2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan Preview | NASCAR RaceDay

three races to go in the regular season three different tracks but this time around the Nascar Cup Series heads up north to the Great Lake State of Michigan about an hour away from the home of automobiles in America in Detroit sits a racetrack that oozes speed and horsepower and has become the fastest track in the circuit that will see cars hit speeds in excess of 200 mph this is a key race for the likes of Ford Chevrolet and Toyota to really see who is the fastest but it's also a key race for the elite stars of NASCAR specifically the playoff drivers trying to fight their way in the top 16 to have a shot at competing for a title welcome to MDK race day as we welcome you to the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn Michigan for the running of the firek keepers Casino 400 the temperature here in Brooklyn Michigan is not looking pretty temperature in the mid to high 70s but look at that chance of rain around 84% it could vary depending on where we are throughout the day there is a good chance that this race could be delayed in some way due to rain high wind 12 mph Northwest through the racetrack with a high percentage of humidity sitting at 77° welcome back ladies and gentlemen enj the episode of MDK race day my name is jet hope you're having a wonderful day as we get you set and ready three races to go in the regular season here at Michigan now of course though coming into Michigan the big story is what took place last week let's flash back to what happened last Sunday night here at Richmond Austin Dylan drove in in turns 34 taking out Joe Lano and then offering a two for one deal in turn number four taking out Denny Hamlin as well on top of that to go on to win for the first time since Daytona in August of 2022 and originally locked the number three car as the 13th entry in the NASCAR playoffs however penalty on Wednesday from Nascar removed all of that this is what Nascar stated on what the penalty will be for the three car as well as the 22 car Joe Lano has been fined $50,000 that he has said he has already paid off right away to NASCAR didn't bother appealing whatsoever due to his actions on Pit Road where he gassed the throttle and did a little burnout right in front of the family members of Austin Dylan due to frustration however Austin Dylan got even a harsher penalty Austin Dylan spotter has been suspended for the next three races due to him saying on the radio wreck the 22 wreck him wreck him Brett Griffin will replace him during that time frame on top of that the three car has been docked 25 driver and owner points but the big thing is the win the win which would have counted which would have put Austin D in the playoffs has been revoked meaning that although the win does count in the record books he will not be able to make the playoffs with that win so if aone wants to have a shot at winning or making the playoffs he has to win Michigan Daytona or Darlington these next three weeks Richmond would not count and neither would the playoff points count so because of that this is what the playoff grid looked like before Dylan's penalty Austin Dylan being the 13th entry Mar Trix Jr 14th plus 78 Gibbs at plus 19 and bubble Wallace had the final spot plus three ahead of Chris buscher and Ross chain with Chas Brisco and Kyle Busch ran out the top 20 however this is what the grid looks like now following the penalty TRX now back again as the 13th spot but Wallace although he is still plus three he is no longer the final spot that goes to Chris Bucher who is tied with Ross chassin Chase Brisco - 99 at 18th Kyle Busch minus 119 and 19th and Ty Gillan back in the top 20 minus 130 and Austin Dylan if you want and if you want to know with Austin Dylan he remains back in the 31st position now minus 460 points below uh the points leader speaking of the points leader the NASCAR top 10 things are heating up with the top four Kyle lson Still Remains top of the board reic now jumps to Second Five Points behind Elliot minus 6 and Denny Hamlin minus 21 that top four is getting ever so tight as we head into the final race of the regular season at Darlington in 3 weeks time Ryan blay in fifth- 77 Christopher Bell up two spots - 78 Byron and TRX down a spot each 101 for Byron 117 for Trix kazlowski minus 143 and Alex Bowman 164 points behind and 10th place now let's take a look at the starting lineup of the 2024 fire Keepers Casino 400 due to qualifying being reigned out Denny Hamlin inherits the pole and will lead the field of green for the second week in a row sitting alongside isra dver that finished third to him last weekend at Richmond his driver Tyler reck in the McDonald's Toyota Road two has Christopher Bell and his dirt racing rival Kyle Larson in the five car sitting in Road two Road Three has bubble walls trying to continue his momentum so far these past few weeks sitting alongside Chase Elliott in the nine car Ro four has Raj hassay in the bush light Pete Chevrolet sitting alongside the 2019 Michigan winner Ryan blay in the 12 car with William Barrett and Austin Dylan Runing out the top 10 row six has rookie Carson josar and Dana Suarez in the 99 car row seven has Kyle bch won here back in 2011 sitting alongside Joe Lano who won your back in 2013 row has Brad Kowski the Michigan native still looking for his first win here at this race strike in the cup series sit alongside rookie Josh Barry row N has Michael McDow and the defending race winner here from Michigan last year Chris busher in the 7t car with Ty Gibbs and Todd Gillan Runing out the top 20 R 11 has Chase Brisco and Alex Bowman roow 12 has Alison syri and marrick Jr returning to Michigan for the final time in his cup series career roow 13 has teammates Noah greggson and Ryan priest row 14 has rookie zaye Smith sitting alongside Eric Jones with Justin Haley and Ricky s Jr the top 30 and finally the final three row cor joy and Daniel hemrich John Hunter neek and Harrison burn AJ Alger who will join colleague racing fulltime in the cup series racing that 16 ride sits alongside Cody wear who will start in dead last here's a look at the odds to win here at Michigan teammates Hamin and trick sitting at the top of the board at plus 550 those odds by the way are subject to change so keep an eye on that karson sitting at plus 600 who has won here at Michigan two times in 2016 and 2017 Chas Elliot his teammate plus 800 Tyler reck and blay at 900 a piece lowski at plus 1,000 and how about this a three-way between legano Bell and the defending winner Chris Busch are all sitting at plus 1200 those are some very good odds for drivers that could have good chances at winning here today plus 1400 for William Barron and Ross Shain 2,000 for Ty Gibbs Kyle Bush and bubble Wallace 2500 for each of them Alex Bowman at 3500 Suarez at 6,500 as well as Austin Dylan Josh Barry at 8,000 and Eric Jones sitting at a whopping plus 10,000 so what can we expect here at Michigan today well depending on the weather we could see what we saw last year and the race may be getting pushed back or even postponed uh the rain could definitely affect on how the racing takes place there's a a good chance this race could be sto halfway we don't know but we do know that rain more than likely will be a factor we also know the the team or should say the manufacturer that will be a factor is Ford they have won the last nine Michigan races the last time they didn't didn't win was 2017 with Kyle lson who swept 2017 won uh both races there at Michigan so but since 2018 it has been all forward all the way but you have to understand a lot of the drivers that won in Fords were Stewart Hall racing Clint Bo Kevin Harvick just to name a couple drivers that W won a lot at Michigan but they're not there anymore so who's stepping up to the play well I mentioned Ryan blay who's starting up there in the eighth position Jo Lano that 22 team has been gaining some momentum in fact Ford as a whole has been gaining a lot of momentum but specifically that 22 team I know we can't really judge with qualifying because it got rained out but him starting in the 14th position I highly doubt that's where he will stay you Al you also have to look at RFK drivers BR gzowski and Chris buer I won't be surprised if this is a type of race where we could see them be a surprise and show some speed also look at the Toyotas they also been very very fast marri Jr who finished second to Chris busher last year he is obviously going to be another driver that's a key factor plus 550 with his odds there at least the opening odds so very very good odds for him we know that he's going to be a factor at least I believe he will have a shot at having at least a very good run and another team that we have to look at not only is the the Toyota drivers of job's racing mainly specifically Denny Hammond and marre Jr even Christopher Bell I will throw in there although he's been kind of quiet I think we have to look at 231 racing because they have been on it in the last five races Tyler reck has had the best average finish out of all cup drivers and his teammate Bubba Wallace has had the third best average finish of all cup drivers the last five races 23 and the 45 team have been on it in recent weeks and again I can't see why today won't be any different Bubba Wallace he has shown it the passing he can run well here he won the poll here back in 2022 let a good amount of laps and finish second to Kevin Harvick in that race we know he can run really good here we know Tyler reic he we know how fast he can be uh you know if it's not from mistakes last year that his team did he we know he can be fast we know he could be a contender so don't be surprised if we see 2311 racing both the 23 and the 45 have really good runs they're starting second and sixth resp or second and fifth I should say respectively they could have very good opportunities and specifically Bubba Wallace this is a race where he has the opportunity to capitalize now he does have some stiffer competition rashin is starting right behind him Christoph busher starting a bit further back in the 18th position but rash right behind them so that spot those three drivers are going to be critical and we can even throw in Ty Gibbs in the mid because Ty Gibbs he's only 18 points above the cut line that is nothing so you look at Gibbs Wallace Bucher and Chad stain four drivers 18 points separating between 14th uh and 17th I'm looking down at the playoff grid but 18 points separates between 14th and 17th Place there is very there is huge opportunities for that to be mixed up and the team that I think has the best odds is bubble walls like I mentioned he has been the one of the best drivers most consistent drivers in the past few races he's starting at fifth place he knows how to run well here he has run well here in the past this is an incredible opportunity for this 23 team to really start to build a gap on the 17 and the one car the thing that they have to do is just to finish the race they cannot make mistakes because they have been prone to do that whether self-inflicted by the driver or the crew or getting caught up in someone else's mess they have to be able to just finish the race get stage points and be able to build that Gap rash chain on the other hand is a different story he is showing up today with good speed he's got great speed this weekend but that one car has been has not been there these past few weeks they have been off so I do worry about them the 17 of busher he's another driver I worry about but not so much because we have seen speed out of that 17 car just show up randomly in recent weeks so we know that he's they're capable of doing it's just it needs to be more consistent Bubba Wallace and that 23 team has been the most consistent out of those four drivers I mentioned Ty Gibbs who started strong at the early parts of the season has started to fall off just a little bit so again when I look at aace like Michigan that is an opportunity for a guy like bubble walls to really stretch out that gap on the points lead and by the points lead I mean the playoff bubble on the cut line so with that let's take a look at my fantasy live lineup so I got Mar Trix Jr I got Chase Elliot up there because Chevrolet has also been very fast and the N car Elliot I mean he has been incredibly consistent this season I got William Byron even though he has not been good in recent weeks that 24 team has definitely fallen off they have been prone to do that where they start off good and they fall off in the middle portion of the Season leading him to the playoffs but I don't know I'm liking what I'm seeing on this 24 team this weekend so I got him on my lineup I got Joe Lano Bubba Wallace and I got bra Kowski in my garage last year an arcade driver won I don't know I'm just I just have a feeling that that six car he can be sneaky fast he could surprise some people so I have him in my garage but the driver that I do have winning I do got Bubba Wallace winning I'm just I like what I see on this 23 team what they have been showing in recent weeks they have been running really good across various types of RAC tracks this is a track that they have ran well in the past have shown success in the past and I think with the 23 team if they can just finish a race have no mistakes he can have a shot at winning this race so I have Bubba Wallace taking on the checker flag and being officially the 13th entry in the NASCAR playoffs but that's it for me I know it's a bit shorter episode uh we do have some stories we're going to talk about in on inside lines later this week so be on the lookout for that but let me know who do you think is going to win in the coms com section down below until then sit back relax and enjoy the fire Keepers Casino 400 from Michigan we'll see you right here for an episode of MDK racing Victory stop later tonight but until then my name is Jet and thanks for watching [Music]