Kyle Larson Wins at Michigan International Speedway on Father's Day

26 Jun 2017

Kyle Larson, NASCAR, K&N, Michigan, Fathers Day

Kyle Larson celebrating his win at Michigan with his Father on Fathers Day

Kyle Larson delivered a sweet Father's Day present to his dad on Sunday, a Win at Michigan International Speedway in the FireKeepers Casino 400. Larson, who saw a win slip away from him at Dover just a couple of weeks back, used his restarts to his advantage and won his second race of the season.

"Yeah, Ryan Blaney gave me a heck of a push," Larson said of the decisive restart that helped earn his third career victory. "So I’ve really got to thank him a ton. I knew the Penske cars took off good, so I was happy to see him behind me. For us to withstand a few restarts there with some tough competitors there was pretty important. I can’t thank these guys enough."

This was Larson’s third career win, and second of the season, although the points do not show it. Larson is currently sitting in first place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings, five points over Martin Truex Jr. Larson was able to win based on his past experiences of the restarts, something that he struggled with in the Dover race. Larson led 4 times for 96 laps and received 57 points and 5 playoff points.

Kyle Larson, NASCAR, K&N, Michigan, FireKeepers Casino 500

Kyle Larson celebrating his second win of the season at Michigan International Speedway

"I definitely watched the replay," Larson said. "We looked at Jimmie's driver data versus mine from the final restart at Dover, learned a little bit from that stuff." “Honestly, I knew what I did wrong as soon as we took the green at Dover. But, yeah, here at Michigan, it's different. You have a long straightaway. The front stretch at Dover is pretty bumpy, so it's hard to get grip. It's not hard to get grip here at Michigan. It's kind of just a drag race."

Chase Elliott finished in second place, .993 seconds behind Larson. Elliott did not lead during the race.

"From where we started the day to where we ended up, I was really proud of our effort," Elliott said. "I really think we over-achieved today from what we had on Friday and Saturday, and even last night, I was getting a little nervous about how the day was going to go. We had a couple of opportunities to get the lead. And, unfortunately, it just didn’t work out. But we’ll move on.”

Joey Logano finished in third place, and did not lead during the race. Logano battled it out, coming from 19th to 3rd in 50 laps.

Kyle Larson and his son, celebrating after the win

“Feels great. You have no idea how good this feels (smiling)” Logano said. “Feels like a win, just to stop the bleeding. No secret, last month, month and a half, has been a struggle for us with just a lot of things going wrong during the races. This was an uneventful race for us.”

Martin Truex Jr. came in first place in both stages of the race, gaining 2 playoff points.

Kyle Larson reclaimed his lead in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings with his win at Michigan, currently with 640 points and 13 playoff points. Martin Truex Jr. is in second place with 635 points and 20 playoff points. Kyle Busch is in third place with 510 points and 4 playoff points.

The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be at the Toyota/ Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway

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