Chris Buescher wards off Truex, goes back-to-back with victory at Michigan

Chris Buescher crosses the finish line at the end of the FireKeepers Casino 400 at MIS. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/ Getty Images)

By NASCAR Staff Reports

Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Racing Ford led a race-high 52 of the 200 laps in the FireKeepers Casino 400, which began Sunday and was pushed to a Monday finish because of inclement weather. Buescher’s second win of the season was his first at the 2-mile Michigan track and the fourth of his Cup Series career.

RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Michigan

Buescher becomes the first driver for the Roush Fenway Keselowski operation to win consecutive races since Carl Edwards went back-to-back in 2010.

“I mean, results will do it, right?” said Buescher, when asked by NBC Sports if the RFK Racing outfit was the best Ford team at the moment. “We’ve got work to do yet. That’s massive progress right there for us to do at two vastly different race tracks. We got road races coming up. I’m excited for those, too. And Daytona. I look at the schedule we have ahead of us. This is a heck of a time to get turned on and get rolling.”

Truex led 47 laps and came home in second place, ending up just 0.152 seconds behind at the checkered flag. Denny Hamlin wound up third, with Brad Keselowski fourth and Kyle Larson completing the top five.

Three contenders were sidelined during the early going Sunday, with 74 laps completed before rain forced the postponement. Among them were Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and William Byron — all of whom retired with damage after contact with the outside retaining wall.

Byron finished 35th, Elliott 36th and Busch was last in the 37-car field after incidents in the opening stage. Busch completed 14 laps before his contact with the No. 12 Ford of Ryan Blaney sent his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet into the outside barrier. Twenty laps later, Elliott was out after a tire issue on his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and Byron — his teammate — exited after a wall scrape on the last lap of Stage 1.

MORE: Trouble for Elliott, Byron at Michigan

Xfinity Series regular Josh Berry finished 34th as a substitute for the suspended Noah Gragson after a crash early in Stage 2. Berry was making his ninth Cup Series start this season and his first in Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 Chevy.

The Cup Series’ next race is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard, scheduled Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

Note: The victory was Ford’s ninth consecutive at Michigan.

Source: NASCAR.com

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