Race Information
- Round: Race No. 23 of 36
- Track Location: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
- Race Name: Firekeepers Casino 400
- Broadcast: Sunday, August 6th at 2:00 PM ET live on USA (TV), MRN (Radio), and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90
- Team Entrants:
No. 42 | Noah Gragson & Luke Lambert – Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
No. 43 | Erik Jones & Dave Elenz – Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Noah Gragson, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Michigan International Speedway Stats
-NCS Starts: 1; Best Start: 12th (2022); Best Finish: 30th (2022); Top 5s: 0; Top 10s: 0; Laps Led: 0
-NXS Starts: 3; Best Start: 1st (2022); Best Finish: 2nd (2019); Wins: 0; Top 5s: 3; Top 10s: 3; Laps led: 39
-NCTS Starts: 2; Best Start: 3rd (2018); Best Finish: 4th (2018); Top 5s: 2; Top 10s: 2; Laps Led: 18
2023 NCS Season Stats
- Starts: 21; Best Start: 10th (COTA); Best Finish: 12th (Atlanta); Top 5s: 0; Top 10s: 0; Points: 33rd
-About Sunseeker Resorts: Opening in 2023, Florida’s newest luxury resort located in Charlotte Harbor is the first resort property of Sunseeker Resorts, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company. Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor occupies over 22 waterfront acres with 785 guest rooms, including 189 Signature Sunsuites™. Set upon the Peace River and Florida Gulf Coast, this premier resort offers 20 original food and beverage concepts; including seven stand-alone restaurants, eleven bars and lounges, two poolside offerings and a 25,000-square-foot multi-dining experience. Additional hotel amenities include a waterfront promenade, two unique rooftop and waterfront pool experiences, 60,000-square-feet of combined convention space, full-service spa and salon, a 7,100-square-foot state-of-the-art fitness center with four group exercise studios with specialty instructor lead classes, three retail and market shops, and an 18-hole championship level golf club exclusive to hotel guests only. The resort is conveniently located within a short drive of Punta Gorda, Fort Myers, Sarasota, St. Petersburg-Clearwater, and Tampa airports. For more information, visit www.sunseekerresorts.com. Follow us on Instagram: @sunseekerresorts and like us on Facebook: @sunseekerresorts.
Richmond recap: Noah Gragson qualified in the 12th position at Richmond Raceway but struggled to find grip throughout the event. He finished 28th but felt that the team learned many things and they looked forward to the two-day test at the track this week.
Gragson and the Irish Hills: Gragson’s record in the Truck and Xfinity Series’ in Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is stellar. Even though he does not have a win, across five starts he has never finished outside of the top-10. Last season Gragson won the pole position in the Xfinity Series and led 39 laps on the day, to finish third.
Meet NG: Fans can meet with Noah for an autograph session at MIS on Sunday, August 6th at 11:30am local time at the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB trackside merchandise hauler.
Luke at Michigan: Crew chief Luke Lambert has 17 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series with four different drivers. He has earned one top five and two top-10 finishes and won the pole position with driver Chris Buescher in 2021 for the event. Additionally, Lambert has two Xfinity Series starts at Michigan, most recently with Gragson. The duo won the pole position in 2022, followed by a third place finish.
Quoting Noah: “Busy week with the Richmond test and then heading to Michigan which has been a good track for us in the Xfinity Series. I like going there, its a fast track and we are going to watch some local track racing as well when we are there and then focus on getting a solid top-15 finish in the race.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Michigan International Speedway Stats
-NCS Starts: 10; Best start: 4th; Best finish: 3rd; Top 5s: 1 Top 10s: 2
-NXS Starts: 1; Best start: 2nd; Best finish: 4th; Top 5s: 1; Top 10s: 1
-NCTS Starts: 1; Best start: 7th; Best finish: 3rd; Top 5s: 1; Top 10s: 1; Laps led: 16
2023 NASCAR Cup Series Season Stats
Starts: 22; Best start: 8th; Best finish: 6th; Top 10’s: 4; Laps led: 17; Points position: 28th
- About Allegiant: Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant’s fleet serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com.
Richmond in the Rearview: Coming off another top-10 finish at Pocono, the No. 43 team looked to keep the ball rolling at the short track of Richmond Raceway. Despite a fourth place finish in practice, Jones qualified 27th and worked throughout the race to gain track position. He ultimately finished 23rd.
From Byron to Brooklyn: Friends and fans will have the unique opportunity to be part of NASCAR festivities this weekend as Jones will caravan from his hometown of Byron to the track on Sunday morning with a group traveling from Byron. Click here for more information.
Mr. and Mrs. Erik Jones: Jones and his fiancée Holly Shelton had an important “date” prior to this weekends event at Michigan, which was that of their wedding. The couple exchanged vows in Bancroft, Michigan on August 2nd surrounded by their family, friends, and NASCAR legends. Oscar Jones, the family dog, served as ring bearer.
Hometown Guy: Byron Michigan native, Jones will return to his home track, Michigan International Speedway (MIS) for the FireKeepers Casino 400. Fans can join Jones for special tailgating activities throughout the weekend by purchasing the “Erik Jones Ticket Package” to show support for the hometown boy. For more details on the ticket package, click here.
Last Time Around: In his most recent attempt at MIS, Jones started in 10th position and worked his way to the front, leading the pack for five laps and earning stage points in both Stages 1 and 2. Jones ran a total of 176 laps within the top-15 accumulating 73 quality passes during the race, finishing the race in eighth.
Back to his Roots: Jones is set to return to his racing roots as he takes the wheel of his self-built “Erik Jones Foundation” No. 4 Super Late Model at the highly anticipated “Battle at Berlin.” The race will be held at Berlin Raceway, as Jones aims to capture his second win of the year for his Super Late Model team.
Dave at Michigan: Fellow Michigan native, crew chief Dave Elenz, has six starts at Michigan International Speedway. Across five Xfinity starts, Elenz has coached four different drivers to one pole and 18 laps led. Elenz has an average start and finish of fourth place and has a pair of second place finishes. In his lone Cup Series start, Elenz coached Jones to an eighth place finish, including five laps led for the Michigan duo at the their home track.
Meet Erik: On Sunday, August 6th at MIS, Jones will appear at the Chevrolet Racing experience at 10:30am for a question and answer session; at the United States Air Force activation display in the Fan Zone at 10:50am local time, where he will sign autographs for approximately 100 fans. Jones will then stop by the Erik Jones fan experience tailgate for those who purchased the “Erik Jones Ticket Package”.
Quoting Erik Jones: “Michigan for me is always fun, getting to go home, and spending some time up there, I will be there a little bit extra this year with the wedding on Wednesday and everything else going on, so it is kind of a cool way to cap everything off with the race on Sunday. Getting to tailgate with fans is something that we have done on and off a bit ever since I started coming to Michigan in the Cup Series, but cool to have the hometown fans at the track, and have a big group coming up to watch the race. I feel like our car was good there last year, it was kind of an up and down race, but we came home with a solid finish through it all. We had speed there the whole time, and hopefully we can have a solid car. It’s always fun to go run well there, and it’s important to me to go out and run well in front of so many people that grew up in this area like I did. No guy from Michigan has ever won there, so that’s always something that you want to keep in your mind and try to make that happen, so I am looking forward to being home and the weekend in general.”
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB:
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (NCS) Jimmie Johnson. The club competes full-time in the NCS fielding the Nos. 42 and 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for drivers Noah Gragson and Erik Jones, respectively, along with the No. 84 part-time entry for Johnson in 2023. Richard Petty “The King” serves as team ambassador.
In 2021, Gallagher acquired Richard Petty Motorsports and renamed the team to Petty GMS. With the addition of Johnson to the ownership structure in 2023, the organization rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (LEGACY M.C.). With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level.
Based in Statesville, N.C., LEGACY M.C. operates alongside GMS Racing (GMS), which currently fields three full-time entries in the NASCAR Truck Series. Since the formation of GMS in 2012, Gallagher and Mike Beam, team president, have shared incredible success. GMS Racing captured the 2015 ARCA Racing Series championship, the 2016 and 2020 NASCAR Truck Series championships and the 2019 and 2020 ARCA East championships, accumulating over 65 wins across six national racing circuits.
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