The Cup Series will travel to the Irish Hills of Michigan this weekend to race at Michigan International Speedway. This is the fastest intermediate track on the schedule with speeds exceeding 200 MPH. The drivers need to keep their foot on the gas pedal because any break in their momentum could send them back in the pack. This type of racing is fun to watch, but it can be frustrating for our Fantasy NASCAR lineups. We just need to select the fastest cars and hope for the best in Michigan. The FireKeepers Casino 400 can be seen Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on Prime Video.
PRACTICE SPEEDS FOR MICHIGAN
NASCAR had their normal schedule Saturday morning at Michigan International Speedway. The teams were separated into two groups and they had 25-minutes to shake down their cars for the FireKeepers Casino 400. Michigan is a two-mile oval track, so some teams decided to make short runs and work on their cars, instead of making a long run in the race.
So, how do the practice speeds at Michigan translate into race speed last year? Tyler Reddick posted the fourth-fastest long-run speed in practice and he won the race. Kyle Larson posted the second-fastest long-run speed in practice and he led the most laps. William Byron posted the third-fastest long run speed in practice and he finished second. Chris Buescher posted the sixth-fastest long-run speed in practice and he finished sixth. It looks like the drivers who stayed out in practice last year must have really liked their cars because most of them finished up front in the race.
Here are the speeds from Saturday’s practice session at Michigan International Speedway…
STRATEGY FOR MICHIGAN
Seven of the last nine races at Michigan International Speedway have been won by a Ford. Toyota finally found their way to Victory Lane when Tyler Reddick took the checkered-flag last year. Chevy has not won at Michigan since Kyle Larson went to Victory Lane in 2017. So does this mean we need to load our lineups with Fords this weekend? Not necessarily. Most of those wins for the Fords came from Kevin Harvick and the last time I checked, he is not racing this weekend. There will be some drivers from Toyota and Chevy who will have a good chance to finish up front Sunday, but it will also be tough to ignore the Ford engines on a high-speed track.
Here are the picks for the Cracker Barrel 400…
KYLE LARSON (4): I only have four allocations left with Larson, but I am not worried about it. I mapped out my starts with Larson and I only need him at Indianapolis, Dover and Richmond. The rest are road course, Superspeedways or the Tricky Triangle at Pocono. Larson has five wins on two-mile ovals. The No. 5 car looks fast again this weekend, so I will use another allocation with Larson.
WILLIAM BYRON (3): Byron came inches away from winning last year at Michigan International Speedway. Byron just dominated the last large intermediate track race when he led 283 laps at Charlotte. The No. 24 car looks like they brought similar speed to the track again this weekend. I am running out of allocations with Byron, but the No. 24 car is too fast to fade this weekend.
DENNY HAMLIN (5): Hamlin had a great chance to win the last two races on the schedule (Charlotte and Nashville) and he should have a good chance to win Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. Hamlin finished 2nd, 6th, 2nd, 5th, 3rd, 3rd and 9th in his last seven races in Michigan. That is a large sample size with a lot of positive results. Hamlin is on a hot streak right now and Michigan is one of his best tracks. The No. 11 car has a great chance to run up front, score a lot of Stage Points and finish in the top-five.
TY GIBBS (8): We are still waiting for Gibbs to reach Victory Lane in the Cup Series. Could this be the week when it finally happens? Gibbs finished 10th at Michigan in 2022, 11th in 2023 and 3rd last year. Michigan ranks as the second-best track for Gibbs. The No. 54 car posted the fasted speed on the long runs in practice and Gibbs qualified 8th for the race. He has the speed and the track position to finish up front Sunday.
CHRIS BUESCHER7 (8): Michigan International Speedway is an important track for RFK Racing because it is the home track for team owner, Brad Keselowski. They put a lot of work into their cars for this race, so it should come as no surprise that Michigan is the best track for Buescher. He won this race in 2023 and Buescher finished 6th last year in Michigan. The No. 17 car looks fast again this weekend, so Buescher gets a spot in my Fantasy Live lineup.
(GARAGE PICK) RYAN BLANEY (7): Michigan International Speedway is one of the fastest tracks on the schedule. The drivers need a fast car in order to win this race. Speed has not been a problem for the No. 12 team. Blaney has been the fastest driver in most of the races this year and the No. 12 car has a lot of speed again this weekend. The Fords have won 7 of the last 9 races in Michigan. Blaney will have a good chance to make it 8 Fords in Victory Lane in the last 10 races at Michigan.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on X (Twitter) @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.