The 2017 FireKeepers Casino 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 18, 2017 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the D-shaped oval, it was the 15th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne* Roush Fenway Racing Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Ryan Sieg (i) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace (i) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list Ryan Reed on standby if Bayne is unable to race due to the birth of Ashton and Trevor's second child.
First practice Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.857 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 35.857 200.798 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 35.889 200.619 3 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 35.914 200.479Official first practice results
Qualifying
Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 35.616 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 142 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 35.790 35.757 35.616 278 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 35.966 35.703 35.623 314 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas RacingFord 36.277 35.823 35.703 418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 35.829 35.727 35.728 511 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 35.992 35.819 35.761 621 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 36.044 35.881 35.847 722 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 36.205 35.855 35.862 81 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 35.992 35.887 35.867 920 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.206 35.911 35.869 1024 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.200 35.888 35.932 114 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 35.756 35.667 35.963 122 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 35.984 35.905 35.991 1348 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 35.938 35.945 — 1477 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 36.158 35.968 — 1541 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas RacingFord 36.096 36.052 — 165 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.286 36.114 — 1788 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.150 36.140 — 183 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.391 36.188 — 1931 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.196 36.234 — 2019 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.165 36.266 — 2117 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.273 36.268 — 2295 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 36.271 36.325 — 2310 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas RacingFord 36.291 36.405 — 2413 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 36.344 36.492 — 2537 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 36.451 — — 2647 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 36.459 — — 2743 Bubba Wallace (i) Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 36.474 — — 286 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 36.519 — — 2932 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 36.693 — — 3038 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 36.776 — — 3127 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 36.807 — — 3223 Ryan Sieg (i) BK Racing Toyota 37.177 — — 3383 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 37.408 — — 3472 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 37.594 — — 3515 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 37.834 — — 3633 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 37.895 — — 3734 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 0.000 — — Official qualifying results
Practice (post-qualifying)
Second practice Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 36.293 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 36.293 198.385 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.375 197.938 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 36.485 197.341Official second practice results
Final practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 36.474 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 36.474 197.401 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 36.512 197.195 3 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 36.537 197.061Official final practice results
Race First stage Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag at 3:20 p.m. There were reports early on of trash bags circulating in the air, with one landing on the front stretch and bringing out a caution on the seventh lap. Due to the timing of the early caution, NASCAR decided to move the scheduled competition caution back five laps from it would've originally flown on lap 20.
Back to green on lap 11, this run was a short 14-lap burst that concluded with the competition caution on lap 25.
Four laps after the lap 30 restart, Martin Truex Jr. passed Larson going into Turn 3 to take the lead and drove on to win the stage on lap 60. Caution flew moments later for the conclusion of the stage. Larson returned to the lead under the caution when he exited pit road first. During this run, Erik Jones was running in the top-10 when he made an unscheduled stop for a loose wheel on lap 41.
Second stage After going back to green on lap 68, the race settled into a green flag run that lasted the entire length of the stage that was only broken up by green flag stops starting on lap 107. Larson pitted from the lead the following lap, followed by Kyle Busch three laps later, giving the lead to Brad Keselowski. He pitted on lap 113 and the lead cycled back to Larson.
As was the case in the first stage, Truex passed Larson exiting Turn 4 to retake the lead on lap 116, drove on to win the second stage on lap 120 and caution flew for the end of the stage. Unlike the first stage, Truex beat Larson off pit road to maintain the lead.
Final stage
The race settled into another green flag run after the restart on lap 128, which was disrupted by Ryan Sieg spinning out, in front of race leader Truex, in Turn 4 with 50 laps to go, bringing out the fifth caution. Busch exited pit road with the race lead. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. restarted from the tail-end of the field for speeding on pit road.
Back to green with 46 to go, everyone was on the razor's edge of making it to the end on fuel (with a fuel run at Michigan falling roughly between 40 and 45 laps). That dilemma went out the window, however, when debris in Turn 2 brought out the sixth caution with 21 to go. Tony Stewart, co-owner of Stewart–Haas Racing, tweeted after the race it was "a shame that so many drivers and teams day was ruined by the results of another 'debris' caution towards the end of the race today."
Busch failed to fend off Larson on the restart with 15 to go and lost the lead to him going into Turn 1. Caution flew the following lap when Clint Bowyer tagged the wall in Turn 2. After the race, Bowyer said he was "sitting there seventh with 20 laps to go reeling them in thinking this was our day, and then a debris caution forces a restart (referencing the proceeding debris caution)." He added that restarts are realistically "the only times you can pass, so everyone was racing hard, and I got into the wall. It killed our day.”
On the following restart with 10 to go, a domino-effect stack-up rounding Turns 1 and 2 resulted in Danica Patrick being hit exiting Turn 2, sliding down the apron and slamming the inside wall on the backstretch, therefore bringing out the eighth and final caution.
Restarting with five to go, Denny Hamlin, who restarted aside Larson, lost the spot to Chase Elliott and third to Joey Logano. Larson held off Elliott in the closing laps to score the victory.
Race results
Stage results
Stage 1 Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 102 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 93 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 66 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 57 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 48 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 210 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage one results
Stage 2 Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 102 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 84 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 66 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 57 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 39 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 210 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 1Official stage two results
Final stage results
Stage 3 Laps: 80