In NASCAR, each week one driver says they won that race. In reality, everyone in the sport wins. Sponsors get their time on the air, teams get to show why they are good at their jobs, and drivers show how they are true athletes.
But then again, on some days, not even NASCAR can win.
Case in point: Sunday at Michigan.
Already knowing that weather was going to be a factor, NASCAR went forward knowing there were windows to get the racing in. Each weekend, what the sport advertises is to give the fans a full race, as in the distance. It could be 300 miles, 400, 500, or for the one time each year 600.
But, every once in a while, outside influences throw a couple wrinkles in that plan. The problem this time was the one thing NASCAR hates the most, whether it’s fans or teams, and that’s rain. It first started raining at lap 12, and shortly after went under the red flag. After an hour of waiting, drivers came back and did more laps under yellow, only to be brought back to pit road a second time. Another half hour, they went back to racing.
When the competition caution waved at lap 42, extended from the original lap 30 schedule, it began raining again. So, the teams waited a third time, this time for 35 minutes, before going back to the track.
In the first 51 laps, there were three red flags, and over 50 percent of the laps were run under yellow.
Not exactly the greatest situation to be in, and even the fans knew it. So now, it was not a race to make 400 miles, but to simply make 200. At that point, the race is considered official, and if the rain came back again, if NASCAR felt there was no realistic chance to go racing again before darkness set in, the race would be called.
Sure enough at lap 138, it didn’t take long for the red flag to come out again. This time, the rain was hitting so hard, pools practically formed in the speedway. In fact, the tunnel leading from the infield to the outside of the facility, it was flooded. No shuttles could enter through it, and haulers certainly were not going to test their luck in trying to make it through the water.
Lightning even was near, forcing fans to take shelter away from the metal stands. At that point, NASCAR simply had to cut their losses. No one wanted to risk going back out because of the weather, and even with the state-of-the-art Air Titan drying system, the time it would take to dry all that water would realistically push the time of getting back to racing even later.
So, NASCAR made the decision to call the race official, and the win went to Kurt Busch.
Unfortunately, in some cases, it’s better to just say, “We tried but we can’t make it.” That ultimately was the right choice.
RESULTS: 1-Kurt Busch 2-Earnhardt Jr. 3-Truex Jr. 4-Kenseth 5-Logano 6-Keselowski 7-McMurray 8-Menard 9-Bayne 10-Bowyer
NOTABLE FINISHES: 11-Hamlin 12-Edwards 19-Johnson 21-Gordon 29-Harvick
CAUTIONS: 5 for 38 laps. Laps: 12-28 (Precipitation [Red Flag: Lap 14, 59 mins, 4 secs.; Lap 20, 34 mins, 9 secs.]); 42-51 (Competition [Red Flag: Lap 46, 35 mins, 38 secs.); 54-59 (#18 accident-T4); 126-129 (Debris-T4); 138-138 (Precipitation [Red Flag: Lap 138]).
LEAD CHANGES: 17 among 11 drivers. Kahne POLE; Edwards 1; Kahne 2; Edwards 3-41; Wise 42; Harvick 43-82; Kenseth 83-84; Keselowski 85; Larson 86-87; Logano 88-94; Patrick 95-96; Harvick 97-119; Earnhardt Jr. 120; Kenseth 121; Keselowski 122-126; Edwards 127; Larson 128-132; Kurt Busch 133-138.
TIME OF RACE: 2 Hrs, 21 Mins, 55 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 116.688 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: Under Caution
CHASE GRID: 1. Johnson-506 (points), 4 wins; 2. Harvick-576, 2 wins; 3. Kurt Busch-526, 2 wins; 4. Truex-561, 1 win; 5. Logano-520, 1 win; 6. Earnhardt Jr-508, 1 win; 7. Keselowski-480, 1 win; 8. Kenseth-456, 1 win; 9. Hamlin-412, 1 win; 10. Edwards-401, 1 win; 11. McMurray, -112 (From 1st); 12. Kahne, -129; 13. Gordon, -142; 14. Menard, -155; 15. Almirola, -175; 16. Newman, -176.