Michigan International Speedway is one unique racetrack on the NASCAR schedule. It drives like a mile and a half track in the corners, but with the speed of a superspeedway. And the men and women of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series would be the first to tackle the track on the weekend, in the Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan.
Matt Crafton (#88 Menard’s Toyota) would need to be on the offensive after losing the points lead at the last race at Pocono. He would start that aggression early, snatching up the pole, with rookie Daniel Hemric (#14 California Clean Power Chevy) starting alongside.
The three men in the field with the most Sprint Cup Series experience would dominate the early part of the race. After a first lap caution, Austin Dillon (#33 Rheem Chevy) would climb to the front, only to give the lead up to Kyle Busch (#51 Dollar General Toyota) a few laps later. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney (#29 Cooper Standard Ford) would chase the two leaders down, making it a three-truck battle.
However, on an exchange of pit stops on Lap 27 after Ray Black Jr. (#07 Chevy) spun for a second time, Busch would be caught speeding on pit road and sent to the back of the pack. Erik Jones (#4 Toyota), his teammate, would assume the lead on the restart. But as the race passed halfway, Jones would be passed for the lead by Johnny Sauter (#98 Nextant Aerospace Toyota).
Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was rallying quickly through the field. By Lap 60, Busch had risen from the rear to third. Having never won at Michigan in the Trucks Series, could he be back in the battle for victory lane? One more set of pit stops would help decide that.
On the green flag pit stops, leader Johnny Sauter would run into trouble with a slow stop. This would hand the lead over to the old leader Kyle Busch with only thirty laps to go. However, a debris caution would bunch the field back up again and set up a shootout in the Irish Hills.
A series of late race cautions would bring the final restart down to eleven laps to go. Or would it be? A crazy battle for the lead down the backstretch with ten laps left would give the lead to Austin Dillon, while Matt Crafton and John Wes Townley (#05 Zaxby’s Toyota) did a synchronized spin in Turn 4, which would eventually bring out the yellow.
With six laps remaining, Kyle Busch would lead them back down for a final restart, and would not lose. Busch would win the Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan, his first win in the Truck Series at Michigan. Ryan Blaney would finish second, and Erik Jones third.
In the championship hunt, Tyler Reddick (#19 Broken Bow Records Ford) would hang on to the lead, but Matt Crafton and Erik Jones were able to close in on the points leader. It will be a short turnaround for the trucks teams, as they race on Wednesday at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Coverage can be seen on Fox Sports 1.
