The NASCAR Cup Series came to Michigan International Speedway for a doubleheader weekend starting Saturday afternoon with the FireKeepers Casino 400. Joey Logano won the pole by a draw with Denny Hamlin next to him to make up the front row. Ryan Newman and Chris Buescher were docked twenty points, had their spoilers confiscated, and started in the rear of the field. They were joined by Joey Gase and Jimmie Johnson, who both failed pre-race inspection. The race was delayed by 45 minutes as the Xfinity Series was finishing up their race at Road America. NASCAR would implement the Choose rule, which would allow the drivers on restarts to pick which lane they wanted to restart in. Drivers could improve or hinder their positions, depending on which lane they chose.
A Saturday showdown at @MISpeedway! The #FireKeepersCasino400 is GREEN on NBCSN! pic.twitter.com/OFyNHnKTlZ — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
On the first lap of the race, Logano was able to hold off Denny Hamlin for the lead, thanks to a push from Aric Almirola. On lap 12, Logano was now battling Hamlin and Kevin Harvick for the lead. He would continue to clash with those two until the competition caution came out on lap 15. Before the caution came out, Ryan Blaney pitted for four tires only. During the caution, Logano, Hamlin, Reddick, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stayed out while the rest went to pit road. Logano chose the outside lane for the restart.
Close. Very close. 😮@joeylogano | @dennyhamlin pic.twitter.com/EsGH2mnnml — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
Logano led the field back to green on lap 19, but Denny Hamlin took the lead from him. Two laps later, Martin Truex Jr. had a right front flat heading into turn three and came to pit road. He told his crew chief that he made contact with Tyler Reddick. On lap 23, Kevin Harvick worked his way up and took the lead from Hamlin. Tyler Reddick would come to pit road from the ninth position with a flat tire on lap 25 after making contact with Martin Truex Jr. in the backstretch.
Meanwhile, Logano was dealing with a loose car as he had fallen to 13th place. Kevin Harvick remained out front and would win stage one. Quin Houff got the free pass.
NEW LEADER: @KevinHarvick surges to the front following the competition caution! The No. 4 leads in Stage 1! pic.twitter.com/aeBw33umIf — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
During stage one caution, Kevin Harvick led the field down to pit road as all the drivers took four tires with Denny Hamlin coming out the winner. Hamlin would choose the outside lane as the race got back underway on lap 48 to start stage two. A couple of laps into stage two, Ryan Blaney, got by Denny Hamlin on the outside of turn one to take the lead. Hamlin would lose a couple more positions to Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch.
.@Blaney, Ryan Blaney. We have a new leader early in Stage 2 at @MISpeedway! pic.twitter.com/mcu4Ec64zP — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
Tyler Reddick was running in the 22nd position as he came to pit road again for another flat tire. Blaney had now led 27 laps when Harvick used a lap car in the backstretch to take the lead away from him. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski battled for the third position. In the battle, Keselowski nearly got loose but managed to save his car. Upfront, Kevin Harvick’s lead was .724 seconds over Blaney, and he would go on to win stage two. JJ Yeley got the free pass under the caution.
"That was amazing!" – @DaleJr on @KevinHarvick's pass for the lead 📺: NBCSN 🖥: https://t.co/BHXvTwrLoC pic.twitter.com/Eq2wMc6KAQ — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
During the caution, all of the leaders came to pit road for four tires. Harvick kept the lead beating everyone off of pit road. Harvick would choose the outside lane this time as the race resumed on lap 92 to start the final stage. Denny Hamlin who chose the inside lane got a great push from his teammate Erik Jones to take the lead; however, Harvick would take the lead back on the outside off of turn four. Chris Buescher would make contact with John Hunter Nemechek off of turn four, causing Nemechek to spin into the grass to bring out the fourth caution of the day. Martin Truex Jr. would get the free pass.
.@JHNemechek isn't going to like that. 😬 📺: NBCSN 🖥: https://t.co/BHXvTwrLoC pic.twitter.com/R1RQuWrX8R — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
Aric Almirola, Chris Buescher, Ryan Newman, and three others pitted while the rest stayed out. Harvick would lead the field back to green with 56 laps to go. Martin Truex Jr. made the most of the free pass, working his way to 19th on lap 103. Three laps later, John Hunter Nemechek would get another flat tire to bring out the fifth caution of the day with Quin Houff getting the free pass.
During the caution, all of the leaders came to pit road. Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, and Matt Kenseth took fuel only while Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Christopher Bell took two tires. All the rest of the drivers took four tires. Kyle Busch led the field back to green on lap 111. Busch would lose the lead when Kevin Harvick passed him on the inside of turn one.
Here. Comes. Happy. @KyleBusch's lead in the final stage is no more after @KevinHarvick moves past the No. 18 for the top spot. pic.twitter.com/DBcf3U40BH — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
Harvick was starting to distance himself from the rest of the field when John Hunter Nemechek had another flat tire to bring out the sixth caution. During the caution, some of the leaders came to pit road, including Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, and nine others while the rest of the field stayed out. Harvick chose the outside lane while Chase Elliott chose the inside going from fifth to second on the restart at lap 139. Elliott got a great push from Keselowski to take the lead away from Harvick.
1️⃣8️⃣ TO GO .. … and @chaseelliott takes the lead away from @KevinHarvick! 📺: NBCSN 🖥: https://t.co/BHXvTwJmNc pic.twitter.com/zc9ZgieBFL — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
The restart only lasted three laps when Daniel Hemric made contact with Ryan Preece, causing him to spin out on turn two to bring out the seventh caution of the race. During the caution, none of the leaders pitted.
Chase Elliott would choose the outside lane with Kyle Bush on the inside as the race resumed on lap 148. Kyle Busch got a great push from Hamlin to take the lead from Elliott, who got stuck in the middle. Harvick was then able to take second away from Elliot. Harvick then set his sights on Busch and was able to get him loose coming off of turn four by side drafting him to retake the lead. A lap later, Cole Custer had a right rear flat that caused him to get loose and hit the turn three outside wall.
Or 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚 … ? 😂 pic.twitter.com/eJsulOuz8r — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
Ouch. @ColeCuster | @StewartHaasRcng pic.twitter.com/OdOf0dq1g4 — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
Custer’s crash left fluid on the racetrack, so the red flag was waved and the field parked while the track crews cleaned up the track. Once the yellow flag was back out, no one pitted. On the restart, Harvick chose the outside lane with Hamlin choosing the inside, going from third to second. During the green flag run, the ninth caution would come out for Christopher Bell, who hit Austin Dillon coming off of turn four, causing Dillon to get into the 34 car of Michael McDowell before hitting Ryan Newman. The latest crash sent the race into overtime.
… and that'll bring out another yellow. @austindillon3 | @RyanJNewman pic.twitter.com/nMD9EbwjuC — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
In overtime, Kevin Harvick chose the outside lane while Brad Keselowski went to the inside, going from third to second on the restart. Harvick got out in front of Keselowski as he would win the FireKeepers Casino 400 by .284 seconds over Brad Keselowski. Harvick led 92 laps and now has five wins this year.
D O M I N A T I O N Retweet to congratulate @KevinHarvick on another @MISpeedway victory! pic.twitter.com/ClwFlzsjJJ — NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 8, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Martin Truex Jr. third, Ryan Blaney fourth, Kyle Busch fifth, Denny Hamlin sixth, Chase Elliott seventh, Joey Logano eighth, Bubba Wallace ninth, and Kurt Busch tenth. There were twelve lead changes from seven drivers, nine cautions for 43 laps.
Updated playoff point standings are Kevin Harvick first (5 wins), Denny Hamlin second (5 wins), Brad Keselowski third (3 wins), Joey Logano fourth (2 wins), Ryan Blaney fifth (1 win), Chase Elliott sixth (1 win), Martin Truex Jr. seventh (1 win), Alex Bowman eighth (1 win), Austin Dillon ninth (1 win), and Cole Custer tenth (1 win) are locked in the playoffs. Aric Almirola is eleventh, Kurt Busch is twelfth, Kyle Busch thirteenth, Clint Bowyer fourteenth, Matt DiBenedetto fifteenth, and William Byron sixteenth are in the playoffs for now. Those fighting to get in the playoffs are Tyler Reddick seventeenth, Jimmie Johnson eighteenth, Erik Jones nineteenth, and Michael McDowell twentieth.
The Cup Series will conclude the doubleheader Sunday at Michigan in the Consumers Energy 400 at 4:30 pm on NBCSN.
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