Joey Logano jumped out in front in the last seven laps of the FireKeepers’s 400 at Michigan Speedway and drove on to victory. It was Logano’s first victory of the season and the pole position winner cemented his place in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series playoffs. The #22 Pennzoil Ford Fusion hot-rod was out in front for a race high 138 laps and had just enough speed to hold off hard-charging rookie sensation Chase Elliott. Joey Logano became the seventh victor in the last seven Sprint Cup Series events. The last time he took the checkered was at Talladega Superspeedway, in the fall race in October of 2015.
“Team Penske gave me a great race car. Everyone did a great job figuring out exactly what this car was going to do. This is Ford’s backyard, Roger’s backyard; this is a great win,” Logano said from victory lane. “It was just perfect execution. We’ve been knocking on the door for a win all season. It’s nice to get this win and lock ourselves into the Chase. … Having a perfect weekend like this, starting on the pole, being able to have good pit stops and staying in the top two the whole race, it says a lot about this whole team.”
Chase Elliott, the new addition for Hendrick Motorsports and replacement for future Hall Of Fame driver Jeff Gordon, finished in an impressive second place. Joey Logano looked to have a comfortable lead over Elliott and the race in the bag, when Denny Hamlin blew a tire and crashed into the outside wall with under 15 laps to go. The caution gave the rookie a chance to start side by side with the eventual winner, but the Roger Penske-owned Pennzoil team was too much. Elliott blamed himself in his post race comments for missing a shift that caused the loss.
“You can’t do dumb stuff and win these races,” Elliott said. “Completely my fault. The guys gave me a great car today. This whole NAPA group has been working so hard these past few weeks, and that one was on me. Like I said, you can’t do dumb stuff to win these things and I did today.”
Third place finisher Kyle Larson has been knocking on the door for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, but once again fell a little short. The #42 Target Chevrolet only led one circuit in the Fire Keeper’s 400 at Michigan Speedway but was clearly one of the faster cars as the race was winding down. The third place effort vaulted the younger driver into the top 20 in the Sprint Cup point standings and kept the momentum going for the Chip Gnassi Racing team.
Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano’s teammate, finished in the fourth spot. The #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team took a risky chance early in the race and stayed out four or five extra laps to conserve fuel. The strategy almost back-fired when Keselowski started to run out of fuel, but a timely caution saved the driver from going a lap down to the competitive field. The two time winner in 2016 is finding some consistency lately and sits third in the point standings above Joe Gibbs Racing’s Carl Edwards.
Rounding out the top five was points leader Kevin Harvick. The seasoned veteran guided his #4 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet to a solid fifth place finish and solidified his lead over fellow teammate Kurt Busch who finished a respectable tenth and 71 points over race winner Joey Logano. Harvick seemed to struggle early on in the contest when his car was not performing well in turns three and four but his team and crew chief straightened out the kinks and were fast in the last quarter of the race.
One of the glaring outcomes of the Fire Keeper’s 400 was the stellar drivers that didn’t not finish the race due to equipment failures and wrecks. Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. was clipped in his left rear quarter panel by rookie Chris Beuscher on lap 61 and was sent skidding into the outside wall. the damage sustained to the #88 Axalta Chevrolet was to much to overcome and he finished his day in the 39th position.
“I knew I was going to hit the wall. The 34 just drove in my rear quarter panel,” said Earnhardt Jr., who finished 39th. “You know on restarts you got a responsibility to take care of everybody, even when you’re three-wide. We had a pretty good car going there. It’s just a shame.”
Kyle Busch, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series defending champion, had his day end when his car burst into flames from a motor failure. It was the fourth straight race were the Joe Gibbs Racing stand-out has finished in 30th or worse. The total breakdown of the #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry placed Busch in dead last of the the 40 car field. The frustration was evident when he spoke with reports after the completion of the race.
“There’s nothing you can do to change it around,” said Busch, a three-time winner this year. “You’re not going to go to the luck store and buy any. We had a lot of good fortune go our way at the beginning part of the season I guess. We still had blown tires that hurt us, but we’re either top four or we’re bottom four. There is no absolute in-between for us.”
The Fire Keeper’s 400 at Michigan Speedway’s Final Running Order:
1. (1) Joey Logano, Ford, 200.
2. (10) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 200.
3. (7) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 200.
5. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200.
6. (11) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 200.
7. (3) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 200.
8. (8) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.
9. (14) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 200.
10. (17) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 200.
11. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 200.
12. (2) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 200.
13. (23) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 200.
14. (19) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 200.
15. (13) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 200.
16. (16) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 200.
17. (5) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 200.
18. (32) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 200.
19. (18) Greg Biffle, Ford, 200.
20. (22) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200.
21. (25) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 200.
22. (35) David Ragan, Toyota, 200.
23. (34) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 200.
24. (21) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200.
25. (28) Landon Cassill, Ford, 200.
26. (30) Aric Almirola, Ford, 200.
27. (36) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 200.
28. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 200.
29. (12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 199.
30. (37) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 197.
31. (40) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 194.
32. (24) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 189.
33. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 188.
34. (31) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, Accident, 185.
35. (33) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 179.
36. (26) Brian Scott ‥, Ford, Accident, 154.
37. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, Accident, 101.
38. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Accident, 62.
39. (27) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, Accident, 61.
40. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Engine, 52.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 134.241 mph.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 58 Mins, 47 Secs.
Margin of Victory: 0.889 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 46 laps.
