Kyle Busch takes part in qualifying Friday at Michigan International Speedway.BROOKLYN, Mich. - NASCAR's Big 3 has essentially lapped the competition.
Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. have combined to win 16 of 22 Cup Series races this season, and they haven't allowed anyone else in the field to win consecutive races with points at stake this year. Of the other 56 drivers who have started a race, only Clint Bowyer has won twice.
That has a chance to change Sunday in the Consumers Energy 400 after Chase Elliott won last weekend's road-course race at Watkins Glen International. Recent history suggests it's far more likely one of the series' top three drivers will finish first instead.
Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) and Truex (Furniture Row Racing) drive Toyotas, while Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) is in a Ford. Clearly, it helps to have one of those manufactures on your side this season.
Toyota drivers have won 11 races and Toyota has nine first-place finishes in 2018, though Elliott earned the first win of his Cup Series career last Sunday in a Chevrolet.
"They've got everything together," Ryan Newman, who drives the Richard Childress Racing No. 31 Chevy, said after practice Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. "They've got great downforce, horsepower, tires. Drivers are doing their job, and collectively their organizations are strong.
"Stewart-Haas Racing as well as the Toyota camp seems to be strong right now and have been all year."
Chevrolet, meanwhile, has won just two races - in addition to Elliott's victory, RCR's Austin Dillon won the season-opening Daytona 500 - in the Camaro's debut season. Kyle Larson, who is eighth in points, is the only Chevy driver among the top 10 in the standings.
"We're trying to catch up," said Newman, who will start sixth Sunday. We were prepared as well as we thought we needed to be.
"As it turns out, we needed to be more prepared, and you can see the results across the Chevrolet camp."
Bowyer, who will start 16th, has a chance to get closer to the Big 3 and create more separation from the pack. He earned his second win of the season at the series' previous stop at MIS in June. Four other drivers have won one race this year.
"It is always exciting to go to any race track for the second time (in a season), especially when you have had some success, to see how you will stack up when you load again," Bowyer said.
Hamlin hopes to finish where he'll start - first - to run his string of seasons with at least one win to 13. He won the pole position for the second straight race.
"We're starting to turn back the other way and be pretty fast again," Hamlin, who won at MIS in 2010 and 2011, said on Friday. "We've really worked on the right things to get us to this point, and nothing is more frustrating than working as hard as I have and the team has over the last two months and not getting any results."
Elliott's win came in his 99th Cup Series start, so expecting back-to-back trips to victory lane might be unrealistic. However, with his win securing a spot in the playoffs, he may feel less pressure than usual - and he has three runner-up finishes at MIS, showing his comfort with the two-mile oval.
"I've been on the other end of the stick these past two years," Elliott said, "and it's such a nice feeling to come into these last few races and know that you're locked in to the deal."
In off-track news, many drivers have been mentioned as possible free agents after the season, but Chip Ganassi insisted he wants Jamie McMurray back on his team next year after Motorsport.com reported he would be replaced by Kurt Busch.
Does Newman have a deal for 2019?
"Working on it," he said.
Also, NASCAR does not plan to make interim CEO and chairman Jim France available for interviews.
France was approached by reporters Saturday and declined to say much. He has a larger role in the family business because nephew Brian France took an indefinite leave after he was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of oxycodone last Sunday.
Jim is perhaps leading by example, because interview requests for Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Truex were denied Saturday.