NASCAR Cup Series: 2018 FireKeepers Casino 400 results – Clint Bowyer wins
By Asher Fair
Clint Bowyer won for the second time in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season by winning a rain-shortened FireKeepers Casino 400.
Before he won at Martinsville Speedway in late March earlier this season, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer had not won a NASCAR Cup Series race since the 2012 season. Now he has won twice in the last 10 races.
Bowyer won a rain-shortened FireKeepers Casino 400, the 15th race of the 26-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series regular season and the 36-race season, at the four-turn, 2.0-mile Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Bowyer, who started the race in 12th place, led a 1-2-3 Ford sweep, particularly a 1-2-3 Stewart-Haas Racing sweep, in the race in his #14 Ford. Kevin Harvick finished in second in his #4 Ford and race polesitter Kurt Busch finished in third in his #41 Ford. Ford drivers took seven of the top eight positions in the finishing order.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch was the highest finishing Toyota driver in the race. He finished in fourth place in his #18 Toyota. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver in the race. He finished in ninth in his #9 Chevrolet.
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The race was delayed by two and a half hours due to rain, and it was halted after just 133 of its scheduled 200 laps for the same reason. Only 13 laps of the 80-lap stage three had been completed before the race ended.
Bowyer led only eight of the race’s laps before claiming his 10th career Cup Series victory and first at Michigan International Speedway, as a call by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz to take two tires on his final pit stop paid off. He was able to overtake Harvick for the lead in the pits and hold him off on the track before the race was stopped for good.
By winning for the second time this season, Bowyer became the fourth different driver to win more than one race this season. He is now tied with Martin Truex Jr. in the wins category this season, and he trails only Kevin Harvick (five wins) and Kyle Busch (four wins) in that category.
The race featured a total of nine lead changes among seven drivers. Aside of Bowyer, six other drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Harvick, both Busch brothers, Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson. Blaney won stage one and Harvick won stage two. Harvick led more laps than any other driver in the field by leading 49 laps.
Larson, who had won each of the last three Cup Series races at Michigan International Speedway coming into the 2018 FireKeepers Casino 400, finished in 28th place after spinning late in the race, falling a lap down, and then getting back on the lead lap just in time for the red flag to come out and then the checkered flag to follow shortly thereafter.
The race also featured a total of eight caution flag periods. Of the 39 drivers who started the race, 37 finished it. Of the 37 who finished the race, 29 did so on the lead lap.
Here are the full race results of the 2018 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 3 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 5 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford |
| 7 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford |
| 8 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 10 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 13 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 14 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 15 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 16 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 17 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota |
| 19 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 20 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 21 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet |
| 24 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 25 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 26 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 27 | Corey Lajoie | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 28 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 30 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 31 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 32 | Landon Cassill | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
| 33 | Matt Kenseth | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 34 | D.J. Kennington | #7, NY Racing Team, Chevrolet |
| 35 | Timmy Hill | #66, MBM Motorsports, Toyota |
| 36 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford |
| 37 | B.J. McLeod | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 38 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 39 | Garrett Smithley | #99, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
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The next NASCAR Cup Series race is scheduled for Sunday, June 24. That race is the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and it is set to take place at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. It is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 starting at 3:00 p.m. ET. It is set to be the final race of the season that is broadcast live by Fox or Fox Sports 1.