BROOKLYN, Mich. — It was a great weekend for “Cars 3” and Kyle Larson.
“Cars 3” will likely finish No. 1 in the box office over the weekend, on track to for a $60-million debut according to reports. Larson drove the No. 42 Cars 3/Target Chevrolet to victory at Michigan International Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday.
Larson started from the pole, led the most laps and was able to hold the lead throughout three restarts over the last 20 laps to give himself a Father’s Day present. Larson has now won the past two races at MIS; he won last August for his first career Cup win.
Larson won a five-lap shootout over Chase Elliott and Joey Logano for his third career Cup Series victory.
Larson took over the series points lead over Martin Truex Jr., who finished sixth.
Kyle Busch was leading before a caution came out for debris on Lap 181. Larson went inside to pass Busch on the restart four laps later.
“Ryan Blaney gave me a heck of a push,” Larson said. “So, I’ve really got to thank him a ton. I knew the Penske cars took off good, so I was happy to see him behind me. For us to withstand a few restarts there with some tough competitors there was pretty important. I can’t thank these guys enough. The Cars 3 Chevy was really, really fast. And it was cool to win it. What a great Father’s Day present for myself and all the other fathers out there. My dad is here today, too.
“So, I’m looking forward to celebrating with him. We’ve been so close to so many other wins. This is our second Cup win of the year, but we’ve had six second place finishes. All-in-all, it’s a good season so far and we’ll continue to keep building on what we’ve got.”
Larson earned his third victory in 127 Cup Series races and second time this year.
Elliott, driving the No.24 NAPA Chevrolet, earned his third top 10 finished in four races at MIS and his ninth top-10 finish of 2017.
Joey Logano finished third in the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford for Team Penske. Logano said it was good to “stop the bleeding.”
“You have no idea how good this feels,” Logano said. “It’s been a struggle the last month-and-a-half and it’s nice to come here to Michigan, maybe our best race track and be able to overcome a lot.
“I’m not sure we had a third-place car today, but the team executed like they needed to get the Shell-Pennzoil Ford into the top three. Proud of the effort. I wish I could have the last restart back. I think I could have gotten to second. I wasn’t able to stay attached to the 42. I had a good start but the whole bottom lane was able to stack up really good and push ahead and then Denny (Hamlin) slid up in front of us; just racing there. Turning the momentum a bit and bringing home a solid top-five and change things.”
Denny Hamlin finished fourth and Jamie McMurray was fifth.
It was a disappointing day for Brad Keselowski. The Rochester Hills, Mich., native finished 16th.
“We just weren’t really where we needed to be,” Keselowski said. “We had a few bright spots, but we couldn’t get it there at the end.”
