Race Results

NASCAR Cup Series

FireKeepers Casino 400

Michigan International Speedway

August 22nd, 2021

Race #25 of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season

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Laps Scheduled: 200
Miles Raced : 400.0
Time of Race : 02 Hours 48 minutes 27 seconds
Average Speed: 142.476 mph
Margin of Victory : 00.077 seconds
Cautions: 6
Caution Laps: 29
Lead Changes: 20
Cars in Race : 37
Finished On Lead Lap: 26 (70%)

Ryan Blaney takes the checkered flag to win at Michigan International Speedway — Brooklyn, Michigan - August 22nd, 2021: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford,takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Photo by Logan Riley | Getty Images

FIN	ST	Car #	Driver	Make	TOT PTS	F PTS	B PTS	PO PTS	Laps	Led	x Led	S1	S2	STUS
1	3	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	40	40	0	5	200	8	1	0	0	Running
2	18	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	43	35	8	0	200	18	1	5	9	Running
3	1	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	51	34	17	0	200	70	6	2	3	Running
4	6	1	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	36	33	3	0	200	1	1	8	0	Running
5	9	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	45	32	13	0	200	10	2	4	5	Running
6	4	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	36	31	5	0	200	1	1	7	10	Running
7	7	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	42	30	12	1	200	13	3	9	1	Running
8	2	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	46	29	17	1	200	68	2	1	4	Running
9	20	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	33	28	5	0	200	6	1	10	7	Running
10	5	19	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	27	27	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
11	21	14	Chase Briscoe	Ford	26	26	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
12	12	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Chevrolet	25	25	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
13	28	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	33	24	9	0	200	3	2	0	2	Running
14	8	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	23	23	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
15	11	17	Chris Buescher	Ford	22	22	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
16	10	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	21	21	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
17	23	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	20	20	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
18	13	43	Erik Jones	Chevrolet	19	19	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
19	15	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	18	18	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
20	25	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	17	17	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
21	32	37	Ryan Preece	Chevrolet	16	16	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
22	30	99	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	15	15	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
23	27	41	Cole Custer	Ford	14	14	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
24	16	6	Ryan Newman	Ford	13	13	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
25	17	77	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
26	24	7	Josh Berry	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	200	0	0	0	0	Running
27	37	51	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	199	0	0	0	0	Running
28	36	78	BJ McLeod	Ford	0	0	0	0	198	0	0	0	0	Running
29	14	8	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet	11	8	3	0	198	0	0	0	8	Running
30	31	0	Quin Houff	Chevrolet	7	7	0	0	196	0	0	0	0	Running
31	29	52	Josh Bilicki	Ford	6	6	0	0	195	0	0	0	0	Running
32	33	53	Garrett Smithley	Ford	0	0	0	0	194	0	0	0	0	Running
33	19	22	Joey Logano	Ford	9	4	5	0	188	0	0	6	0	DVP
34	35	38	Anthony Alfredo	Ford	3	3	0	0	178	0	0	0	0	Running
35	22	42	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	2	2	0	0	152	0	0	0	0	Running
36	26	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	14	1	13	0	120	2	1	3	6	Accident
37	34	15	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	0	0	0	0	29	0	0	0	0	Accident

Race Infractions

FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway

Driver	Infraction	Penalty	Lap	Lap Assessed	Flag
Joey Gase	Pre-Race to the Rear Driver change	Tail End	0	0	White
Josh Berry	Pre-Race to the Rear Driver change	Tail End	0	0	White
Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	24	25	Yellow
Joey Logano	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	65	66	Yellow
Justin Haley	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	65	66	Yellow
Anthony Alfredo	Pitting before pit road is open Garage	Tail End	121	0	Yellow
Cody Ware	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	123	126	Yellow
Daniel Suarez	Equipment Interference	Tail End	183	186	Yellow
Ross Chastain	Speeding on pit road	Tail End	184	186	Yellow
Daniel Suarez	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	185	186	Yellow
Ryan Newman	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	188	192	Yellow
Christopher Bell	Pitting before pit road is open	Tail End	188	192	Yellow

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Race Fast Facts

Michigan International Speedway
53rd Annual FireKeepers Casino 400
Race Winner: Ryan Blaney
Age: 27
Team : No. 12 - Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford
Owner: Team Penske
Crew Chief: Todd Gordon
Ryan Blaney won the 53rd Annual FireKeepers Casino 400, his sixth victory in 223 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and 13th top-10 finish in 2021.
This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 13 races at Michigan International Speedway.
William Byron (second) posted his second top-10 finish in seven races at Michigan International Speedway. It is his 16th top-10 finish in 2021.
Kyle Larson (third) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 13 races at Michigan International Speedway.
Chase Briscoe (11th) was the highest finishing rookie.
This is the seventh consecutive and 42nd overall victory for Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway.
Today's race was the closest margin of victory (0.077 second) in the NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993.
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick has clinched a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on points.

Race Recap

Ryan Blaney puts Ford back in Victory Lane at Michigan

August 22nd, 2021

By Holly Cain - NASCAR Wire Service

Ryan Blaney took the lead on a restart with eight laps remaining and skillfully held off a frantic field to earn the victory Sunday in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in the penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season.

Those eight laps out front were the only laps Blaney's No. 12 Team Penske Ford led on the afternoon but it was good enough to give him his second victory of the season – by a modern-day track record margin of .077-second over Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson.

Blaney credited Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch with giving him a push from behind on the final race restart to get out front and the popular 27-year-old Blaney took it from there, using all the track to keep the field behind him.

Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin finished fourth and fifth with Matt DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top 10.

"We got a great push by the 18 (Kyle Busch) on the restart and were able to get clear there," Blaney said. "Michigan you pretty much run wide open and just play the air game.

"Such a huge win for Ford," he added. "I'm fired up."

Blaney conceded he didn't necessarily consider himself an odds-on favorite coming into the race but credited his team for the improvements they made to his Ford all day. He finished runner-up at Indianapolis last week giving the organization some well-timed momentum heading into the Playoffs in two weeks.

As with his late race rally at Indy, Blaney made steady gains all afternoon. Most of the early race was a battle between Larson (71 laps), Elliott (68) and Hamlin (10) – the three drivers combining to lead 149 of the 200 laps.

Different pit strategy certainly affected the final run – with some drivers getting a variation of two-tires or four-tires with their fuel. When the final stops cycled out Byron led Larson and Hamlin. A brief caution came out for rain with 21 laps remaining and another for a seven-car accident with 14 laps to go.

"Honestly I think I was maybe a little too patient behind the 12 (Blaney)," said Larson, who leads the regular season championship standings by 28 points over Hamlin with only one race left to decide the 15-point championship bonus. "Just made a couple wrong moves and allowed Blaney to get by me.

"I was never close enough to William [Byron] to help him generate a run on the 12 (Blaney)," Larson added. "Good points day. Wish we could have gotten more, but all in all, a good day.''

Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick finished 14th which was good enough to secure the 15th Playoff position on points heading into Daytona.

Richard Childress Racing's Tyler Reddick is in 16th place after an eventful 29th-place finish. He holds a slim 25-point edge on his teammate Austin Dillon for the 16th and final Playoff position. DiBenedetto is 18th, 120 points behind meaning he would have to win at Daytona to qualify for the Playoffs.

It all certainly makes for a compelling Coke Zero 400 next Saturday.

But for much of the Michigan race, it looked like Dillon was in position to hold the upper edge going to Daytona. He ran top five (led a pair of laps) and moved that Playoff duel into a tie following the Stage 1 break.

But contact between Brad Keselowski and Dillon just after taking the Stage 2 checkered flag spun Dillon's No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet across the track and hard into the wall. Dillon had crossed the line sixth and Keselowski seventh before the contact.

For his part, Keselowski immediately radioed his crew, "Man, I didn't want to do that, I just wanted to hold him down (track)."

After being released from the infield care center, Dillon said he watched a replay and didn't understand the hard racing after taking the Stage flag.

"I was just trying to get as many stage points as I could get," Dillon said. "Did a good job side-drafting. I was starting to come off the apron because it's so rough down there. I figured by that point, he'd give me some room.

"Just hate it. I don't know why it happened really. I thought I had a little room to come up and he just held me down there a little too long, I guess."

Daytona has been a good venue for Dillon. The grandson of team owner Richard Childress won the 2018 Daytona 500 and has eight top-10 finishes in 16 starts including a third-place back in February.

The NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale, the Coke Zero Sugar 400, will be Saturday at 7 p.m. ET (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). And William Byron is the defending race winner.