The Ford Performance group has Michigan International Speedway figured out, but Toyota Racing is looking to disrupt that success. The Mustangs have a strong streak of eight-straight wins at the Irish Hills. This weekend, they will go for a record of nine.
Ryan Blaney is one of the Ford drivers who hopes to keep the streak alive starting in the ninth position.
“It’s a big weekend for Ford being in their backyard and obviously (for) Roger [Penske] at this place too, it’s big for him being close to where he’s from. So, a lot of incentives this weekend to try and win,” Blaney said.
However, capturing that victory may not be so easy.
Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing have brought rockets to MIS the past two years but the win has alluded them.
The last time Toyota went to victory lane at MIS was in 2015 with Matt Kenseth. Last season, Bubba Wallace had a chance to end Ford’s winning streak starting from the pole but settled for a second-place finish.
Going into this race, Wallace is still playing through the final restart of that 2022 race.
“Probably would’ve restarted behind Kevin [Harvick] instead of beside him and maybe get into second earlier and having a chance because we were really, really good,” Wallace explained, “I think we keep putting our name in that scenario. Just capitalize and do the little things differently and we’ll be there.”
The strength of the 23XI Racing team carried over to Ty Gibbs last season as well, who earned his first top-10 finish of his Cup Series career filling in for Kurt Busch in the No. 45.
This weekend, Gibbs fields the No. 54 Toyota Camry TRD and finds himself starting inside the top-five.
“Toyota is always really confident and they bring the best they can every single weekend,” Gibbs said, “Hopefully the Toyota that goes to victory lane will be me.”
This weekend’s pole sitter and teammate, Christopher Bell, shares that same confidence.
“I feel excellent about what I have for sure. It’s been a pretty smooth Saturday. In practice it was pretty good off the truck, fast and balance,” he said about his No.20 Toyota Camry TRD. “That’s what it’s all about here at Michigan is having the car comfortable and balanced so that you can drive as hard as you need to to create speed at Michigan.”
With four races to go before the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs begin, these teams need to execute flawlessly. One mistake could ruin a much-needed points day for these drivers, or take a great car out of contention for the win.
The 23XI racing team faced this issue last weekend at Richmond where both cars found their winning hopes crushed with pit road errors. Tyler Reddick says the team is working to minimize these mistakes as the playoffs draw closer.
“The last couple of months we’ve had some good days go awry from pushing a little too hard when I don’t need to. So, we just need to work on our communication,” Reddick shared.
As 23XI Racing works to erase errors, and JGR works to capitalize on the speed they came to the Irish Hills with, it will be all eyes on Toyota for the FireKeepers Casino 400.
The NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway is set to begin at 2:30 PM ET. USA network will provide television coverage of the event while MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the radio call of the race.
