The FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway turned into a two-day event this weekend after the race was suspended for rain just 74 laps into the race on Sunday.
The Sunday portion of the race saw three of NASCAR’s top competitors leave the race early as Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, and William Byron would all head to the garage early after contact with the wall. The 36th place finish puts Chase Elliott in a precarious position in the playoff point standings with three races left in the regular season.
Monday’s resumption of the race would see Tyler Reddick as the first driver back out on track, but it would be Martin Truex Jr who would emerge as the frontrunner picking up the second stage victory just as he did for Stage 1 on Sunday. Truex Jr, the Cup points leader, found himself vying for his fourth win of the season running up front most of the day before he would lose track position due to differing fuel strategies following Stage 2.
Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick would be well out in front of the field for a majority of stage two before Reddick had a problem with the right rear following his pit stop. After the cycle of green flag pit stops it would be Buescher and Truex Jr as the top two cars. Truex Jr would get as close as door-to-door with Buescher before getting loose and falling back.
Truex Jr mounted one more charge in his Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota machine but would fall just short as Buescher took the checkered flag as the leader.
The win at Michigan marks Chris Buescher’s fourth career cup series victory and second win in the past nine days. The win also marked the ninth consecutive victory at Michigan for Ford as a manufacturer. It also makes Roush Fenway Kesolowski Racing the winningest team at Michigan International Speedway.
Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, August 13, with the green flag set for 2:30 p.m. EST.
