MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400
Michigan International Speedway– Brooklyn, Michigan
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Race Winner: Kyle Larson
Age: 24
Team: No. 42 – Cars 3/Target Chevrolet
Owner: Chip Ganassi Racing
Crew Chief: Chad Johnston
IN THE WORDS OF THE WINNER – "What a great Father’s Day present for myself and all the other fathers out there. My dad is here today, too. So, I’m looking forward to celebrating with him. We’ve been so close to so many other wins. This is our second Cup win of the year, but we’ve had six second place finishes. All-in-all, it’s a good season so far and we’ll continue to keep building on what we’ve got.”
-- Kyle Larson
----------------
· Kyle Larson won the 49th annual Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. It is his third victory in 127 NASCAR MENCS races.
· It is Larson’s second victory and 10th top-10 finish in 2017. He joins Jimmie Johnson (3), Brad Keselowski (2) and Martin Truex Jr. (2) as the only drivers to win multiple races in 2017.
· With his first place showing, Larson has accumulated seven top-2 finishes through the first 15 races of the season.
· It is Larson’s second victory and fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Michigan International Speedway. He won the Pure Michigan 400 in August of 2016 – his first career win in the MENCS.
· The win is the 14th MENCS victory for Chip Ganassi Racing.
· Chase Elliott (second) posted his third top-10 finish in four races at Michigan International Speedway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2017.
· Joey Logano (third) posted his 12th top-10 finish in 18 races at Michigan International Speedway. It is his ninth top-10 finish this year.
· Erik Jones (13th) was the highest finishing rookie.
· For 2017, NASCAR has introduced a new stage format in all three national series where each race is segmented into three stages. In addition to the points awarded at the end of a race (Final Stage), points are also awarded to the top-10 finishers of the first two stages (Stage 1 & Stage 2).
· Martin Truex Jr. (sixth) captured the green-white-checkered flag in Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the FireKeepers Casino 400.
· Kyle Larson (640) leads the 2017 MENCS point standings by five points over Martin Truex JR. (635). They are followed by Kyle Busch (510).
· Nine drivers currently have qualified for the 16-driver field of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The list consists of Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney, each of whom has won at least one race this season. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 400 championship finale on November 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
· In four career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Larson has posted two top-5 finishes. His best finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway occurred in the 2016 Ford EcoBoost 400 when he finished second.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
· Denny Hamlin won the 26th annual Irish Hills 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Michigan International on Saturday afternoon. It is Hamlin’s 16th victory in 158 career XFINITY Series races.
· He edged rookie William Byron by .012 seconds, the closest finish ever in an XFINITY Series at Michigan International Speedway since the advent of electronic scoring.
· It also tied for the sixth-closest finish ever in a NASCAR XFINITY Series race since electronic timing was instituted, along with the race at Montreal on August 29, 2010 when Boris Said edged Marcos Ambrose by that same margin.
· For Byron, it was his seventh top-10 and third top-5 in 13 XFINITY races this year. It marked his top finish this year with his previous high being a fourth-place showing (at Phoenix, 3/18).
· Elliott Sadler (third) posted his 11th top-10 finish and sixth top-5 in 13 XFINITY races this year. It was his second-best showing this year, behind only his second-place finish at Talladega on May 6. Sadler also captured Stage 2 of the race.
· Brad Keselowski claimed Stage 1.
· With one win apiece this year, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Reed have clinched spots in the 12-driver playoff field in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Playoffs. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 300 XFINITY Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, November 18.
· Elliott Sadler (460) leads the XFINITY Series points standings by 21 points over Justin Allgaier (439). They are followed by rookie William Byron (388).
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES
· John Hunter Nemechek won the 4th annual Drivin’ for Linemen 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday night at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill. It marked his fourth victory in 61 career Truck Series starts, and his first win in eight starts this year.
· With the win, Nemechek clinches a spot in the 8-driver field for the 2017 Camping World Truck Series playoffs, which concludes with the Ford EcoBoost 200 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17. He is the fourth driver to do that this year in the Truck Series.
· It was Nemechek’s third top-5 showing in eight races this year.
· Rookie Chase Briscoe (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish of 2017 and marked the second week in-a-row he finished second.
· Johnny Sauter (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish and sixth top-5 showing in eight races this year.
· Christopher Bell (2 wins), rookie Kaz Grala (1 win), Johnny Sauter (1 win) and John Hunter Nemechek (1 win) all have qualified for the 8-driver field in the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs. The Playoffs culminate with the Ford EcoBoost 200 Camping World Truck Series championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, November 17.
· Johnny Sauter (380) leads the points standings by 38 points over Christopher Bell (342). Matt Crafton has compiled 319 while Chase Briscoe has tallied 311.
