
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson won for the second time in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, as he led the most laps and held off Chase Elliott to win Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Here are 10 takeaways from the Irish Hills of Michigan.
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10
Third time’s a charm
In 126 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts, Kyle Larson has won three races, all at 2.0-mile tracks. Larson has won two in a row at MIS and won earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway, which was modeled after MIS. And Roger Penske used to own them both.
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9
Third time, take two
In three career starts at MIS, Chase Elliott has finished second each time. That’s just plain weird.
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8
Top fives
Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray finished first and fifth, respectively. Ganassi is the only car owner with two drivers who finished in the top five in the race and he’s the only car owner with two drivers in the top seven in Cup points — Larson leads and McMurray is seventh.
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7
On the big stage(s)
Martin Truex Jr. won Stages 1 and 2 at MIS and now has an incredible 10 stage wins and 20 playoff points in just 15 races. Since those points carry over round to round in the playoffs, Truex is a prohibitive favorite to make it to the championship round.
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6
JGR still winless
For the umpteenth time this season, the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas were fast at points throughout the event and didn’t win. Kyle Busch has now led 743 laps this year and is winless. This team has to be scratching their heads wondering what it’s going to take to find their way back to Victory Lane.
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5
Streak broken
Joey Logano of Team Penske had his best run since winning at Richmond. Logano broke a five-race streak of finishing 21st or worse by coming home third behind race-winner Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. He could be a real threat to win before the regular season is over.
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4
Bubba battles
Darrell “Bubba” Wallace finished 19th in just his second Cup race behind the wheel of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. That’s pretty good, all things considered.
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3
Mixed bag
None of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers led a lap at MIS, but three finished in the top 10: Chase Elliott (2nd), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (9th) and Jimmie Johnson (10th). Kasey Kahne wound up 21st.
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2
By the numbers
In 15 Cup races this season, only four times has the driver who led the most laps won the race. Truex did it at Las Vegas and Kansas, while Larson did it at Auto Club Speedway and again at MIS.
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1
By the numbers, part deux
You want to know how good Jeff Gordon was? The No. 24 has appeared in 1,427 NASCAR Premier Series races. Gordon is the only driver to win with that number. Chase Elliott will win sooner or later, but still, that’s awfully impressive.
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