NASCAR Michigan: Larson trumps Truex on restart after late red flag – NASCAR

NASCAR


Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson passed NASCAR Cup points leader Martin Truex Jr on a final restart after a red flag stoppage to claim his third successive win at Michigan.

Larson led just two laps of Sunday’s race but hit the front at the right time to deny Truex a second win in as many rounds and score his third win of the season in the process.

Having started the race from ninth, Larson made a poor getaway and spent the early part of race around the two-mile oval recovering to work his way back towards the front of the pack.

Larson had worked his way back to his starting position by the end of the first 60-lap stage, and was eighth at the end of the second.

He was again in that position on a restart with 10 laps of the race to go, but had worked his way up to fourth before a red flag was shown with four laps of the now extended race to go after Michael McDowell dropped oil on the track after a collision with Paul Menard.

Larson then muscled his way past Furniture Row Racing duo of Truex and Erik Jones on an overtime restart to snatch the victory.

Truex had also started poorly, but came back into contention late on in the second stage as a strong run during the pitstop window allowed him to jump both Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick to win the stage.

Truex then dominated much of the run to the flag but ultimately came up short and finished second ahead of team-mate Jones – who recorded his best result to date in his rookie season.

Ryan Newman worked his way up to fourth place at the finish, ahead of leading Ford runner Trevor Bayne.

Chris Buescher beat Austin Dillon to finish sixth, while Chase Elliot – still yet to win a NASCASR Cup race – dropped back at the finish to eighth.

Jamie McMurray and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch completed the top 10.

Polesitter Brad Keselowski dominated much of the early stages of the race and resisted a challenge from Harvick – who finished 13th – to win the first stage, and was second to Truex at the end of stage two, but fell back on the final restart and ended up only 17th.

Rookie Daniel Suarez had worked his way into the leading pack by the end of the second stage despite running on older tyres, which he finished in fifth, but had his race brought to an early end after he was caught up in an incident with Kasey Kahne that eliminated the pair.

Race result

Pos Driver Team Car Laps Gap
1 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 202 2h40m38.s
2 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 202 0.310s
3 Erik Jones Furniture Row Racing Toyota 202 0.970s
4 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 202 1.308s
5 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 202 1.632s
6 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 202 1.777s
7 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 202 2.074s
8 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 2.206s
9 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 202 2.270s
10 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 202 2.706s
11 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 202 2.932s
12 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 202 3.533s
13 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 202 3.755s
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 3.926s
15 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 202 3.976s
16 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 202 3.993s
17 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 202 3.998s
18 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 202 4.066s
19 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 4.208s
20 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 202 4.400s
21 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 202 4.516s
22 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 202 4.644s
23 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 202 5.010s
24 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 202 5.010s
25 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 200 2 Laps
26 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 200 2 Laps
27 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 200 2 Laps
28 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 200 2 Laps
29 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 199 3 Laps
30 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 199 3 Laps
31 Corey LaJoie BK Racing Toyota 199 3 Laps
32 Brett Moffitt BK Racing Toyota 198 4 Laps
33 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 197 5 Laps
34 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 196 Accident
35 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport / TMG Chevrolet 196 6 Laps
36 B.J. McLeod Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 178 24 Laps
37 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 138 Accident
38 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 138 Accident
39 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Toyota 107 Engine



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