Kevin Harvick beat Brad Keselowski by .28 seconds, in Overtime, to win the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. Harvick, who led a race-high 92 laps, picked up his fifth win of 2020. This was also "The Closer"'s 54th career win, tying Lee Petty for 11th on NASCAR's all-time wins list.
Martin Truex Jr finished third, Ryan Blaney fourth, and Kyle Busch fifth. Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Darrell Wallace Jr, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. Erik Jones, who finished 11th, will be without a ride next season as Joe Gibbs Racing announced they will be parting ways with the 24-year-old. Jones has driven the number 20 Toyota Camry since 2018.
Harvick dominated the race which included winning all three stages.
The first of two Michigan races on the weekend featured multiple cautions, including three wrecks in the final 15 laps. This would lead to multiple restarts that featured intense side-by-side racing, which resulted in many four and five-wide battles for position. One could argue NASCAR's new "Choose Rule" was majorly responsible for this. This new rule features an orange V-shaped symbol painted on the track, just past the start/finish line, referred to as the "cone". Prior to a restart, drivers must "choose" which lane to restart in by driving past the left or right side of the cone. The "Choose Rule" was first used in NASCAR's annual All-Star race at Bristol Motor Speedway in July.
The Cup Series' second Michigan race, the Consumers Energy 400 on Sunday, starts at 4:30 p.m. on NBCSN.
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