LARSON WINS CUP RACE AT MICHIGAN
Chip Ganassi driver benefits again from restart at Michigan
brooklyn, mich.» Three times, Kyle Larson needed to outrace the rest of the contenders on late restarts.
That’s a task he has proven he can handle at Michigan International Speedway.
Larson took control on a restart with five laps remaining and held off Chase Elliott on Sunday for his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season. The finish was similar to the race at Michigan last August, when Larson took the lead on a restart with nine laps left en route to his first Cup win.
Larson won this year at Fontana and has five second-place finishes. He also was second in the All-Star race.
“We’ve been so close to so many other wins,” the 24-year-old Larson said. “This is our second Cup win of the year, but we’ve had five second-place finishes. All in all, it’s a good season so far.”
It was the third Cup win of Larson’s career and 14th by Chip Ganassi Racing. Elliott was second in both Michigan races last year, and again this time. He’s winless in 56 career Cup races, but he’s fifth in points in 2017.
“We had a couple of opportunities to get the lead, and unfortunately, it just didn’t work out, but we’ll move on. Congratulations to Kyle,” the 21-year-old Elliott said.
Joey Logano finished third. He beat Elliott in last June’s race at MIS. Then Elliott was leading the August race comfortably before a yellow flag gave Larson a boost.
This time, there were three cautions toward the end. The first was for debris, and Larson beat Kyle Busch on the inside for the lead on the restart with 15 laps to go.
Then Clint Bowyer went into the wall, bringing out another caution flag. Larson was first off that restart too, only to be slowed by another caution after a multicar incident on the backstretch that included Danica Patrick being knocked off the track and into the wall.
Finally, with five laps remaining, the race restarted, and Larson took the lead on the outside. He won by 0.993 of a second.
Martin Truex Jr. won the first two stages of the race but finished sixth, ceding the points lead to Larson. Truex has 10 stage victories this year. Nobody else has more than four. Truex and Larson were 1-2 in the points standings coming into the race, and Truex was second to Larson in qualifying.
Their dominance carried over to the race Sunday, at least at the start. They were the only drivers to lead during the first half of the 200-lap, 400-mile race.
Truex’s Furniture Row Racing teammate, Erik Jones, finished 13th.