The 2019 FireKeepers Casino 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was scheduled to be held on June 9, 2019 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, but was ultimately held on June 10 due to rain. Contested over 203 laps – extended from 200 laps due to an overtime finish – on the D-shaped oval, it was the 15th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Defending series champion Joey Logano took his 2nd race win of the season; he started from pole position, and led 163 of the race's 203 laps on his way to victory ahead of Kurt Busch.
Report
Background
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, 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
(i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points. (R) denotes rookie driver.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Garrett Smithley (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Kyle Weatherman (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 52 Josh Bilicki (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Daniel Suárez was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 38.119 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.119 188.882 2 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.164 188.659 3 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.196 188.501Official first practice results
Final practice Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 38.143 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.143 188.763 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.150 188.729 3 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.201 188.477Official final practice results
Qualifying
Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 38.474 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 122 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 38.474 210 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.493 34 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.522 411 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.526 514 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.549 621 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 38.573 71 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.590 82 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 38.605 941 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.612 1017 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 38.620 118 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.632 123 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.639 1312 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 38.661 1420 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.705 1518 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.714 1619 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.714 179 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.732 186 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 38.792 1948 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.793 2088 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.878 2124 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.925 2242 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.927 2334 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.927 2438 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.963 2513 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 39.030 2636 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.040 2743 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 39.122 2847 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 39.191 2995 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 39.271 3000 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 39.274 3137 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 39.296 3232 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 39.401 3351 Kyle Weatherman (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 39.801 3452 Josh Bilicki (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 40.177 3577 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 40.271 3615 Garrett Smithley (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 40.435Official qualifying results
Race
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 102 88 Alex Bowman Hendricks Motorsports Chevrolet 93 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 75 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 66 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48 9 Chase Elliott Hendricks Motorsports Chevrolet 39 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 210 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 1Official stage one results
Stage Two
Laps: 60
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 102 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 93 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 84 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 75 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 66 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 57 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 48 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 88 Alex Bowman Hendricks Motorsports Chevrolet 210 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 80
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 203 502 7 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 203 483 16 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 203 474 9 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 203 335 15 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 203 376 8 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 203 327 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 203 398 18 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 203 299 13 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 203 2810 20 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 3811 4 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 203 2612 11 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 203 2913 6 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 203 2614 22 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 203 2715 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 2216 31 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 203 2217 2 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 203 3318 21 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 2219 10 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 203 1820 17 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 203 2021 29 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 203 1622 25 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 203 1523 32 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 203 1424 26 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 203 1325 28 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 203 1226 12 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 202 2127 23 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 202 1028 27 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 201 929 30 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 201 030 36 15 Garrett Smithley (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 200 031 14 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 199 1432 35 77 Quin Houff Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 198 533 34 52 Josh Bilicki (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 197 034 24 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 195 335 5 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 130 236 33 51 Kyle Weatherman (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 69 0Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 20 among 11 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 7 for 35 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 52 minutes and 50 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television Fox NASCAR televised the race in the United States on FS1 for the fourth time at Michigan. Mike Joy was the lap-by-lap announcer, while three-time Michigan winner, Jeff Gordon and two-time winner Darrell Waltrip were the color commentators. Jamie Little, Regan Smith and Matt Yocum reported from pit lane during the race.
FS1 TelevisionBooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip Jamie LittleRegan SmithMatt Yocum
Radio Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and simulcasted on SiriusXM's NASCAR Radio channel. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and five-time Michigan winner Rusty Wallace announced 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 was racing through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform outside of turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Kim Coon, Steve Post, Pete Pistone and Dillon Welch reported from pit lane during the race.
MRNBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Alex HaydenAnnouncer: Jeff StriegleAnnouncer: Rusty Wallace Turns 1 & 2: Dave MoodyTurns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley Kim CoonSteve PostDillon WelchPete Pistone
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Joey Logano 614 1 2 Kyle Busch 605 (–9) 1 3 Brad Keselowski 541 (–73) 1 4 Kevin Harvick 539 (–75) 2 5 Chase Elliott 531 (–83) 1 6 Martin Truex Jr. 499 (–115) 1 7 Denny Hamlin 491 (–123) 8 Kurt Busch 485 (–129) 9 Ryan Blaney 434 (–180) 1 10 Alex Bowman 433 (–181) 1 11 Aric Almirola 426 (–188) 2 12 Clint Bowyer 404 (–210) 13 Daniel Suárez 401 (–213) 14 William Byron 383 (–231) 1 15 Kyle Larson 369 (–245) 1 16 Jimmie Johnson 364 (–250)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 558 2 Ford 542 (–16) 3 Chevrolet 503 (–55)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
References