The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers were racing each other and the rain at Michigan International Speedway Sunday afternoon (6/10). Clint Bowyer celebrated the rainy day win in the FireKeepers Casino 400.
If you live anywhere in the middle of the country (like I do in central Illinois) you knew that rain was in the forecast all day Sunday. It was not if the rain would reach Michigan International Speedway, but WHEN would it get there.
The drivers and teams knew the rain was in the area of the track. NASCAR officials were just hoping to get through at least the first two stages before the rain came to make it an official race by NASCAR rule.
When the green flag waived, it did not take long for Kevin Harvick to make the statement that to win the race you would have to beat him. Ryan Blaney was also strong at the beginning of the race and finished stage one in first place. Harvick was the winner of stage two which got the race to the “official race” point for NASCAR.
Kyle Larson was coming on strong as he went for his fourth Michigan Cup Series win in a row. However, he had a small incident on the track that sent him sliding into the infield and all but eliminated his chance at getting that career milestone fourth win.
Clint Bowyer had raced strong from the beginning and his crew chief made the call to take just two tires to get him out front. The strategy worked and some impressive racing from Bowyer enabled him to hold Harvick behind him until the yellow flag came out due to rain at the track. That yellow flag quickly turned to a red flag. It did not take the NASCAR officials long to realize there would not be a chance to dry the track and get back to racing. They called the race with Clint Bowyer as the winner with 67 laps remaining in the scheduled 200 lap race. That gave Bowyer his second win of the 2018 season and his first win in NASCAR’s top division at Michigan.
Bowyer’s Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch were scored in second and third places respectively giving SHR their first ever 1-2-3 finish. Kyle Busch finished in fourth place with Paul Menard in fifth place. See the complete race results for the FireKeepers Casino 400 here.
The top three spots in the point standings remain the same this week with Kyle Busch leading followed by Kevin Harvick (2nd) and Joey Logano (3rd). Brad Keselowski moves up a spot to fourth place. Clint Bowyer’s win moves him up to the fifth place in the standings. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
NASCAR is taking this weekend off for Father’s Day. The drivers and teams will head to Sonoma Raceway in California for the first road course race of the year, the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sunday, June 24th.
By: Buck Stevens
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2018 FireKeepers Casino 400
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- BROOKLYN, MI - JUNE 10: Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, takes the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 10, 2018 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo courtesy of NASCARmedia.com/by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
