Michigan’s FireKeepers Casino 400 Finish Set For 11:00 Monday Morning

The delayed start of the Firekeepers Casino 400

(BROOKLYN, MI – AUG 18, 2024 – RIS) Weather won Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, delaying the start of the race and then halting it before the second stage could be started, causing NASCAR to schedule the finish of the race until 11:00 Monday morning. Chase Elliott was leading as the red flag halted the day’s action, with Martin Truex, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick the rest of the top five when the race restarts Monday.

The cars were on the track, approaching the start of the race when rain started falling, sending everyone back to the pits and waiting out the rain and track drying until the command to start engines was given a few minutes before 5:00 and the field headed down pit road and onto the track behind the pace car. Almost an hour and a half after the scheduled start time, the track went under the green flag. Kyle Larson dove low to take the lead ahead of Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick.

After 25 laps, Hamlin closed back to within about two tenths of a second back from Larson then on lap 35, Hamlin and Larson ran side-by-side down the front stretch, giving Bubba Wallace the opportunity to take advantage of their wake to zoom by into the lead, much the same as Larson used the draft to take the lead.

Hamlin lost the downforce on his car, trying to pass Wallace and spun off the fourth turn banking, across the grass and then continued without hitting anything. This brought out the caution with six laps left in the first stage of the race. Wallace and most of the field pitted, with Chase Elliott gaining five spots in the pits. Ryan Blaney an William Byron led the field to the restart with Blaney getting a push from Chris Buescher to take the lead, then Byron and Buescher raced side by side for second with Elliott third until Elliott got around for second, towing Byron with him. 

Blaney went on to take the stage win, with Elliott, Byron, Wallace, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex, Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman the top ten as the stage ended.

Unfortunately, a large, dark storm is approaching the track from the north sent the pack onto pit road and into their car covers. With the size of the track and the time required to get it back into safe conditions for racing, NAS CAR made the decision to finish the race on Monday at 11:00 AM.

Pos, Driver, Car, Laps Run, Last Lap, Best Time, Best Speed, Best Lap
1) Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 51, 112.024 mph, 37.991 sec, 189.519 mph, 7
2) Martin Truex, No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 51, 109.992, 38.179, 188.585, 31
3) Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 51, 111.910, 37.925, 189.848, 7
4) Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 51, 109.416, 38.336, 187.813, 10
5) Tyler Reddick, No. 45 McDonald's Toyota, 51, 108.047, 37.938, 189.783, 5
6) Kyle Busch, No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, 51, 111.696, 38.355, 187.720, 5
7) Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 51, 106.659, 37.859, 190.179, 4
8) Ross Chastain, No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet, 51, 109.095, 38.247, 188.250, 17
9) Chase Briscoe, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 51, 108.073, 38.392, 187.539, 6
10) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 51, 105.283, 38.373, 187.632, 24
11) Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 51, 106.632, 38.000, 189.474, 5
12) AJ Allmendinger(i), No. 16 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 51, 104.250, 38.525, 186.892, 37
13) Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Garner Trucking Chevrolet, 51, 105.418, 38.531, 186.863, 21
14) Noah Gragson, No. 10 Overstock.com Ford, 51, 104.183, 38.609, 186.485, 11
15) Ricky Stenhouse, No. 47 Country Crock/Minute Rice Chevrolet, 51, 103.749, 38.495, 187.037, 22
16) Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Grillo's Pickles Ford, 51, 102.453, 38.617, 186.446, 37
17) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota, 51, 103.543, 37.866, 190.144, 4
18) Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet, 51, 102.706, 38.458, 187.217, 30
19) Cody Ware, No. 15 Parts Plus Ford, 51, 102.484, 38.756, 185.778, 45
20) John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Mobil 1 Toyota, 51, 99.369, 38.764, 185.739, 8
21) Austin Cindric, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 51, 102.037, 38.500, 187.013, 32
22) Michael McDowell, No. 34 Martin Transportation Systems Ford, 51, 99.014, 38.863, 185.266, 12
23) Ryan Preece, No. 41 United Rentals Ford, 51, 101.550, 38.678, 186.152, 7
24) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford, 51, 99.651, 38.067, 189.140, 4
25) Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 51, 98.407, 38.105, 188.952, 9
26) Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 51, 95.621, 38.826, 185.443, 8
27) William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 51, 97.876, 38.106, 188.947, 7
28) Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW MobilityScience Chevrolet, 51, 95.469, 38.256, 188.206, 5
29) Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet, 51, 96.340, 38.274, 188.117, 19
30) Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford, 51, 95.209, 38.265, 188.162, 18
31) Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 51, 94.626, 38.298, 187.999, 32
32) Erik Jones, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota, 51, 92.328, 38.452, 187.246, 8
33) Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 51, 94.243, 38.880, 185.185, 21
34) Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Premier Security/Zeigler.com Chevrolet, 51, 91.916, 38.287, 188.053, 6
35) Justin Haley, No. 51 Fraternal Order of Eagles Ford, 51, 91.692, 38.622, 186.422, 45
36) Josh Berry #, No. 4 Overstock.com Ford, 51, 90.822, 39.202, 183.664, 45