{"id":2067,"date":"2023-08-07T14:21:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T18:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/?p=2067"},"modified":"2023-08-07T16:04:39","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T20:04:39","slug":"2023-nascar-cup-series-race-twenty-three-michigan-day-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/2023\/08\/2023-nascar-cup-series-race-twenty-three-michigan-day-two\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 NASCAR Cup Series Race Twenty-Three Michigan Day Two"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Cars in the field: 33
\nFirst: Tyler Reddick (45)
\nSecond: Alex Bowman (48)
\nLaps completed: 74 of 200
\nStages: 46 – 90
\nWeather: Cloudy, 65 degrees, feels like 68 with 90% humidity, winds 5-8 mph. Showers are predicted for 2pm as well with 13-21 mph winds.
\n<\/p>\n

The television broadcast begins with shots of the jet-dryers working and an announcement that it’s cloudy and misting though the radar looks good. NASCAR expects to uncover the cars at 12:15pm and give the command at 12:30pm according to Rick Allen of NBCSports.<\/p>\n

1210 MRN announces car covers are coming off the cars on pit road.<\/p>\n

1230 NASCAR gives the signal to start engines.<\/p>\n

Erik Jones got married on Wednesday in Michigan.<\/p>\n

The restart on lap 80 of 200 was waved off for mist in turn three.<\/p>\n

Work continues on pit road on the 20 car of Christopher ‘CBell’ Bell.<\/p>\n

Restarting on lap 82 of 200 with Martin Truex Jr (19) at the front of the field at 1247 eastern. Tyler Reddick (45) pitted.<\/p>\n

Bubba Wallace (23) takes the lead in turn four.<\/p>\n

Martin Truex Jr (19) re-takes the lead on lap 100 of 200.<\/p>\n

Looks like NASCAR digital has the day off.<\/p>\n

Caution on lap 101 of 200 for Ryan Preece (41) visiting the wall ad losing a right rear tire.<\/p>\n

MTJ pits. Bubba stays out.<\/p>\n

‘Desperate’ Denny Hamlin (11) stalls his car leaving pit road. He is eventually able to get it restarted. MRN’s Steve ‘Postman\/Postie’ Post reports the team says it was something electical that shut the car off. Denny had to restart the system to get the car going again.<\/p>\n

Restarting on lap 107 of 200 with Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez (99) on the front row.<\/p>\n

Suarez eventually gets the lead from Bubba Wallace on lap 108 of 200.<\/p>\n

MTJ wins the stage, passing Daniel Suarez by about a foot at the line.<\/p>\n

Restarting on lap 126 of 200 with Chris Buescher (17) and Tyler Reddick (45) on the front row after staying on-track during the previous pit sequence.<\/p>\n

Buescher (17) takes the early lead on a strong push by Ryan Blaney (12).<\/p>\n

Alex Bowman (48) spins and brings out the caution on lap 126 of 200. Todd Gilliland (38) has an issue and started backing up through the field. Bowman checked up and got plowed from behind by Chase Briscoe (14) sending him into Gilliland.<\/p>\n

Restarting on lap 133 of 200 with Chris Buescher (17) and Tyler Reddck (45) on the front row. Bowman is on-track five laps down.<\/p>\n

Buescher gets the lead.<\/p>\n

MTJ as worked his way back to third place on lap 141 of 200.<\/p>\n

Green flag pit stops underway on lap 156 of 200.<\/p>\n

Tyler Reddick (45) has a right rear tire down after a slide. The team can’t get the right rear lug off the car, so he’s sitting on pit road under green as MTJ comes in, receives service, and leaves pit road.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Digital’s lap-by-lap has appeared 1358.<\/p>\n

At 1402 MRN’s Steve Post says it feels a little damp outside right now. He says the teams are expecting a weather caution on lap 170 of 200.<\/p>\n

On lap 182 of 200 as green flag pit stops come to a close Chris Buescher (17) and Martin ‘MTJ’ Truex Jr (19) cycle back to the front of the field. Buescher attempts to hold off MTJ.<\/p>\n

The skies around the track are rapidly darkening.<\/p>\n

MTJ and Buescher battle door-to-door on lap 187 of 200.<\/p>\n

MTJ gets loose and has to back off on lap 188 of 200.<\/p>\n

On lap 192 of 200 Todd Gilliland (38) takes his smoking car to pit road.<\/p>\n

On lap 195 of 200 MTJ has caught up to Buescher.<\/p>\n

Watching the cars go around with MRN calling it is exciting.<\/p>\n

Buescher takes the white flag.<\/p>\n

Chris Buescher (17) holds off Martin Truex Jr for the win by 0.152 seconds. He won last week at Richmond.<\/p>\n

At the end, that was a race worth watching. The finish was not a foregone conclusion. Both competitors are quality drivers. They raced hard and raced clean. With MRN calling the final laps and NBC mostly showing the two cars racing, it was exciting television that had me glued to the screen and feeling the excitement and drama of a hard fought race. It has been years since I’ve enjoyed a Michigan race as much as this one. It had many unexpected elements. It had good, hard racing at the end, by two talented drivers who worked hard to get in the positions to battle. There were multiple leaders that seemed viable throughout the event.<\/p>\n

Motorsport News:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. \n
        \n
      1. Jason Daskalos Wins Nashville GT America Race No. 2<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      2. ‘Blue Collaring It’: Ryan Ellis Has Gained 15 Sponsorships This Year<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      3. Chris Buescher seizes nail-biting victory in FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      4. McLaughlin explains why he’s too heavy for IndyCar cool suit<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      5. Power was “freaking out” in Nashville IndyCar earbuds panic<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      6. Stefan Wilson in good spirits after undergoing back surgery<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      7. Auto racing: A 360 photo finish at Knoxville<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      8. Chris Buescher Goes Back to Back With Michigan Win<\/a>.<\/li>\n
      9. Remainder of NASCAR Cup race at Michigan postponed until Mondayafter significant attrition<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Next Race: Indianapolis Road Course<\/h3>\n

        GO 48 & 9!!!!<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Cars in the field: 33 First: Tyler Reddick (45) Second: Alex Bowman (48) Laps completed: 74 of 200 Stages: 46 – 90 Weather: Cloudy, 65 degrees, feels like 68 with 90% humidity, winds 5-8 mph. Showers are predicted for 2pm as well with 13-21 mph winds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily","category-sports","category-things"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briari.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}