NASCAR: Michigan race marks a Cup Series first in 48 years
By Asher Fair
This Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway will end a streak that began all the way back in 1974.
The NASCAR Cup Series has not raced on an oval in more than one month, with the race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway serving as the final race before the three-week hiatus caused by NBC’s broadcast commitment of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan back in mid-July.
Since then, the series has raced only at road courses, first at Watkins Glen International two Sundays ago, and then at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the inaugural race at the track this past Sunday.
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But the series is set to return to oval racing this Sunday afternoon with the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Ordinarily, this race would be the first of two events at the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) oval in Brooklyn, Michigan. But that is not the case this year.
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As a result, this marks the first time since 1973 that Michigan International Speedway has not hosted two races in a single Cup Series season, ending what was a 47-year streak.
In fact, you could even argue that the streak is longer, though the fact remains that the 1973 season saw just one race at the track. You could make that argument because of the fact that the track has technically been on the schedule twice every season since it was introduced to the Cup Series calendar back in 1969.
However, the race scheduled for August 1973 did not happen. Roger Penske, who owned the track at the time, announced that June that this race would not be held as a result of the tight schedule that the track had to accommodate that summer.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, a three-time winner at Michigan International Speedway, is listed as the favorite by WynnBET to win Sunday afternoon’s race with odds of +290.
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Nobody else is listed with odds better than +700. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick, the winner of the last three and four of the last five races at the track, is listed as the fifth favorite at +900 behind Larson, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch (+700), Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott (+750), and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. (+750).
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So tune in to NBC Sports Network at 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon for the live broadcast of the FireKeepers Casino 400, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season’s lone race at Michigan International Speedway, the 25th of 36 races on the schedule, and the penultimate race of the regular season. Be sure to start your free trial of FuboTV today if you haven’t already done so!