Blaney edges Byron for win
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Ryan Blaney took the lead from William Byron on a late restart and bobbed and weaved his way across the final seven laps to win at Michigan International Speedway.
Blaney edged Byron by 0.077 seconds — the closest finish on the two-mile track since electronic scoring began. He has two victories this season and six overall.
Kyle Busch gave Byron the push he needed to drive past Byron with eight laps left, and Kyle Larson, couldn’t get close enough to help his Hendricks Motorsports teammate, Byron, keep the lead. Larson finished third, Busch fourth, and Denny Hamlin fifth.
Blaney gave Team Penske a weekend sweep of NASCAR and Indycar races and ended Kevin Harvick’s reign as the Michigan champ.
Harvick won thee last three races and four of five at the track. The consolation prize was wrapping up the 15th spot in the 16-car playoff that begins in two weeks.
Chase Elliott beat his teammate, points leader Larson, to the finish line at the end of the first stage. Austin Dillon added some badly needed stage points in third. Dillon started the day in 17th, the wrong side of the cut line.
But Dillon’s day ended with the No. 3 Chevrolet slamming into the outside wall and into the air while racing side by side with Brad Keselowski at the end of the second stage.
Busch finished ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell to win the second stage, with Larson third.
New deal: Erik Jones told reporters Sunday he signed a contract extension this weekend to stay with Richard Petty Motorsports next season.
Jones didn’t divulge terms of the deal, which keeps him in the No. 43 Chevrolet. The announcement comes during a busy week in which he threw the first pitch at a Tigers game, stared a new charitable foundation and made an appearance for Chevy in Detroit.
“It’s cool to have it done,” he said on a video call. “Happy to have it done at this point of the season not only so I can focus on the rest of this season but also so I can focus on next year.”
Talking it out: Denny
Hamlin said he’s moved on from last week’s tangle with Chase Briscoe at Indianapolis. Briscoe spun out the No. 11 Toyota with less than two laps left — and after Briscoe’s team had been told he would be penalized for cutting off the second turn by driving through the grass.
They first spoke on pit road then engaged in a Twitter spat when Briscoe’s radio transmissions were broadcast. It appeared to show the team was aware of the penalty before the contact. Briscoe then urged Hamlin to call him.
“We talked,” Hamlin said. “We talked on pit road and we talked after that, so yeah, I’m good. He can’t go back and change it. Would we do things differently next time? Probably. It was a bummer for me, yeah. I had as much at stake as he did.”
Hamlin hasn’t won yet this season but has clinched a playoff spot. Briscoe can make the playoffs with a win.