{"id":34796,"date":"2025-06-06T23:55:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T03:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=34796"},"modified":"2025-06-07T22:39:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T02:39:38","slug":"nascar-cup-series-at-michigan-international-speedway-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/06\/06\/nascar-cup-series-at-michigan-international-speedway-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is time to go racing in the Irish Hills of Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway and the Firekeeper&#8217;s Casino 400. Here is everything you need to know before cars hit the track in Michigan.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34799\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34799\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34799 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2167314060-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34799\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Christopher Bell and Bubba Wallace race during the NASCAR Cup Series Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 18, 2024. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway Preview<\/h2>\n<p>Last August, it was Tyler Reddick winning his second of three victories on a Monday. The Sunday race was delayed due to rain and pushed to the next day. Will the rain return? Or will it be all sunshine for Sunday&#8217;s race? Can Tyler Reddick get win number one in 2025? Or can Ford or Chevy win in their backyard?<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASCAR Cup Series EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS: FireKeepers Casino 400 | 8\/19\/24 | Motorsports on NBC\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VuTYjQr6nVM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Race Preview:<\/h3>\n<p>The Firekeepers Casino 400 is the fifteenth race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. It is a 400-mile, 200-lap race around the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway. Stage cautions will be thrown on laps 45 and 120, with the checkered flag on lap 200. There is $11,055,250 in prize money available for those in the race. Teams will have 7 sets of Goodyear tires for practice and qualifying. The Goodyear tires are the same at Daytona and Talladega earlier in the season.<\/p>\n<h3>The Track: Michigan International Raceway<\/h3>\n<p>Built and opened in 1968, Michigan International Speedway is located in Brooklyn, Michigan, the heartland for Chevrolet and Ford. 2 miles in length, it is known for its record-setting speeds, with speeds being reported as high as 220 mph on the straightaway. With 18 degrees of banking in the turns, 12 on the front stretch, and 5 on the back, it is the perfect setting for high top speeds.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Michigan 2018: 220 mph entering turn one. Speeds so fast, they literally blew small children off their feet <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/spPteTPlwe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/spPteTPlwe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 nascarman (@nascarman_rr) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nascarman_rr\/status\/1929680959324279229?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Cup Series has raced here 107 previous times. Cale Yarborough won the first race in 1969. David Pearson has the most wins at the track, with 9 wins. Kyle Larson and Joey Logano are tied for wins amongst active drivers, both with three. Kevin Harvick set the lap record in 2018, turning a 36.093-second lap around the track.<\/p>\n<h3>Cup Series Point Standings:<\/h3>\n<p>Here are the standings following the race at Nashville:<\/p>\n<p>1. William Byron: 547<br \/>\n2. Kyle Larson: 499<br \/>\n3. Christopher Bell: 459<br \/>\n4. Denny Hamlin: 443<br \/>\n5. Chase Elliott: 442<br \/>\n6. Tyler Reddick: 429<br \/>\n7. Ryan Blaney: 417<br \/>\n8. Joey Logano: 380<br \/>\n9. Ross Chastain: 377<br \/>\n10. Bubba Wallace: 343<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/06\/02\/penske-power-shows-out-as-ryan-blaney-wins-in-music-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Penske Power Shows Out as Ryan Blaney Wins in Music City<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Drivers To Watch:<\/h3>\n<p>Brad Keselowski, a native Michigander, has steadily improved his finishing positions at Michigan in the Next-Gen era. Fourth and fifth in the previous two races at Michigan. Ford has won 2 of the 3 Next-Gen races at the track. I think it would only be fitting for Keselowski to get that elusive win at Michigan and win for the blue ovals.<\/p>\n<p>For the Toyotas, you have to look at the 23XI crew and their boss, Denny Hamlin. Wallace ran second to Harvick in 2022 with Hamlin running in third. Hamlin ran third to Truex and Buescher in 2023, and Reddick won the race last year. Look out for the Nos. 45, 23, and 11 Camrys on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Chevrolet has been the weakest manufacturer in the Next Gen era. No wins and only three top-five finishes. While Kyle Larson is the flagship of the Chevy program at the moment, I think eyes should be on one of the younger drivers in the camp. Carson Hocevar has had a string of good runs and a second-place finish at Nashville. If he can avoid being junked into the wall by Ricky Stenhouse, I think Carson can win his first race at his home track.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/06\/04\/hocevar-faces-heavy-criticism-after-wrecking-stenhouse-at-nashville\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Carson Hocevar Faces Heavy Criticism After Wrecking Stenhouse At Nashville<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>How To Watch The Cup Series at Michigan:<\/h3>\n<p>Here is the schedule for the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Saturday, June 7th:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Practice:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>9:30 AM Eastern<\/li>\n<li>Coverage is on Amazon Prime and the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mrn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Motor Racing Network<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Qualifying:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>10:40 AM Eastern<\/li>\n<li>Coverage continues on Prime Sports and the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mrn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Motor Racing Network<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sunday, June 8th:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Firekeepers Casino 400<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>2:00 PM Eastern<\/li>\n<li>Coverage is on Amazon Prime and the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mrn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Motor Racing Network<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Stay connected to Last Word on Motorsports for all the exciting action from Michigan International Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Main Photo:\u00a0<\/strong>Logan Riely, Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Recording Date: 8\/19\/2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is time to go racing in the Irish Hills of Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway and the Firekeeper&#8217;s Casino 400. Here is everything you need to know before cars hit the track in Michigan. NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway Preview Last August, it was Tyler Reddick winning his second [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4347,"featured_media":34800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-nascar-cup-series"],"modified_by":"Hayden Murdock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4347"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34796"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34802,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34796\/revisions\/34802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}