NASCAR at Michigan: How to watch, start time, preview, prediction, pick for the Firekeepers Casino 400

In the span of two laps a week ago at Richmond Raceway, everything about the battle for the NASCAR playoffs changed. And then, nothing changed at all.

Austin Dillon had gone from outside the top 30 in the points standings to the No. 13 seed in the playoffs, doing so by force after taking out Joey Logano in the final corner of overtime after Logano had passed him on the final restart, then taking Denny Hamlin out coming to the checkered flag for good measure. It was the "winner-take-all" mentality of NASCAR's playoffs era, and the way it can make drivers throw away their ethics, taken to its logical extreme -- until NASCAR officials decided it wouldn't be tolerated.

After Wednesday's news that Dillon would be penalized for his winning moves at Richmond and that his victory would not be permissible to qualify him for the playoffs, four open spots on the playoff grid continue to remain with three races to go in the regular season. The fight for playoff positions now proceeds to the two-mile Michigan International Speedway, a battle sees the defending Michigan winner -- Chris Buescher -- fighting for his season as he holds a tiebreaker over Ross Chastain for the last available playoff spot.

How to Watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan

Date: Aug. 18
Location: Michigan International Speedway -- Brooklyn, Michigan
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
TV: USA | Stream: fubo (try for free)

What to Watch

All else that went with it nonwithstanding, Austin Dillon's win at Richmond continued a 2024 trend that has seen multiple drivers break long winless streaks. With Dillon snapping a 68-race winless streak dating back to August 2022, seven drivers -- Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman -- have ended winless streaks spanning 40 races or more this season.

That puts a spotlight on all other drivers looking to end long winless streaks this weekend, particularly two drivers -- Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace -- who are in position to make the NASCAR playoffs on points. In the past two trips to Michigan, those two have both had runner-up finishes: Wallace ran second to Kevin Harvick in 2022, while Truex finished second to Chris Buescher a year ago.

As it stands, this is the current list of winless streaks among full-time Cup drivers spanning a year or more.

• Justin Haley -- 128 races (Daytona, July 2019)
• Chase Briscoe -- 91 races (Phoenix, March 2022)
• Erik Jones -- 68 races (2022 Southern 500)
• Bubba Wallace -- 66 races (Kansas, September 2022)
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -- 58 races (2023 Daytona 500)
• Kyle Busch -- 44 races (Gateway, June 2023)
  
• Martin Truex Jr. -- 39 races (New Hampshire, July 2023)
  

News of the Week

• Following an extensive review of the finish at Richmond, NASCAR announced Wednesday that while Austin DIllon's win will stand, it will not count towards playoff eligibility due to his rough driving and intent to take out both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final corner. Dillon and his team have also been docked 25 driver and owner points, and spotter Brandon Benesch has been suspended for the next three races. Logano has been fined $50,000 for his conduct on pit road in post-race, in which he endangered bystanders by doing a burnout to express his displeasure with Dillon's team. Richard Childress Racing has announced their intentions to appeal the penalty to Dillon.
  
• 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch was arrested Tuesday night in North Carolina on charges including driving while impaired and reckless driving after being pulled over for driving 63 mph in a 45 mph zone. Busch, who registered a blood alcohol content of 0.17, has had his license revoked for 30 days and is due to appear in court on Sept. 19.
• Legacy Motor Club has announced that they have signed Erik Jones to a multi-year contract extension, which will keep him behind the wheel of the No. 43 Toyota for 2025 and beyond. Jones' contract extension comes one week after Trackhouse Racing announced that they likewise have signed driver Daniel Suarez to a contract extension to continue driving their No. 99 Chevrolet.
• Kaulig Racing announced Thursday that A.J. Allmendinger will return to the Cup Series as the full-time driver of their No. 16 Chevrolet in 2025, returning him to NASCAR's top level after he went back to a full-time Xfinity Series campaign in 2024. Allmendinger has made 10 Cup starts this season with three top 10 finishes, all of which have been sixth-place finishes.
  
• In sad news, Team Penske shared news Wednesday evening of the passing of former crew chief Roy McCauley. McCauley was a Penske crew chief in the mid to late-2000s, with his greatest achievement coming when he won the 2008 Daytona 500 as the crew chief for Ryan Newman. McCauley had two career wins in 119 Cup starts, working with drivers like Newman, Kurt Busch, Chad Blount, Travis Kvapil, Sam Hornish Jr., David Stremme and a young Brad Keselowski.
  

Pick to Win

Tyler Reddick (+850) -- The Olympic break did nothing to interrupt the tear that Reddick has been on over the summer, as a third-place finish at Richmond marked his fourth top three and sixth-straight finish of sixth or better, putting him only five points back of Kyle Larson for the regular season championship lead. Another win to go with his Talladega victory would go a long way towards establishing Reddick as a driver to beat for the championship, and it just so happens that Reddick had a potential race-winning car at Michigan last year before a wheel left loose by his crew on their final pit stop relegated him to 30th.