Kyle Larson has gone from third to first in the space of one corner to snatch victory at Michigan on a green-white-chequered finish.
The result was Larson’s third win of the season and incredibly his third-straight at Michigan International Speedway.
In a big weekend for Larson he also finished second behind Donny Schatz at the famed Sprintcar Knoxville National’s on Saturday night. He arrived back in Michigan in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The bold move on the overtime restart saw him split Furniture Row Racing duo Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones as he led only the final two laps of the race.
“I was running a few options through my head and what to do if I got a good jump,” said Larson.
“I can’t believe that just happened. We were struggling all day, definitely not as good as the last time we were here.
“I want to thank (Chip Ganassi, owner) for signing me in 2011, bringing me up from a USAC race to race for him. I want to thank all my fans as well. I finished second to Donny Schatz at the Knoxville Nationals yesterday and came here and win and beat Martin Truex, who is Donny Schatz right now.
“It’s definitely a week I’ll never forget.”
Truex finished second place after leading for a total of 57 laps. Jones led five laps and matched a career-best finish in third. Ryan Newman and Trevor Bayne completed the top five.
Pole-starter Brad Keselowski, an early dominator who led 103 of the first 110 laps and 105 laps overall, faded to a 17th-place finish. He also added a playoff point to his tally with his fourth stage win of the year in the opening 60-lap stretch.
Truex also added to his playoff point stockpile with his 15th stage win of the year at the Lap 120 break.
The race was incident-free until a Lap 139 crack-up involving Kasey Kahne and Daniel Suarez. Kahne’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet slid up into the path of Suarez’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 Toyota, and both cars made heavy contact with the outside retaining wall.
The elbows will be out next weekend when the series heads to the ‘World’s Fastest Half Mile’ at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.
VIDEO: Race re-cap
VIDEO: Larson speaks after winning
RESULTS: Pure Michigan 400 – Michigan International Speedway
| Pos | # | Driver | Make | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 2 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 202 | Running |
| 3 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 202 | Running |
| 4 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 5 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 6 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 8 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 9 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 202 | Running |
| 11 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 12 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 13 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 14 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 15 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 16 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 202 | Running |
| 17 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 18 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 19 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 20 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 21 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 202 | Running |
| 22 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 23 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 202 | Running |
| 24 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 202 | Running |
| 25 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 200 | Running |
| 26 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 200 | Running |
| 27 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 200 | Running |
| 28 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 200 | Running |
| 29 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 199 | Running |
| 30 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 199 | Running |
| 31 | 23 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 199 | Running |
| 32 | 83 | Brett Moffitt | Toyota | 198 | Running |
| 33 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 197 | Running |
| 34 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 196 | Accident |
| 35 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 196 | Running |
| 36 | 51 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 178 | Running |
| 37 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 138 | Accident |
| 38 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 138 | Accident |
| 39 | 15 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 107 | Engine |
STANDINGS
|
Rank
|
Driver
|
Pts
|
Behind
|
Wins
|
Starts
|
Top 5’s
|
Top 10’s
|
Poles
|
|
1
|
Martin Truex Jr.
|
933
|
Leader
|
4
|
23
|
10
|
16
|
1
|
|
2
|
Kyle Larson
|
804
|
-129
|
3
|
23
|
10
|
13
|
3
|
|
3
|
Kyle Busch
|
797
|
-136
|
1
|
23
|
8
|
13
|
6
|
|
4
|
Kevin Harvick
|
787
|
-146
|
1
|
23
|
8
|
14
|
3
|
|
5
|
Brad Keselowski
|
720
|
-213
|
2
|
23
|
11
|
14
|
2
|
|
6
|
Denny Hamlin
|
710
|
-223
|
1
|
23
|
8
|
12
|
0
|
|
7
|
Chase Elliott
|
685
|
-248
|
0
|
23
|
6
|
13
|
1
|
|
8
|
Jamie McMurray
|
675
|
-258
|
0
|
23
|
2
|
12
|
0
|
|
9
|
Matt Kenseth
|
654
|
-279
|
0
|
23
|
6
|
10
|
1
|
|
10
|
Clint Bowyer
|
623
|
-310
|
0
|
23
|
5
|
10
|
0
|
|
11
|
Jimmie Johnson
|
592
|
-341
|
3
|
23
|
3
|
7
|
0
|
|
12
|
Ryan Blaney
|
592
|
-341
|
1
|
23
|
3
|
8
|
1
|
|
13
|
Joey Logano
|
556
|
-377
|
1
|
23
|
8
|
11
|
1
|
|
14
|
Kurt Busch
|
554
|
-379
|
1
|
23
|
2
|
10
|
0
|
|
15
|
Ryan Newman
|
536
|
-397
|
1
|
23
|
5
|
8
|
0
|
|
16
|
Erik Jones
|
524
|
-409
|
0
|
23
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
|
17
|
Daniel Suarez
|
515
|
-418
|
0
|
23
|
1
|
8
|
0
|
|
18
|
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
|
505
|
-428
|
2
|
23
|
4
|
7
|
1
|
|
19
|
Trevor Bayne
|
440
|
-493
|
0
|
23
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
20
|
Kasey Kahne
|
438
|
-495
|
1
|
23
|
3
|
4
|
0
|
|
21
|
Austin Dillon
|
436
|
-497
|
1
|
23
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
|
22
|
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
|
402
|
-531
|
0
|
23
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
|
23
|
Ty Dillon
|
394
|
-539
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
24
|
Paul Menard
|
385
|
-548
|
0
|
23
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
|
25
|
Chris Buescher
|
377
|
-556
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
|
26
|
AJ Allmendinger
|
366
|
-567
|
0
|
23
|
1
|
5
|
0
|
|
27
|
Michael McDowell
|
361
|
-572
|
0
|
23
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
|
28
|
Danica Patrick
|
340
|
-593
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
29
|
David Ragan
|
283
|
-650
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
30
|
Aric Almirola
|
267
|
-666
|
0
|
16
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
|
31
|
Matt DiBenedetto
|
253
|
-680
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
|
32
|
Landon Cassill
|
239
|
-694
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
33
|
Cole Whitt
|
237
|
-696
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
34
|
Corey LaJoie
|
153
|
-780
|
0
|
20
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
35
|
Gray Gaulding
|
105
|
-828
|
0
|
17
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
36
|
Reed Sorenson
|
95
|
-838
|
0
|
17
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
37
|
Jeffrey Earnhardt
|
92
|
-841
|
0
|
21
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
38
|
Derrike Cope
|
30
|
-903
|
0
|
11
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
39
|
Michael Waltrip
|
29
|
-904
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
40
|
Billy Johnson
|
15
|
-918
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
41
|
Boris Said
|
15
|
-918
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
42
|
Gary Klutt
|
6
|
-927
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
43
|
Alon Day
|
5
|
-928
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
44
|
Stephen Leicht
|
5
|
-928
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
45
|
Kevin O’Connell
|
4
|
-929
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
46
|
Cody Ware
|
4
|
-929
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
47
|
Tommy Regan
|
3
|
-930
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
48
|
D.J. Kennington
|
2
|
-931
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
49
|
Brendan Gaughan
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
|
50
|
Darrell Wallace Jr.
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
51
|
Timmy Hill
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
12
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
52
|
Elliott Sadler
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
53
|
Ross Chastain
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
54
|
Joey Gase
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
55
|
Regan Smith
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
56
|
Ryan Sieg
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
57
|
JJ Yeley
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
58
|
Carl Long
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
59
|
B.J. McLeod
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
60
|
Brett Moffitt
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
61
|
Josh Bilicki
|
0
|
-933
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
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