The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to the Irish Hills of Michigan for the FireKepeepers Casino 400. The Toyota’s have dominated the races on the intermediate tracks this year and they have won the last two races at Michigan International Speedway. This is an important race for the manufacturers because it is in their backyard. Will Toyota take home the manufacturer trophy for a third consecutive season or can a Ford or Chevy break through to Victory Lane? It should be fun to see how it all plays out this weekend. The FireKeepers Casino 400 can be seen Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Prime Sports.
Here are my picks for your season long Fantasy NASCAR games…
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR MICHIGAN
GROUP A DRIVERS
DENNY HAMLIN (6): Hamlin won this race last year and he is going to be tough to beat Sunday at Michigan. Hamlin is tied with Tyler Reddick for the best average finishing position on the intermediate tracks this year (4.6). Hamlin won the race in Las Vegas, finished 2nd in Texas and 3rd at Charlotte. Hamlin is almost a lock for a top-five finish at Michigan International Speedway Sunday.
KYLE LARSON (8): It is hard to fade the Toyota’s right now. I thought about playing Chase Briscoe for qualifying points since he is so good at qualifying on this type of track, but that would lock me into playing Hamlin. I also thought about pairing Christopher Bell with Hamlin, but the No. 20 car has speed but bad luck on the intermediate tracks. I will take a chance with Kyle Larson. He was the only driver who could run with the Toyota’s at Charlotte. Hendrick Motorsports dominated the race in Michigan last year. Larson said the team figured some things out at the tire test in Chicago. Hoepfully that translates into speed Sunday.
GROUP B DRIVERS
TYLER REDDICK (4): I am quickly running out of allocations with Reddick, but he has been tied with Denny Hamlin as the best driver on the intermediate tracks this year. Reddick won at Michigan in 2024 and he won in Kansas and Atlanta. The draft comes into play a bit at Michigan, so that win at Atlanta could translate into another win this week. I just cannot fade Reddick on these large oval tracks right now.
TY GIBBS (6): Gibbs is just another Toyota driver who has been fast this year on the intermediate tracks. Gibbs finished 5th in Las Vegas, 9th in Kansas and 6th at Charlotte. Gibbs also finished 3rd at Michigan last year and 3rd again in 2024. I would not be surprised to see the No. 54 car in Victory Lane Sunday.
CHRIS BUESCHER (6): No driver in the Cup Series has been as good as Chris Buescher at Michigan International Speedway over the last three seasons. He finished 2nd at Michigan last year, 6th in 2024 and Buescher went to Victory Lane in 2023. Buescher finished 6th in Las Vegas, 10th at Kansas and 5th in Texas, so the No. 17 car has been one of the best Fords on the intermediate tracks this season. I hope Buescher looks good Saturday, so I can play him on Sunday.
BRAD KESELOWSKI (7): Michigan is the home track for Keselowski and it is no secret that winning at Michigan is very high on his bucket list. So far Keseloski is 0-28 at his home track, but that does not mean he hasn’t been good. Keselowski finished 10th last year in Michigan, 5th in 2024 and 4th in 2023. Keselowski also has an average finishing position of 11th on the intermediate tracks this year. I will take a chance with Keselowski at his home track.
* Bubba Wallace (6): Wallace would be my top replacement if you wanted to save an allocation with one of the drivers listed above. Wallace finished 2nd at Michigan in 2022 and 4th last year. His Toyota has been fast in 2026 and Wallace should have a good chance to finish in the top-10. I faded him because I like Brad Keselowski just a bit more at this track (but it is really close).
* ERIK JONES (9): If you are one of those people who really like to save allocations and take a chance with a mid-tier driver whenever you get a chance, Jones is your driver this week. This is a home race for Jones. He finished 11th, 16th, 10th and 8th in the Gen-7 car at Michigan International Speedway. Jones finished 12th at Texas and 13th at Charlotte earlier this season, so he has had some speed on the intermediate tracks this year. I have no problem if you want to play “That Jones Boy” Sunday.
GROUP C DRIVERS
CARSON HOCEVAR (4): The trend for my lineup this week is to stack Toyota’s and drivers from Michigan. Hocevar is another driver from Michigan. He finished 10th at his home track in 2024. He was leading the race last year with 19 laps to go when Hocevar got a flat tire and had to come to pit road. He probably should have won that race. Hocevar also won this year at Texas, so he has had speed on the intermediate tracks in 2026. This is one of the best races to use Hocevar in your Driver Group Game lineups.
DANIEL SUAREZ (7): Joe Gibbs Racing has won two races on the 1.5-mile intermediate tracks and Spire Motorsports has won the other two. Suarez used pit strategy to win the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. He also finished 6th at Texas, so maybe that rain assisted win was not a fluke. Suarez finished 14th, 8th and 6th in his last three races at Michigan International Speedway. He is the best driver to pair with Carson Hocevar this week.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE PICKS
GROUP A DRIVERS: My picks for Group A in the Speedway Collective game will be Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick. They have been the two best drivers on the intermediate tracks this year. There is no reason to try and be cute with the picks in Group A. Simply select these two Toyota’s and move onto the next group.
GROUP B DRIVERS: The picks for Group B will be Chris Buescher and Ty Gibbs. Buescher has been the best driver at Michigan over the last three seasons and Gibbs is having a career season on the intermediate tracks. They should be the best picks in Group B this week.
GROUP C DRIVERS: Carson Hocevar is a lock for Group C. I will pair Hocevar with another driver from Michigan. Erik Jones has been really good at his home track and he has been good in his last two races on the intermediate tracks. I like these two Michigan natives for Group C.
GROUP D DRIVERS: Daniel Suarez has been good at Michigan International Speedway. He would be my pick but I am out of allocations with the No. 7 car. I will pivot to Zane Smith and Austin Dillon. Michigan has been the best track for Smith. He has competed in two Cup Series races at Michigan and Smith finished 7th in both of them. The second driver in Group D is tough. There really are not any good choices. I will take a chance with Dillon. He has finished every race in the Gen-7 car at Michigan International Speedway inside the top-20. I will gladly take a top-20 finish from Dillon Sunday.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
FANTRAX PICKS
* Each league in Fantrax is different. Some leagues have bench drivers and award qualifying points and others do not. The two leagues that I am playing in do not have bench drivers. Also, most leagues (including mine), do not require your lineup to be set until minutes before the race starts. My picks will change after practice and qualifying for most races. If you need bench drivers, you can use my picks from the Driver Group Game.
* Be sure to check back Saturday night for my starting lineup.
Good Luck Sunday!
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