BROOKLYN, MICH. – If you've ever wanted to get a lap in at Michigan International Speedway, now is your chance.
The track will host the 17th annual MIS Cares Charity Track and Toy Drive event on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 9 a.m. to noon. Fans are encouraged to donate a non-perishable food item or a new, unwrapped toy in exchange for a drive around the track in their personal vehicle.
Donations from this event go to support local charities, including St. Mary’s of Good Counsel Parish Food Pantry, Jackson County Toys for Tots, and Lenawee County Toys for Tots.
“We’re ready to kick off the holiday season in just a few weeks and the MIS Cares Charity Track and Toy Drive is the perfect event to start spreading holiday cheer,” said Joe Fowler, Michigan International Speedway President. “It’s important to give back to the community and to play a role in helping make the upcoming holidays special for families in the Irish Hills is what it’s all about.”
Guidelines for participants running laps at the track include:
— Speed limit of 65 MPH
— No passing allowed
— Valid driver’s license required
— Must be age 18 or older.
— Must be properly insured (and able to show proof of insurance)
— No burnouts allowed anywhere on property.
— Drivers are responsible for ensuring all passengers are properly restrained.
— Must maintain the speed of your group.
— Must stay above yellow line
— Street legal passenger vehicles are allowed, but no RV’s, motorcycles, or tractor trailers.
— For safety reasons, Michigan International Speedway officials may refuse track access at their discretion.
— Those attending can access the event via US-12 entrance.
— If weather prevents driving on the track, make-up date will be scheduled.
Nite Lites
Another upcoming event at MIS is Nite Lites, which is also Michigan’s largest Christmas Light display
This event will be held at MIS from Nov. 21 through Jan. 4. Hours for this 5-mile drive-thru display are 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday; and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays.
Cost to attend is $35 per car/vehicle, while limos, motorhomes and minibuses are $50 each, and tour buses are $100. Cash and credit cards are accepted, and you can visit www.nitelitesshow.com for more information.
Looking ahead to 2026, fans can purchase tickets for the 2026 NASCAR race weekend at Michigan International Speedway at www.mispeedway.com.
DETROIT — Five weeks after lowering the curtain on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season with a Victory Circle celebration, Cadillac Racing continues preparations for 2026 championship runs with a two-day test at Daytona International Speedway.
In addition to eight returning Cadillac Racing drivers seeing track time in the Nos. 10 and 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.Rs and No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, Cadillac Formula 1 Team test driver Colton Herta and American stock car racing star Connor Zilisch will take the wheel of a Cadillac Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) racecar for the first time.
Five sessions November 14-15 for GTP competitors are scheduled on the 3.56-mile, 12-turn road course, which will host the 2026 season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
Herta, 25, who will contest the upcoming FIA Formula 2 season with Hitech Racing, recently was confirmed to compete in the 2026 IMSA Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta endurance races in the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R.
NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season champion and rookie of the year Zilisch will get an early look at Daytona International Speedway – where he’ll make his NASCAR Cup Series full-season debut in February in the No. 99 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing – by driving the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R campaigned by Action Express Racing at the test.
“Hopefully, we’re going to make the most of it and see if this can lead to more opportunities for me in the Cadillac because it would be super cool for me to be able to race at the highest levels of endurance racing,” said Zilisch, 19, of Mooresville, North Carolina. “That’s always been a dream of mine.”
Championship weekends are supposed to be celebratory. Fun. Thrilling.
While the losing team’s fans may be upset, they can still appreciate a game well-played between competitors.
2025 Championship Weekend was a whole different vibe for NASCAR, and not in a good way.
With nonstop talk going into the weekend about the legitimacy of the one-race battle for the title, we knew the results were going to be looked at under a microscope.
To be frank, this weekend at Phoenix had a funereal feel to many fans, who saw this as the end of an era where changes that have been implemented have had unintended consequences that have hurt the sport’s integrity — and as the weekend played out, we saw two more heartbreaking examples of why this playoff format needs to end and a major reset is needed for the sport in 2026.
Friday Miracle from Heim, but disappointment for Zilisch on Saturday
To start the weekend, disaster was averted on Friday courtesy of a late 7-wide banzai move by Corey Heim that allowed him to claim a title that rightfully should have already been his. If he hadn’t won the championship due to late cautions, it would’ve been a travesty, as Heim had perhaps the most dominant season ever in the series’ history. So, we got through one day without a calamity.
But then our luck ran out.
When Talladega was included as part of this final elimination round of the 2025 playoffs, it was sure to be a Wild Card. Everyone wondered just how this unpredictable round would play out as the Final Four was determined.
Interestingly, despite lots of drama, a common trend returned at the end of the Talladega race — Joe Gibbs Racing contenders stepping up when it mattered most. The flagship Toyota team, fresh off a Vegas win by Denny Hamlin to lock into the Final Four, took the victory with Chase Briscoe at Talladega (after a strong push from teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap). Now, two JGR drivers (Denny Hamlin and Briscoe) are going to contend for the title at Phoenix, and their third playoff driver Christopher Bell sits 37 points above the cutoff line heading into Martinsville this weekend.
In what is likely the final Cup series championship decided under this one-race Final Four format, JGR and Toyota have stepped up to take the reins and dominate the playoffs in 2025, and are likely to have a 75 percent chance of claiming the title at Phoenix — a feat also accomplished by JGR previously in 2019 (Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin).
“I don’t know what’s more unbelievable – the fact that we’re going to the Championship 4 or that I won a superspeedway race. It’s unbelievable,” Briscoe said after his win. “Super excited to try to get some redemption and have a shot to win a championship. It’s going to be just an unbelievable opportunity.”
In addition to revealing the long-awaited Cup series schedule, NASCAR also recently unveiled its schedules for the 2026 calendar year in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly known as Xfinity Series), and Craftsman Truck Series. Here are my takes on the best and worst changes made in those schedules.
Xfinity schedule changes
GOOD:
IN THE NAVY NOW: All three series will be racing at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego in June, which should be an amazing location for the race. Assuming the track design allows for competitive racing, this is an event that should be a home run all weekend, and it’s nice to see NASCAR introducing these new locations instead of the copy/paste schedules we had for so many years. Whether it’s a one-year deal or multiple years, I am circling this on the schedule for all three series.
MORE DARLINGTON, PLEASE: Like most racing fans with half a lick of sense, I love to watch NASCAR racing at Darlington. The Lady in Black delivers every time in my book, so adding a second O’Reilly race at Darlington in 2026 is a no-brainer to me. It's an old-school track that is one of few I would argue deserves two dates.
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