FireKeepers Casino 400 Tag

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor There is something about Chase Elliott and finishing second at Michigan. After notching a pair of second place finishes at the two-mile track last season, Elliott found himself in a familiar position late in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 behind eventual winner Kyle Larson as he would score a runner-up finish for the third straight time at the track. Though he wasn’t able to finish one position better and win his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, Elliott still held his head high afterRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After finishing a dismal 38th at Pocono last weekend after blowing two engines during the race weekend, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. headed into Michigan looking to bounce back and bounce back is exactly what he did as he was scored ninth when the checkered flag flew. Aside from the Pocono finish, Earnhardt’s finish on Sunday marks finishes of 11th or better in three of the last four races, giving his No. 88 team some momentum heading into a summer stretch that will be crucial for hisRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer  Since scoring his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has not finished inside the Top 10. As the Series moved on to Michigan International Speedway for the FireKeepers Casino 400, the Roush Fenway Racing driver was looking to change that. As the team unloaded off the transporter, Stenhouse’s team struggled to find speed in the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion, managing to be 21st on the speed charts. Stenhouse also qualified 21st. In the secondRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a barn burner of a finish at Pocono last weekend that culminated in Ryan Blaney taking the Wood Brothers back to victory lane, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan to race on one of the biggest and fastest tracks on the circuit, Michigan International Speedway and Sunday’s running of the FireKeepers Casino 400. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning this race for bragging rights.Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After 13 starts with BK Racing, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Gray Gaulding will not compete for the team in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. This comes one week after it was announced that crew chief Patrick Donahue and BK Racing would part ways after Pocono and Doug George would assume crew chief duties of the No. 23 Toyota Camry. Behind the wheel of the No. 23 Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry this weekend will be Ryan Sieg, who made his PremierRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Following a third-place finish in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, we learned that Kyle Larson’s car failed post race laser inspection. As a result we knew there would be punishments, Wednesday we learned as to what extent the team would be punished as NASCAR sent out it’s penalty report. The No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team received a P3 penalty in Michigan post-race inspection. As a result, driver Kyle Larson and team owner Chip Ganassi have each been docked 15 championship pointsRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer Tony Stewart’s weekend at Michigan International Speedway did not start fast as he was 20th after the first practice. However, Stewart qualified third for the FireKeepers Casino 400. Stewart was also outside the top 15 in both of Saturday’s practice sessions. When the race started, Stewart stayed in the top five for the first 40 laps. Stewart had some close calls as both he and those around him fought hard to control their loose racecars with the new rules package, which took away more downforceRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Editor Kyle Larson, who was without his full-time crew chief Chad Johnston this week, because of a lug nut violation at Pocono Raceway has failed post-race inspection following the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Larson came home with an impressive third-place finish, but according to NASCAR his No. 42 Target Chevrolet, prepared this week by interim crew chief Philip Surgen, fell outside of the tolerance on the laser scanner following the event. A NASCAR Spokesperson states that any penalties stemming from this violation willRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BROOKLYN, Mich. – In the second race that featured NASCAR’s new lower-downforce package, Joey Logano lowered the boom—again. There was one major difference between Joey Logano’s victory in Sunday’s FireKeepers 400 at Michigan International Speedway and his win May 21 in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte. This one counted in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings and punched Logano’s ticket into the Chase. But it remained abundantly clear that Team Penske already has a handle on the aerodynamic configuration the sanctioning body isRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor After leading a career-high 51 laps at Pocono last weekend en route to a fourth place finish, Chase Elliott came into Sunday’s race at Michigan looking to improve on that as he continued to be in the hunt for his first win. Elliott started the day in 10th and flexed his muscle early and often, working his way to the lead over Joey Logano on a restart at lap 117 and looked to be one of the cars to beat as the laps clicked off.Read More