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NASCAR: Winners And Losers From Michigan

By Cole Mentzel

Aug 28, 2016; Brooklyn, MI, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (42) celebrates winning his first Sprint Cup Series race during the Pure Michigan 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 28, 2016; Brooklyn, MI, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (42) celebrates winning his first Sprint Cup Series race during the Pure Michigan 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aug 28, 2016; Brooklyn, MI, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) drives against Sprint Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (24) during the Pure Michigan 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Loser: Toyota Cars

It’s become routine to see Toyota cars dominate races this season as they’ve won 11 of 24 races compared to Chevrolet’s seven and Ford’s six.

But we didn’t see the normal level of competition out of the Toyota cars this weekend.

Martin Truex Jr., who took the lead early on in the race, ended up finishing 20th after suffering from a few slow stops on pit road that derailed his day. It was another one of those weeks where Truex looked like a contender before something random happened to mess up his chances.

Kyle Busch, who has struggled at Michigan in the past four years, went for a spin just 26 laps into the race and never recovered, as he would go on to finish 19th.

While drivers like Carl Edwards (7th), Denny Hamlin (9th) and Matt Kenseth (13th) had solid days, Toyota had no real contenders for the win and they combined to lead only 16 of 200 total laps.

As good as they’ve been this year, they’re destined to have a bad week every once in a while, and this weekend at Michigan was one of Toyota’s only rough weekends of the season so far.

Next: It's All About The Restart

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