Contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the fifteenth race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Two weeks prior to the race, NASCAR announced they will test changes to the aero package.

That was one of the areas where we’ve seen minimal change, but there are some levers we can pull to really drive that down.”[12] The preliminary entry list for the race included forty cars and was released on June 3, 2016, at 12:29 pm ET.

I like where we are with this package and tomorrow we’ll fine tune what we have, take the tape off and get dialed in for the race.”[16] After qualifying third, Tony Stewart said his team is "gaining on it.

"[17] The session was halted in the first round after David Ragan spun out and tagged the wall with his right-rear corner.

[19] Austin Dillon led the final practice session with a lap time of 37.056 and speed of 194.301 mph (312.697 km/h).

In the first 10 laps, a number of drivers were reporting being "incredibly loose" because of the changes made to the aero package.

Landon Cassill was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty.

Kyle Busch's car caught fire in the engine area and blew up on the backstretch.

Exiting turn 2, Chris Buescher got loose and tapped the left-rear corner of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The fourth caution of the race flew on lap 102 for Jeffrey Earnhardt slamming the wall in turn 2.

Aric Almirola was tagged for having too many crew members over the wall and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field.

The fifth caution of the race flew on lap 109 after Jeffrey Earnhardt's car caught on fire after slamming the wall a second time on the backstretch.

The sixth caution of the race flew with 53 laps to go after Regan Smith made contact with the wall and debris was scattered on the backstretch.

Crossing the start/finish line, Denny Hamlin suffered a left-rear tire blowout, spun through the grass and hit the inside wall.

Still got some work to do, but it is nice when we can get a package like this thrown at us just a few weeks before the race, and our guys at the shop and here at the racetrack can look at engineering data and come up with a good piece.”[32] On August 1, 2016, Earnhardt admitted on his podcast that he had suffered what would become a season-ending injury at Michigan, but did not know of the seriousness until after the July Daytona race.

"If Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 were a school science project it was worthy of a B minus.

NASCAR’s latest incarnation of a rules package designed to take away aerodynamic downforce in the pursuit of better racing was on display at MIS.

As it turned out the race was won by a driver that dominated in Joey Logano, leading 138 laps on his way to Victory Lane.

But at the front of the field the dreaded “clean air” term still was in play and the other drivers that led the 61 laps Logano didn’t clearly had the advantage once they were in the top spot.

The experimentation is an ongoing process and NASCAR officials will sift through the data and information of Sunday’s race and no doubt use those takeaways to develop the 2017 rules package.

Pete Pistone of the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio said that "it was worthy of a B minus," the cars being loose "created a wild and wooly style of racing at least throughout the field," but that clean air "still was in play and the other drivers that led the 61 laps Logano didn’t clearly had the advantage once they were in the top spot" and that the package is "an ongoing process and NASCAR officials will sift through the data and information of Sunday’s race and no doubt use those takeaways to develop the 2017 rules package.

"[33] Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press said that lowering "the downforce on the front of the cars let drivers rip along the long, wide straightways at MIS pushing 220 m.p.h.

And that means they need more control of their cars, which NASCAR aimed to give them with the new rules that let teams lower the downforce.

The flip side, as Logano pointed out, is that extra speed and more bunched-together drivers — feeling like they have more control — 'is a recipe for disaster.'

"[34] Matt Weaver of Autoweek said that "one race with the extra-reduced downforce configurations [is] too small of a sample size to reach any sort of definite conclusion," especially "when considering that it was conducted on two-mile Michigan -- an anomaly on the Sprint Cup schedule," that "no package will ever be perfect," unless NASCAR implements "the most wacky of short track promotional tactics, the fastest cars and best drivers will always find their way to the front of the field," that Logano's dominant performance "shouldn't take away from what was a really enjoyable race -- and by most accounts -- a step in the right direction for the entire industry," that this race "was a massive improvement over the high drag package used last summer at Michigan and Indianapolis" and that "NASCAR is starting to move in the right direction and appears primed to make these cars even more unstable.

"[35] Fox NASCAR televised the race in the United States on FS1 for the second consecutive year.

Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum reported from pit lane during the race.

Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Pete Pistone reported from pit lane during the race.