BROOKLYN, Mich. – Kyle Larson scored his series-best 10th top-five finish of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season at Michigan International Speedway.
The result came over two days of racing at the 2-mile track. Wet weather stopped the race after 74 laps on Sunday and the event was completed on Monday afternoon.
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The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 started the race 17th and was up to 11th after 15 laps. Having to avoid some contact on pit road saw Larson lose a few spots before the lap 20 restart, but a strategy call from crew chief Cliff Daniels to stay out during the race's second caution (laps 36-39) positioned his driver to earn stage points. Larson finished stage one in sixth.
After pitting for four tires during the stage break, the 2021 Cup Series champion restarted 21st on lap 51 and found himself back in the top five for the lap 70 restart. He pitted when the race resumed and stayed out under a late-stage caution to earn more stage points. Larson was sixth in stage two to earn 11 stage points on the day.
The 31-year-old driver pitted following a lap 128 caution involving teammate Alex Bowman. Larson came down pit road for the team to look over the car for any damage. From there, he restarted 31st on lap 134 and drove all the way up to the lead (for two laps) on lap 176 as the green-flag pit cycle unfolded. Daniels brought his driver down pit road with 23 laps to go for two right-side tires and Larson rejoined the field in 12th. He immediately moved back into the top 10 and got by Kevin Harvick for fifth with 10 laps to go. Larson earned his fourth straight finish inside the top seven at the Irish Hills and the result moved him up to sixth in the point standings.
"We took what we could get out of the day," Larson said. "Happy with the pit strategy there at the end to get some track position and come away with a top five for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy. We’ll take it."
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The opening two stages were extremely promising for Bowman. He started the race 20th and worked his way into the top 15 around the midway point of the opening 45-lap stage. A call for two-right side tires late in stage one allowed Bowman to work past several drivers that had stayed out for the six-lap sprint to the end of the stage. He finished stage one in seventh to pick up four valuable stage points.
Staying out under the stage break, Bowman inherited the lead - a position he would occupy for the next 16 laps. He briefly lost the point position to Christopher Bell but got it back on lap 65 when Bell spun. The driver of the No. 48 saw Tyler Reddick pass him for first on the lap 70 restart before the rain came. When the race resumed, crew chief Blake Harris had his driver pit for two left-side tires and fuel. That call allowed Bowman to stay at during a late-stage caution on lap 104. From there, he finished the stage in fifth to earn six stage points.
Just after the restart of the final stage, Bowman was involved in an incident on the backstretch. Contact from Chase Briscoe saw Bowman’s No. 48 Ally X Detroit Pistons Chevy turn into Todd Gilliland’s car and suffer significant damage. The team made repairs and met minimum speed before eventually taking the No. 48 to the garage. Bowman finished 33rd and is 44 points outside the provisional playoff cutline with three regular-season races remaining.
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William Byron started seventh and spent most of the opening stage around the top 10. On the final lap of the 45-circuit stage, the 25-year-old driver had a big wiggle in the final corner and ended up in the wall. The damage was terminal for the day to the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Byron finished 35th. He now sits third In the point standings, 96 markers behind points leader Martin Truex Jr.
"I just got loose trying to get stage points there," Byron said. "We were dicing it up. We didn’t have the best restart, so we were gaining spots back, but just tried too hard. We’ll just regroup and try to get a good couple of weeks before the playoffs. Just made a mistake – was just trying hard and got loose."
Chase Elliott started 10th and was running in the top 10 when his right-rear tire went down on lap 35. As a result of that, his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy hit the wall in Turn 2. The damage to the car was too much to continue and Elliott finished 36th. With three regular-season races left, the 27-year-old now sits 55 points outside the provisional playoff cutline.
"I hate that it happened," Elliott said of the stage one incident. "It was really early in the day to have a tire blow like that. It was really weird."
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Chris Buescher took the checkered flag to become the sixth driver to win multiple races this season. Byron (four wins) and Larson (two wins) are among those to accomplish that in 2023.
On Sunday, the race was scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET but rain delayed that by approximately 100 minutes. A red flag for rain on lap 75 was displayed at 5:27 p.m. ET and the remainder of the race was postponed until Monday at noon ET. Racing action resumed just past 12:45 p.m. ET on Monday.
This was the fourth race of the 2023 season to finish on a Monday. The May races at Dover Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway as well as the July race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway were all run on Mondays.
Next up on the schedule is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, which is the first of two straight races on serpentine layouts. The event will take place on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, NBC Sports App, IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).