Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace capped off strong on-track performances throughout the 2026 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway this past Sunday, June 7, by notching podium results. As a result, both competitors made major gains within the points standings in their bids to make the 2026 Chase for the Cup.
Jones, a native of Byron, Michigan, entered the Michigan race weekend strapped in 21st place in the 2026 Cup Series driver standings. Through the first 14 scheduled events, he recorded two top-10 results and an average finishing result of 20.3. Despite finishing 21st or worse seven times through the first 10 races, he netted four consecutive top-20 results in the four previous events leading up to his home-track event of Michigan.
After taking the green flag from 10th place, Jones methodically raced his way to the front and nearly reeled in Chase Elliott for the second stage victory before settling in the runner-up spot. Despite losing six spots on pit road prior to the final stage period, Jones rallied by motoring his way into the runner-up spot with less than 10 laps remaining. By then, however, he trailed race leader and eventual winner Denny Hamlin by a large margin, and he ultimately settled in the runner-up spot while trailing Hamlin at the finish line by more than 11 seconds.
Jones’ runner-up result was his ninth driving the No. 43 entry, an entry in which he first assumed in 2021 under the Richard Petty Motorsports banner and currently under the Legacy Motor Club banner owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. Jones also achieved his first top-five result since finishing in third place during the 2025 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway last September, and he notched his third top-10 result of the 2026 Cup Series season.
With a current season-high runner-up result, Jones, who was mired as low as 35th in the standings and has spent much of the early portions of this season within the mid-20s range, boosted himself and his No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE entry team into 18th place in the standings. They trail the top-16 cutline to be in Chase contention by 18 points with 11 races remaining until the Chase begins.
Despite being disappointed with a runner-up result and having a first Cup victory in nearly four seasons evaporated by a large margin, Jones sets his sights on extending his recent on-track surge next Sunday, June 14, at Pocono Raceway, a track in which he holds an average-finishing result of 13.5 and a total of eight top-10 results through 14 starts.
“I really think we had the best car and it just didn’t work out perfect,” Jones said on Prime Video. “Everything has to work out really well, and some things just didn’t go right at the end. Denny got out front and drove away, and we had to work through some traffic. It’s frustrating, but at the same time, the last month and a half has been good for us. We’ve had fast cars. We haven’t quite got the finishes we’ve deserved. Today was obviously, we got the finish we deserve, almost, I think. Just didn’t work out…We just got to do every little thing right and [the win]’ll come. You run upfront like that, it’s going to happen for you.”
Like Jones, Bubba Wallace executed an event where he both raced upfront and led at certain portions to notch a result that is his current highest of the 2026 Cup Series season and erased the previous results that nearly knocked him below the Chase cutline.
Wallace, a native of Mobile, Alabama, entered this past Sunday’s Michigan race weekend ranked in 15th place in the standings. After notching an average-finishing result of 8.8 through the first five events and being ranked in the runner-up spot in the standings, he has since endured a roller coaster swing throughout the next nine events, where his average-finishing result dropped to 23.8 as he ended up with six results of 22nd or worse. Despite finishing in the top 10 twice throughout the stretch, he quickly plummeted towards the Chase cutline and was in jeopardy of dropping below it.
Starting in 13th place, Wallace netted a fifth-place result following the first stage period and gained a strong start during the second stage’s commencement to lead his first six laps. Despite being briefly involved in a Lap 82 restart incident that eliminated his teammate/series points leader Tyler Reddick, and led to a post-race conversation with the incident’s perpetrator Carson Hocevar, Wallace rallied by leading an additional three laps (Laps 95-97) before he finished just outside of the top-10 mark when the second stage period concluded.
In the closing laps, Wallace worked his way up as high as second place in the leaderboard despite trailing his fellow competitor and 23XI Racing co-owner, Denny Hamlin, by a large deficit. While battling with Erik Jones and Carson Hocevar in the closing laps, Wallace lost the runner-up spot to Jones, but managed to fend off Hocevar and Kyle Larson to settle in third place and with a 12-second disadvantage to Hamlin.
Wallace’s third-place result at Michigan is his current best through 15 events of the 2026 season and his second top-five result this year after he previously finished in fifth place at Kansas Speedway in mid-April. The driver of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry also notched his 30th top-five result in his 306th Cup career start and his fourth top-10 result at Michigan. Wallace’s Michigan result was enough to boost him up to 11th place in the standings, and he is 49 points above the top-16 cutline.
At the conclusion of the event, Wallace left Michigan with positive reactions as he strives to both continue his on-track rally and be competitive at Pocono, a track where he has an average finish of 20.5 and a trio of top-10 finishes.
“We’ve gone through a month of hell,” Wallace said on Prime Video. “It’s hard to be happy with a third place because this is what should be happening when we’re executing like we are and we just get blindsided by something. At the end of the day, it’s no excuses. I just need to be better, but all in all, we were good enough for third…I would say we executed all day. It’s a valiant team effort. Each and every week, it’s a grind, so it’s nice to get on the other side of it and get back to work for Pocono.”
The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season for both Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace continues with the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, this upcoming Sunday, June 14, at 3 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM and HBO MAX.
