BROOKLYN, Mich. — Brian Wilson, crew chief for Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford and driver Austin Cindric, hails from Macomb, Michigan, part of the sprawling Detroit Metro area. Recent trips to Michigan International Speedway have meant loading in early for family time, and Wilson says four cousins will be in attendance for this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the 2-mile track.
“Yeah, it definitely feels like home,” Wilson says.
Earning a victory in front of a home crowd adds incentive for Wilson in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Beyond the personal motivations, plenty of other components will be in play for crew chiefs over 400 fast-paced miles.
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Wilson’s father, Steve, was also a race engineer, and Wilson recalled making his first family trips to the Irish Hills section of the state for NASCAR events in the early to mid-1990s. That longevity means that Wilson has seen plenty of Michigan races that have boiled down to fuel strategy. Come Sunday, teams that make the most of their mileage may hold the key to Victory Lane.
“I think there are certain things that you can do, setup-wise,” Wilson told NASCAR.com. “Obviously, you want to start full of fuel is the biggest thing — making sure that the driver understands ways that he can save fuel throughout the race. Any caution, obviously, he has to be on top of things to save fuel for us, but then, laying out the strategy, making sure that you’re at a position to where you can try to be full, try to run long. Some of the debate I think is going to come down to if you have early cautions, or cautions hit at the right point, do you want to wait on fuel? I think that’s probably the biggest question for a lot of guys.
“You know, typically you don’t have a lot of (pit) stops here. You try to stay out, hold on to the track position, maybe four stops on average, so a lot of times you’ll have to make sure you’re full or close to full, or get as much as you can in those situations to open up the playground.”
As usual, Goodyear tires should play a factor and new right-side rubber for Michigan could add another layer to that equation. Goodyear officials indicated the new tire was introduced to combat the force and load created in the high-speed corners, and Wilson said the harder compound should offset some of the issues with cording from excessive wear that have sometimes arisen at other intermediate-sized tracks.
MORE: New right-side Goodyears at Michigan
Cindric, Wilson‘s driver, slowed with a flat left-rear tire 10 minutes into Saturday’s practice. Denny Hamlin had a similar left-rear issue in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota around the same time in the second session, and JGR teammate Christopher Bell’s left-front went flat on the No. 20 Toyota near practice’s end.
Travis Peterson, crew chief for Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, said that aggressive air-pressure setups were likely to blame, with Michigan’s higher-speed layout potentially causing havoc with settings that work at other tracks. Generally, though, Peterson said he anticipates a standard performance bar when it comes to Goodyear’s new combination.
“I mean, maybe a little bit more wear than we’ve had here in the past, but lap times are probably still a little flat,” Peterson said after qualifying. “I don’t know that we ran enough laps to fully see. The thing that’s been somewhat consistent about these things is at some point you do seem to hit a wall and cord tires and do all that, so I don’t know that we ran long enough in practice, us specifically, or any other cars I saw to say that there’s going to be significant fall-off, but you know, time will tell, but I think it’s gonna be pretty standard Michigan.”
If there’s any other motivation needed, there’s also the annual post-race presentation of the Michigan Heritage Trophy to the winning manufacturer, adding bragging-rights emphasis at the track not far from the Motor City. Toyota has won the last two Cup Series races at Michigan, but Ford held a nine-in-a-row streak from 2018-23.
MORE: At-track photos: Michigan | Watch NASCAR video highlights
The next Mustang victory will be Ford’s milestone 750th in the Cup Series, but Wilson said the incentive for winning here doesn’t need to be verbalized.
“Obviously it’s in their backyard. They don’t have to put pressure on us,” Wilson said. “We want to have a very solid and strong race for Ford. Not only that, it’s also Penske’s headquarters, so there’s a lot of reasons for me personally being from the area. This is one you want to circle and make sure that you perform for everybody.”
That motivation also runs high in other automakers‘ camps.
“I mean, you’re always thinking about it here in Michigan, just because you know you’re in the backyard of the OEMs and you want to do well,” Peterson said. “It’s that way for every OEM, so you want to put a bowtie in Victory Lane … but no matter what, we want to win anyways.”