Pole sitter Matt Kenseth was the class of the field Sunday afternoon, leading 146 of the 400 mile race’s 200 laps to take his third win of the season. “But they just couldn’t do much once they got there, and they got down in the corner”.
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Kenseth had a comfortable lead before a caution with less than 20 laps remaining tightened things up, but he had little trouble holding off Harvick after the restart.
NASCAR used a special high-drag aerodynamic package for this race and last month’s at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You want everybody in your mirror.
At the same time, Indianapolis has a narrow groove and very abrupt corners, whereas Michigan is a much wider surface where it’s not uncommon for drivers to run a line ranging from right along the apron to where they are flirting with the wall. The high-drag aero package comes with a tail extension on the bottom of the auto which seals more of the air underneath. Runner-up Harvick continues to lead the points race by 48 points over Joey Logano, who finished seventh. “I think that journey is going to be really fun”.
Jeff Gordon is the defending champion and will look to defend his crown in his final appearance at MIS.
Dillon evaluated the short-term decisions he made in the race, in relation to the long-term changes he and his team have made this season, particularly in the personnel. Ten races back we are struggling trying to get there.
While many couldn’t run close in traffic and others complained about handling, Kenseth had his Toyota running like clockwork. “If it was too hot today, I may not have come”, he said.
He’s now 29th in the standings, 23 points ahead of 31st-place Cole Whitt.
Smith wins NASCAR Xfinity race at Mid-Ohio: LEXINGTON, Ohio – Regan Smith bumped his way past Alex Tagliani in the Carousel a turn from the finish to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports vehicle Course.
Sixth-place finisher Carl Edwards said: “Man, just a great day for JGR”.
With the help of astute pit strategy that got him to the front of the field, Austin Dillon got a taste of what it’s like to be a frontrunner in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kyle Busch has scored four of those (three straight) and Kenseth the other two. He reiterated that he has no plans to race beyond this seasons finale at Homestead, though he would not rule out the occasional race, if he could find a team.Thats a total disruption to the organization to go do a one-off race, Gordon said.
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All in all, Gibbs, with nine wins this year to easily lead all teams, has its house clearly in order at one of the season’s key junctures. He’s still on track to make the Chase by the time it begins at Richmond, but if he misses it, Sunday’s race will be seen as a big reason why.
