Highlights from Tyler Reddick’s victory
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Tyler Reddick defeated William Byron in overtime on Monday afternoon to win the rain-postponed FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Reddick appeared to be in control after passing Kyle Busch on Lap 175, but Martin Truex spun off and hit the wall in Turn 4, prompting the yellow flag with six laps to go. The incident marked the fifth time this season that a yellow flag was shown while Reddick was leading in the closing stages of a race.
The yellow flag also pushed the race into overtime beyond the scheduled 200 laps. But a spin by Ross Chastain led to another yellow flag and another restart with Byron in the lead.
Reddick started from the inside lane and passed Byron to take the lead and eventually the checkered flag. It was Reddick’s second win of the NASCAR season, following his earlier victory at Talladega.
Byron finished second, followed by Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski.
With his victory at the FireKeepers Casino 400, Tyler Reddick jumped to the top of the standings with two regular season races remaining. Sixteen drivers will make the playoffs, and twelve drivers have already secured an automatic spot with a win. Here is the projected playoff prediction after the race in Michigan (standings still unofficial):
| driver | Wins | Points | Cutting line |
| 1. Tyler Reddick | 2 | 814 | — |
| 2. Chase Elliott | 1 | 804 | — |
| 3. Denny Hamlin | 3 | 786 | — |
| 4. Kyle Larson | 4 | 782 | — |
| 5. Ryan Blaney | 2 | 732 | — |
| 6. William Byron | 3 | 728 | — |
| 7. Christopher Bell | 3 | 703 | — |
| 8. Brad Keselowski | 1 | 677 | — |
| 9. Alex Bowman | 1 | 627 | — |
| 10. Joey Logan | 1 | 561 | — |
| 11. Daniel Suárez | 1 | 526 | — |
| 12. Austin Cindric | 1 | 460 | — |
| 13. Martin Truex | 0 | 682 | +77 |
| 14. Ty Gibbs | 0 | 644 | +39 |
| 15. Chris Buescher | 0 | 621 | +16 |
| 16. Ross Chastain | 0 | 606 | 0 |
| 17. Bubba Wallace | 0 | 605 | -1 |
| 18. Kyle Busch | 0 | 513 | -93 |
| 19. Chase Briscoe | 0 | 491 | -115 |
| 20. Todd Gillian | 0 | 455 | -151 |
FireKeepers Casino 400 race review
Here’s how Monday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race went in Michigan:
Tyler Reddick passed Kyle Busch on the inside of Turn 1 with 25 laps to go – a maneuver that could lead to his second win of the NASCAR season.
Thanks to a clever two-tire pit strategy, Reddick, Busch and William Byron found themselves in a leading position behind a number of cars that had to pit in the final laps.
As the cars came down pit road, Reddick took the lead on lap 188.
The fifth caution of the day was the most dramatic, when Corey LaJoie collided with Noah Gragson on the backstretch and went sideways on lap 135.
Despite the roof flaps of his car being up, LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevy overturned, flew through the air and slid across the track before hitting the infield grass and rolling several times.
“That’s how the year has gone so far. We have a good car and I find a way to turn it upside down. We’ve been upside down twice this year and I’ve never been upside down in my entire career,” LaJoie said on the NBC broadcast.
“That was a lot of fun, mate. Sparks were flying and dirt and all sorts of things were getting in… I think we had a car in the top 12 and top 10 all day and I hate ending up on a roof.”
Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and William Byron lead the field when the race restarts with 56 laps to go.
The unfortunate decision to pit under caution caused Kyle Larson to drop from the lead to the middle of the field, where his car spun and caused a chain crash that damaged several cars.
“Restarts are tough here with the crosswinds and all that,” Larson said on the NBC Sports broadcast after being released from the Infield Care Center. “Too bad. We had an extremely fast car. I hate that I messed that up for our team and the others out there, that I got caught up in that.”
Playoff contenders Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher, as well as Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Hemric and Todd Gilliland were all involved in the accident when several cars spun to a stop in the infield.
Kyle Busch won his first stage of the season by holding the lead under caution.
After the cars made their pit stops, Kyle Larson came out ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and took the lead with 16 laps to go in Stage 2. However, with 13 laps to go in the stage, the yellow caution flag was waved because three different cars had tire problems.
Joey Logano, AJ Allmendinger and Todd Gilliland all blew their rear tires. Fortunately, no other cars were damaged as all three cars were able to slide to safety.
Several of the leaders took advantage of the yellow phase to go to the pits.
Ranking (after 114 of 200 rounds):
- (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet
- (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet
- (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota
- (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford
- (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet
Chase Elliott saw the green flag on Lap 10 of Stage 2 and was in the lead when drivers resumed racing Monday morning, but Kyle Busch — who could go winless for the first time in his 20 seasons on the NASCAR Cup circuit — moved into the lead after a few laps.
Martin Truex Jr. overtook Busch and took the lead, which he held until halfway through the stage.
Two-time Michigan winner Denny Hamlin dropped to the back of the field for the restart after fueling on the warm-up lap.
When does the NASCAR Cup race in Michigan start?
The FireKeepers Casino 400 continues Monday at 11 a.m. ET at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.
How to watch the NASCAR Cup race in Michigan
USA Network will broadcast the conclusion of the race on Monday. Live streams will be available on the NBCSports website and NBC Sports app. The race can also be streamed on Fubo.
The FireKeepers Casino 400 consists of 200 laps of the 2-mile track for a total of 400 miles. The race consists of three legs (laps per leg) – Leg 1: 45 laps; Leg 2: 75 laps; Leg 3: 80 laps.
On Sunday, 51 of the 200 laps were completed. Ryan Blaney took the win in Stage 1 and led eight laps.
According to the AccuWeather forecast, the weather doesn’t appear to be a factor at Michigan International Speedway on Monday.
The weather forecast promises sunny and windy weather. The temperature is expected to be around 20 degrees, with north-northwest winds of 21 km/h.
This season, 13 drivers have won races, but only 12 have secured a playoff spot after NASCAR penalized Austin Dillon, who won last week’s race at Richmond Raceway, by stripping him of his playoff spot for scaring Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap.
There are three races left in the regular season, including Sunday’s race at Michigan, and four playoff spots are still up for grabs. A win secures a playoff spot, but some drivers could still make the playoffs based on their points.
Winners 2024 (points in brackets): Kyle Larson 4 (779); Denny Hamlin 3 (758); Christopher Bell 3 (701); William Byron 3 (678); Ryan Blaney 2 (702); Tyler Reddick 1 (774); Chase Elliott 1 (773); Brad Keselowski 1 (636); Alex Bowman 1 (615); Joey Logano 1 (557); Daniel Suarez 1 (497); Austin Cindric 1 (451); Austin Dillon (319) – Dillon lost his automatic playoff spot.
Unless another winless driver reaches victory lane in the next three races, these five drivers are in position to claim the final four playoff spots on points. Their overall results before Sunday’s race in Michigan:
- 13. Martin Truex Jr.: 662 points, +78 over the cutline
- 14. Ty Gibbs: 602 points, +18 over the cutline
- 15. Bubba Wallace: 587 points, +3 over the cutline
- 16. (same time) Chris Buescher: 584 points
- 16. (same time): Ross Chastain: 584 points
- Saturday, August 24th: At Daytona International Speedway, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)
- Sunday, September 1st: At Darlington Raceway, 6:00 p.m. ET (USA Network)
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