Clint Bowyer

Bristol Motor Speedway's August night race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is known for frayed tempers, wild wrecks and sparks flying on the racetrack. Reports of a narrower racing groove this year could bring the bump-and-runs and grinding fenders back to previous highs.

Heading into the 2018 edition of the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301, NASCAR's annual Silly Season carousel looked ready to enter a permanent slumber. Most top drivers were locked into long-term deals and it looked like little, if any, driver movement would happen during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series offseason.

The last time the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series visited Daytona International Speedway, the season-opening Daytona 500 turned into a game of Survivor. A series of late-race wrecks eliminated major contenders, including a surprising Matt DiBenedetto, and left the race sitting in Denny Hamlin's hands. Hamlin's second Daytona 500 victory came in his first race with new crew chief Chris Gabehart; it was also part of a 1-2-3 Joe Gibbs Racing finish.

Michigan is U.S. home base for some of the top auto manufacturers in the country. It's a place where Ford is looking to cash in on some more bragging rights than usual: a third straight victory at the NASCAR oval right in their own backyard. Michigan International Speedway's two-mile oval in Brooklyn, a little over an hour west of Detroit, serves as the backdrop for the biggest manufacturer battle of the season.

It doesn't matter the size or shape of the racetrack: William Byron is red hot when it comes to NASCAR qualifying. The 21-year-old driver won his second straight pole on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit and will start up front for the 2019 Pocono 400.