Chris Buescher will try to win multiple Cup Series races at Michigan International Speedway when he participates in the 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday. Buescher has won five of his 316 career Cup Series starts, including this race last season, when he finished 0.152 seconds ahead of Martin Truex Jr. The 31-year-old Buescher has a limited amount of time to capture his first checkered flag this year, which would be accompanied by an automatic playoff berth, since only three races remain in the regular season. He still could qualify on points, however, and enters Sunday in the 16th and final postseason position.
Buescher is 15-1, while Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are 6-1 co-favorites in the 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 odds. Ryan Blaney is 13-2, Tyler Reddick is 7-1, and Brad Keselowski rounds out the top five 2024 NASCAR at Michigan contenders at 9-1. Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET. Before making any 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider Steven Taranto has to say.
Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he’s had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR medial credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez’s breakthrough wins in 2022.
Taranto has been red-hot for SportsLine in 2024, nailing 11 winners in his best bets — including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Elliott at Texas. Anyone following his NASCAR picks has seen huge returns.
Now, Taranto has analyzed the starting lineup and odds for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400. He’s sharing his best bets at SportsLine.
2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 expert picks
For the 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400, Taranto is high on Bubba Wallace, even though he’s a 20-1 longshot. Wallace had a strong start to the year with back-to-back top-fives before a dip in which he had just three top-10s over his next 16 starts. However, he’s bounced back over the last month, with four top-10s over his last five starts and finishing no worse than 13th in any of them. Additionally, Taranto points out the success Wallace has had at Michigan International Speedway, where his average finish of 13.0 is his sixth-best among all tracks (min. three starts).
“Wallace had one of the best performances of his Cup career at Michigan two years ago when he led 22 laps from the pole on his way to finishing second, and last year he led 21 laps before fading to 18th,” Taranto told SportsLine. “To add to that, Wallace has a ninth-place finish here in 2020, demonstrating that he’s got a feel for this track that predates his time at 23XI Racing.”
Another curveball: Taranto is fading Chris Buescher (14-1), even though he won this race last year. That victory is just about the only success that Buescher has had at Michigan, his only top-13 finish over his last nine starts at Michigan International Speedway. Even with that victory, Buescher’s average finish of 18.7 at Michigan across his career ranks just 16th among active drivers.
The closest track comparison to Michigan is Auto Club Speedway, which hosted the Pala Casino 400 up until this year. Both are D-shaped ovals that are two miles in length with races contested over 400 laps. Buescher struggled even more so at Auto Club, with zero top-10s over his last eight starts there. Outside of one magical race a year ago, these two-mile tracks have given Buescher problems, so he’s one to avoid with NASCAR at Michigan 2024 bets. See what other NASCAR picks he likes at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 predictions
Taranto has also identified four other drivers in his 2024 NASCAR at Michigan best bets. He’s also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who’s going off at more than 25-1, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here.
So who wins the FireKeepers Casino 400 2024, and which massive longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Michigan picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who has already nailed a colossal 11 winners this year, and find out.
2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 odds, field
See full NASCAR at Michigan picks at SportsLine
Denny Hamlin 6-1
Kyle Larson 6-1
Ryan Blaney 13-2
Tyler Reddick 7-1
Brad Keselowski 9-1
Christopher Bell 10-1
Joey Logano 10-1
Martin Truex Jr. 10-1
Chris Buescher 15-1
William Byron 15-1
Chase Elliott 15-1
Ty Gibbs 15-1
Bubba Wallace 22-1
Alex Bowman 33-1
Kyle Busch 40-1
Ross Chastain 40-1
Daniel Suarez 50-1
Josh Berry 100-1
Noah Gragson 100-1
Austin Cindric 125-1
Erik Jones 125-1
Carson Hocevar 150-1
Austin Dillon 175-1
Chase Briscoe 200-1
Todd Gilliland 200-1
Michael McDowell 250-1
Justin Haley 350-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 350-1
A.J. Allmendinger 500-1
Corey LaJoie 500-1
John Hunter Nemechek 500-1
Ryan Preece 500-1
Zane Smith 500-1
Harrison Burton 2000-1
Daniel Hemric 2000-1
Cody Ware 5000-1
