Unfortunately for the fans at the track and at home, the second half of this race was delayed all the way until Monday morning. This race weekend has been littered with rain as the Cup Series saw limited time on track with a rain shortened practice session, a cancelled qualifying session and a delayed start to Sunday’s race. With qualifying cancelled, NASCAR determined the starting lineup as how they we’re in points. Denny Hamlin gets the pole with Tyler Reddick starting alongside. But it’s enough of the yapping, let’s get down to the racing.
Lap 1: Finally after what seems forever after the delayed start, the pace car makes a hard left turn onto pit lane and the cars start to go through the gears as the GREEN FLAG is in the air at Michigan. Hamlin and Reddick pretty much even entering turns 1 and 2 and Kyle Larson goes inside on turns 3 and 4 from P3 and takes P1! Kyle Larson leads Lap 1. Hamlin falls to third.
Lap 2: Chase Elliott attempts a pass into 3 and 4 on Denny Hamlin on the inside but can’t clear him. Lost all momentum coming off of 4.
Lap 9: Tyler Reddick’s Pit Box is having issues with the radio, with the spotter reporting static from the Pit Box. Reddick’s crew can’t figure out the issue but they are sure the issue is from the pitbox.
Lap 10: Bubba Wallace is running a comfortable sixth place currently with Michael Jordan here in attendance, i said a couple of weeks ago how Michigan could be one of his best chances at a win here and he’s proving that today will be a huge points day for him and the 23 team.
Top 5 currently:
Kyle Larson
Denny Hamlin
Tyler Reddick
Chase Elliott
Christopher Bell
Lap 11: Denny Hamlin starting to become bigger and bigger in Larson’s mirror, trying to attempt passes into 1 and 2, and also 3 and 4. Larson still leads but Hamlin becoming a bigger issue here early.
Lap 12: Josh Berry reports to the 4 team that the car is far too loose and falls all the way back to the last position.
Lap 32: Larson still holding off Hamlin here in 2nd as Hamlin has made some close runs but hasn’t been close enough to get to his bumper to make a run.
Lap 34: Larson and Hamlin are side by side at the start/finish and Bubba Wallace gets a huge run and goes to the inside of Larson and Hamlin and takes the lead as the camera pans to Michael Jordan with a huge smile on his face.
Lap 38: Coming out of turn 4 with Hamlin and Bubba battling, Hamlin gets loose coming off of 4 and slides through the grass and keeps it off the wall but the CAUTION comes out. A huge roar from the crowd as Denny Hamlin comes to a halt right in front of the grandstands. Hamlin gets it re fired but we will see if Hamlin has any damage sliding through that super wet grass. Josh Berry after struggling hard since the drop of the green flag, gets the free pass. He is back on the lead lap.
Lap 40: Wallace leads the field to pit road as some drivers decide to stay out (Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Harrison Burton stay out). Wallace and the team decide to miss out on stage points and look towards the bigger picture. Elliott comes out 1st out of pit road, gaining 5 spots down pit road.
Lap 46: Ryan Blaney wins Stage 1, his 3rd stage win of the year. Gaining him 1 playoff point and 10 regular season points. Elliott in 2nd. Byron in 3rd. Wallace in 4th. Buescher in 5th. Busch in 6th. Keselowski in 7th. Truex in 8th. Bowman in 9th. With Chastain rounding out the Top 10.
Lap 48: Pit stops happen as everyone who stayed out, decides to come in finally as everyone spends a extra 2-3 seconds filling up the tank.
Lap 51: Trying to stay optimistic but the broadcast just showed that storm that’s rolling in and it might be over today.
Lap 52: NASCAR calls for the choose and the drivers start to line up, 1 to go. NASCAR looking to get as many laps as they can here before this storm hits. Track looks super super dark as the yellow lights come back on the pace car. NASCAR waves off the restart. NASCAR calls for the drivers to bring the cars down pit road to get them covered up before this storm hits:
Lap 52.1: NASCAR postpones the race. 11am ET on Monday.
Lap 53-55: It’s Monday, everyone’s least favorite day unless there’s a NASCAR race going on, Elliott chooses the outside and Wallace goes right behind him and will restart 3rd alongside Bowman as Busch gains a position and will start on the front row. Truex Jr and Reddick in 5th and 6th. Hamlin and Team confident with the repairs as the Crew Chief reported 60% of underbody damage. The team spent all night trying to figure out fixes with the crew feeling confident its about 90% fixed.
Lap 56: GREEN FLAG BACK IN THE AIR AS ELLIOTT LEADS THEM INTO 1! Wallace gives a huge push to Elliott but Kyle Busch is able to catch back up going into turn 1. The camera shows the fierce battle for 6th place and you see Corey Lajoie going to the outside of Logano to make it four wide going down the straightaway. Everyone gets through okay as Larson loses a couple of positions. Elliott leads them back to the line.
Lap 58: Kyle Busch takes the lead, he is looking to keep his impressive streak of 18 straight season of wins.
Lap 63: Denny Hamlin who had to restart from the rear after coming down a closed pit road, is reporting running super loose. Calling the car “awful”. Hamlin running 34th.
Lap 65: Truex now to the lead! Truex who was just in 3rd at the beginning of this lap, finds a huge run and takes the lead from Busch! Truex who is in his last full time NASCAR season is looking for his first win of the season.
Lap 77: Kyle Busch who was just leading under 20 laps ago, has now fallen back to 5th. Reporting to the team that the car is super free.
Lap 81: Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse we’re battling for 17th and gets the air taken off of him and he gets into the wall and falls back into 24th. No Caution and everyone races on. Cindric showing cosmetic damage on both sides of the car but hasn’t reported any issues yet.
Lap 85: Green Flag Pit Stops start as Bubba Wallace retires 3rd place and is the first one down pit road. Top 3 currently are Truex, Elliott and Larson. Everyone will be looking for 4 tires and a full tank of fuel.
Lap 102: Green Flag Pit Stops are now fully cycled through as Kyle Larson takes over the lead as Martin Truex Jr is hot on his tale with 17 laps remaining in the stage. (No i know how to do math, NASCAR chose the stages weird)
Lap 108-113: Todd Gilliand has contact coming out of turn 4 with the outside wall and he has a blown tire. Gilliand is able to make it back into pit road but heavy damage to the front of the car as JOEY LOGANO also blows a tire! Within seconds of each other, they both blow a tire and a piece of Logano’s tire goes onto the track and the CAUTION comes out as A.J Allmendinger is also in the back straightaway with smoke coming from his car. This was all a right rear issue for Gilliand and Logano within seconds of each other. The big question is if its a tire pressure issue or if there was debris out on the track but either way, NASCAR will send out the sweepers. Logano is able to make it back to pit road but will have to start from the back due to entering a closed pit road. Allmendinger’s crew reporting that they blew a left rear and believe that they ran something over on track. Logano’s crew chief telling NBC that they we’re pretty low on air pressure. Denny Hamlin is the free pass.
Leaders pit under yellow, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Cody Ware, Josh Berry stay out, Harrison Burton slides into his stall at an angle. Starting from the rear on the restart. Joey Logano too fast entering, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton pitting in a closed pit. Denny Hamlin crew works on the front-right wheel well after handling issues
Lap 115-122: Alright after that hectic turn of events after a relatively calm race, the drivers choose their lanes as Chastain and Busch lead the pack back to green as they work through the gears. 5 to go in stage 2 as entering 1 and 2, you can see them 3 wide for about 5 rows. LARSON gets loose entering 3 and 4 and takes out huge playoff contenders like Wallace and Buescher. Christopher Bell, Todd Gilliland, Kyle Larson stopped on track. Involved – Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Hemric, Todd Gilliland. Larson got the air taken off of him entering turns 3 and 4 and just loses it right in front of Bubba Wallace who has heavy damage. Todd Gilliland was the free pass but is out of the race. Joey Logano also goes to the garage due to damage from the wreck. This stage is gonna end under caution as Kyle Busch wins Stage 2, his first stage win of 2024. Ross Chastain takes second after staying out on lap 111.
Stage 2 Results:
Kyle Busch
Ross Chastain
Ty Gibbs
William Byron
Austin Dillon
Brad Keselowski
Martin Truex Jr
Erik Jones
Cody Ware
Ryan Blaney
Lap 126: Pace car makes another hard left down pit road, as the Michigan crowd is heard over the roar of the engines before they cross the start finish line and GREEN FLAG is back in the air. Kyle Busch leads them back to green with William Byron in 2nd and Gibbs in 3rd.
Lap 127: William Byron takes the lead, Kyle Busch falls to third while Ty Gibbs who makes a pass to the bottom going into turn one moves into second.
Lap 135-137: CAUTION IS OUT! COREY LAJOIE IS SPINNING DOWN THE BACK STRAIGHTAWAY ON HIS ROOF! Lajoie was upside down pretty much for a 1/4 mile and ultimately came to a patch of grass that stopped him for sliding and put the car back on all 4’s. Noah Gragson and Lajoie we’re battling for 16th before they made slight contact and sent Lajoie upside down. Lajoie looks okay putting the window net down. The big talk about the weekend has been the winds this weekend so you have to wonder if Lajoie got one of those head winds that the broadcast team has been talking about. Field pits. Staying out – William Byron, Ty Gibbs Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman
Lap 141: William Byron leads the field back to green, Ty Gibbs moves to his inside as Elliott replicates Larson’s move to take the lead on Lap 1 and Bubba’s move to take the lead to take the lead himself on the restart. Solid move by Elliott to gain two positions on the restart quickly there.
Lap 148: Daniel Suarez is the biggest mover so far on this restart. He restarted 18th and has not cracked the Top 10.
Lap 153: William Byron comes down pit road, the first driver who didn’t come to pit road on the previous caution. Retires the 5th position
Lap 160: Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski pit from third and 4th, Brad Keselowski gains a lot of time on Ty Gibbs on pit entry! What a amazing entry by Ty Gibbs!
Lap 162: Chase Elliott enters pit road as William Byron starts his charge around the track to cycle back to the lead and that’s exactly what he does! William Byron passes Chase Elliott coming out of pit road, taking the lead of the cars that have pitted.
Lap 166: Kyle Busch pits from the lead and takes two right tires, cycles back ahead of William Byron! An amazing stop and call by the crew, the question is, will it pay off for Busch and the team and lock them into the playoffs?
Lap 175-176: Tyler Reddick is becoming a bigger dot in Busch’s rear view as Reddick attempts a pass into Turn 3 but isn’t able to complete it. Tyler Reddick then attempts the outside going into turn 1 and makes it stick this time around! Reddick. Tyler now leads among all the drivers who have pitted so far. Drivers yet to pit, Harrson Burton and Josh Berry.
Lap 188: Berry finally pits and Reddick gets the lead from Berry. 12 laps to go here in Michigan as Reddick is looking to bring a home to the GOAT Michael Jordan.
Lap 194-199: CAUTION! Truex Jr spins coming out of turn 4! He was running 4th at the time and this changes everything now, this will now be a overtime finish. Reddick went over as soon as he saw the caution lights and said some words that might not be appropriate for a sports story. He disagreed with NASCAR’s call there to throw a Caution as MTJ only tapped the wall as Reddick said. Martin Truex, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric, Cody Ware, Justin Haley, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Josh Berry pit under yellow as Reddick is told to save fuel but is 5 laps to the good.
Lap 200: Tyler Reddick leads the Overtime restart from the outside, William Byron inside, William Byron gets a push from Brad Keselowski into turn 1 and takes the lead but Tyler Reddick stays with him. Ross Chastain spins from 11th after Bowman got into the wall ahead of him and the field checked up and then just got spun out of the pack. Chastain brings out the caution. William Byron was the leader at the time of the yellow. Haley gets the free pass as Austin Dillon and Bowman pit under yellow with Bowman’s team looking under the hood.
Lap 204: William Byron leads the second overtime from the outside, Tyler Reddick inside. William Byron gets a push from Brad Keselowski but checks up and drops back as Tyler Reddick gets a push from Ty Gibbs and takes the lead on the back stretch. Kyle Busch battling for 4th place aganist Elliott and Blaney!
Lap 205: Byron tries to look to the outside into turn 1 but isn’t able to get there. Gibbs is right at Byron’s table with 3 car lengths separating the top 2 as Blaney and Elliott are slow down the back straightaway as Reddick goes into turn 3 and 4 with a 3 lar lead and comes out of turn 4 and wins at Michigan! Byron comes in 2nd. Gibbs in 3rd. 4th is Busch and Keselowski rounds out the Top 5. Tyler Reddick does a impressive burnout and pops the tire and gets out of the car with huge cheers from the crowd. pointing to the air and he dedicates his win to his dirt model mentor, Scott Bloomquist who unfortunately passed away earlier last week.
Final Takeaways from Michigan:
Tyler Reddick who was the last car on the lead lap starting stage 3 turned it all around and ends up coming out with the win. His second of the year and puts him 5th in the playoff standings. Reddick will look to capitalize on this win this next in Daytona and into the playoffs.
Kyle Busch who had his best season finish of 4th today and leading 24 laps was really impressive after the season he has had so far. Busch is still looking for that race win to extend his impressive streak of race wins in every season.
NASCAR decided to take Corey Lajoie’s car to the RND center to see what happened on that flip off of Noah Gragson.
Carson Hocevar continues to impress in his rookie season getting his 2nd career top 10 finish, Hocevar is definetely boosting his capital if he chooses to go to another team.
Wallace was having a really good day until Larson’s wreck caught him up and he just had no where to go. Wallace who i said in a earlier story, needed to capitalize on points today. Gets his day ended early. Wallace is now -1 point out of the chase for the championship and will need to keep his nose clean at Daytona and have a solid finish at Darlington to hope he can make it into the playoffs.
Ty Gibbs who finished 3rd can now breathe a little easier if something drastic happens late at Daytona and he’s caught up in it. Gibbs who now sits a +39 points above the cutline can finally sleep a little better at night.
Chastain who had a top 10 finish solidified at the time before Bowman’s wall tap sent the field checking up and Chastain spinning. Chastain finished the race 25th and now sits +1 point above the cutline. Bob Pockrass asked him if he feels like he can get good points in the coming weeks being so close to the cutline and Ross said “I’m not feeling very peachy”
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