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CAMBRIDGE TWP. — A cliche Michiganders and other Midwesterners use when it rains is wait five minutes and the weather will change.
That might be wishful thinking for race fans and drivers alike once again at Michigan International Speedway as the weather is looming large on the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400.
“When I grew up here there was the saying wait five minutes and the weather will change,” said Rochester native Brad Keselowski. “Starting the week out we were like, it’s going to monsoon all three days. It’s already changed to scattered showers so we’ll see what it brings.”
Weather watching is nothing new to fans along with the drivers and their teams as rain is almost expect now at some point when NASCAR rolls through the Irish Hills.
It impacted the race early as half of Saturday’s practice and all of qualifying was canceled, which put Denny Hamlin out in front to start the race. Next to Hamlin in the front row will be Tyler Reddick followed by Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Austin Dillon.
Portage’s Carson Hocevar will be 11th, Keselowski will start 15th and Byron’s Erik Jones will be 28th.
In the brief time the drivers were able to be on the track, Chastain posted the fastest time followed by Martin Truex Jr., Larson, William Byron, Wallace, Elliott, Alex Bowman, Hocevar, Chris Buescher and AJ Allmendinger.
More: Buescher wins Buescher wins the FireKeepers Casino 400
Last year the FireKeepers Casino 400 was moved to Monday where Buescher got the win.
“We are at the mercy of mother nature,” Buescher said. “Monday wasn’t so bad last year. I don’t want to be here Monday for us and for our fans.”
While the win counted all the same for Buescher last season, it felt different and not in a good way.
“A ton of our partners were here for a big event and had to go back to work,” he said. “Our victory lane photos were a lot thinner than they should have been because so many of our Ford family had to go back to work. The stands were a lot thinner, I know a ton of people hung out with us and we appreciate that, but it’s not quite as fun when it’s not a packed house.”
Prior to last season’s postponed race, the 2022 FireKeepers Casino 400 was delayed by more than an hour and the 2021 race had a weather caution involved. One of the 2019 races was postponed to Monday and in 2018 the race was shortened.
“We all remember three or four years ago the empty stands and how very strange that felt,” Buescher said. “It’s not what you want. The win meant just as much to us, but the celebration is not as fun.”
Jones has been home since Tuesday and has enjoyed the Michigan summer weather all week until the rains came in on Friday, which held off enough for Connor Zilisch to win the Menards ARCA Series Henry Ford Health 200.
“It’s tough,” Jones said. “It’s just been hit or miss. It’s challenging because you don’t know what the track is going to do. I feel like we get a good crowd here and the weather has just torn that up and it’s a bummer.”
Hocevar will be running his first Cup Series race at his home track this week and is expecting a big turnout from friends and family.
“It’s going to be great to have them here,” he said. “We’ve got a big group of friends, family and sponsors.”
For the FireKeepers Casino 400, it’s the same old song: rain, rain go away.
“I’ve had this (weather) ever since Berlin and Kalamazoo Speedway and Owosso,” Hocevar said. “It’s normal for us. I told my crew it’s going to rain (Saturday) because it didn’t rain (Friday night).”
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Weather brings challenges for FireKeepers Casino 400 again
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