NASCAR Michigan: Larson trumps Truex on restart after late red flag
Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyle Larson passed NASCAR Cup points leader Martin Truex Jr on a final restart after a red flag stoppage to claim his third successive win at Michigan
Larson led just two laps of Sunday's race but hit the front at the right time to deny Truex a second win in as many rounds and score his third win of the season in the process.
Having started the race from ninth, Larson made a poor getaway and spent the early part of race around the two-mile oval recovering to work his way back towards the front of the pack.
Larson had worked his way back to his starting position by the end of the first 60-lap stage, and was eighth at the end of the second.
He was again in that position on a restart with 10 laps of the race to go, but had worked his way up to fourth before a red flag was shown with four laps of the now extended race to go after Michael McDowell dropped oil on the track after a collision with Paul Menard.
Larson then muscled his way past Furniture Row Racing duo of Truex and Erik Jones on an overtime restart to snatch the victory.
Truex had also started poorly, but came back into contention late on in the second stage as a strong run during the pitstop window allowed him to jump both Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick to win the stage.
Truex then dominated much of the run to the flag but ultimately came up short and finished second ahead of team-mate Jones - who recorded his best result to date in his rookie season.
Ryan Newman worked his way up to fourth place at the finish, ahead of leading Ford runner Trevor Bayne.
Chris Buescher beat Austin Dillon to finish sixth, while Chase Elliot - still yet to win a NASCASR Cup race - dropped back at the finish to eighth.
Jamie McMurray and Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch completed the top 10.
Polesitter Brad Keselowski dominated much of the early stages of the race and resisted a challenge from Harvick - who finished 13th - to win the first stage, and was second to Truex at the end of stage two, but fell back on the final restart and ended up only 17th.
Rookie Daniel Suarez had worked his way into the leading pack by the end of the second stage despite running on older tyres, which he finished in fifth, but had his race brought to an early end after he was caught up in an incident with Kasey Kahne that eliminated the pair.
Race result
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 202 | 2h40m38.s |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 202 | 0.310s |
| 3 | Erik Jones | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 202 | 0.970s |
| 4 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 202 | 1.308s |
| 5 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 202 | 1.632s |
| 6 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 202 | 1.777s |
| 7 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 202 | 2.074s |
| 8 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 202 | 2.206s |
| 9 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 202 | 2.270s |
| 10 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 202 | 2.706s |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 202 | 2.932s |
| 12 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 202 | 3.533s |
| 13 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 202 | 3.755s |
| 14 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 202 | 3.926s |
| 15 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 202 | 3.976s |
| 16 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 202 | 3.993s |
| 17 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 202 | 3.998s |
| 18 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 202 | 4.066s |
| 19 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 202 | 4.208s |
| 20 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 202 | 4.400s |
| 21 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 202 | 4.516s |
| 22 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 202 | 4.644s |
| 23 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 202 | 5.010s |
| 24 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 202 | 5.010s |
| 25 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 200 | 2 Laps |
| 26 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 200 | 2 Laps |
| 27 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 2 Laps |
| 28 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 2 Laps |
| 29 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 199 | 3 Laps |
| 30 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 199 | 3 Laps |
| 31 | Corey LaJoie | BK Racing | Toyota | 199 | 3 Laps |
| 32 | Brett Moffitt | BK Racing | Toyota | 198 | 4 Laps |
| 33 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 197 | 5 Laps |
| 34 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 196 | Accident |
| 35 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport / TMG | Chevrolet | 196 | 6 Laps |
| 36 | B.J. McLeod | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 178 | 24 Laps |
| 37 | Daniel Suarez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 138 | Accident |
| 38 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 138 | Accident |
| 39 | Derrike Cope | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 107 | Engine |
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