Mother Nature struck NASCAR again on Sunday this year with only 51 of the scheduled 200 laps completed in Michigan. The remaining mileage of the 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 was postponed to Monday and will be picked up on the weekday. The latest update from the HQ has put forward a new schedule for fans. Chase Elliott currently leads the field with defending champion Ryan Blaney winning Stage 1.
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Parking lots at Michigan International Speedway will open at 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday, reported FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass. The gates to the facility themselves will open at 10:00 a.m. and the drivers will walk to their cars at 10:40 a.m. The green flag is expected to wave exactly at 11:05 a.m. An important point to note is that the teams will not be allowed to work on their cars at this time.
Mother Nature isn't being very demure or mindful right now. 💔
Red flag is out due to rain on USA Network. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/zU7B53uU0c
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 18, 2024
NASCAR will ensure this through preliminary checks of each car on the field. On a positive note, there is less than a 5% chance of rainfall at the new scheduled time. Forecasts call for sunny skies when the event restarts. Stage 2 will end with Lap 120 and the final stage will then wind things up 80 laps later. Behind Elliott is Martin Truex Jr. in second place and Bubba Wallace in third. Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick round off the top five.
What went down in the first 51 laps at Michigan?
Rain has disrupted plans for racing throughout this weekend and Sunday didn’t prove to be any different. The FireKeepers Casino 400 kicked off two hours after its originally intended time with Denny Hamlin leading the field from the pole. Kyle Larson quickly took the lead from him and maintained the position through most of the stage. Hamlin, however, got back to his side with 11 laps to go.
Once side-by-side, both drivers lost their momentum and this allowed Bubba Wallace to get past them. Hamlin battled hard against the #23 driver and spun on Lap 38 as he exited Turn 4 a bit too high. The race’s first caution came out as a result. The yellow flag helped play out an interesting end to the stage. A few drivers such as Chris Buescher chose to stay out of the pits to collect stage points.
A chaotic restart then saw Blaney gather up the stage win on Lap 45. Elliott came in second followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. The drivers that stayed out came in for fuel and tires after the restart. However, stage 2 of the 400-mile-long event never got going. The red flag waved at the end of Lap 51 and pushed things to Monday. All 36 drivers who started remain in contention with Elliott holding the controls. Who can take the checkered flag first on Monday remains to be seen.
