Ford Performance and Roush Yates Engines won their eighth straight NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick in the FireKeepers Casino 400. This was Harvick’s 59th career NASCAR Cup Series victory and his series-leading sixth at Michigan. Ford retained the Michigan Heritage Trophy, presented to the winning manufacturer at the 2-mile track.
“For sure there is a lot of extra attention when we come here from the executives in our company, having all the employees here so we’ve spent a lot of time with the teams this week leading up to this weekend to let them know how important it is and to ask our Ford teams to work together, whether it’s the drivers or the crew chiefs, but Doug Yates has also been working really hard in the engine shop. This is definitely a horsepower track and he brought a little extra this weekend and it definitely paid off,” commented Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance.
“Congratulations to Ford Performance, Gene, Tony, Rodney, Kevin, and everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing for the strong finish to make it 8 wins in a row at Michigan,” said Doug Yates, President and CEO of Roush Yates Engines. “We have always strived to finish strong at Michigan and this year was no exception. We are thankful for the continued leadership and commitment from Ford Motor Company and honored to power these Mustangs.”
“I’m just really proud of everybody on our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang. They’ve been digging all year long trying to make these Mustangs run faster. Our guys have done a good job in trying to take what we have, maximize it and do the things that we need to do. I’m just really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. Everybody who doubted us doesn’t know us,” commented Harvick.
After a brief rain delay, Ford Performance teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric from Team Penske started the FireKeepers Casino 400 from P4 and P5. There were seven caution periods for a total of 36 laps and twenty-two of the 37 drivers finished on the lead lap. A nine-car pileup on lap 25 damaged or eliminated several of the leading cars. The 4 leaders underwent a huge shakeup in the final stage of the race when 2 of the front-leading cars made contact and another received a penalty on pit road. Harvick took the lead on the race’s final restart on Lap 163 and did not relinquish it, finishing the race 4-seconds in front of second place. With 3 regular season races remaining, Harvick adds to the list of 15 different drivers in the playoffs.
Ford Performance teammates Joey Logano with Team Penske finished in P4 while Ryan Blaney with Team Penske finished in P5.
Riley Herbst with Stewart-Haas Racing finished P9 in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series New Holland 250 at Michigan.
Nate Stacy and Luca Mars with Kohr Motorsports started Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Road America from the pole, while Sheena Monk and Kyle Marcelli from JG Wentworth Racing by PF Racing finished P6. IMSA returns August 27th with the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway.
NASCAR Cup returns next week with the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway while the Xfinity Series takes a one week break and returns to action on August 20th at Watkins Glen.
