The 2023 FireKeepers Casino 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 6 and 7, 2023, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the 23rd race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. The race began on Sunday, August 6, before rain delayed it to Monday, August 7, after 74 laps were complete.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 23 of 36 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | August 6–7, 2023 | ||
| Location | Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.0 mi (3.2 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (640 km) | ||
| Average speed | 131.159 miles per hour (211.080 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 37.232 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | |
| Laps | 52 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | USA | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (1–2) and Mike Bagley (3–4) | ||
Report
editBackground
edit
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes the driver ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
editMartin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 37.496 seconds and a speed of 192.020 mph (309.026 km/h).[11]
Practice results
edit| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 37.496 | 192.020 |
| 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 37.503 | 191.985 |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 37.553 | 191.729 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editChristopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time of 37.232 and a speed of 193.382 mph (311.218 km/h).[12]
Qualifying results
editRace
editMartin Truex Jr. swept the stages, but Chris Buescher, driving for RFK Racing, would overtake him in the closing laps to win the race, marking the first time since 2010 where a Roush driver won consecutive Cup series races. Rounding out the top five would be Truex's JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, RFK's Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports.
Race results
editStage results
editStage One Laps: 45
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 8 |
| 4 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsprots | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 75
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage results
editStage Three Laps: 80
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 200 | 41 |
| 2 | 5 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 55 |
| 3 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 37 |
| 4 | 12 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 200 | 48 |
| 5 | 17 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 43 |
| 6 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 36 |
| 7 | 2 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 30 |
| 8 | 22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 29 |
| 9 | 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 28 |
| 10 | 25 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 200 | 29 |
| 11 | 3 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 34 |
| 12 | 21 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 27 |
| 13 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 24 |
| 14 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 27 |
| 15 | 31 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 23 |
| 16 | 18 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 21 |
| 17 | 29 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 200 | 20 |
| 18 | 11 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 200 | 35 |
| 19 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 18 |
| 20 | 34 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 17 |
| 21 | 27 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 16 |
| 22 | 28 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 199 | 15 |
| 23 | 26 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 14 |
| 24 | 23 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 199 | 13 |
| 25 | 33 | 51 | Cole Custer (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 199 | 0 |
| 26 | 24 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 14 |
| 27 | 36 | 15 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 199 | 0 |
| 28 | 30 | 62 | Austin Hill (i) | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | 0 |
| 29 | 32 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 197 | 8 |
| 30 | 15 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 197 | 7 |
| 31 | 19 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 197 | 6 |
| 32 | 37 | 78 | Josh Bilicki (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 196 | 0 |
| 33 | 20 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 134 | 14 |
| 34 | 35 | 42 | Josh Berry (i) | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 50 | 0 |
| 35 | 7 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 46 | 2 |
| 36 | 10 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 34 | 1 |
| 37 | 8 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 14 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 26 among 16 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 9 for 43 laps
- Red flags: 1 for 19 hours, 5 minutes, and 18 seconds
- Time of race: 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 59 seconds
- Average speed: 131.159 miles per hour (211.080 km/h)
Media
editTelevision
editUSA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane on Sunday. Kim Coon and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties on Monday.
| USA | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Kim Coon (Sunday and Monday) Parker Kligerman (Sunday) Marty Snider (Sunday and Monday) |
Radio
editRadio coverage of the race was broadcast by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden and Jeff Striegle called the race in the booth while the field was racing on the front stretch. Dave Moody called the race from a billboard outside of turn 2 when the field is racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform outside of turn 3 when the field races through turns 3 and 4. Steve Post, Chris Wilner and Jason Toy worked pit road for the radio side.
| MRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle |
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Turns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley |
Steve Post Chris Wilner Jason Toy |
Standings after the race
edit
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Notes
edit- ^ Josh Berry replaced Noah Gragson after Gragson was suspended by Legacy Motor Club and NASCAR for liking an Instagram post related to the murder of George Floyd.[10]
References
edit- ^ "2023 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
- ^ "Michigan International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ Taranto, Steven (September 14, 2022). "NASCAR releases 2023 Cup Series schedule highlighted by new Chicago, All-Star race stops". CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ "NASCAR unveils 2023 schedule for its national series". National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC. September 14, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- ^ "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 5, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. August 5, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ "FireKeepers Casino 400 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. August 7, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ DeGroot, Nick (August 5, 2023). "Legacy Motor Club suspends driver Noah Gragson". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ Utter, Jim (August 5, 2023). "Martin Truex Jr. leads NASCAR Cup practice at Michigan". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ Utter, Jim (August 5, 2023). "Bell beats Chastain to Michigan NASCAR Cup pole". Motorsport.com. Brooklyn, Michigan: Motorsport Network. Retrieved August 5, 2023.