Not even an experimental competition package was able to disrupt the momentum shared by Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson (above) on Sunday in the Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
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“Early in my career when I first started Cup racing, there wasn’t much downforce on the race cars, and I didn’t run very well”, said the 28-year-old Logano, who is in his eighth year of full-time Cup racing. Race distance: 400 miles, 200 laps.
Logano, who started from the pole, hadn’t won since last season’s fall race at Talladega, 18 races ago.
“We’ve been knocking on the door for a win here all season”, he said. Here’s some suggested drivers for this Sprint Cup race. For the season, he has six top-fives and 11 top-10s.
The restarts were the only issue Elliott had in the race once he grabbed the lead.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): J. Logano 5 times for 138 laps; C. Elliott # 2 times for 35 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 10 laps; M. Truex Jr 1 time for 10 laps; J. Johnson 1 time for 4 laps; P. Menard 1 time for 1 lap; R. Newman 1 time for 1 lap; K. Larson 1 time for 1 lap. Once out front, Elliott took his turn at running away from the field. Only 71 of the scheduled 248 laps were completed Sunday before rain in an approaching thunderstorm hit the track.
And given that chance on Sunday, Logano took advantage.
Logano also acknowledged the mass shooting in Orlando, although he said his thoughts were with the people in Miami after the incident there.
Actually Elliott finishing second shows he didn’t do much dumb stuff. “Everybody has been giving it 110 percent, and I definitely messed this one up for them”. “You can’t do dumb stuff, and I did today”. He believes he didn’t get through the gears well enough on the final few restarts and that was the difference between he and Logano.
Asked about his great restarts, Logano said, “I think we got lucky I guess”. Crazy. It makes it a lot of fun.
Several top drivers encountered early race trouble. Kyle Busch is the defending race victor. The fire ended his day.
THAT’S A WRAP-PER: The engine on Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota failed on Lap 53, sending flames spewing from the bottom on the backstretch. “It had been shaking pretty bad and going south for a while and it had been building its own heat”. The guys gave me a fantastic vehicle today.
Notable drivers caught up in on-track incidents that brought out cautions included Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin. Also involved was A.J. Allmendinger. He quickly recovered, racing back up to fourth before the caution came out again on lap 155.
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“Not sure if there was anything I could have done (differently) there”, Elliott said. I know you guys don’t [because the first was in the exhibition all-star race]. “Especially three-wide, it’s a recipe for disaster”. I’m disappointed in that.
