NASCAR at Michigan 2016 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

Joey Logano wasn't going to be denied Sunday at the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Starting from the pole, Logano led over half the race (139 laps) en route to a checkered flag in Brooklyn, Michigan.   

The win is Logano's first of the 2016 season. The result will feel especially sweet for 26-year-old after he came so close but fell short at the end in previous races this year.

He prevailed in dominant fashion, cruising to the finish line 0.889 seconds ahead of Chase Elliott. Kyle Larson finished in third place, 3.069 seconds behind the leader. Below are the top 10 finishers from Sunday's race, with the full results available on NASCAR.com:

Pos.	Driver	Time Behind (sec.)	Laps Led
1	Joey Logano	----	139
2	Chase Elliott	0.889	35
3	Kyle Larson	3.069	1
4	Brad Keselowski	3.901	10
5	Kevin Harvick	4.775	0
6	Carl Edwards	5.298	0
7	Tony Stewart	6.144	0
8	Austin Dillon	6.966	0
9	Jamie McMurray	7.537	0
10	Kurt Busch	7.729	0

In getting the win, Logano ensured himself a place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He climbs to seventh in the points standings, per ESPN.com:

Pos.	Driver	Wins	Points
1	Kyle Busch	3	417
2	Brad Keselowski	2	480
3	Carl Edwards	2	472
4	Jimmie Johnson	2	441
5	Kevin Harvick	1	526
6	Kurt Busch	1	496
7	Joey Logano	1	455
8	Martin Truex Jr.	1	433
9	Matt Kenseth	1	409
10	Denny Hamlin	1	380
11	Chase Elliott	0	453
12	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	0	383
13	Austin Dillon	0	381
14	Jamie McMurray	0	374
15	Ryan Newman	0	369
16	Ryan Blaney	0	364

A caution on Lap 188 gave Elliott and the rest of the field one last shot to try to catch Logano.

Elliott benefited the most. Shortly before Denny Hamlin's wreck, Elliott's crew informed him he'd need to start conserving fuel, per NBC Sports' Dustin Long. As a result, the No. 24 car started slipping farther and farther behind Logano. The caution allowed him to make one last challenge for the top spot.

SB Nation's Jordan Bianchi wasn't so sure a restart would provide a boost for Elliott:

As was the case the entire afternoon, Logano was excellent immediately after the restart. He quickly gained a sizable lead over Elliott and cruised to the finish line. Fox Sports: NASCAR shared a replay of the final two laps:

Logano might have burned off whatever rubber remained on his tires in his post-race burnout, via NASCAR:

Although Elliott came up short, Kerry Tharp, NASCAR's senior director for competition communications, foresees him doing big things down the road:

Former Xfinity Series driver Kenny Wallace also praised Elliott after the race:

While the next generation of marquee drivers thrived, a number of top stars ran into bad luck Sunday—none more so than Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Busch finished in last place after completing 52 laps. His day ended when his car suffered a mechanical issue and caught fire, via NASCAR:

Busch is already assured of a place in the final 16 by virtue of his three wins this year, so he has little reason to panic about his recent string of poor performances. Still, it is somewhat concerning that he has now finished 30th or worse in his last four Sprint Cup races.

Earnhardt managed to get only 61 of the 200 laps in before he was forced to leave the race. He made contact with Chris Buescher and hit the outside wall:

"We've got a responsibility to take care of each other when we're three-wide, so I'm disappointed in that," said Earnhardt, per FoxSports.com's Joe Menzer. "We had a pretty good car and we were just kind of taking our time. The car was great, so it's a shame."

Buescher accepted blame for the wreck, telling his crew, "That was my fault," per Motor Racing Network.

Both Earnhardt and Busch will have an opportunity to turn their fortunes around in two weeks in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Busch enters the race as the defending champion.

Elliott, meanwhile, will be looking for his first win on the Sprint Cup circuit. The rookie has far exceeded expectations this year, collecting the most points so far among drivers without a victory in 2016. The 20-year-old obviously has a bright future ahead, and qualifying for the Chase in his first full year will show he can be a contender in the present too.

Post-Race Reaction

For Sunday's race, NASCAR used a rules package that lowered the downforce on each car. Following his win, Logano credited his team for getting his car to the exact specifications that would allow him to excel.

"Everyone at Team Penske did a great job of understanding what this package was going to do, and they put together a great race car," he said, per Menzer.

Logano also called each of his excellent restarts a collaborative effort, per NASCAR.com: "I think we got lucky I guess. I don't know. There is a lot of thought that goes into restarts with this race team, from every angle. It all kind of came together."

Despite what was an otherwise good performance, Elliott focused instead on the negatives:

Busch was similarly blunt when talking about his poor stretch of results, per Larry Lage of the Associated Press (via the Miami Herald): "The last four races have been really, really bad."