BROOKLYN, Mich. — A look at the winners and losers from Monday’s Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.
WINNERS
Tyler Reddick — He scored his second victory of the season and took the points lead. Reddick has been on a roll lately. Monday’s win was the fifth time in the last six races he’s finished in the top three. He was in sixth place in the standings, 64 points out of the lead at Iowa. Seven races later, Reddick is atop the standings by 10 points.
23XI Racing — Tyler Reddick’s climb to atop the points marks the first time the organization has led the season standings. Team co-owner Denny Hamlin called it a significant mark for the 4-year-old team.
William Byron — While he lost the lead on the final restart, it wasn’t necessarily all his fault. Brad Keselowski wasn’t able to give him as strong of a push as Ty Gibbs gave Tyler Reddick. Still, Byron finished second, his best finish in the last seven races. Also, Byron led 20 laps. He had not led a lap in the previous nine races. That was a career-long drought.
Spire Motorsports — While Corey LaJoie’s car went upside down, the team placed its other two cars in the top 10. Zane Smith placed seventh. Carson Hocevar finished 10th. It is the first time this season that Spire has placed two cars in the top 10. This also marks the first time this year that Spire has had at least one car in the top 10 in back-to-back races. Hocevar was eighth last week at Richmond.
Ty Gibbs — His third-place finish was just his second top 10 in the last 10 races. He remains in a playoff spot and is 38 points above the cutline.
Kyle Busch — His fourth-place finish was his first top five in the last 13 races. He also won a stage and scored 15 stage points. Busch had not scored any stage points the previous six races.
Chris Buescher — His car was damaged in the Kyle Larson incident but came back to finish sixth. Buescher remains in a playoff spot with two races left in the regular season. He’s 15 points above the cutline.
LOSERS
Corey LaJoie — Car got turned and went upside down, going on a long slide on its roof down the backstretch before rolling over in the infield grass in Turn 3.
Ross Chastain — He was running 11th before Alex Bowman hit the wall in front of him, jamming a pack of cars together and causing Chastain to spin. He finished 25th, losing 14 points due to the incident. He still holds the final playoff spot but is only one point ahead of Bubba Wallace for that spot.
Christopher Bell — He was collected in the crash triggered by Kyle Larson’s spin. Bell has failed to finish six races this year.
Kyle Larson — He lost control of his car in traffic, spun and then was hit, ending his day. His 34th-place finish dropped him from first to fourth in the points. He’s 32 points behind new series leader Tyler Reddick.
