BROOKLYN, MI— Speed is the name of the game at Michigan International Speedway. This past weekend, NASCAR’s ARCA, Truck and Cup Series made its annual stop in the Irish Hills of Michigan. The two-mile, D-shaped oval did not disappoint as fans saw multiple cautions, hard racing and a record-tying finish.
While NASCAR is known for speed, Michigan presents a unique challenge for every driver in the field. MIS is one of the largest ovals on the calendar, and with teams running unrestricted engines, drivers reach some of the fastest speeds of the season; topping 205 mph entering the corners.
When asked about his favorite aspect of racing at MIS, Cup Series regular-season points leader Tyler Reddick kept it simple:
“The speed,” Reddick said.
That same speed presents challenges drivers must manage throughout the race. Cup driver Chase Briscoe compared it to a chess match at more than 200 mph. He pointed out that success depends on balance and car control just as much as raw speed.
“If you’re going 200 [mph], you need a good driving car,” Briscoe said.
The weekend of racing began with the ARCA race on Friday, June 5. A notable name in the field, Cleetus McFarland, earned his best ARCA start by putting the No. 5 BaldEagle.com Ford on the pole. As the race progressed, rain became a factor. Just past halfway, a caution came out after McFarland hit the wall. Shortly after, rain began to fall, and the race was called at Lap 57. Giovanni Ruggiero was declared the winner, earning his third victory of the season.
Saturday afternoon saw the Truck Series take the track for its scheduled 125-lap race. While considered a developmental series, several Cup Series drivers competed, including hometown driver Carson Hocevar, Christopher Bell, Corey Heim, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ross Chastain. McFarland also made his second career Truck Series start.
Experience quickly became a factor, as many of those drivers ran up front throughout the race. The crowd roared as Michigan native Hocevar worked his way to the lead early. As the laps wound down, multiple trucks showed race-winning speed. With 15 laps to go, Heim took the lead after he and teammate Caden Honeycutt moved past Hocevar and Chandler Smith. The teammates battled to the finish, where Heim won by 0.065 seconds. It was his third win in five starts this season.
The grandstands filled up Sunday as the green flag drew closer. With just 11 races left in the regular season, conversations about the playoffs hovered around the garages. Reddick entered the race as a favorite after a strong performance in practice and qualifying. His car owner and competitor Denny Hamlin is on a hard charge to the lead, coming off last week’s win in Nashville. He faced a problem in practice and had to erase his pole qualifying lap, starting the race from the back.
From the drop of the green flag to the checkered, the race was littered with many cautions preventing long run dominance in the race. An all-time record of 11 cautions kept the racing very close until the end. Big wrecks ended many drivers’ days with 13 of them recording a DNF. The most notable names out of the race early were Tyler Reddick (Lap 82), Brad Keselowski (Lap 90), Bell (Lap 147), Chase Elliott (Accident, Lap 147), and Ty Gibbs (Lap 187).
A violent crash between Elliott and Bell was one of the worst in the next gen era. The quick crash shocked the crowd into silence while everyone anxiously waited for movement in the cars. Both drivers got out under their own power and immediately went to check on each other. Bell got the worse of the crash, as it was recently reported he fractured his left wrist, but will continue to race next weekend.
11 drivers found their way to the lead during the race, however it was not until the last restart where we saw the most dominant car in the field start to take control. Hamlin spent much of the first half of the race working through the field and keeping his car clean despite the chaos. Hamlin lined up third on the last restart with 40 laps to go. Within only a couple laps, he was able to drive past Hocevar and Daniel Suarez for the lead. The Driver of number 11 did not look back as he set the fastest pace; driving out to a 11.11 second lead when crossing the finish line.
This was a huge win for Hamlin as he got his 63rd Cup Series win, tying Kyle Busch for ninth on the all-time win list. His burnout paid special tribute to the late driver as Hamlin hung one of Busch’s flags out of his window during the celebration. Hamlin now sits only 51 points behind Reddick for the regular season lead.
Erik Jones had a very fast car throughout the day, finishing strong in second. Bubba Wallace also showed speed and good crash avoidance finishing third.
MIS once again did not disappoint after putting on a great weekend of racing. Although the rain loomed around, the weather was mostly perfect, and the sold-out Michigan crowd cannot wait for more racing next year.
