{"id":52607,"date":"2025-06-07T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=52607"},"modified":"2025-06-07T20:37:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T01:37:56","slug":"nascar-saturday-michigan-notebook-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/07\/nascar-saturday-michigan-notebook-8\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR: Saturday Michigan Notebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service <\/em><\/p>\n

Chase Briscoe claims third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series pole at Michigan International Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Chase Briscoe claimed his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series pole position Saturday morning. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver taking top honors at Michigan International Speedway for Sunday\u2019s FireKeepers Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\"\"

Chase Briscoe, driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 07, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Briscoe\u2019s No. 19 JGR Toyota turned a lap of 195.514 mph for his fourth pole of the season \u2013 just besting Richard Childress Racing\u2019s Kyle Busch, who will start alongside with a lap of 195.317 in the No. 8 Chevrolet. This equals Busch\u2019s best start of the season (also second at Talladega, Ala.).<\/p>\n

Briscoe\u2019s work marks the first time a driver has won pole positions at three consecutive races since Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Kyle Larson did it last April at Richmond, Michigan, and Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was surprised truthfully it held on,\u2019\u2019 the 30-year-old Indiana native said of his fast lap. \u201cIt was not as easy as I thought it was going to be just holding it wide open. But our Bass Pro Shops has been pretty fast in race trim and I thought we could have been even better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be nice starting up front and we\u2019ve been able to do that now three weeks in a row but haven\u2019t been able to execute with it, so hopefully third time is a charm and hopefully we can finally get one on Sunday.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Briscoe\u2019s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, was third quickest in the No. 11 Toyota and will start alongside the current NASCAR Cup Series points leader, William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Interestingly, neither of those two championship teams has won on the 2-mile Michigan oval in a decade.<\/p>\n

The last win for Hendrick came in 2014 and the last for Gibbs in 2015.<\/p>\n

However, Hendrick\u2019s lineup now boasts a three-time Michigan winner in Larson, who scored his career first series victory at the track in 2016 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson will roll off fifth Sunday alongside another former Michigan winner (2023) Roush Fenway Keselowski\u2019s Chris Buescher. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel fine, that was an unfortunately part failure there,\u2019\u2019 Larson said, assuring he was okay after flipping his car in a World of Outlaws race Friday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cFelt good there today and held it wide open in qualifying, as did the whole field. <\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, we can find a little more turn tomorrow. I think all of us being very similar on speed it will be difficult in traffic so having some turn will be a benefit. That\u2019s our main objective at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut overall happy to qualify fifth there. That\u2019s honestly a little bit better than I thought we would be. Now we\u2019ll rest up and study and try to be ready for tomorrow.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Defending race winner, 23XI Racing\u2019s Tyler Reddick was 12th in qualifying \u2013 along with last week\u2019s Nashville race winner, Team Penske\u2019s Ryan Blaney suffering a tire problem in practice. Blaney will roll off 13th.<\/p>\n

NOTEBOOK ITEMS:<\/b><\/p>\n

RFK\u2019S BUESCHER FOR THE WIN<\/b><\/p>\n

Judging by the past two years, the summer months have been productive for Roush Fenway Keselowski\u2019s Chris Buescher. Last year he earned his only win of the season in September at Watkins Glen. Two years ago, the driver of the No. 17 RKF Ford scored all three of his victories in the summer \u2013 back-to-back at Richmond (July 30) and Michigan (Aug. 7), then won again at the end of August at Daytona International Speedway\u2019s regular season finale.<\/p>\n

 Heading into this week\u2019s Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, Buescher is the only one among the three RFK drivers ranked above the Playoff cutoff line \u2013 15th in the championship by Playoff standings; six points up on Kyle Busch in that last Playoff position and only eight points up on his RFK teammate Ryan Preece in 17th.<\/p>\n

 Buescher is of course hopeful that he can reclaim some of that Michigan magic on the two-miler. He led a race high 52 of 200 laps and beat Martin Truex Jr. by a slight 152-second for his win two years ago. He has only three top 10s in 14 Michigan starts \u2013 but two in the last two races (win and sixth last year). It\u2019s not enough to make him over-confident but does give him some optimism heading into the all-important summer months of competition. With points so close, a victory may be the best option to earn a Playoff bid.<\/p>\n

 \u201cYou can\u2019t depend on points to get you in the playoffs when it\u2019s as tight as it is every week,\u2019\u2019 Buescher said. \u201cI think that\u2019s been our mindset, which means that ultimately wherever we bounce around that [Playoff cutoff] line we\u2019ll be aware of it, but it\u2019s a matter of figuring out how to go win races and we haven\u2019t done that yet. <\/p>\n

 \u201cWe\u2019ve not been quite good enough and we\u2019re working on trying to clean up some of the detail work and study a little harder and be better from my end behind the wheel and make it to where we basically lock ourselves in on that side of it and don\u2019t have to have any of that thought in the back of our heads.<\/p>\n

 \u201cBut I certainly don\u2019t want it to be what we\u2019re sitting here thinking of how can we get two points here, three points there and try and just feel like we can skate our way in. It doesn\u2019t work. Ultimately, you can\u2019t count on that when it comes down to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

 HOCEVAR AND STENHOUSE<\/b><\/p>\n

In last weekend\u2019s race at Nashville Superspeedway, 22-year-old Carson Hocevar and veteran Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided on track \u2013 ending the day for Stenhouse. But Hocevar was able to rally to a second-place finish \u2013 tying his career best showing in the NASCAR Cup Series.<\/p>\n

After the race, Stenhouse was understandably riled, but both drivers report that they have spoken, and all is good moving forward even if they don\u2019t necessarily agree on how last week played out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and him both have the reputation, I guess, of being aggressive at times and everything, so at that one point, we both reminded each other that even with those reputations, we’ve raced each other very well together, right?\u2019\u2019 the Michigan-native Hocevar said Saturday morning, before practice. \u201cIt clashes together. So, yeah, I mean we’ve had no issues before, as he had said, and I feel like we’ve had a decent relationship leading up to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stenhouse told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week that he was satisfied with the conversation between the two, \u201cI thought it was productive and, based off his comments, I felt like it was received productive.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hocevar, who qualified 14th for the NASCAR Cup Series race and is also competing in Saturday\u2019s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, seemed at peace with where things sit and conceded he would rather be talking about his No. 77 Spire Motorsports team\u2019s improvement. He\u2019s already had a career best pair of runner-up efforts and also earned three top-10s – half of his full season total last year.<\/p>\n

Asked Saturday if he was satisfied to be known for his aggressive driving style \u2013 some reporters comparing him to his hero Dale Earnhardt \u2013 Hocevar insisted he\u2019s just being himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything about me is real\u2026 like I’m not trying to play a part, try to fit a role or trying to pretend to be anybody,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cBut, you know, it’s for everybody else to decide on what they get and perceive of me. I know who I am and, you know, ultimately, I want to be known as me and sometimes that leads to comparisons.\u201d<\/p>\n

PENSKE FOCUS<\/b><\/p>\n

Last week\u2019s Nashville race winner, Team Penske\u2019s Ryan Blaney was asked about the relief he felt finally earning that first trophy of the year \u2013 and guaranteed Playoff position \u2013 after being so close to wins multiple times this season. He insisted nothing would really \u201cchange\u201d for his or his team\u2019s approach going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really nothing different,” the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion said. \u201cWe approach every week trying to win the race and no matter what spot you\u2019re in, whether you\u2019re not locked in on wins or you are. We did a great job last week of finally closing one out and you just try to do it again. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people talk about that. Is there a mindset change when you win and you get locked in? I\u2019ve never really believed that. I\u2019ve always, to me at least and our group, it\u2019s just we prepare every week like you\u2019re trying to win the race, whether you\u2019ve won one, zero or five it\u2019s the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

BABY WATCH <\/b><\/p>\n

Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Denny Hamlin remains on \u201cbaby watch\u201d for the second weekend. His fianc\u00e9, Jordan, is due to give birth to a baby boy \u2013 their third child – at any time. Hamlin flew back to his Charlotte-area home following Saturday afternoon qualifying to be with Jordan and will return to Michigan just prior to Sunday\u2019s green flag.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service  Chase Briscoe claims third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series pole at Michigan International Speedway Chase Briscoe claimed his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series pole position Saturday morning. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver taking top honors at Michigan International Speedway for Sunday\u2019s FireKeepers Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":52628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[219,16],"class_list":["post-52607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-michigan-international-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2219056428-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-dGv","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52607"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52631,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52607\/revisions\/52631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}