2019 Consumers Energy 400

The 2019 Consumers Energy 400 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on August 11, 2019 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contested over 200 laps on the 2 mi D-shaped oval, it is the 23rd race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Background
Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a 2 mi moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1400 acre approximately 4 mi south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation (ISC). Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards). Michigan is the fastest track in NASCAR due to its wide, sweeping corners and long straightaways; typical qualifying speeds are in excess of 200 mph and corner entry speeds are anywhere from 215 to 220 mph after the 2012 repaving of the track.

Entry list

 * (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
 * (R) denotes rookie driver.

First practice
Austin Dillon was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 37.901 seconds and a speed of 189.969 mph.

Qualifying
Brad Keselowski scored the pole for the race with a time of 37.801 and a speed of 190.471 mph.

Qualifying results

 * Reed Sorenson practiced and qualified the No. 77 for Garrett Smithley, who was in Mid-Ohio for the Xfinity Series race.


 * Austin Dillon and Daniel Hemric failed post-qualifying inspection and their times were disallowed. Each crew chief was fined $25,000 and 10 points were deducted from the driver and owner standings for each team.

Second practice
Kevin Harvick was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 37.795 seconds and a speed of 190.501 mph.

Final practice
Erik Jones was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 37.926 seconds and a speed of 189.843 mph.

The Start
Keselowski and Harvick quickly opened a 10 car-length lead on the rest of the field. Everyone showed a lot of courtesy on the start after the rumble at Watkins Glen last week. Things quickly moved to single lane racing as most drivers tip-toed around the traction compound for the start.

Ten laps in Truex had moved up to 14th position from his starting spot in the rear. Keselowski, Harvick, Logano, Alex Bowman(88) and Ryan Blaney(12) were the top five after things settled out.

Stage 1
Fifteen laps into the race Jimmie Johnson(48) got loose out of Turn 2 and smacked the wall, cutting down the right rear tire. The inner liner on the Goodyear tire held up and he was able to make it to the pits without tearing off the fender. The outer shell of the tire came loose and became entangled with the axle causing a lengthy pit stop.

Johnson returned to the race three laps down, dealing a serious blow to his efforts to make the playoffs. Harvick pitted early on Lap 32 for tires and fuel, Chase Elliott(9) followed 2 laps later. Pit strategy may be all over the board today as most leaders pitted around Laps 42 to 45.

Truex moved from the rear to 5th place before pit stops started and maintained the lead as drivers cycled through their gas and tire stops. Denny Hamlin(11) made a late run but Truex held on for the Stage 1 win.

Stage 2
After stage ending pit stops, Keselowski was back out front for the restart. This time with Hamlin pushing him away from the field. This time three-wide racing drove cars up the track and the PJ1 traction compound began getting some use.

Truex continued his charge to the front, passing Hamlin and moving into 2nd. He hounded Keselowski, they swapped the lead until Truex prevailed and took the top spot on Lap 91. With five laps to go in Stage 2, Keselowski cut down a tire and spun between Turns 3 & 4. He kept it off the wall and did not collect any of the other competitors. Coming immediately to the pits, Keselowski stayed on the lead lap.

With 3 laps to go several drivers opted to pit looking for track position at the end of the Stage. Other drivers chose to stay out and try and collect Stage points. The green flag waved with 1 lap to go in the stage. Truex, Kyle Busch(18), Jones, Kurt Busch(1), and Clint Bowyer(14) led the field to the restart.

Hot Lap
Kyle Busch drove past Truex to take the lead, Kurt Busch passed Jones for 3rd and Logano moved into 4th. On the entrance to the tri-oval, Aric Almirola(10) got into Daniel Hemric(8) and Austin Dillon(3) trying to squeeze between the two for a position. Almirola and Hemric rode the wall until they were able to regain control. Dillon spun through the tri-oval grass but avoided contact with the wall.

Kyle Busch got the Stage win.

The Final Stage
With the pit stop jumble at the end of the stage, the restart lineup was Kurt Busch, Logano, Ryan Blaney(12), William Bowman(24), and Paul Menard(21). Logano moved past Kurt Busch through Turns 1 & 2 and led for the first time today.Spencer Boyd(53), running in the last position, spun out of Turn 4 bringing out the caution on Lap 132. All the leaders stayed on the track with cars further back in the field the only ones opting to pit. Logano leads, followed by Kurt Busch, Blaney, Byron, and Kyle Larson(42).

The scramble for positions on the restart resulted in trouble for Bowyer. He badly damaged his car hitting the wall in Turn 3. Bowyer started the race 12 points up on Johnson and Ryan Newman(6). Unfortunately, Bowyer’s crew could not repair the car to maintain the minimum track speed and he retired to the garage.

More Trouble
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was added to the list of cars experiencing trouble as he spun in Turn 4 on Lap 148. The caution brought everyone to pit road on Lap 150. The average fuel run for the Cup cars at Michigan is 47 laps. So saving fuel may be the winning strategy over the final 50 laps of the race. Newman pitted a 2nd time with 1 to go for the restart to get as much fuel as possible.Four Ford Mustangs led the field back to green as Blaney restarted in 1st, followed by Logano, Keselowski, and Menard. Three Team Penske cars and the Wood Brothers car of Menard that has a close working relationship with Penske.This time the field avoided another wreck on the restart and racing resumed with Logano passing Blaney for the lead. Harvick and Hamlin passed Menard to move into the top five as drivers began the process of saving fuel for the finish.

The Closing Laps
Harvick moved into 2nd place and appeared to have the speed to catch Logano. Taking the lead with 17 laps to go it was Harvick, Logano, and Keselowski. Harvick quickly opened the interval between himself and Logano to over one second.Keselowski pitted with 10 laps to go, his crew had failed to completely fill the car on the pit stop with 50 to go. Dropping him to 25th, the next to last car on the lead lap. Logano was forced to pit with three laps to go as he ran out of gas.

Harvick was good on gas and he easily held off Hamlin for the win. After taking the checkered flag Harvick drove to pit road and picked up his son Keelan. Sharing the experience of the burnout and Keelan rode to the finish line picking up the checkered flag from the flagman.

Asked by NBC what he thought of the ride in Dad’s car Keelan responded “Kind of scary at first, but I liked it.”

Playoff Implications
The big loser today in the Playoff chase was Jimmie Johnson. His early tire trouble dropped him from a tie for the final playoff spot to 18th and 22 points below the bubble. It was also a bad day for Clint Bowyer, after hitting the wall and finishing 37th Bowyer dropped onto the bubble. Ten points behind Ryan Newman in 15th and six points ahead of Daniel Suarez.

Suarez entered the day 23 point below the cut line in 18th. His 5th place finish vaulted him into 17, just six points out of the playoffs. With three races left to go, Bristol, Darlington, and Indy the intensity is sure to amp up.

Michigan’s Erik Jones finished 18th breaking his four-race string of top-five finishes. While dropping from 13th to 14th, he remained 54 points above the cut line heading to a track he usually performs well at.

Stage results
Stage One Laps: 60

Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 80

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 19 among 8 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 6 for 24
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 2 hours, 40 minutes and 59 seconds
 * Average speed: 149.084 mph

Television
NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and two-time Michigan winner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio
Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 4 time Michigan winner Rusty Wallace had the call from the booth. Dave Moody called the action when the field raced thru turns 1 & 2. Kyle Rickey had the call for the race when the field raced thru turns 3 & 4. Covering the action in the pits was be Woody Cain, Kim Coon, and Pete Pistone.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.