Wait, if you’re looking for a winner from a race at Michigan International Speedway today, January 15, 2026, I’ve got to level with you—there wasn’t a car on the track in Brooklyn today. Unless they were doing some high-speed snow plowing. It is mid-January in Michigan, after all.
Honestly, the "Michigan race" everyone usually talks about is the FireKeepers Casino 400, and that’s a summer tradition. For the 2026 season, NASCAR has already locked in the dates, and the Cup Series won’t be hitting the Irish Hills until June 7, 2026. If you saw a headline or a notification popping up about a "winner today," it’s almost certainly referring to the massive Ford Racing Season Launch happening right now in Detroit.
Why the Confusion? The 2026 Ford Racing Launch
Today is actually a massive day for Michigan racing, just not the kind with a checkered flag and a victory lane at a superspeedway. Ford chose today, January 15, to host their first-ever global motorsports season launch at Michigan Central in Detroit.
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It’s a huge deal. They are officially showing off the liveries and the driver lineups for their return to Formula 1 with Red Bull. While there isn't a "winner" of a race, the big news coming out of the event is the technical partnership details and the reveal of a new racing-spec production road car that’s been kept under wraps for months.
Basically, the "win" today belongs to the Ford Performance team for pulling off one of the biggest marketing stunts in the city's history during the Detroit Auto Show window.
Looking Back: Who Actually Won the Last Big Michigan Race?
Since there’s no live racing in 20-degree weather, most people asking "who won the Michigan race" are actually looking for the results of the most recent Cup Series event at MIS.
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That would be Denny Hamlin.
In the 2025 FireKeepers Casino 400, Hamlin pulled off a absolute heist. It was a fuel-mileage nightmare for almost everyone else. William Byron was leading with just two laps to go when his No. 24 Chevy literally gasped and died coming to the white flag.
Hamlin, driving the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, had just enough in the tank to coast across the line. He beat Chris Buescher by a margin of 1.099 seconds. It was one of those races where the fastest car didn't win; the car with the most disciplined throttle finger did.
Top 5 Finishers from the Last Michigan Cup Race:
- Denny Hamlin (Winner)
- Chris Buescher
- Ty Gibbs
- Bubba Wallace
- Kyle Larson
The 2026 Michigan Racing Calendar
If you're trying to plan your summer or place a bet, you need the actual 2026 dates. Michigan is only getting one race weekend this year, which is a bit of a bummer for local fans who remember the double-header days.
- June 6, 2026: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (1:30 PM ET).
- June 7, 2026: NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 (3:00 PM ET).
There’s also the Detroit Grand Prix to keep in mind. That’s happening downtown on the street circuit from May 29 to May 31, 2026. That’s where you’ll see the IndyCar and IMSA guys tearing up the pavement near the Renaissance Center.
Why Michigan is a "Different" Kind of Race
You’ve gotta understand that Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a 2-mile D-shaped oval. It’s fast. Like, "don't blink or you'll miss the turn" fast.
Drivers often talk about the "widening" of the track. Over time, the asphalt wears down, and you can see cars racing five-wide. It’s one of the few places left on the circuit where horsepower still feels like the king of the hill, though fuel strategy (like we saw with Hamlin) usually ends up ruining someone’s day in the final ten laps.
One thing most people get wrong about Michigan is thinking it's just a "smaller Daytona." It's not. The banking is 18 degrees, which is steep but not "plate racing" steep. You actually have to use the brakes here occasionally, which makes the winner's circle a lot harder to reach.
What to Do Next
Since you can't watch a race today, your best bet is to catch the Ford Racing Season Launch livestream on the Michigan Central website to see those new F1 liveries. If you’re looking to attend the actual NASCAR race in June, tickets are already on sale via the MIS website, and the "Ally Champions Club" packages are usually the first to sell out because they have the only decent shade in the entire facility.
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Keep an eye on the weather if you're headed to the Detroit Auto Show public days starting January 17—it's supposed to stay cold, but the "Racing Day" on January 20 at Huntington Place will have plenty of IndyCar and IMSA cars on display to tide you over until spring.