Matt Kenseth has scored a dominant victory at the Pure Michigan 400 as the Joe Gibbs Racing domination continues.
It was his 34th career win, third of the season, third at Michigan and sixth for the team in the last eight races.
The win also came with NASCAR’s high-downforce aerodynamic package, meaning the JGR cars have been either victorious or certainly competitive no matter what track or technical package they have had to run.
All up Kenseth led 146 of the 200 laps as he did more than enough to hold off the challenges from the likes of defending champion and points leader Kevin Harvick (second) and an impressive Austin Dillon (fourth).
In Victory Lane Kenseth said that the Gibbs organisation was not getting ahead of themselves as the season heads towards the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“It’s early to talk favouritism as there’s 16 teams that can win on any weekend,” said Kenseth.
“It’s one week at a time, but this has been a great week for the guys involved on our car. It has been a great couple of months for the whole organisation and we definitely have some momentum built.
“The guys gave us a rocket today, and really have done that the last couple of months. We just got to work hard to keep it rolling.”
As good as it was for the Gibbs team, the same couldn’t be said for the Hendrick Motorsports cars with Jimmie Johnson in particular continuing a tough run of late finishing 39th. His day included a single car spin across the grass which caused heavy damage to the front splitter.
Clint Bowyer’s hopes of making the Chase took a hit after contact with Ryan Newman. Bowyer scraped the outside wall on the backstretch before sliding to the inside retaining wall. He returned to the track at a reduced pace more than 30 laps in arrears at the finish.
VIDEO: Race re-cap
RESULTS: Pure Michigan 400 – Michigan International Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS POINTS |
| 1 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 1 | 200 | 146 | Running | 48 | 5 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 7 | 200 | 15 | Running | 43 | 1 |
| 3 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | 22 | 200 | 0 | Running | 41 | 0 |
| 4 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 4 | 200 | 19 | Running | 41 | 1 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 2 | 200 | 0 | Running | 39 | 0 |
| 6 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 3 | 200 | 5 | Running | 39 | 1 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 10 | 200 | 0 | Running | 37 | 0 |
| 8 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 17 | 200 | 0 | Running | 36 | 0 |
| 9 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 14 | 200 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
| 10 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 9 | 200 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
| 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 6 | 200 | 10 | Running | 34 | 1 |
| 12 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 24 | 200 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 |
| 13 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 34 | 200 | 0 | Running | 31 | 0 |
| 14 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 30 | 200 | 3 | Running | 31 | 1 |
| 15 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 11 | 200 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 18 | 200 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
| 17 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 21 | 200 | 1 | Running | 28 | 1 |
| 18 | 55 | David Ragan | Toyota | 13 | 200 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 |
| 19 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Ford | 15 | 200 | 0 | Running | 25 | 0 |
| 20 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 16 | 199 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 |
| 21 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 5 | 199 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
| 22 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 25 | 198 | 0 | Running | 22 | 0 |
| 23 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 20 | 198 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
| 24 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 19 | 198 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 23 | 198 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
| 26 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 27 | 198 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
| 27 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Ford | 35 | 198 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
| 28 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 26 | 198 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
| 29 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 28 | 197 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
| 30 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 32 | 197 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 |
| 31 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 33 | 197 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
| 32 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | 36 | 197 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
| 33 | 26 | Jeb Burton | Toyota | 29 | 197 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
| 34 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Ford | 38 | 197 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
| 35 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 39 | 197 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 |
| 36 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 31 | 196 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | 32 | Josh Wise | Ford | 41 | 196 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 |
| 38 | 23 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | 37 | 194 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 8 | 190 | 0 | Running | 5 | 0 |
| 40 | 33 | Travis Kvapil | Chevrolet | 42 | 190 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 12 | 164 | 1 | Running | 4 | 1 |
| 42 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 40 | 51 | 0 | Overheating | 2 | 0 |
| 43 | 98 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 43 | 9 | 0 | Parked | 0 | 0 |
STANDINGS
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 866 | Leader | 23 | 2 | 16 | 20 | 1 |
| 2 | Joey Logano | 818 | -48 | 23 | 2 | 13 | 17 | 0 |
| 3 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 784 | -82 | 23 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 1 |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jr | 755 | -111 | 23 | 1 | 7 | 16 | 2 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | 754 | -112 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 1 |
| 6 | Jimmie Johnson | 752 | -114 | 23 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 0 |
| 7 | Matt Kenseth | 751 | -115 | 23 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 1 |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | 683 | -183 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | 670 | -196 | 23 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 1 |
| 10 | Jamie McMurray | 663 | -203 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| 11 | Paul Menard | 654 | -212 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 12 | Ryan Newman | 649 | -217 | 23 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
| 13 | Jeff Gordon | 648 | -218 | 23 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
| 14 | Carl Edwards | 628 | -238 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 616 | -250 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 16 | Aric Almirola | 593 | -273 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | Kasey Kahne | 590 | -276 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| 18 | Greg Biffle | 553 | -313 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | Kyle Larson | 548 | -318 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 |
| 20 | Austin Dillon | 533 | -333 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 21 | Danica Patrick | 508 | -358 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 22 | AJ Allmendinger | 497 | -369 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 23 | Casey Mears | 495 | -371 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 24 | David Ragan | 487 | -379 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | Sam Hornish Jr | 450 | -416 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 26 | Tony Stewart | 441 | -425 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 27 | Trevor Bayne | 414 | -452 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 28 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 411 | -455 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 29 | Kyle Busch | 395 | -471 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| 30 | Justin Allgaier | 377 | -489 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 31 | Cole Whitt | 372 | -494 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 32 | David Gilliland | 354 | -512 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 33 | Alex Bowman | 292 | -574 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 34 | Brett Moffitt | 289 | -577 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | Michael Annett | 270 | -596 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 | Matt DiBenedetto | 252 | -614 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Josh Wise | 193 | -673 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 38 | Michael McDowell | 148 | -718 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Jeb Burton | 136 | -730 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 40 | Alex Kennedy | 93 | -773 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Reed Sorenson | 41 | -825 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Bobby Labonte | 39 | -827 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 | Brian Vickers | 32 | -834 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Michael Waltrip | 26 | -840 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Mike Wallace | 8 | -858 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Eddie MacDonald | 7 | -859 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Will Kimmel III | 6 | -860 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Ron Hornaday Jr | 2 | -864 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 | Ryan Blaney | 0 | -866 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 50 | Landon Cassill | 0 | -866 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 51 | Brian Scott | 0 | -866 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 52 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -866 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | J.J. Yeley | 0 | -866 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 54 | Regan Smith | 0 | -866 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Chase Elliott | 0 | -866 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Matt Crafton | 0 | -866 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | Johnny Sauter | 0 | -866 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Chris Buescher | 0 | -866 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Boris Said | 0 | -866 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 60 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -866 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 | Justin Marks | 0 | -866 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 62 | Mike Bliss | 0 | -866 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Travis Kvapil | 0 | -866 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 | Joe Nemechek | 0 | -866 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -866 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 66 | Joey Gase | 0 | -866 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 67 | Derek White | 0 | -866 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 68 | Jeff Green | 0 | -866 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 | Erik Jones | 0 | -866 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | Tanner Berryhill | 0 | -866 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | T.J. Bell | 0 | -866 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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