The NASCAR weekend at Michigan International Speedway will feature a reunion. The Craftsman Truck Series will take on the 2-mile track for the first time in several seasons.
Michigan International Speedway has hosted NASCAR since the 1969 season, but the Truck Series has only visited the track 21 times. That will change this weekend as the series delivers a Saturday afternoon race (noon ET on Fox).
"It's exciting for us," track president Joe Fowler told AltDriver on Monday. "We had been hearing for a while from our fans, 'Bring back the Trucks, bring back the Trucks!' And I think the Xfinity Series has done a great job for many years -- we have a ton of Xfinity fans -- but just being able to bring the Truck Series back for the first time in so many years, it's something our fans wanted.
"I think it's something the Truck drivers wanted. Again, it's NASCAR's fastest track. And to bring them out, a series that is definitely known for being aggressive and hard-charging, they always put on a great show."
The Craftsman Truck Series made its debut at Michigan International Speedway in 1999, as Greg Biffle won his first of two consecutive races at the track. The Truck Series continued heading to Michigan nearly every season through 2020. The lone exception was in 2001 when only the Cup and Xfinity teams headed north.
Eighteen drivers won Truck races at Michigan during this stretch. This includes Travis Kvapil, Brett Moffitt, Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Kevin Harvick, among others.
Zane Smith won the last race at the 2-mile track, which took place in 2020. He passed Christian Eckes on the final lap of a chaotic overtime finish featuring multiple trucks spinning but no caution flags. He went on to win his first career Truck Series race while Grant Enfinger, the leader on the overtime restart, ended the race in 33rd place after a spin.
This season, none of the previous winners will be in the 32-truck lineup. Smith will compete in the Cup Series race, but he will not pull double duty. Austin Hill, the winner of the 2019 Truck race at Michigan, will enjoy the Xfinity off-week before a trip to Mexico City.
The guest drivers for this weekend's race will be Ross Chastain in a Niece Motorsports entry, Carson Hocevar in a Spire Motorsports entry, and Corey LaJoie in a Spire Motorsports entry.