Carl's Arris Surfboard Camry unloaded with a bit less speed than he has usually shown this year. His practice speeds were consistent, with 10th, 11th, and 9th places. And the three rounds of qualifying were similar: 12th, 10th, and 9th. It turns out that those positions were a glimpse into the future.
His always speedy pit crew got him a few spots on pit road, so he restarted in 14th on lap 25. A few laps later his teammate Kyle Busch spun out just inside of him, sending the 18 car sliding through the grass. Remarkably he did not get into Carl or hit anyone else, ending up with no damage to his car. Considering how loose everyone was, you would have expected a lot of cars spinning out this afternoon, but the race did not play out that way.
When the race resumed on lap 29 following Kyle's spin, Carl restarted in the 11th spot. The race went caution free for 89 laps, so we saw the usual Michigan green-flag pit stops. Carl told his crew chief that his car was too free on entry and had no speed in turns three and four. Dave Rogers responded with a significant air pressure adjustment and a wedge adjustment to accompany the four tires and fuel. But that did not have much effect on his position. Both before and after that green-flag pit stop, he ran between 10th and 14th.
The green flag laps were broken up with a debris caution on lap 118. The orange and white Arris car pitted for four more tires and fuel. But following the caution, the car continued to fall back through the field. Within 25 laps, he was back as far as the 17th position.
When the final caution flag waved 14 laps before the end of the race, Carl had advanced only three positions. The team elected to stay out, getting Carl the best track position of the entire race. With 9 laps to go, he restarted in 5th place. On older tires, he did fall back a few positions, eventually crossing the finish line in 7th. He maintained the 4th spot on the Chase grid but moved up one position in the drivers' standings, from 4th to 3rd.
The Gibbs cars as a whole did not show the power they have usually demonstrated. Carl's 7th place finish was the best of the bunch, with his teammates coming home in 9th, 13th, and 19th. It does make you wonder if they will not do as well next year with the new even-lower downforce package. Of course, there are other explanations to consider as well. Perhaps they have not yet taken the time and money to work on next year. Or they have and they are simply not showing their hand to their competitors. In any case, it makes me wish extra hard that Carl aces this year's championship run, while JGR continues to run strong.
Meanwhile, the race announcers were busy preparing for a new race winner. With young Chase Elliott leading the race, they spoke eloquently about the history of the 24 car, and how nobody but Jeff Gordon has ever won a race with that car number. They had the cameras trained on Rick Hendrick as he watched his rookie run up front. They described the nail biting that his crew chief was going through, and imagined how proud his father would be.
Well, they got their new race winner, but they had the number backwards. Without any cameras focused on Chip Ganassi, Kyle Larson in the 42 car finally did what everyone knew he would eventually do. He crossed the finish line first and kept going, doing doughnuts right into the winner's circle, and launching himself into the Chase. He was so exciting that he literally leapt into the arms of his teammates. During his interview in victory lane, the adrenaline surge left his legs so weak that he slid to the floor. Welcome to the contenders, Mr. Larson.
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