2014 Pure Michigan 400

The 2014 Pure Michigan 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on August 17, 2014, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the 2.0-mile (3.2 km) superspeedway, it was the 23rd race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Jeff Gordon won the race, his third win of the season. Kevin Harvick finished second while Joey Logano, Paul Menard, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Austin Dillon (22nd), Cole Whitt (25th), and Alex Bowman (26th).

The track, Michigan International Speedway, is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. Opened in 1960, the track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the 3,600-foot-long front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at twelve degrees. The back stretch, has a five degree banking and is 2,242 feet long. Michigan International Speedway has a grandstand seating capacity of 84,000 people. Joey Logano was the defending race winner from the 2013 race.

Following the events at Canandaigua Motorsports Park, Tony Stewart sat out the previous week's race at Watkins Glen and on August 14, Stewart–Haas Racing announced that Stewart would sit out Michigan and that Jeff Burton would drive in his place.

On the Friday before the race, NASCAR vice president of competition and racing development Robin Pemberton announced an amendment to the rules in response to Kevin Ward Jr.'s death at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. Pemberton stated that NASCAR were "formalizing rules that have been there", and that the new rule would be referred to, in section 9-16 (On-Track Incident Procedures) of the NASCAR Rulebook:

Per the rules, if a racecar is involved in an on-track incident and/or is stopped on or near the racing surface and unable to return to pit road, unless extenuating emergency conditions exist with the racecar (i.e. fire, smoke in cockpit, etc.) the driver should take the following steps:

Pemberton also stated that "through time you have to recognize when you get a reminder or tap on the shoulder, something that may need to be addressed", and that "it's not just about NASCAR, but it's all of sports and motorsports that we take note in". Pemberton also noted that the penalties that would be handed down would be taken on a case-by-case basis and not a fixed one-size-fits-all penalty.

The entry list for the Pure Michigan 400 was released on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 at 11:03 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-three drivers were entered for the race.

Joey Logano was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 35.200 and a speed of 204.545 mph (329.183 km/h).