The Chip Gnassi driver earned a slot in the Chase for the first time in his career.
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Elliott remains winless, but is in solid shape to make the Chase field on points.
Martin Truex Jr. led Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 for seven consecutive laps, but ended the race in 20th due to a pit road miscue.
When Kyle Larson was trying to hold off Chase Elliott at Michigan International Speedway last weekend, this much was certain: One of them was going to win a Sprint Cup race for the first time.
Clint Bowyer reported a loose wheel on lap 118 and just a few laps later headed to the garage with his 2nd DNF of the year in hand. “It was finally going to be it”.
“This one is for the Clauson family”, Larson said. We’re really missing Bryan. “We had to put a weekend together, if you will”. We’ve got to work on that with two [races] to go now.
“We both spun our tires really bad”, said Larson.
After the race, Larson told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s Claire B. Lang that he hopes his hair grows fast, because more race-day haircuts may be in order. Bill leads all NASCAR Cup drivers in miles completed at the track (22,424), starts (61), and he is the only driver to win four consecutive Cup races at MIS when he swept both races in 1985 and 1986 for vehicle owner the late Harry Melling.
Larson’s win also broke a 99-race winless streak for Chip Ganassi Racing. “We were building. We’ve been building over the years”. He came in here and the team rallied around him.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how he’s developed over the last couple of years”. “I think you’ll see more to come from Kyle Larson”.
As the laps wore down, the # 42 Chevy of Kyle Larson held the lead.
On the next green flag stops, which began on Lap 108, it was Johnson’s turn to lose the lead on a miscue as his fueler had a hard time getting the second can into the tank.
Jimmie Johnson pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016.
“We needed that last restart”, said crew chief Chad Johnston.
Larson recalled the last couple of years, reminding everyone that his statistics back up that confidence. “We made a number of unscheduled stops to try to fix the problem, but the damage was just too severe to overcome”. Meanwhile, Michigan native Brad Keselowski finished third.
Larson trailed Elliott when Michael Annett blew a tire on Lap 187.
Larson trailed rookie Chase Elliott when the caution flag flew with 13 laps left. The contact slowed Elliott, who also entered MI looking for his first Cup win, enough to allow Larson to get away.
Elliott’s lead, though, was erased by the fourth and final caution of the race inside 15 laps to go. Texas, Charlotte, Kansas, then Homestead is awesome for me. Took me a few months to win when I got into USAC.
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“You either do or you don’t and I didn’t”. Interestingly enough, Blaney and Elliott were two of the drivers he had to beat on the final restart to make it happen. Soon after, Elliott was able to retake second from Keselowski. “I let Kyle get a better start on me and I spun the tires and didn’t do my job right”. So, thanks to him. “I like it a lot personally”. He was running second on Lap 45 and then took the lead on Lap 58 by passing Kevin Harvick. Kurt Busch is fourth in points with 721 while Joey Logano has 716 points.
