Roush Fenway towered above the field for the bulk of Sunday’s 400-mile Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway, leading 115 of 200 laps and making a strong run at victory. In the end, the team would battle through a myriad of circumstances, with Matt Kenseth’s wild last-corner desperation pass of Denny Hamlin coming up short and the team settling for the second-place finish.
Carl Edwards looked to have the race win in sight, leading with a handful of laps remaining, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran into the wall, forcing a caution with only nine laps left. Edwards and the No. 99 team lost the battle off of pit road; finishing fifth in the race.
Greg Biffle led a race-high 68 laps, but got caught off sequence with a late caution and fuel mileage and finished 15th. David Ragan was hit early in the race on pit road by the No. 88 car, but rebounded to finish 20th.
“The Crown Royal guys did a great job. We had a really fast car and thought we were going to have a chance to win,” said Kenseth, who actually slid sideways while attempting a last corner pass of eventual winner Denny Hamlin. “I got a bad restart, but Carl pushed me back in there. I got back to Denny (Hamlin), but I could not get back around him. The car was slower for the first 10 laps and then it seemed like we were the best car. I just didn’t have time to get around him. I tried everything I could, but I just could not figure out how to do it.”
Edwards used the top-five finish to increase his Sprint Cup points lead to 20. Roush Fenway leads the points in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series point standings.
Roush Fenway Racing PR
