Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

BROOKLYN, Mich. – With 20 laps to go, the fight for the win appeared to be between Carson Hocevar and William Byron.

Instead, both left Michigan International Speedway heartbroken outside the top 25 after Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400. Hocevar’s left-rear tire went flat at Lap 182 while trying to conserve fuel from the lead. In his own fuel save, Byron lost the top spot to Denny Hamlin with four laps remaining before Byron’s tank ran dry with just one-and-a-half laps remaining, allowing Hamlin to escape with the win.

MORE: Race results | At-track photos: Michigan

Coming off a career-best second-place finish at Nashville last week, Hocevar led a career-high 32 laps Sunday at Michigan, his home track. But the No. 77 Spire Motorsports team knew they were short on fuel in the final run, expecting to run out with approximately four laps remaining.

Hocevar and Co. never got to see that play out. The flat tire threw them to pit road instead with 18 laps remaining, ending any shot for the sophomore to celebrate his first career win at home and relegating him to 29th in the final rundown.

“I felt like I screwed us a little bit by going a little early to put us in that fuel number,” Hocevar said. “You lose the race both ways, right? You either run out (or this). But they should probably go to bed a little bit (easier) that somehow, some way we ran something over or something in the universe wanted a left-rear flat.”

Hocevar has had his fair share of near misses in pursuit of his inaugural trip to Victory Lane in the Cup Series. He’s spent plenty of time in contention this season with fast cars, but results haven’t always rewarded him. That isn’t new territory for the Portage, Michigan, native.

“Just like I’m reliving the Truck Series days, but you’re doing it in front of a big stage,” Hocevar said. “And then, the difference is like I felt like I was throwing them away. Now, they’re getting taken away – I use that term loosely – but just things out of our control.

“It’s such a double-edged sword, right? There’s nothing I could go back and just be like, we could be better in this moment to win the race or not. There’s so many moments where we’re just like, ‘Man, I just wish we had that opportunity to see if we even would have had a fighting shot at the end at these races.’ I’d much rather be in these spots and have these things happening than just slow.”

Byron remains the NASCAR Cup Series points leader leaving Michigan, but a 28th-place finish nerfed what could have been an exceptional points day for the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports driver.

RELATED: Cup standings

Byron was in a better position to make it to the end than Hocevar, needing to save roughly two laps of fuel. He was able to conserve some while trailing Hocevar, but the hot pursuit applied by Hamlin forced Byron to forget about saving and instead use everything had left to fend off the No. 11 Toyota.

“When I was in second, it was like, ‘OK, I can save here a little bit and maybe manage,’” Byron told NASCAR.com. “And then when I got the lead with the 77’s flat, then it was like, ‘OK, I’m in a really good spot to manage because I can just kind of pace it here.’ And it just didn’t pan out that way. Just burning too much fuel up towards the front, and those guys had been further back and able to take more (gas during pit stops).”

Unlike the leaders, Hamlin never had to worry about saving fuel. His No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had plenty, according to crew chief Chris Gayle, allowing Hamlin to keep his right foot planted on the gas pedal.

“He was pushing my pace, and I was having to run hard, and he had the benefit of the draft,” Byron said. “I’ll just have to think about it obviously, but it was just trying to manage both, which was difficult to do, but I thought we’re doing an OK job of it.”

Hamlin, now a 57-time winner in the Cup Series, knew he had the upper hand on fuel but “never will assume someone’s going to run out” of fuel. Understanding Byron was going to go all-out to defend the lead – and willing to run out trying – Hamlin knew he needed to use every trick in his arsenal to muster his way past the No. 24 car.

“At the time, I had the upper hand on him with the car, the lines that I was able to run versus the lines he was able to run,” Hamlin said. “And I just saw some vulnerabilities with his car that, after running right on his bumper for 10 laps, I was able to pick him apart or pick the car apart and capitalize on this one spot of the track that I thought that I could get him. It’s a cat-and-mouse game.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Ultimately, Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had just enough fuel to claim the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway and do one celebratory series of burnouts in front of the huge grandstand crowd before running out of gas on his encore celebration and needing a tow to his ultimate destination: Victory Lane.

RELATED: Race results | Shop: Winner gear

The 44-year-old put on a master class in fuel saving and end-of-race pressure at the 2-mile oval – taking his third win of the season and 57th of his career. Hamlin crossed the line 1.099 seconds ahead of RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher and his JGR teammate, Ty Gibbs, after the day’s most dominant driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, had to pit for fuel on the next-to-last lap.

“No, not really,” Hamlin said, insisting he wasn’t overly worried about running out of fuel in the closing laps. “I wanted to get the lead, and obviously he [Byron] was doing a really good job defending.

“Sorry, but I beat your favorite driver,” a grinning Hamlin – in his 701st career series start – addressed the rowdy Michigan crowd.

“This whole team just stepped up,” he said. “Great job. We’ve been so fast this entire year, just haven’t finished it for one reason or another, so it feels good to come to Michigan, where we’ve been so close the last couple of years.

“Such a gratifying day to restart 11th or 12th and charge to the front,” added Hamlin, who has now won multiple races in the last seven consecutive seasons.

With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin had made his way from 11th place to fifth in the running order, behind the day’s most dominant cars – Carson Hocevar in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Both Hocevar, a Michigan native racing for his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, and Byron were informed by their crew chiefs that they would run out of fuel before the end of the race. Instead of a fuel issue however, Hocevar, who led 32 laps, had to pit from the race lead with 19 laps remaining for a flat tire.

Byron, who led a race-best 98 of the 200 laps, inherited the lead from Hocevar and then had to try to fend off Hamlin – who methodically started moving forward – racing Byron hard and forcing the championship leader out of any sort of fuel-save mode.

Hamlin got by Byron with four laps to go, and Byron dove down pit road for fuel, having to settle for a 28th-place finish. Hocevar finished 29th.

“Ultimately, maybe not as good mileage as the guys farther back to start that run, and that’s just the way the cautions go and the nature of being closer to the front and burning a lot of fuel,” Byron said. “That one, you can’t really do a lot about. It sucks. It really stings. But we had a really good car. I thought we executed well. It seemed like we waited a little more on fuel on that last stop and just burned more, not able to do much about that. So it is what it is.”

Bubba Wallace drove the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota – a team Hamlin co-owns – to fourth place. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson was fifth.

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was sixth. Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith finished a season-best seventh place. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch was eighth, followed by RFK teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski, marking the first time all three RFK cars finished among the top 10 this season.

There were 13 lead changes among 11 drivers, and Hamlin led only five laps on the day.

A nearly 12-minute red flag period occurred early in the race while workers ensured the track was race-worthy after a four-car incident that sent the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by Alex Bowman, hard into the wall after being clipped by Cole Custer’s spinning No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford. Bowman spoke to reporters after being checked out at the medical center. It marked the seventh time in the last nine races, however, that the perennial championship contender Bowman has finished 25th or worse.

MORE: Bowman sidelined in Stage 2 | At-track photos: Michigan

With 11 races remaining in the regular season, Byron holds a 41-point lead over Larson in the championship points standings. There have been nine race winners.

The Cup Series’ next race is the Viva Mexico 250, scheduled Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The event will be the series’ first in Mexico.

Notes: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Hamlin’s victory … Byron clinched a bonus point for the Xfinity Fastest Lap Award.

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Staff Report

Alex Bowman found early trouble in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, walking away after a multicar crash during Stage 2 at Michigan International Speedway.

Bowman’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was running in the 29th position when contact between the cars of Austin Cindric and Cole Custer collected him on the 67th of 200 laps in the FireKeepers Casino 400. Bowman’s car nosed head-on into the outside retaining wall in Turn 2, and the cars of pole winner Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suárez were also involved.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Michigan

The race was red-flagged for clean-up and for safety workers to attend to Bowman, who walked to the ambulance under his own power for the mandatory ride to the infield care center, where he was checked and released.

“I mean, I feel OK. It was the biggest hit I’ve ever taken in a stock car by a mile, but head-on into the wall at Michigan, it’s gonna be that way,” Bowman said. “So yeah, just try to go get them next week.”

Bowman finished last in the 36-car field. Custer was the only other driver who was sidelined, and he placed 35th. Suárez rallied from his spin to finish 14th, and Briscoe drove to a 23rd-place result.

Bowman said he saw Custer’s car break loose in front of him and the impact caused his No. 48 Chevy to veer sharply into the outside barrier. The Hendrick Motorsports driver lamented how the No. 48 missed the setup Sunday; he had started 16th and faded to 32nd by the end of Stage 1.

“It’s a bummer. We shouldn’t be back there to put ourselves in that situation,” Bowman said. “Same thing I said at Texas. But unfortunately, when you’re back there, you kind of just open the door for stuff like that to happen, and we’re better than that. We should have been in a better spot, but we weren’t and then that happened.”

MORE: Cup Series schedule | How NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge works

Bowman entered Sunday’s race — the 15th of 36 points-paying events this season — ranked 12th in the Cup Series standings. He has been involved in crashes in four of the last five events, including three consecutive races.

“You got any good ideas?” Bowman replied when asked how he might turn his fortunes around. “Because I’ll take what I can get at this point for luck-changer ideas. But yeah, it’s unfortunate, right? A lot of those races were really good runs. I would say Texas and Kansas, we were plenty capable of winning before we got damage. Charlotte was my fault. Nashville was my fault. This week, not much we can do.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Tyler Reddick will drop to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race because of unapproved adjustments to his 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota at Michigan International Speedway.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Michigan

Reddick is the defending race winner of Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He had qualified 12th in the 36-car field, earning that spot after being slowed by a flat tire in practice, an incident that prompted his No. 45 team to work on the rear diffuser.

No. 45 crew chief Billy Scott said on the pre-race grid that the team had to replace a worn strake on the diffuser, making other repairs underneath the car to make it race-ready.

Reddick enters Sunday’s 400-miler ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings. He is still in search of his first victory of the season, having gone six consecutive races without a top-five finish.

Posted on by Press Release

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Burt Myers keeps adding milestones to his illustrious career at Bowman Gray Stadium.

On a hot and steamy Saturday night, Burt Myers picked up his 101st career win in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series, tying him with Tim Brown for the most wins in Modified history.

“How could you have it any other way, right?,” Myers said. “Just knowing that me and Tim have got the championships and the wins that we do, and that we both kind of came up in this Modified Division together.

“And I didn’t realize it until somebody pointed it out, the next active driver in wins is Jason (Myers, Burt’s brother), I think at 42, so to say that we’ve been able to have such a successful career in this division that my family’s been racing in since the beginning, it’s pretty special.”

Just as small sample size, just Burt Myers, Jason Myers, and Gary Myers, who is Burt and Jason’s father and has 38 wins, have combined for 181 wins.

Gary Myers and his wife and Burt’s mother, Pam Myers, were driven on a golf cart from the pit area to Winner’s Circle to take part in Burt’s celebration.

“You don’t know when your last one’s going to be,” Burt Myers said. “So, I’m grateful that my mom and dad could come out there for that. And my dad’s health the way it is and to still make it out there for that, it meant a lot to me.”

In addition to Burt Myers collecting his 101st career win in the Modified Series, he also won a race in the Sportsman Series many years ago, meaning that he has 102 wins.

“We’ve always kind of counted featured wins because we run the featured division,” Burt Myers said. “But you can’t take away what other guys have done in other divisions. But as far as what’s in the book, you know, it’s 101. If you look at all-time wins it’s 102, but either way to think one day I’d have that many wins over here in anything, it’s kind of hard to imagine.”

Burt Myers
Burt Myers celebrates after earning his 101st Bowman Gray Stadium Modified win on Saturday evening. (Photo: Erick Messer/Bowman Gray Stadium)

The 102 overall wins makes Burt Myers the all-time winningest driver in Bowman Gray Racing history. Burt Myers is second with 11 Modified championships, one less than Brown’s 12

“We talk about championships, but I’d said for years that championships are great, but I like winning races,” Burt Myers said. “And if winning races gets you championships, then that’s fine. But I like winning races. To be at the top of the list on all-time wins is probably something I’ll focus on more than I do championships.

Burt Myers had the fastest qualifying lap at 13.665 seconds, putting him on the pole for first 25-lap race. Burt Myers led wire-to-wire.

“In a 25-lapper, it gives you a really good chance,” he said. “But it’s still racing. And anything can happen.”

There were three cautions during the first 25-lap Modified race, the last of which came on lap 15.

“On that one restart I think Chris (Fleming) got into me,” Burt Myers said. “And I think we actually got stuck together. It felt like we were stuck together. So, you just never know what’s going to happen. But we’re fortunate enough to get this win tonight, and we’re going to celebrate it.”

Fleming finished second, followed by Lee Jeffreys, Brown, and Brandon Ward, the points leader.

The win Saturday night also adds to Burt Myers’ win total for the season.

“We’ve got four wins and four poles, so I’d be hard to complain about that, wouldn’t it?,” he said.

Following the first 25-lap Modified race, Burt Myers drew “12” in the Madhouse Scramble, which inverted the field for the second race there.

Mike Speeney sat on the pole for the second race, and just like Burt Myers, he led wire-to-wire to defeat John Holleman IV.

“Once I knew we were on the pole it definitely helped today,” Speeney said.

Riley Neal finished third, followed by Junior Snow, and Slate Myers, who is Burt Myers’ son.

“The biggest thing here is making sure it’s a show,” Speeney said. “You can’t get too far out.”

Saturday’s win was his second career Modified win at Bowman Gray, the last of which came on Aug. 17 of last year.

“It feels good,” he said. “I’d like to get a first twin 25 as a qualifying contest or a 100-lapper in there. But we’re close.”

Chuck Wall continued his winning ways Saturday night, and he did it in several different ways.

Wall won the 53-lap QRC Stadium Stock 50, which was supposed to be 50 laps, but it was extended after a caution on lap 46.

Wall also picked the win in the same race last year, which also was extended to 53 laps. In addition, it was Wall’s third win of the year this season, his 37th career win.

“I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Wall said. “The car was great. I think the right-side tires have given up on me a little bit. These tires are pretty old.”

There were six cautions during the 53-lap race, but the last one happened on lap 46. On the single-file restart on lap 50, Wall started just ahead of Grayson Keaton.

Chuck Wall
Chuck Wall celebrates after winning the 50-lap Stadium Stock feature at Bowman Gray Stadium Saturday. (Photo: Erick Messer/Bowman Gray Stadium)

Keaton went underneath Wall, but Wall was able to maintain his lead and took the checkered flag.

“(Grayson Keaton) had a bad call, a bad fast car,” Wall said. “I thought we was a little bit quicker than him in the beginning, but it might have been because he had a left-rear tire go down. When the caution came out and I seed the lineup, I said, ‘Dang, that tire looks low.’ And then going down that backstretch, I was like, “That looks really low.’ And the next lap, when it was on the rim, I said, ‘Yeah, he’s done.’”

Tyler McDonald finished third, followed by Luke Smith, and A.J. Sanders.

In the first 25-lap race in the Law Offices of John Barrow Sportsman Series, Sterling Plemmons held off runner-up Chase Robertson to win.

“I appreciate Chase running me clean,” Plemmons said. “He’s been very good this year.”

Zack Ore was third, followed by Ryan Robertson, and Billy Gregg.

In the second 20-lap Sportsman race, Chase Robertson defeated Plemmons, who was the runner-up after drawing “8” in the Madhouse Scramble. That drawing inverted the field for the second race there at 8.

“I knew it was going to be a good race,” Chase Robertson said. “I just hate that my brother had a tire go flat. He definitely would’ve won that race. But I’ll take them any way you can get them.”

Billy Gregg was third, Ore was fourth, and Connor Branch was fifth.

The 20-lap race in the QRC HVAC & Refrigeration Street Stock Series ended the night. The race was full of cautions, but Bryan Sykes Jr. prevailed after a one-lap dash to the finish.

It was Sykes’ second win of the season.

Sykes defeated runner-up Austin Jones, followed by Kevin Gilbert, Brad Lewis, and Bryan Sykes Sr., who is Bryan Jr.’s father.

Next week’s racing will be highlighted by the Elite Underground Twin 50s in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series.

Because the 100-lap Modified race was rained out on May 31, the $6,000 Fans’ Challenge will carry over until next week’s Twin 50s. The top four qualifiers have the option to take the Fans’ Challenge and go to the rear of the field. If nobody wins the Fans’ Challenge in the first 50-lap race, the top four drivers after the invert of the field for the second 50-lap race will have the option to take the $6,000 Fans’ Challenge. If nobody wins next week’s $6,000 Fans’ Challenge, then it will carry over to the next 100-lap Modified race, which would be $9,000.

In addition to the Twin 50s in the Modified Series, there will be two 20-lap races in the Law Offices of John Barrow Sportsman Series, a 20-lap race in the QRC HVAC & Refrigeration Street Stock Series, and two 15-lap races in the Q104.1 Stadium Stock Series.

Posted on by Zack Albert

Ram announced Sunday that its brand will return to NASCAR competition, scheduling a Craftsman Truck Series campaign beginning in 2026.

The move came accompanied by a marketing splash before Sunday’s Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway. The choice of venue was intentional, marking the anticipated end of its 13-year absence in the backyard of Chevrolet and Ford — two fellow Detroit-area marques and current NASCAR manufacturers.

That blitz — billed as “Ram-Demption” — included the public debut of a Ram 1500 concept race truck, wearing a livery in Gloss Black and Molten Red. Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis drove the truck during a recent promotional shoot at Darlington Raceway, and he hinted that the brand’s NASCAR comeback foreshadowed its intent to eventually return to Cup Series competition with another manufacturer under the global Stellantis banner.

“We’ll be on track in Daytona in eight months,” Kuniskis said during a midweek press briefing, “and the way we’re going to do it is unlike anyone else.”

Ram will become the first new OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) in NASCAR’s national-series ranks since Toyota brought its Tundra model to the track in 2004. John Probst, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, indicated that the process for Ram’s return gained momentum at the end of the third quarter of fiscal year 2024.

“I know that this is something that we have been talking about for a long time, and it’s something that we don’t get to do very often,” Probst said. “I think the last time we did this was over 20 years ago when Toyota entered our sport, so this is something that is a big moment for our entire sport and our existing competitors, potential new competitors, our OEMs.”

The Ram entry for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, seen at Darlington Raceway

The news is part of what’s been a busy week for Ram, which announced Thursday that the classic 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 would return to its production lineup. Kuniskis acknowledged the company had erred in dropping the Hemi powerplant — “Ram screwed up when we dropped the Hemi. We own it and we fixed it,” he said — and that customer feedback was key to bringing it back. The engine returns with a new “Symbol of Protest” badge — a ram’s head emerging from a V-8 block — to the revived branding, and the company’s NASCAR return is the next phase of its focus on automotive muscle.

Kuniskis said Ram would ideally have at least four trucks on the grid for next year’s season opener at Daytona International Speedway. But he added that he’s in need of one or more team partnerships to bring those efforts to life.

“We’re looking for a date to the prom right now,” Kuniskis said. “So how am I going to get to Cup? That’s going to depend on how I get to Truck. So however we get to Truck is going to obviously weigh heavily on ‘do I have a path to Cup?’ Our intention is not to do a one-hit wonder and go to Truck and not to Cup. That’s not our plan.”

Ram spun off as a separate brand from Dodge in 2010. Dodge last competed with factory support in NASCAR’s Cup Series in 2012. That run concluded with Brad Keselowski claiming the Cup championship for Team Penske that year in a Dodge Charger. Dodge Ram celebrated three manufacturer titles in the Craftsman Truck Series (2001, 2003-04) during its first stint, which ended after the 2013 campaign. Bobby Hamilton (2004) and Ted Musgrave (2005) drove Dodge Rams in their championship campaigns.

Probst did not speculate when asked about Ram’s prospects for aligning with an existing Truck Series organization, but he said he imagined the pursuit of a team partnership would be spirited.

“I want him to have a date that he wants to have his picture taken with,” Probst said, riffing on Kuniskis’ prom analogy. “That is completely a Ram competition-related thing. We know they are wanting to be very competitive, so I would anticipate them being pretty aggressive in getting a good team lined up in their camp to go run their banner.”

Probst said the runway for any prospective automakers to launch a Cup Series venture would be based on an 18-month timetable to allow for proper engine development and the submission of a competition-ready body. As for any other manufacturers who might be willing to follow Ram’s lead, Probst said those prospects were encouraging.

“I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but I would say that we are very close with one other,” Probst said. “Can’t speak for them. Obviously, it’s their decision to make. We would love for them to decide to come into NASCAR, and even with that, there’s one or two others that we’re a little bit earlier in the discussions, but also looking pretty positive. But we all know that an OEM deciding to come into NASCAR, it’s a big commitment for them. It’s not something that they take lightly. It requires a lot of research and approval at the highest levels. We’re confident right now. We like the position we’re in, and think that we’re a pretty good investment for an OEM.”

Posted on by Nick Giffen

The FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) marks the fifth straight intermediate oval race for the NASCAR Cup Series.

As we’ve seen over the previous four intermediate ovals in this stretch, practice data has played an important role in the running order. That’s especially true for Kansas Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, where there was a very strong correlation from practice speed to race speed.

Those two races are notable because they are two of the best comparable tracks to Michigan, which should point us in the direction of practice being a big asset again this week.

So that’s exactly where I’m looking with a couple of head-to-head matchups for my NASCAR best bets at Michigan.

FireKeepers Casino 400 Best Bets

Last week, I hit on three of the four head-to-head matchups, so I’m heading back to DraftKings, which has been offering a nice menu of driver matchups in recent weeks.

Like last week, a simple breakdown of each driver’s practice FLAGS rating and their predicted median finishing position from my model will show why I prefer the drivers that I do in these matchups.

1. Tyler Reddick +125 over Kyle Larson

  • FLAGS: Reddick 89.4% (2nd), Larson 56.4% (16th)
  • Med. Finish: Reddick 7.0, Larson 9.0

2. Bubba Wallace +100 over Chase Briscoe

  • FLAGS: Wallace 80.8% (6th), Briscoe 60.7% (14th)
  • Med. Finish: Wallace 10.0, Briscoe 12.0

Two plus-money matchups should hopefully net us a profit; we’d need to hit just one to, at worst, break even if we bet one unit per matchup. I like taking the cars that showed a bit more practice speed, and in both cases we’re getting drivers that were strong at Michigan last year as Reddick and Wallace were two of the top three cars in fastest laps per healthy lap run (Wallace’s car took damage last year, ruining the latter portion of his race).

You can also parlay these two bets together at a +350 price tag if you want a bit of a longer-odds sweat.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

Editor’s note: Projections updated after Saturday’s practice and qualifying.

It was a new winner in 2025 but a familiar face in Victory Lane at Nashville with Ryan Blaney, which now makes it four new victors in the last five weeks, setting up a similar story to follow at Michigan this Sunday (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

It took a while, but the list of winners is starting to grow, and with the last two races in the Irish Hills each having a track record of 16 different leaders, there’s a good chance we get our 10th season winner at Brooklyn.

RELATED: Michigan schedule | How to watch NASCAR on Prime Video

Currently, two former Michigan winners — Chris Buescher (plus-8) and Kyle Busch (plus-2) — are barely hanging on to the final two playoff spots after scrapping top-15 finishes at Nashville.

Looking back to last year, both drivers cracked the top 10 at Michigan and now have a chance to no longer be at risk on the bubble but rather cause ruckus with a win. Given the unpredictability of the racing up north, we could see the bubble battle tighten up more as regular-season racing winds down. The only concern is that neither Buescher nor Busch rank top 10 in Passer, Defense, Restart and Speed Ratings, according to NASCAR Insights. However, both have two unique stats going for them entering this weekend.

In Buescher’s case, not only did he win there more recently (August 2023), but he drives a Ford and the Blue Ovals have won nine of the last 10 races in Michigan. To boot, RFK Racing owns 14 organization wins at the track, which is the most out of any team.

For Busch, the Great Lakes State track has a history of ending lengthy winless droughts. Eight times, a driver with a winless streak of 40 or more races was to reignite the victory flame in Michigan. Though he hasn’t won there since 2011, he owns 10 top 10s in the last 12 races at the track.

On the other hand, if we get a repeat winner, there are a few standouts on who it could be.

FANTASY: Set your lineup | Make a 36 for 36 pick

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

KYLE LARSON: A three-time Michigan winner and probably one of the best active drivers at the track, granted, he’s never won there in Hendrick equipment. Still, Larson has finished top three in six of the last 12 Michigan races and should be firmly in the mix.

JOEY LOGANO: Another fellow three-time winner in the Irish Hills, Logano is coming off a top-five performance and needs to string more good weeks together, given Nashville was his first top five since winning at Texas.

DENNY HAMLIN: Hamlin was able to turn things around at Nashville after four straight weeks of finishing 16th or worse. He has the chance to keep the momentum rolling at Michigan with top 10s in the last seven races in Brooklyn and two career wins at the track.

WILLIAM BYRON: Byron has been super consistent with an average finish of 9.2 to lead all full-time drivers, but the points leader is still searching for his second win of the season. He has two runner-up finishes, with the most recent one coming in last year’s race.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.

FinishCar NumberDriver
111Denny Hamlin
224William Byron
35Kyle Larson
417Chris Buescher
59Chase Elliott
612Ryan Blaney
754Ty Gibbs
845Tyler Reddick
923Bubba Wallace
1020Christopher Bell
1122Joey Logano
121Ross Chastain
1319Chase Briscoe
1477Carson Hocevar
158Kyle Busch
166Brad Keselowski
1748Alex Bowman
1843Erik Jones
1938Zane Smith
2099Daniel Suárez
212Austin Cindric
2260Ryan Preece
233Austin Dillon
2447Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2516AJ Allmendinger
2642John H. Nemechek
274Noah Gragson
2821Josh Berry
2910Ty Dillon
3071Michael McDowell
317Justin Haley
3234Todd Gilliland
3341Cole Custer
3451Cody Ware
3588Shane van Gisbergen
3635Riley Herbst
Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

BROOKLYN, Mich. — There are a dozen races separating the NASCAR Cup Series from its playoffs. There are also a dozen points separating 15th-place Chris Buescher from 19th-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the provisional postseason grid.

Buescher sits eight points above the provisional dividing line entering Sunday’s FireKeepers Caisno 400 at Michigan International Speedway (2 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Behind him is a scramble for the 16th and final spot in the playoffs: Kyle Busch has it for now by a mere two points over Ryan Preece, Buescher’s teammate at RFK Racing.

MORE: Cup standings | Michigan schedule

Busch and Buescher have each previously won at the 2-mile Michigan oval. Preece, the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, is still seeking his first career Cup win. What all of them share is the desire to drive into Victory Lane some time between Sunday and Aug. 23’s regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway — the only way to erase any doubts about their entry into the postseason.

“We’ve been able to recognize that it’s always a must-win situation,” Buescher said Wednesday of his No. 17 team. “From the beginning of the year, you have to win races. There’s been a couple of times where we’ve been right there in a good spot or been right there in that window and just get a surprise winner or two to close the regular season — or we got caught up in an accident in Darlington (in April 2024) and you can’t depend on points to get you in the playoffs when it’s as tight as it is every week.

“For us, I think that’s been our mindset, which means that ultimately wherever we bounce around that line we’ll be aware of it, but it’s a matter of figuring out how to go win races and we haven’t done that yet.”

Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion, is just barely on the inside looking in. In the midst of a career-long 71-race winless streak, the 40-year-old Busch is eager to get back to his signature post-win bow. But until then, his focus is maximizing points from now until August’s finale — including an emphasis on netting stage points. Of the 36 full-time entries, Busch ranks 25th with 17 stage points through 14 races.

“That’s just where our weak spot is of being able to get stage points in Stage 1 and Stage 2,” Busch said Saturday. “And we can finish OK, but it’s too late in the day by the time you get to that point to collect good points day on that front.”

The two-point buffer to Preece exists — but only momentarily in a sport that moves week-to-week in the blink of an eye. Behind Preece sit Carson Hocevar (minus-4 to Busch), Stenhouse (minus-6), AJ Allmendinger (minus-7) and Michael McDowell (minus-13). Of course, a win from a driver beneath the provisional elimination line also reduces the number of spots available to earn on points.

Rather than getting caught up in the minutiae, Busch is trying to keep his eyes out the windshield.

“All you can do is focus on you and just try to execute your day,” Busch said. “I mean, when you’re running around there under yellow and you see somebody who’s spun or crashed or whatever that’s around you in points, you’re like, ‘OK, well that helps.’ But other than that, you’ve got to focus on yourself and being able to make sure that you maximize your day.”

Ryan Preece and Kyle Busch share a laugh during a NASCAR drivers' meeting.
Jonathan Bachman | Getty Images

This particular scenario is new for Preece, who in his first year driving RFK Racing’s No. 60 Ford is truly in the thick of the playoff hunt for the first time in his six full-time seasons in Cup. But his experience competing for titles in the modified ranks — and racing for his career in limited Xfinity opportunities a decade ago — have strengthened his resiliency in high-stress scenarios.

“I’ve won championships at different levels. I’ve been a part of these type of situations before,” Preece said. “So the way I approach race weekends, it doesn’t bother me, you know? And I think if you look at my entire career, when it comes to pressure situations, I enjoy it. I thrive often. So yeah, I think being on that bubble, it’s not where I want to be. I look 40, 50 points ahead of me and I think, ‘I want to be there.’ So instead of focusing on who’s five or six or one behind me, I’m going to focus on the 40 points ahead of me and try to get there and let everybody try to catch me.”

Through 14 races, Preece is on pace for a career season, matching last year’s top-five (one) and top-10 (five) totals in less than half the time while posting a personal-best 19.6 average finish. But he knows there are still places to improve if he wants to continue climbing toward the top of the pylon.

“When it comes to racing situations, dirty air and all that, I feel really confident about it,” Preece said. “But the weakness has been trying to figure out a way to qualify better, to maximize stage points in Stage 1. Because that’s a frustrating part of the system is there’s times where you can definitely gather more points from stages than you can sometimes from having a good, strong ending of the day.”

And with the No. 60 car on the edge of the provisional playoff bubble, Preece knows he will need as many points as possible to make a postseason push — and nothing pays more than winning.

“I think you put yourself in a position to win races, and at the end, if, if you’re leading, you execute,” Preece said. “If not, you’re you’re trying to execute stage points; you’re trying to have a great day. So ultimately, it’s keeping track position. It’s doing everything right. And I feel like as a first-year team, Derrick (Finley, crew chief) and everybody’s been really growing their roots and it’s been great to be a part of.

“I think we’re a team that’s capable of contending, not only for the playoffs but for wins. We always seem to find a way to drive forward. And it’s just something as time progresses, we’re going to keep getting better and better at.”

Posted on by John Crane

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Clean air and crisp speed proved to be the difference for part-time driver Luke Fenhaus, who wheeled the No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford to a third-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway Saturday afternoon.

The result, which came after a collection of late-race cautions and three NASCAR Overtimes, is Fenhaus’ best finish in the Truck Series to date and his first top 10 in the circuit since July 2024 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP).

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Michigan

“Obviously a good end result,” Fenhaus said after the race. “Good to have speed late in the race, but obviously up-and-down day. I’m happy with it, though. We put ourselves in situations that aren’t ideal, you know, and we battle with air, and man, our trucks really struggled back in dirty air, but when we got cleared out front, you know, top five, it was alright, and we could manage it and have good pace. So yeah, good day for learning. We take the positives out of it and keep moving forward.”

The 21-year-old Wisconsin native raised eyebrows leading into Saturday’s bout, logging the second-fastest practice time and the top mark during qualifying to claim his first Truck Series pole in his 12th career start in the circuit.

Such speed continued into Stages 1 and 2, when the Wisconsin native tallied a seventh- and 10th-place finish, respectively. However, the gradual reduction of clean air — and subsequent mid-pack battles — resulted in Fenhaus faltering as the race wore on.

A late-race jolt, however, came to fruition following a Lap 127 pile-up for the front of the pack, re-racking the field and eventually giving way for Fenhaus to reclaim clean air once again.

“There’s a lot of pushing going on,” Fenhaus said. “There’s no give-and-take and, you know, soon as you cross the start/finish line, you’re three-, four-wide. So it’s just part of it, you know. And I think guys on the front row had bad tires, and just happens, right? I spun the tires for first green flag, you know, just rookie move. So, yeah, that’ll happen. That’s part of the racing.”

A continuation of clean air continued for Fenhaus entering the final overtime, with the top three drivers lining the outside lane and the No. 66 taking the bottom groove behind eventual race-winner Stewart Friesen. With this positioning, Fenhaus unlocked the same speed his No. 66 Ford found in practice and qualifying, and the end result was an impressive top-five finish.

“I think just clean air, that was everything,” Fenhaus said. “I mean, when we were back in the dirty air, we could run 24th at best, 20th at best. So, to just have clean air and just have a good, solid truck. Feel like our trucks can be good up front, but we need to qualify up front, have good pit stops. Me be good on pit road. And, you know, just have a mistake-free day.”

MORE: Michigan info hub | Truck Series schedule

A convincing third-place finish is coupled with priceless on-track experience for the young Fenhaus, whose next Truck Series race is tentatively scheduled for July 25 at IRP, the same site where he achieved his prior career-high finish in the circuit.

To Fenhaus, the lesson learned from Michigan was a simple one.

“Learning the air. That just never ends,” Fenhaus said. “Every situation you’re in, it seems different, and every truck you have is different. So to battle that air week in and week out is huge for me, and to learn how to pass with these guys. And, you know, just learn how to race with these guys, a lot different than short-track racing, but we’re gonna get it, and we’ll have good runs eventually here.”