NASCAR” Davis see Sunday’s race. Saturday, the experts’ picks finished 1-3-6-8.
Martin Truex Jr. (8-1): The New Jersey native finished third Saturday. It was his second consecutive third-place finish here. Two of the “Eckel 4” think Truex could get his first Michigan win Sunday.
Kevin Harvick (2-1): The odds are ridiculously short, but how do you leave out the circuit’s most-dominating driver as a track he dominates? The same two who like Truex also like Harvick again.
Joey Logano (11-1): That’s a pretty good price for Saturday’s eighth-place finisher. “Left Turn” thinks Sunday might be Logano’s day.
Kyle Busch (11-1): After a one-race hiatus “Tobacco Road” is back on Busch, who finished fifth Saturday. You don’t get him at 11-1 very often.
Brad Keselowski (7-1): The Michigan native finished second Saturday and would love to move up one spot Sunday in his home state. A couple experts think he’ll be right there.
Ryan Blaney (8-1): None of the “4” picked him to win, but three of the four put him in their top three, so he’s worth a long look after a fourth-place finish Saturday.