Mother Nature halted the running of the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway after just 51 of 200 laps were run on Sunday (Aug. 18), postponing the conclusion of the race to Monday morning.
Nearly 24 hours and two overtimes later, it was Tyler Reddick who crossed the finish line first, collecting his second win of the 2024 season, as well as fifth top five in the past six races.
Michigan marked the third-to-last race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, ramping up the urgency for drivers looking to grab one of the final playoff spots with a win or points. That intensity led to creative pit calls from teams on the bubble in the Irish Hills.
Chris Buescher Outfoxes Playoff Cut Line Foes
Chris Buescher arrived in The Mitten State tied with Ross Chastain on the playoff cut line, holding the 16th and final playoff position via a tiebreaker. While the No. 17 RFK Racing team did not leave Michigan with an all-important win, they now have a little margin for error with a 16-point gap above the cut line.
This is due in no small part to a late strategy call by No. 17 crew chief Scott Graves.
On lap 196, Buescher came down pit road for four tires and fuel under caution, falling back to 18th from a top-10 spot. Over the course of two overtimes, Buescher made the most of the fresh rubber by rallying to a sixth-place finish, overcoming his involvement in the big crash on lap 115.
“It was a good strategy call, a good call to do something different for us,” Buescher told NBC Sports post-race. “Ultimately, our chance of winning this thing had gone away.
“We were able to pass a bunch of cars [at the end.] It was wild, but heckuva a way to salvage a day that should have been better anyway.”
Meanwhile, Chastain and Bubba Wallace, Buescher’s chief rivals on the playoff bubble, settled for 25th and 26th, respectively. Chastain spun out during the first overtime, while Wallace sustained significant left-front damage in the lap 115 incident.
When the playoff field is set after Darlington in a couple of weeks, the late pit decision by Graves could prove to be the difference between the No. 17 team making or missing the playoffs.
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