Sunday, June 10, 2018

Bowyer Wins Rain-Shortened Michigan Race

Originally written for CLNS Media.


Clint Bowyer won the rain-shortened FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Rain delayed the start of the race on Sunday by over two hours, and it threatened the track throughout the race.  The rain finally arrived and ended the race on lap 133 of 200 while Bowyer was out front.

Daniel Shirley/Getty Images
Bowyer’s team used pit strategy to get to the front, taking only two tires on the final pit stop while the rest of the field took four tires.

Bowyer said he was nervous when he was the only driver to take two tires.

“When he said two tires…I don’t know,” Bowyer said.  “Especially when I looked in the mirror and everyone else took four.  When you come out that far ahead of everybody else, you know you’re on a mission for a gamble.”

On the final restart, Bowyer had to hold off his teammate Kevin Harvick, who had led the most laps throughout the race.  Bowyer said he knew holding off Harvick would be a challenge.

“Being on the same tires with Kevin on a restart, you know what you’re up against,” Bowyer said.  “He was so much faster than me in 1 and 2.  I got down to 3 and 4 and I had to chop him off and take his line away.”

Harvick said he was surprised Bowyer’s car was so fast with just two fresh tires.

“Clint had a good restart,” Harvick said.  “I hadn’t restarted against a car that was as good as his and just a foot from clearing him there.”

“If you’re going to lose one in the rain and give it away, you might want to give it to your teammate.”

Unofficial results:
1. Clint Bowyer
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Kurt Busch
4. Kyle Busch
5. Paul Menard
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Joey Logano
8. Ryan Blaney
9. Chase Elliott
10. Jamie McMurray
11. Aric Almirola
12. Denny Hamlin
13. William Byron
14. Austin Dillon
15. Erik Jones
16. Alex Bowman
17. AJ Allmendinger
18. Martin Truex Jr.
19. Darrell Wallace Jr.
20. Jimmie Johnson
21. Ty Dillon
22. Ryan Newman
23. Kasey Kahne
24. Chris Buescher
25. Michael McDowell
26. Ross Chastain
27. Corey LaJoie
28. Kyle Larson
29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
30. Daniel Suarez
31. Gray Gaulding
32. Landon Cassill
33. Matt Kenseth
34. DJ Kennington
35. Timmy Hill
36. Matt DiBenedetto
37. BJ McLeod
38. David Ragan
39. Garrett Smithley

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

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