BROOKLYN, Mich. (WLNS) – One of the most exciting weeks of the year for NASCAR fans in Michigan has arrived as the sport makes its annual return to Michigan International Speedway (MIS).

The weekend of racing kicked off Friday night with the Henry Ford Health 200, a part of the ARCA Menards Series, which was won by Jesse Love.

Friday also featured qualifying for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race with Josh Berry earning the pole position.

“This is a place that I’ve had circled for awhile that I feel like is a great opportunity every time we come here,” said Berry. “Obviously, Junior Motorsports has done a lot of great work on our race cars getting them faster. Hendrick Motorsports brought some great power under the hood and we were able to just continue to put everything together and hopefully we can check one off tomorrow.”

Of course, all of this leads up to the big NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday afternoon, the Firekeepers Casino 400.

This year’s race will be the swan song for Kevin Harvick at MIS, who will be retiring at the end of the season. Harvick has dominated at MIS in recent years, winning four of the last five Cup Series races at the track.

The only one of the last five Harvick did not win was the 2021 race, which Ryan Blaney won in a down-to-the-wire, dramatic finish.

“There’s a lot of pride winning for Ford [at MIS],” said Blaney in the lead-up to this year’s race. “It’s not their track but it pretty [much is], that’s their baby. It’s their home. So it gives you a good sense of pride and it’s a tough racetrack to win at. It’s a big two-mile, fast racetrack and winning there was really cool [in 2021].”

Qualifying for the Firekeepers Casino 400 takes place Saturday with the race scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start Sunday afternoon.

Former Detroit Lions fullback Cory Schlesinger will be the race’s Grand Marshal.