Jeff Gordon, Vice Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports looks on from the pit box during the NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 21, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

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This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, Not My Job guest Jeff Gordon and panelists Negin Farsad, Zach Zimmerman, and Adam Burke. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.

Who’s Bill This Time

Beltway Breakup; A New Reason To Avoid Salad; Bookin’ It This Summer

Panel Questions

A Husband’s Secret Revealed

Bluff The Listener

Our panelists tell three stories about someone who made millions of dollars in the news this week, only one of which is true.

Not My Job: NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon answers questions about being a passenger

NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon joins us to talk about driving his first race when he was five years old, what he talks to about with the pit crew, and the terror of teaching his kids to drive. Plus, he plays our game, “Leave the Driving to Us,” three questions about passengers.

Panel Questions

Wild Summer; The Danny DeVito Test

Limericks

Bill Kurtis reads three news-related limericks: The Picante Diet; Party Like A Fruit Fly; Nervous Lips

Lightning Fill In The Blank

All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else

Predictions

Our panelists predict, with all the competitive reading going on, what will be the hit book of the summer.

With only 12 races remaining in the regular season, the NASCAR Cup Series will head to Michigan International Speedway on Sunday for the 2025 Firekeepers Casino 400. Tyler Reddick and his 23XI Racing team finally gave Toyota its first win at Michigan since 2015 last season, ending a nine-race winning streak for Ford in the process. Now, he’s listed at +850 in the 2025 NASCAR at Michigan odds while Kyle Larson is the +525 favorite. Ryan Blaney won at Michigan in 2021 and is Ford’s top betting choice at +650 in the 2025 Firekeeper Casino 400 odds coming off a win last week in Nashville. All those NASCAR odds are from BetMGM and you can get up to $1,500 in bonus bets as insurance if your first bet loses with the latest BetMGM promo code.

The green flag drops at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday and the race is scheduled for 200 laps around the two-mile oval. Before entering any 2025 Firekeepers Casino 400 picks, NASCAR DFS lineups on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, or locking in NASCAR props on sites like PrizePicks, Sleeper Fantasy, and Underdog Fantasy, be sure to see the latest 2025 NASCAR at Michigan predictions from SportsLine’s proven projection model.

Developed by daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary NASCAR prediction model simulates every race 10,000 times, taking into account factors such as track history and recent results.

The model began its 2025 season by calling Chase Elliott to win for a +300 payout at the Clash at Bowman Gray and was also high on Byron as a +2000 longshot at Daytona. Then it predicted Kyle Larson’s win in Miami for a +350 payout and Christopher Bell’s +600 triumph in the NASCAR All-Star Race. In 2024, it nailed Larson to win in Las Vegas for a 21-5 sports betting payout and predicted Denny Hamlin’s wins in Bristol at 5-1 and Richmond at 17-4.

It also impressively nailed five of Larson’s wins during his historic season in 2021. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 20 winners since 2021, including nine in 2023 and three in the first seven races last season. Anyone who followed its lead on betting apps and sportsbooks on those NASCAR picks could have seen huge returns. New users also have the opportunity to take advantage of the latest Bet365 promo code, DraftKings promo code and Fanatics Sportsbook promo code.

Now, the model simulated the Firekeepers Casino 400 2025 10,000 times. Head to SportsLine to see the complete projected NASCAR at Michigan leaderboard.

Top 2025 Firekeepers Casino 400 predictions

For the 2025 Firekeepers Casino 400, we can tell you the model is high on Joey Logano, even though he’s a +1600 longshot in the latest 2025 NASCAR at Michigan odds. He’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion likely punched his ticket to the postseason with a win in Texas earlier this season, but he’s still fighting for points and moved up to eighth in the NASCAR standings with a fourth-place run in Nashville last week.

It was Logano’s second top-five finish of the season and now he’ll look to build off that at a track where he’s had a lot of success. He’s a three-time winner at Michigan International Speedway and has finished top 10 in 18 of his 28 career starts there. Ford’s have won nine of the last 10 races in Michigan and Penske Racing has a lot of momentum after putting two of their cars into the top five last week. BetMGM has the best pricing on Logano as the outright winner, but you can also get him at +1500 and bet $5 to get $200 in bonus bets if your first bet wins with the latest FanDuel promo code.

The model has also revealed a surprising NASCAR prop for Sunday: Carson Hocevar finishes top 10 for a -112 payout. The 22-year-old was the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2024 and he’s coming off his second runner-up finish of the season last week in Nashville. Hocevar also finished second in Atlanta earlier this season and has led a lap in seven of his 14 starts. 

He’s currently 17th in the NASCAR standings and has a puncher’s chance of racing his way into the playoffs on points, but he’ll also be looking for his opportunity to steal his first career win to significantly improve his chances. Hocevar is from Michigan, beginning his career at Berlin Raceway just a couple of hours northwest of Michigan International Speedway as a 12-year-old. He finished 10th in his Cup debut at Michigan last season. See which other drivers to avoid and the rest of the projected NASCAR leaderboard at SportsLine.

How to make 2025 NASCAR at Michigan picks

The model is also targeting three other drivers with Michigan NASCAR odds of 16-1 or longer to make a serious run at the checkered flag. Anyone who backs these drivers could hit it big. You can see all of the model’s NASCAR picks, props, and projected leaderboard over at SportsLine.

So who wins the NASCAR Firekeepers Casino 400 2025, and which longshots are must-backs? Check out the latest 2025 NASCAR at Michigan odds below, then visit SportsLine now to see the full NASCAR Michigan projected leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 21 winners, and find out.

2025 NASCAR Michigan odds, drivers, lineup

See the full NASCAR at Michigan picks at SportsLine

(odds subject to change)
Kyle Larson +525
Denny Hamlin +650
Ryan Blaney +650
William Byron +800
Tyler Reddick +850
Christopher Bell +1000
Ross Chastain +1400
Joey Logano +1600
Chase Elliott +2000
Chris Buescher +2000
Carson Hocevar +2000
Chase Briscoe +2200
Brad Keselowski +2500
Bubba Wallace +2500
Alex Bowman +2500
Josh Berry +3500
Kyle Busch +3500
Ty Gibbs +5000
Ryan Preece +6000
Austin Cindric +6000
Erik Jones +6000
Daniel Suarez +10000
AJ Allmendinger +10000
Michael McDowell +12500
Zane Smith +12500
Austin Dillon +15000
Noah Gragson +15000
John Hunter Nemechek +20000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +20000
Todd Gilliland +25000
Justin Haley +25000
Riley Herbst +50000
Shane Van Gisbergen +50000
Cole Custer +50000
Ty Dillon +100000
Cody Ware +100000

It’s been six years since the NASCAR Cup Series driver who won the pole also won the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

In 2019, Joey Logano laid down the fastest qualifying time, led the most laps and captured the checkered flag. Logano’s four pole victories at Michigan are the most of any active racer.

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For the third straight week, Chase Briscoe will lead the pack to the stripe Sunday. After posting the speediest lap at NASCAR’s speediest track, he will start on the inside of the front row. Kyle Busch will join him on the outside.

The green flag will drop shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday. Here is a look at the full qualifying results and starting lineup.

10 fastest speeds in NASCAR qualifying at Michigan

NASCAR starting lineup for FireKeepers Casino 400 race Sunday at Michigan

21. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42

26. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47

How to watch: Time, TV channel for NASCAR race at Michigan

• Sunday: Cup Series race, FireKeepers Casino 400, 2 p.m. (Amazon Prime Video)

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR lineup: Qualifying results set starting grid for Michigan race

When he’s not busy running full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Larson is almost always behind the wheel of a sprint car. This week was no different as Larson was competing in a winged sprint car race at the Plymouth Dirt Track in Wisconsin. 

On the seventh lap of the 35-lap World of Outlaws feature race, Larson was running second and was attempting to run down Rico Abreu for the race lead. However, a wheel appeared to disconnect or break off as he entered Turn 1 at a high rate of speed. The failure immediately sent the car flipping end over end before slamming into the catch-fencing that surrounds the track. 

Thankfully, the 2021 NASCAR Cup champion and 2024 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year was able to climb from his No. 57 machine unscathed.

“I don’t know,” Larson told Dirt Vision after the crash. “I think the right rear axle or something broke so it just kind of launched me, and I was along for the ride. Bummer, but I felt really good pacing Rico there and just finally catching traffic and get racing there. Glad I’m okay, big hit but all-in-all, feel fine.”

Larson now heads over to Michigan for the 15th round of the 2025 season, returning to his usual job as the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Larson’s first career win in the Cup Series came at Michigan back in 2016, winning three consecutive races at the two-mile speedway. 

After qualifying fifth for the Cup race at Michigan, he told NASCAR on Prime that he felt find after the sprint car crash, calling it an “unfortunate part failure.”

This summer, Chicago Gourmet invites guests to its first-ever Dinner on the NASCAR Track—a historic, trackside five-course Italian dinner in Chicago served directly on the start/finish line of the NASCAR Chicago Street Course in Grant Park, Chicago, combining high-speed thrills with a luxurious fine dining experience in Chicago.

Participating chefs include Joe Frillman (Daisies), Steve Maak (Levy Restaurants), Leigh Omilinsky (Daisies), and Tony Priolo (Piccolo Sogno)—each contributing their expertise to the collaborative menu. The evening will be emceed by Catherine De Orio (Casa De Orio), guiding guests through each course with charm and flair.

Guests will enjoy authentic Italian cuisine featuring seasonal ingredients, artisanal pasta, and innovative presentation, all expertly matched with premium wine pairings for a dinner that appeals to both foodies and motorsports fans. This marks the first time ever such an upscale dining event has taken place on the NASCAR raceway, making it truly historic.

• Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2025

• Time: 6 PM – 9 PM

• Location: Start/Finish Line, NASCAR Chicago Street Course, Grant Park, Chicago

As part of Chicago Gourmet’s Culinary World Series, this event highlights unique gastronomic experiences in Chicago—capturing the perfect fusion of speed, sophistication, and city pride.

Imagine yourself enjoying authentic Italian cuisine on the historic NASCAR track—this is your chance to experience a night like no other.
Picture the thrill of motorsports combined with the sophistication of a five-course, chef-driven dinner—ready to reserve your seat?

Reserve your seat now for Dinner on the NASCAR Track.

A portion of the proceeds of this and all Chicago Gourmet events benefits the Illinois Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (IRAEF). The IRAEF is a non-profit organization 501(c)(3) dedicated to building and promoting the health and prosperity of the restaurant industry by investing in our youth and our workforce.