Mike Hengy, of Romulus, is a Miller drinker. Not for any particular reason -- it’s just grown to be his beer preference over the years.

Sitting at the corner of the bar at The Habitat Lounge inside Weber’s Inn on Tuesday, Hengy, 56, pushed his empty Miller Genuine Draft bottle to the side and had a cold Budweiser in front of him. NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick was serving the drinks, so Hengy -- whose wife, Iva, is a huge Harvick fan -- made an exception.

Since Harvick took a break from turning left in the No. 29 Budweiser car to twisting Budweiser bottle caps left for fans on Tuesday, Hengy figured he'd go along with the night's festivities.

Harvick -- who drives in the Sprint Cup Series -- was the guest bartender as part of a fan appreciation night to promote this summer’s races at Michigan International Speedway. It was hard to tell who was enjoying themselves more at the promotion, Harvick or the fans.

“I’m in a position where I have a sponsor like Budweiser who is very edgy and wants you to be yourself and doesn’t care what color shirt you wear and likes you to drink beer,” Harvick said. “I’ve been on the other side of the fence with some of the most uptight sponsors in the sport.”

The edge of which Harvick spoke was on full display during a fan question-and-answer session. Harvick didn’t shy from questions about a recent on-track incident with fellow driver Kyle Busch that has landed him on probation.

When jokingly asked by a fan if it was wise take a swing at a helmeted Busch through a car window, Harvick responded, “I had every intention of yankin’ his ass outta that car,” much to the amusement of those in attendance.

After advising an aspiring young driver to shake every hand and sign every autograph he could and put the advancement of his career in his own hands, Harvick took his own advice and stepped behind the bar.

“I love him, can you tell?” said Judy Parker, 66, of Warren, in joking reference to her official Kevin Harvick coat. Parker has cheered for Harvick since he took over for the late Dale Earnhardt in 2001 and never misses a race. “Nice guy, clean racer, nice person.”

Andrew Decker, 25, attended Tuesday’s event with his girlfriend, Brooke Haarmann, 25. Unlike Parker or the Hengys, you wouldn’t guess the young West Bloomfield couple as NASCAR fans -- he with his slim fit pastel plaid button up flannel shirt and she with her white leather Coco Channel bag and flower skirt. But Decker has been a die-hard fan his whole life, and Haarmann doesn’t just tolerate it, she’s grown to enjoy it, too.

“I’ll definitely be at the race in June,” Decker said. "I've been a Harvick fan since he threw up the three out of his window after his first win."

The fans weren’t the only ones at Weber’s excited for the summer race series. After years of dreading MIS because of poor results, Harvick said he looks forward to returning this year, after winning the Carfax 400 last August. But it’s not just the race he looks forward to.

“For us, (MIS) is fun. We’ll come up and play golf or just hang out,” Harvick said. “And the infield is right behind the driver’s lot, so if you need to be entertained you can go out there and hang out amongst the people and watch everybody have fun.”

MIS will host two race weekends this summer, June 16-19 and Aug. 19-21. For information, visit mispeedway.com.

Pete Cunningham covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at petercunningham@annarbor.com or by phone at 734-623-2561. Follow him on Twitter @petcunningham.