NASCAR Michigan: Kyle Larson takes maiden Cup victory
Kyle Larson came out on top in a tense late race battle with rookie Chase Elliott to win his maiden NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan
In a race of minimal incident, the pair ran together throughout and Elliott took the lead from Larson midway through due to a slow stop for the Chip Ganassi driver under green flag conditions.
The Hendrick Motorsports rookie looked the safe bet for victory until the yellow was thrown late on as Michael Annett blew a tyre.
Larson got the better of his young rival at the final restart to take the lead with nine to go.
It was a lead that Larson did not relinquish, securing the win and a spot in the Chase for the championship in the process.
Elliott fell to third at the restart but did recover to finish second ahead of Brad Keselowski, the Penske driver taking two tyres at the final round of stops to elevate himself from the midfield.
Rookie Ryan Blaney took fourth to help his case in securing a Chase spot through points scoring and early race leader Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
Jimmie Johnson finished sixth despite being a strong contender in the early stages, consistently racing in the top three and leading 37 laps.
His race was ruined at the third caution midway through when having previously pitted under green, he came in again for new tyres as his right rear felt like it was deflating.
Carl Edwards took on two tyres at the final round of green stops to finish seventh as Jamie McMurray came home eighth with Denny Hamlin in ninth.
Polesitter Joey Logano featured strongly and led 24 laps, but faded away as his Ford struggled on restarts and the longer green flag runs to eventually finishing 10th.
Reigning Cup champion Kyle Busch had another weekend to forget, finishing a lap down in 18th after a spin on lap 25 ruined his chances of a decent finish.
A pitstop error by Martin Truex Jr's crew caused damage to the left rear bodywork of his Furniture Row car and he also finished a lap down in 19th.
Chris Buescher's Chase place - which relies on him remaining in the top 30 in the championship following his shock Pocono win - is under threat as engine issues meant he finished seven laps down in 35th.
RESULT - 200 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 2h27m29.s |
2 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1.478s |
3 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 2.064s |
4 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 4.108s |
5 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 4.559s |
6 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4.773s |
7 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6.371s |
8 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6.722s |
9 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7.748s |
10 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 7.791s |
11 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 8.284s |
12 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 9.020s |
13 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9.419s |
14 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9.729s |
15 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 10.108s |
16 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 10.256s |
17 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 11.323s |
18 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 11.547s |
19 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 Lap |
20 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 1 Lap |
21 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
22 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
23 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
24 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 2 Laps |
25 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 2 Laps |
26 | Regan Smith | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 2 Laps |
27 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 2 Laps |
28 | Brian Scott | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 3 Laps |
29 | David Ragan | BK Racing | Toyota | 4 Laps |
30 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
31 | Michael McDowell | Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
32 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 5 Laps |
33 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
34 | Cole Whitt | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 Laps |
35 | Chris Buescher | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 7 Laps |
36 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 Laps |
37 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 8 Laps |
38 | Josh Wise | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 8 Laps |
39 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | Suspension |
40 | Clint Bowyer | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40 Laps |
CURRENT PROVISIONAL CHASE FIELD
On wins: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, Chris Buescher
On points: Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Jamie McMurray
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Harvick | 799 |
2 | Brad Keselowski | 764 |
3 | Carl Edwards | 724 |
4 | Kurt Busch | 721 |
5 | Joey Logano | 716 |
6 | Kyle Busch | 696 |
7 | Denny Hamlin | 691 |
8 | Martin Truex Jr. | 652 |
9 | Jimmie Johnson | 648 |
10 | Matt Kenseth | 633 |
11 | Chase Elliott | 628 |
12 | Austin Dillon | 622 |
13 | Jamie McMurray | 616 |
14 | Ryan Newman | 601 |
15 | Kyle Larson | 582 |
16 | Kasey Kahne | 564 |
17 | Trevor Bayne | 558 |
18 | Ryan Blaney | 545 |
19 | A.J. Allmendinger | 544 |
20 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 528 |
21 | Greg Biffle | 472 |
22 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 461 |
23 | Paul Menard | 454 |
24 | Danica Patrick | 450 |
25 | Aric Almirola | 422 |
26 | Tony Stewart | 420 |
27 | Clint Bowyer | 408 |
28 | Casey Mears | 394 |
29 | Landon Cassill | 357 |
30 | Chris Buescher | 334 |
31 | David Ragan | 327 |
32 | Regan Smith | 309 |
33 | Brian Scott | 304 |
34 | Michael McDowell | 288 |
35 | Matt DiBenedetto | 243 |
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