The Sprint Cup Series headed to Michigan this Father’s Day weekend to compete in the LifeLock 400. Qualifying for the race was rained out on Friday, so the field was set by this year's owners points. That allowed Kyle Busch to start from the pole position, with Jeff Burton alongside in second.
Busch led the field down for the green flag, but within three laps the first caution flag of the race came out for a spin by Dave Blaney on the backstretch. Blaney had broken something in his rear axle and ended up going 22 laps down before finally getting it fixed.
The race was restarted on lap 6 with Busch as the leader, but that would not last for long. Jimmie Johnson caught Busch shortly after the green flag had waved and blew by Busch for the lead. Johnson would lead through the early stages of the race until Brian Vickers passed him on lap 34 for the lead.
Vickers came all the way from the 18th starting position all the way to the lead in just 34 laps. Vickers would remain the leader until the first round of green flag pit stops occurred around lap 39.
Johnson and Michael Waltrip would both lead the race before making their scheduled pit stops and collecting five bonus points for leading the race. Waltrip really needed those points because he was currently outside the top 35 in owner’s points before the race. After the pit stops cycled through on lap 34, Vickers had resumed the lead once again.
Vickers would continue to lead the race through the next round of green flag stops that took place around lap 79. Unfortunately for Vickers, Matt Kenseth would be the leader of the race after pit stops were completed on lap 82.
Kenseth was leading the race by a good margin over Vickers when a caution flag came out on lap 92 for debris. The leaders would take advantage and pit under the caution for fresh tires and fuel. Carl Edwards ended up coming out of the pits first with only a two-tire stop bumping Kenseth back to second on the restart.
Edwards would lead the field down on the restart, but within 10 laps the caution flag waved again for a spin by Kurt Busch coming off turn two. The top seven drivers would stay out under the caution while the rest of the field would take advantage and top off on fuel. The top seven cars on the restart were Edwards, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Johnson, Vickers, Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Gordon.
Shortly after the race resumed, Kenseth passed Edwards back for the lead on lap 114. The race would stay under the green flag which set off another round off pit stops around lap 138. Drivers who ended up leading a lap before making their pit stops included Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, AJ Allmendinger, and Sam Hornish. After the pit stops cycled through around lap 144, Kenseth was back at the head of the field.
After the pit stops were completed the caution flag waved for a spin by Bobby Labonte coming out of turn two. The leaders would come to pit road with Kyle Busch coming out first. Busch would not restart the race as the leader because Johnson and Hornish stayed out under the caution.
Johnson and Hornish raced closely together and pulled away from the rest of the field. Too bad for Johnson and Hornish, though, because they would have to make a green flag stop for fuel with 17 laps remaining.
7 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Dlynn about 1 year ago
Great news for Jr....and fitting that he win it on Father's Day.
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Nathaniel Snow about 1 year ago
Great article, very informative... And also a great win for Dale Jr. It must really mean a lot for him to break this winless streak on Father's Day, honoring his mentor/inspiration. RIP Dale Sr.
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Samuel Sica about 1 year ago
Thank you Nathaniel for voting my article as the pick of the day.
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Kate Greece about 1 year ago
Great news. Enjoy a nice day. He is so happy. I would love to share it with my friends on horsematch .com. Hope my friend can get along well with her family.
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L.J. Burgess about 1 year ago
Thank gawd someone did a real race report here !
I don't have cable so I missed the race. At least now I know how it went.
Thanks Samuel.
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Samuel Sica about 1 year ago
Your welcome L.J. I write articles every week after the race so keep reading. Thank you
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L.J. Burgess about 1 year ago
Oh, you're in York ... we're almost neighbors.
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