Posted on by Brandon White

OXFORD, Maine — The only accomplishment that eluded Jon McKennedy in the first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Oxford Plains Speedway since 1991 was the American Racer Tire Pole Award.

If not for an afternoon rain shower that washed out qualifying, McKennedy likely could have earned that Saturday, as well.

McKennedy’s No. 79 set an early commanding tone for the All States Materials Group 150 by sweeping the two practice sessions. Once he passed polesitter and Modified Tour points leader Stephen Kopcik, McKennedy enjoyed a dominant, quiet afternoon around Oxford Plains for his fourth series victory and second of 2026.

RELATED: Complete results from the All States Materials Group 150

The confidence McKennedy had in his car after practice proved to be well-founded, as he faced minimal opposition for the lead all evening. McKennedy credited the car’s stellar speed to the hard work exuded by everyone on his team.

“At the end of the day, I got a good group of guys behind me,” McKennedy said. “A lot of work and preparation went into this deal for this race, and the car was honestly awesome. I was content with the race just going [green]. All day, [the car] was a rocket ship. What can I say?”

Unlike most of the other drivers entered in the All States Materials Group 150, McKennedy has logged plenty of laps around Oxford Plains during his career.

McKennedy’s accolades at Oxford Plains include both Modified and Supermodified victories. That versatile background helped McKennedy settle into a rhythm, something that would be imperative if he wanted to gain vital ground in the Modified Tour standings.

Not only did McKennedy dominate, but everyone in front of him endured varying degrees of misfortune at Oxford Plains. Patrick Emerling faded from the top five late, while the top two in the standings in Kopcik and Austin Beers both had poor finishes, with Beers’ 11th being his first finish outside the top 10 since Richmond Raceway in 2024.

Also taking advantage of a rough day for the title contenders was Tyler Rypkema, who placed second in the iconic Ole Blue Modified for Boehler Racing Enterprises. Ole Blue was the only car in the field that was entered in the Modified Tour race at Oxford Plains in 1991, when it finished second with Doug Heveron.

Despite not feeling well at the start of the day, Rypkema persevered to earn his third top five of the 2026 Modified Tour campaign. The performance was a much-needed change of pace for Rypkema, whose streak of bad luck included damaging the fence in the most recent series event at Riverhead Raceway.

“We really needed that,” Rypkema said. “Had two really bad races in a row obviously, the wreck at Riverhead and getting into the wall at Seekonk [Speedway], essentially ended my night there on my own. As soon as we crossed the checkered flag, I’m like ‘thank god, we needed that’. Never seen this place before today, but it was a fun little track.”

Although Rypkema proved experience at Oxford Plains was not essential to finish strong Saturday evening, McKennedy made sure to use every bit of knowledge he had about the place. What transpired was McKennedy’s most efficient showing since leading 137 laps at Claremont Speedway during his championship campaign in 2022.

McKennedy is now firmly in contention for another Modified Tour title after his near-perfect day at Oxford Plains. By understanding all the characteristics that make Oxford Plains unique, McKennedy felt he was always one step ahead of his fellow competition, a trend he hopes to continue going forward.

“We had two-tenths on the field it seemed like,” McKennedy said. “We definitely had a little bit of an advantage. [Oxford Plains] is a very line-sensitive track. There’s no markings out there; it’s wide, and your perception is challenging here as far as lift points. Laps and experience here definitely helps, and it all paid off.”

Eric Goodale secured his second top five finish of 2026 with a third-place run in the All States Materials Group 150. Ronnie Williams picked up his first Modified Tour top five since 2021 by finishing fourth, with Paulie Hartwig III following him in fifth for a career-best run in the series.

In two weeks, the Modified Tour will return to action at White Mountain Motorsports Park. The green flag for the Thunder in the Mountains 200 waves at 8 p.m. ET on June 20 with FloRacing providing live flag-to-flag coverage.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Track: Michigan International Speedway
Location: Brooklyn, Mich.
Track length: 2 miles
When: 3 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 200 laps | 400 miles
Segments: 45 | 120 | 200
Sunday’s starting lineup | Cup Series pit stall assignments

Michigan’s Irish Hills create a highway to high speeds

Michigan International Speedway has long been the site of some of the highest speeds on the NASCAR schedule. That won’t change in this weekend’s FireKeepers Casino 400.

Drivers routinely topped 200 mph in Saturday’s practice session, averaging lap speeds upward of 190 mph. The 2-mile track’s long straights and sweeping banked corners create an emphasis on drafting, but its wide turns also offer plenty of lanes for drivers to maneuver out of dirty air.

MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

Toyota has been the manufacturer to beat every week this season, whether at superspeedways, intermediates, short tracks or road courses. But Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, hasn’t quite found what he’s looking for through seven Michigan starts. The daunting nature of what Michigan dares drivers to achieve is not lost on Bell, who is looking for his first Michigan win and first victory of 2026.

“You just have to hit it perfect at this track,” Bell said Saturday. “Like, it’s so fast, and it takes so much commitment that you can’t be loose, can’t be tight; you’ve got to have the car driving really well to have speed here. So yeah, I mean, the intermediate package has been really good for the Toyotas. Hopefully, I would expect it to translate here to Michigan, but you have to hit the balance. It doesn’t matter how good your cars are. If it’s not driving well, you’re not going to have pace.”

Brad Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion and a Michigan native, is also still seeking his first Michigan win after 28 starts. Michigan’s spot on the schedule may serve teams well as a precursor for the next two races, with the Irish Hills track preceding Pocono Raceway’s unique 2.5-mile triangular track, which offers some similarities to the D-shaped oval in Brooklyn, Michigan.

“I view Michigan and Pocono as kind of being the most similar tracks with the way they race, in the sense of the race tends to get strung out, strategy becomes really important, really easy to get involved in a crash because of just how edgy the cars are,” Keselowski said Saturday. “But of course, Michigan and Pocono are not the same tracks. Pocono has the three separate corners — Turn 1, really kind of a high-banked fast corner and Turns 2 and 3 really flat, and Turn 2 particularly really bumpy, and Turn 3 really easy to get in trouble as well.”

Two consecutive weeks with high-speed challenges start Sunday at Michigan, where drivers know they will need to balance bravery with strategy.

“I mean, this is one of those race tracks, man, that you have to be very smart,” said Daniel Suárez, winner of the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24. “I call it as it’s like a chess match, because [if] you have a run, you have to take it. You have to be very, very strategic and very smart on your moves. Being aggressive is important, but being smart is more important. So I love coming here. It’s not your typical mile-and-a-half style kind of race track, I mean, even though it’s a 2-mile race track. But yeah, it’s a lot of fun.”

A NASCAR Cup Series badge hangs at Michigan during pre-race flyover on frontstretch.
Chris Graythen | Getty Images

In the details …

Fourteen races into 2026, there are still some surprise names who have yet to visit Victory Lane, including Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace, who need big days in the Irish Hills to feel comfortable above the Chase cutline.

Here’s a look at seven drivers entered in this weekend’s race who have tallied the most points in the Next Gen car at Michigan:

DRIVERPOINTS
Denny Hamlin169
Chris Buescher150
Brad Keselowski144
Bubba Wallace128
Erik Jones122
Kyle Larson120
Daniel Suárez118

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

• Michigan hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
• Sunday Setup: Fuel mileage, new tire setup and OEM incentive in focus | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: New colors set for Michigan | View gallery
• Hauler Talk: Why Austin Dillon was not penalized for Keselowski incident at Nashville | Listen now
• Power Rankings: Who will take next big leap on Sunday? | This week’s ranks
• NASCAR Classics: Inside the video vault from Michigan | Watch now

Contributing: Cameron Richardson, Zack Albert

Posted on by Zack Albert

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Brian Wilson, crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford and driver Austin Cindric, hails from Macomb, Michigan, part of the sprawling Detroit Metro area. Recent trips to Michigan International Speedway have meant loading in early for family time, and Wilson says four cousins will be in attendance for this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the 2-mile track.

“Yeah, it definitely feels like home,” Wilson says.

Earning a victory in front of a home crowd adds incentive for Wilson in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Beyond the personal motivations, plenty of other components will be in play for crew chiefs over 400 fast-paced miles.

RELATED: Sunday’s starting lineup | Weekend schedule: Michigan

Wilson’s father, Steve, was also a race engineer, and Wilson recalled making his first family trips to the Irish Hills section of the state for NASCAR events in the early to mid-1990s. That longevity means that Wilson has seen plenty of Michigan races that have boiled down to fuel strategy. Come Sunday, teams that make the most of their mileage may hold the key to Victory Lane.

“I think there are certain things that you can do, setup-wise,” Wilson told NASCAR.com. “Obviously, you want to start full of fuel is the biggest thing — making sure that the driver understands ways that he can save fuel throughout the race. Any caution, obviously, he has to be on top of things to save fuel for us, but then, laying out the strategy, making sure that you’re at a position to where you can try to be full, try to run long. Some of the debate I think is going to come down to if you have early cautions, or cautions hit at the right point, do you want to wait on fuel? I think that’s probably the biggest question for a lot of guys.

“You know, typically you don’t have a lot of (pit) stops here. You try to stay out, hold on to the track position, maybe four stops on average, so a lot of times you’ll have to make sure you’re full or close to full, or get as much as you can in those situations to open up the playground.”

As usual, Goodyear tires should play a factor and new right-side rubber for Michigan could add another layer to that equation. Goodyear officials indicated the new tire was introduced to combat the force and load created in the high-speed corners, and Wilson said the harder compound should offset some of the issues with cording from excessive wear that have sometimes arisen at other intermediate-sized tracks.

MORE: New right-side Goodyears at Michigan

Cindric, Wilson’s driver, slowed with a flat left-rear tire 10 minutes into Saturday’s practice. Denny Hamlin had a similar left-rear issue in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the same time in the second session, and JGR teammate Christopher Bell’s left-front went flat on the No. 20 Toyota near practice’s end.

Michael McDowell drives at Michigan.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Travis Peterson, crew chief for Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, said that aggressive air-pressure setups were likely to blame, with Michigan’s higher-speed layout potentially causing havoc with settings that work at other tracks. Generally, though, Peterson said he anticipates a standard performance bar when it comes to Goodyear’s new combination.

“I mean, maybe a little bit more wear than we’ve had here in the past, but lap times are probably still a little flat,” Peterson said after qualifying. “I don’t know that we ran enough laps to fully see. The thing that’s been somewhat consistent about these things is at some point you do seem to hit a wall and cord tires and do all that, so I don’t know that we ran long enough in practice, us specifically, or any other cars I saw to say that there’s going to be significant fall-off, but you know, time will tell, but I think it’s gonna be pretty standard Michigan.”

If there’s any other motivation needed, there’s also the annual post-race presentation of the Michigan Heritage Trophy to the winning manufacturer, adding bragging-rights emphasis at the track not far from the Motor City. Toyota has won the last two Cup Series races at Michigan, but Ford held a nine-in-a-row streak from 2018-23.

MORE: At-track photos: Michigan

The next Mustang victory will be Ford’s milestone 750th in the Cup Series, but Wilson said the incentive for winning here doesn’t need to be verbalized.

“Obviously it’s in their backyard. They don’t have to put pressure on us,” Wilson said. “We want to have a very solid and strong race for Ford. Not only that, it’s also Penske’s headquarters, so there’s a lot of reasons for me personally being from the area. This is one you want to circle and make sure that you perform for everybody.”

That motivation also runs high in other automakers’ camps.

“I mean, you’re always thinking about it here in Michigan, just because you know you’re in the backyard of the OEMs and you want to do well,” Peterson said. “It’s that way for every OEM, so you want to put a bowtie in Victory Lane … but no matter what, we want to win anyways.”

Posted on by Staff Report

All States Materials Group 150

Oxford Plains Raceway

  • Race results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 79 Jon McKennedy Stuarts Automotive; Christophers Towing; Levasseur HVAC; Hillsboro Ent.; Leone’s Landscaping 150  —
2 3 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling; SYP 150 3.932
3 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 150 5.149
4 50 Ronnie Williams Empower Financial Advisory 150 5.975
5 73 Paulie Hartwig III* Professional Therapy Associates; Jersey Shore Contracting 150 6.937
6 56 Trevor Catalano USNE Power 150 9.215
7 1 Patrick Emerling USNE Power 150 11.916
8 82 Andrew Molleur Horton Avenue Materials 150 12.166
9 05 Teddy Hodgdon* Business Time Motorsports; The Landau Team of Re/Max; Montanari Fuel 150 12.666
10 8 John-Michael Shenette USNE Power Charlotte; Eighty-Two Services 150 13.26
11 64 Austin Beers G&G Electrical Supply; Fastrack Electric; Dell Electric; Lumiere Electrical; AP Marquadt & Sons; Andrew James Interiors; Hugh 150 13.69
12 31 Michael Christopher Elite Towing; Elite Racing; Baker Racing 149 1 Lap
13 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara; USNE Power 149 1 Lap
14 21 Stephen Kopcik Wanick Construction; Newtown Pools 149 1 Lap
15 17 Anthony Nocella Bells Septic; Sontag Motorsports; Copart; Xtreme Autobody; Keene Towing & Recovery 149 1 Lap
16 60 Matt Hirschman Bar Harbor Bank & Trust; Pee Dee Motorsports 149 1 Lap
17 18 Ken Heagy Merkel Racing Engines 148 2 Laps
18 84 Tyler Catalano Catalano Motorsports 137 13 Laps

 

Posted on by Holly Cain

The last driver to make a qualifying run around Michigan International Speedway on Saturday evening, Denny Hamlin claimed the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) — dashing Michigan native Carson Hocevar’s hopes for home-state glory in the final minutes of the session.

Hamlin’s lap of 195.117 mph in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota bettered Hocevar’s run in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet by 0.018 seconds around the 2-mile Michigan high banks and gives the NASCAR veteran — and defending Michigan race winner — 50 career NASCAR Cup Series pole positions.

After climbing out of his Toyota, the 45-year-old Hamlin walked over to the 23-year-old Hocevar on pit road, where they spoke briefly and hugged. Hamlin smiled and joked that he only felt “this bad” — holding his thumb and forefinger close together — for taking the qualifying win.

RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Michigan

Only an hour earlier during practice, Hamlin cut a left-rear tire and was unable to participate in the full session as his team made repairs, making the pole win all the more remarkable and dramatic. He did admit, however, the No. 11 team will make repairs to the vehicle’s underbody and start from the rear Sunday.

“They did a great job accounting for the damage on the bottom side (of his car), they re-balanced it, but it was a handful — all I wanted, certainly,” said Hamlin, who won from pole position last week at Nashville. “That was surprising.

“That was the limit for sure,” Hamlin said.

Hocevar was clearly disappointed in the qualifying outcome. Earlier in the afternoon, he led the most laps in the Craftsman Truck Series race, only to finish third. A first-time Cup Series winner at Talladega in April, Hocevar insisted, however, he was still optimistic about his chances come Sunday afternoon.

“It’s a testament to these guys, they do a really good job,” Hocevar said. “Yeah, I would have loved to have that there, but third in the truck race [on Saturday afternoon] and second in Cup qualifying — hopefully that’s a trend there.

“I feel like it’s a really good race car, one of the best I’ve had here. So, I hope it translates tomorrow. I feel really good about our race car, so starting out front is super important.

“I know it’s just qualifying, but damn, I didn’t know I wanted it this much here. Just means a lot for so many reasons.”

Championship leader Tyler Reddick was third fastest in the No. 45 Toyota that Hamlin co-owns with NBA legend Michael Jordan. Hamlin’s JGR teammates Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe were next quickest, giving Toyota four of the top-five starting positions.

Chase Elliott was the top qualifying Chevrolet in sixth place. Chris Buescher, the 2023 Michigan winner, was the top qualifying Ford in 14th place. Ford has a Michigan track record of 44 wins — 18 more than Chevrolet and 37 more than Toyota; however, Toyota has won the last two races (Reddick in 2024 and Hamlin in 2025).

The last polesitter to win at Michigan was Team Penske’s Joey Logano in 2019. In fact, Logano’s three Michigan wins (2019, 2016, 2013) all came from pole position. He’ll start 18th Sunday.

Reddick tops practice session

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick topped the leaderboard in Saturday’s practice session at 192.622 mph, ahead of Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott (192.200 mph) and Kyle Larson (191.403 mph).

Chris Buescher (191.367 mph) and Denny Hamlin (191.342 mph) rounded out the top five.

Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10.

MORE: Practice results

In the Group 1 practice session, the caution came out for Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who had a flat left-rear tire and stalled on track. The same thing happened to Denny Hamlin in Group 2, as the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota caused the second and final stoppage of practice.

Hamlin’s JGR teammate Christopher Bell suffered a flat left-front tire entering Turn 1, but he was able to drive his No. 20 Toyota back to the pits without bringing out the caution.

Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones also had a flat left-rear tire and made his way back to the No. 43 pit box.

Contributing: Staff reports.

Posted on by Zack Albert

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Corey Heim’s time came at the wrong time for Kaden Honeycutt, his foil and his teammate in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series showdown at Michigan International Speedway. The Tricon Garage stablemates wound up being a 1-2 combination on the leaderboard, but a dramatic 1-2 punch of final-lap blocks by Heim put the two at odds.

Heim, last year’s series champion, won for the third time in five races in his partial Truck Series schedule before he launches to the Cup Series next year. Honeycutt, the driver who replaced him in Tricon’s No. 11 Toyota, finished a scant 0.065 seconds behind in the DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics to mark his third runner-up result this season.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Michigan

Heim’s tactics, though, left Honeycutt stewing on an already steamy Saturday afternoon.

“Thank God it was a company truck ’cause I definitely wouldn’t have lifted in that situation,” Honeycutt said. “Just, it just sucks. I felt like I’ve given so many away this year, and I think that’s what’s angered me the most, for sure. Just unfortunate.”

Honeycutt led just one lap — the 99th of 125 — before Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar briefly took command. Hocevar eventually faded to third place after Heim took a lead on Lap 111 that he would hold to the end.

Hanging onto that lead became a bigger challenge after Honeycutt dispatched Hocevar for second place and closed in on the white-flag lap. He looked low then high on Heim at the end of the high-speed frontstretch, but Heim aggressively blocked each advance. Honeycutt recovered by the final lap’s end, but Heim kept him at bay one last time to deny Honeycutt his second career win.

Asked about the proper decorum when racing teammates for the win, Heim was less than sympathetic.

“Just get thicker skin and deal with it,” Heim said. “That’s honestly my advice to him.”

MORE: Craftsman Truck Series standings | Craftsman Truck Series schedule

Honeycutt may not have many more opportunities this season to be a concern for his teammate. Heim believed he had two more Truck Series races scheduled this year with the Tricon group, but was unsure of their timing.

Instead, Honeycutt was left with a sour taste from a tough tussle among teammates.

“When is it not? I don’t know, I’m just frustrated,” Honeycutt said. “We just need to work together better. That’s just really it. That’s all there is to it.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Michigan is the home state for three current NASCAR Cup Series competitors — RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar — and all are looking for their first victory at Michigan International Speedway in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

When it comes to competing there, the 2012 series champion Keselowski and another former champion, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, have the most runner-up finishes (three) without a win among active drivers.

RELATED: Michigan schedule | At-track photos

The owner-driver of the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford has 16 top 10s in 28 career Michigan races, including four of the last five series visits. His runner-up runs came in 2020, 2018 and his championship 2012 season. He owns a pair of NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victories at the 2-mile track, winning in back-to-back seasons (2009-10).

His RFK team has the most wins (14) historically of any organization at Michigan.

“When we go, it’s a win that would really mean a lot for me to get,” said Keselowski, 42, the Rochester Hills native, noting that he still has a lot of family in the area. “Michigan now has those three full-time Cup drivers, so really well-covered.”

Smiling when reminded he’s the only champion among the group, Keselowski grinned and said, “I’ve just got to be a champion in that [Michigan] race.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones isn’t just enthused about racing this weekend because it’s in his home state, but because he seriously thinks the team’s progress this season could result in a trophy soon. Perhaps even on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The 30-year-old from Byron, Michigan — a 70-mile drive from the Michigan track — has improved on his race finishes in the famous No. 43 Toyota four of the last five races. His best showings in 2026 are a pair of 10th-place finishes, and he’s finished 11th or better in three of the last four Michigan contests. Jones’ best showing at the track is third, which came during his 2017 rookie season.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | At-track photos

“I think we are in a better spot,” Jones said Saturday about his Michigan expectations. “It’s funny, I looked at the points position at this point last year, and we aren’t a whole lot different, but I think as a group we are running consistently better. We’ve had a great stretch here for a month of showing up each week and having good cars and running well. A couple of execution things have kept us from a few better finishes, and some strange strategies have kept us from some stage points, especially last week in Nashville.

“I think overall, we are in a better spot. I think there are so many little things that we can do better still, which is frustrating but good. To have performance like we are currently having and know there are little things that we need to work on and improve, there is value in that. For me, yeah, I’ve been happy with the direction, happy with my team.”

MORE: Legacy Motor Club website

Posted on by Holly Cain

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell is considered a perennial NASCAR Cup Series championship contender, finishing fifth or better in the title chase four of the last five seasons. He’s earned 13 wins and claimed top-10 finishes in nearly half of his starts — 113 such finishes in 230 total races.

However, the lone active track the 31-year-old Oklahoman hasn’t earned a NASCAR Cup Series top-10 finish? Michigan International Speedway, where the field will race on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Weekend schedule | Michigan results hub

The No. 20 JGR Toyota driver has a best finish of 13th at Michigan — three times, including in 2023, when he started from pole position. He’s led only 37 laps in seven starts and crashed out in two of the last four races there.

But there is reason an upswing could be on the horizon. He finished sixth in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the 2-miler, sweeping both stages and leading 37 laps. And he’s very optimistic about improving his Cup Series fortunes at the big track.

“Michigan, on paper, that’s my worst track, but I’m always super fast and competitive there,” Bell said, smiling at the irony. “I’m very much looking forward to going there. I’m sad we’re only going there once a year, but I’m looking forward to trying to get a good result there. It’s a fun race track. I have a lot of fun racing there.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Several notable NASCAR Cup Series drivers will start from the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Michigan International Speedway, NASCAR announced.

William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will drop to the rear because of a mechanical issue with the car’s charging system, the team announced Sunday morning. Byron had qualified ninth.

MORE: Michigan schedule | Cup standings

Additionally, the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Denny Hamlin and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of teammate Christopher Bell are also slated to start from the rear. Hamlin earned the Busch Light Pole Award on Saturday, while Bell qualified eighth. Fellow Toyota driver Erik Jones will also start from the rear after qualifying 10th.

On the Ford side, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry will also drop to the rear after qualifying 31st and 37th, respectively.

Separately, two teams were penalized for infractions during Saturday’s pre-race technical inspection.

The No. 17 RFK Racing Ford for driver Chris Buescher failed inspection on each of its first two attempts before passing on its third. The same occurred for the No. 44 NY Racing Chevrolet, which will be driven this week by JJ Yeley.

As a result, both teams lost pit-selection privileges for Sunday’s race. Additionally, each team’s car chief was ejected from the event. No. 17 car chief Joshua Sisco and No. 44 car chief Lee Leslie are sidelined for the race weekend.