Harvick wins and goes to the Playoffs

Rain, delays, and an unexpected winner with Kevin Harvick. After 2 hours of waiting for a storm to pass, we could feel the pilots rushing to do battle. A state of mind that is hardly compatible with a track like the Michigan International Speedway, a 2-mile (3,219 km) D-shaped oval, one of the fastest tracks of the season where speeds regularly exceed 320 km/h.

Rain, first surprise guest in Brooklyn – Michigan © Sean Gardner/Getty Images

After the competition yellow flag on the 20^rd lap, 4 lines were set up at the restart and inevitably a bad sequence of contacts knocked out Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. A rather improbable situation when barely 10% of the race distance had been covered.

Multiple cars, including @AustinCindric and @KyleBusch, are involved in this accident in Turn 2. pic.twitter.com/Ak8rPlQUG8

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 7

Christopher Bell finally won the first segment in front of a well-regulated peloton.

Hot and cold

The second segment gave two young guns the opportunity to shine. Ty Gibbs, victorious the day before in the Xfinity Series, was once again designated to replace Kurt Busch who was still deemed unfit to compete after his crash in qualifying at Pocono. He was joined by his Xfinity friend Noah Gragson who came to do another freelance job at Kaulig Racing. The next generation was very present and it was sparking! Better than sparks for Cole Custer, flames when he joined the pits 20 laps from the end of the section with the front left of his car on fire to cause, in addition to his retirement, a yellow flag in the middle of the refueling sequence.

A problem we @ColeCuster's No. 41 because brings out the yellow.

Cole exited the vehicle and stepped over the pit wall. pic.twitter.com/JDl0EtBK8Z

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 7

A few laps later, Gragson's good performance unfortunately ended with a violent impact breaking his left rear suspension.

Noah Gragson deserved a better outing © Mike Mulholland/Getty Images

Denny Hamlin was responsible for removing the segment.

Playoff mission for Harvick

If Suarez and Chastain, the Trackhouse Racing teammates, animated the start of the last stretch, we saw the Toyota of Bell, Hamlin and Wallace return to join the fight for victory. To the point that Chastain and Bell were hanging on after the last round of supplies. While at no time did the Fords seem able to play for victory, Harvick then benefited from an offbeat tire strategy to seize the lead with 20 laps to go and win this precious qualifying victory for the Playoffs.

NASCAR - Firekeepers Casino 400 Michigan Rankings:

ALSO READ > Tyler Reddick at 23XI in… 2024!