The 2022 FireKeepers Casino 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 7, 2022, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the D-shaped oval, it was the 23rd race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
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 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).
Prior to the race, it was announced Kurt Busch remains under medical suspension following his crash during second-round qualifying at Pocono. Ty Gibbs will remain in the 45 car.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Tyler Reddick 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 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Ty Gibbs (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 77 Josh Bilicki (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 38.138 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.138 188.788 2 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 38.210 188.432 3 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.298 187.999Official practice results
Qualifying Bubba Wallace scored the pole for the race with a time of 37.755 and a speed of . This was his first career pole in the Cup Series.
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 37.902 37.755 2 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 37.905 37.915 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 37.890 37.921 4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 38.050 37.993 5 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 38.070 38.005 6 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.074 38.090 7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.122 38.151 8 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.051 38.175 9 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.041 38.209 10 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 38.237 38.336 11 45 Ty Gibbs (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 38.218 — 12 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 38.248 — 13 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.270 — 14 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 38.287 — 15 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 38.306 — 16 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.333 — 17 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.380 — 18 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.385 — 19 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 38.448 — 20 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.463 — 21 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 38.482 — 22 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 38.502 — 23 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.526 — 24 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 38.551 — 25 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 38.617 — 26 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.639 — 27 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 38.641 — 28 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38.697 — 29 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 38.803 — 30 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.814 — 31 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.875 — 32 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 38.940 — 33 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 38.997 — 34 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 39.021 — 35 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 39.308 — 36 77 Josh Bilicki (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 39.308 — 37 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.317 — Official qualifying results
Race
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 45
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 84 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 7 5 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 66 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 57 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 39 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 210 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 75
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 93 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 84 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 75 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 66 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 57 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 48 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 210 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 80
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 16 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 200 432 1 23 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 200 353 9 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 534 4 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 200 345 7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 386 24 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 200 317 8 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 388 10 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 200 429 30 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 3110 11 45 Ty Gibbs (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 200 011 13 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 2612 20 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 3113 26 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 2814 25 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 200 2315 33 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 200 2816 19 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 200 2717 21 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 200 2018 31 33 Austin Hill (i) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 019 32 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 200 1820 23 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 200 1821 36 77 Josh Bilicki (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 200 022 34 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 200 1523 35 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 199 024 22 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 199 1825 15 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 198 2126 2 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 193 2827 37 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 188 1028 14 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 187 929 6 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 110 830 12 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 109 031 17 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 94 632 27 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 29 533 28 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 25 434 18 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 25 335 29 15 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 24 036 3 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 24 137 5 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 24 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 15 among 10 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 7 for 36 Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 54 minutes and 8 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television USA covered the race on the television side. two-time Michigan winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
USABooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Dale Earnhardt Jr.Color-commentator: Jeff BurtonColor-commentator: Steve Letarte Kim CoonParker KligermanMarty Snider
Radio Radio 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, Dillon Welch and Jason Toy worked pit road for the radio side.
MRNBooth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Alex HaydenAnnouncer: Jeff Striegle Turns 1 & 2: Dave MoodyTurns 3 & 4: Mike Bagley Steve PostChris WilnerDillon WelchJason Toy
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Chase Elliott 847 2 Ryan Blaney 728 (–119) 3 Ross Chastain 710 (–137) 4 Martin Truex Jr. 709 (–138) 5 Kyle Larson 705 (–142) 1 6 Joey Logano 673 (–174) 1 7 Christopher Bell 668 (–179) 8 Kyle Busch 634 (–213) 1 9 Kevin Harvick 618 (–229) 1 10 William Byron 617 (–230) 1 11 Alex Bowman 572 (–275) 1 12 Tyler Reddick 557 (–290) 13 Daniel Suárez 556 (–291) 3 14 Erik Jones 538 (–309) 15 Chase Briscoe 533 (–314) 2 16 Austin Cindric 531 (–316)Official driver's standings
Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 847 2 Ford 778 (–69) 3 Toyota 765 (–82)
Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
References