This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series will have their third doubleheader of the season at the Michigan International Speedway in the Irish Hills of Michigan.  Both races have been shortened to 312 miles (500 kilometers), but have not been renamed.  Coverage of the FireKeepers Casino 400 will begin Saturday with NASCAR America Saturday at 3 p.m. on NBCSN, followed by Countdown to Green at 3:30 p.m.  The green flag should fall around 4:10.

The Consumers Energy 400 can be seen on NBCSN starting with Countdown to Green at 4 p.m., The green flag is scheduled to drop around 4:40 p.m.  The race can also be heard on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

Records and facts

Last year's FireKeepers Casino 400 was dominated by Joey Logano.  Logano started from pole and led 163 of 203 laps.  That said, he still had to hold off the pack on a Green-White-Checker to take a well-deserved victory.  Kurt Busch was second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez and Kyle Busch.

The Consumers Energy 400 was a more competitive race.  Brad Keselowski dominated early before spinning out.  Logano was strong once again.  However, Kevin Harvick was able to get past Logano with 18 laps to go and held on to win.  Denny Hamlin was second, then Kyle Larson, Truex and Suarez.

Among active drivers, Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson (not entered) are tied for the most wins with three each.  Hamlin and Ryan Newman have two apiece.

All-time, David Pearson is the winningest driver at Michigan with nine career victories, including three in a row at one point.  His first Michigan win came in the Yankee 600, an attempt to run a 600-mile race at Michigan.  It ended up being rain-shortened to 165 laps of the scheduled 300.  

Cale Yarborough is second all-time at MIS with eight wins, followed by Bill Elliott with seven.  Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace both have five victories apiece.

Track Facts
Track / Race Length: 2-mile "D-Shaped" oval, 156 laps (312 miles)
Banking: 18 degrees
Frontstretch: 3,600 ft., banked 12 degrees

Backstretch: 2,242 ft., banked 5 degrees

Grandstand Seating: 71,000
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph
Pace Car Speed: 55 mph
Opened: 1968 (first Cup race in 1969)

Website: http://www.mispeedway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MISpeedway

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MISpeedway

Say What?!

"Well a fast car is the biggest key. Our organization has run really well at Michigan. The Roush Yates folks from the engine side and Doug Yates love going to Michigan. Ford, from a manufacturer’s side, loves having the manufacturing trophy sitting in its facility. So there is a lot of motivation going into Michigan. For us, being at a racetrack we have run well at and won at, the expectations are in the same category. We want to get to victory lane and have two solid races. The races are a little bit shorter so there will be some strategy that will come into play, and putting yourself in a position to get up front and stay up front and do the things you need to do to win the races. That side will be a bit different, but we’re looking forward to hopefully running well." - Kevin Harvick

"It’s nice to be able to head to a track where you’ve won at before, but the packages between Xfinity and the Cup Series are so different that there really isn’t much crossover. I actually think the Xfinity package we ran at Michigan two years ago was more similar to our current Cup package, which was when RCR and Austin Dillon won the race in the rain-shortened event. So, I’ve run a race there with a similar package, but at the same time I’ve learned no matter how similar they sound on paper, there really is nothing too similar in person between them. But there are other areas I can lean on heading into the weekend. The tire is very similar to what we ran at Texas and Kentucky, so I expect similar strategy calls for people trying to get track position. Then again, it is a two-mile track. It’s big and has a lot of grip normally. We’re going during the middle of summer though, so I’m interested to see what means for tire fall-off and if there will be any. It’s going to be an exciting doubleheader weekend for our No. 8 Chevy Accessories team." - Tyler Reddick

"I’m looking forward to going to Michigan and having two chances at the same track. I think with this 500 (hp) package Michigan will be the closest we’ll get to racing like we do at a superspeedway of any of the other tracks we race at. It’s a fun race track. You have to have a fast race car by yourself but you’re also going to have to be good in traffic. Starting mid-pack again, so we’re going to have to figure out how to navigate traffic and hopefully get to the front. Strategy will be difficult to come into play with the way that the stage lengths work out. You don’t even have to pit in stage 1 or stage 2 if you pit at the stage breaks. There’s probably not going to be a lot of help from strategy to get you the track position you need. So, you’re going to have to have a fast race car and fast pit stops to be able to get there. I’m looking forward to seeing how Saturday goes. Hoping for a good result and hopefully we make it better for Sunday." - Matt Kenseth

Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.  Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.