BROOKLYN, Mich. — Here is a look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
WINNERS
Denny Hamlin — He saved enough fuel and passed William Byron for the lead with four laps left to win. Hamlin has won three of the last nine races. Villain Denny returned Sunday. He teased the crowd by saying he beat all their favorite drivers and then taunted University of Michigan fans in the stands by doing an Ohio State cheer. “I do thrive on it,” Hamlin said of being viewed as the villain, “just simply because you feel like you’ve got 60,000 people that are rooting against you.”
RFK Racing — The organization placed three cars in the top 10 at Michigan, marking the first time RFK Racing has done so since July 2016 at Daytona. Sunday, Chris Buescher finished second, Ryan Preece ninth and Brad Keselowski 10th. Preece moved into the final playoff spot with 10 races left in the regular season. This was Buescher’s third consecutive top 10 at Michigan. He also won a stage. Both of Keselowski’s top 10s this season have come in the last three races this season.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver earned his third victory of the season.
Ty Gibbs — While frustrated after the race thinking he didn’t need to save as much fuel and could have challenged the leaders, Gibbs placed third, tying his best result of the season.
Zane Smith — His seventh-place finish is his best result of the year and gives him top-10 results in both career Cup starts at Michigan. Sunday’s result moved Smith up three positions in the standings to 22nd.
Kyle Busch — His eighth-place finish snapped a six-race streak without a top-10 result.
LOSERS
Alex Bowman — Austin Cindric and Cole Custer made contact, sending Custer’s car into Bowman’s vehicle. That turned Bowman and he hit the wall head-on. “That hurt a lot,” Bowman said after exiting the infield care center. He finished last in the 36-car field. Bowman has placed outside the top 25 in seven of the last nine races and fallen from third to 13th in the points. He sits 15th on the playoff grid and is only 13 points above the cutline.
Alex Bowman walked away from a vicious crash in Sunday’s crash at Michigan.
William Byron — He led 98 of the 200 laps, lost the lead with four laps to go and had to pit for fuel coming to the white flag. He finished 28th. This is the fourth time he’s led 80 or laps this season. He won none of those races.
Team Penske — Joey Logano finished 22nd for the organization’s best finish. Austin Cindric was 31st and Ryan Blaney placed 32nd a week after his Nashville win.
