Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick bring Toyota’s momentum into the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, where the start time is 3 p.m. ET and the race carries no traditional TV broadcast. The field includes Hamlin, Reddick, Kyle Larson, Joey
For the second straight stop in a short span of momentum, Toyota is showing up in force at Michigan International Speedway—one of the sport’s most telling battlegrounds for American manufacturers.
The FireKeepers Casino 400 is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET in Brooklyn, Michigan, with 200 laps planned over a 2-mile D-shaped oval course. It’s also a moment teams will treat like more than another Sunday run: Denny Hamlin is the defending champion at Michigan. and Tyler Reddick—driving for Toyota’s extended orbit through 23XI Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing—won the event in 2024.
Toyota’s form has been hard to miss. Denny Hamlin made a late pass for the first Toyota NASCAR Cup Series win at Nashville Superspeedway. Last week, Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing car won again in the NASCAR Cup Series. marking Toyota’s triumph at a track they had not won at before. with a bow in honor of Kyle Busch.
Michigan now brings a sharper question than “who’s fast.” It’s about whether the new grip holds.
Before recently, Ford had dominated Michigan. The record runs deep: Ford won nine Cup Series races in a row at the company’s home state track. Now, though, Hamlin and Reddick are part of a different reality—one where Toyota is competing for control rather than chasing it.
Reddick leads the season with five wins, while Hamlin sits atop the 2026 driver points standings. Their teammates and rivals will be watching both the scoreboard and the pit strategy. knowing how quickly a late move can flip a race. Hamlin’s own career shows the weight of Michigan to his season—he has three career victories at the track. So does Kyle Larson, the Hendrick Motorsports driver in Chevrolet. Joey Logano of Team Penske also has three career Michigan wins.
Larson, the reigning Cup Series champion, and Logano, a three-time champ, each enter looking for their first wins of the season.
The stakes are measured not just by trophies. but by the way drivers stack up at one of the sport’s most symbolic venues. Michigan has long been tied to manufacturer identity—especially when Ford’s run stretched to nine straight wins. This year, Toyota’s recent results, capped by Hamlin’s late pass at Nashville Superspeedway and the No. 11’s win last week, set a tone that will be tested again over 200 laps.
Amazon Prime Video is streaming the FireKeepers Casino 400 and will have a pre-race show at 2 p.m. ET. The race can also be streamed on HBO Max. There is no television broadcast of the FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
The race breaks into three stages: Stage 1 will be Lap 45 (45 laps), Stage 2 will run from Lap 46 to Lap 120 (75 laps), and Stage 3 will run from Lap 121 to Lap 200 (80 laps).
With Reddick leading the season and Hamlin sitting at the top of the 2026 driver points standings, the field’s mix of manufacturers and champions turns Michigan into a high-stakes measure of who can convert momentum into checkered-flag results.
(11) Denny Hamlin. Toyota
(77) Carson Hocevar. Chevrolet
(45) Tyler Reddick. Toyota
(54) Ty Gibbs. Toyota
(19) Chase Briscoe. Toyota
(9) Chase Elliott. Chevrolet
(5) Kyle Larson. Chevrolet
(20) Christopher Bell. Toyota
(24) William Byron. Chevrolet
(43) Erik Jones. Toyota
(7) Daniel Suarez. Chevrolet
(35) Riley Herbst. Toyota
(23) Bubba Wallace. Toyota
(17) Chris Buescher. Ford
(41) Cole Custer. Chevrolet
(38) Zane Smith. Ford
(42) John Hunter Nemechek. Toyota
(22) Joey Logano. Ford
(12) Ryan Blaney. Ford
(71) Michael McDowell. Chevrolet
(3) Austin Dillon. Chevrolet
(4) Noah Gragson. Ford
(47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet
(10) Ty Dillon. Chevrolet
(16) AJ Allmendinger. Chevrolet
(6) Brad Keselowski. Ford
(60) Ryan Preece. Ford
(33) Austin Hill. Chevrolet
(48) Alex Bowman. Chevrolet
(97) Shane Van Gisbergen. Chevrolet
(2) Austin Cindric. Ford
(1) Ross Chastain. Chevrolet
(51) Cody Ware. Chevrolet
(88) Connor Zilisch. Chevrolet
(34) Todd Gilliland. Ford
(44) JJ Yeley. Chevrolet
(21) Josh Berry. Ford.
The question today is simple enough to fit in a pit box: who will take the checkered flag at Michigan as Toyota’s momentum collides with a track that has historically belonged to Ford—and as Hamlin and Reddick try to turn a season’s lead into a decisive win?
FireKeepers Casino 400 Michigan International Speedway Denny Hamlin Tyler Reddick Toyota NASCAR Cup Series Amazon Prime Video HBO Max Richard Childress Kyle Busch Kyle Larson Joey Logano
So no TV broadcast? that’s kinda dumb, how are people supposed to watch at 3pm
I saw Toyota “momentum” and “grip” and now I’m confused like… is Michigan asphalt or ice? cuz the title makes it sound like a fight over who has better tires lol
Hamlin vs Reddick at Michigan… I don’t even care, all this “American manufacturers” stuff is just marketing. Also didn’t Ford win there like last week? Feels like Toyota just copies everybody’s homework.
No traditional TV broadcast so it’s gonna be one of those “you had to know” races. And 200 laps?? I swear every time Michigan comes on people are talking about “strategy” like they can control the outcome. Last week Toyota won and now everyone’s acting shocked, like Ford wasn’t already struggling at Michigan or whatever.