With four laps left in Monday's rain-delayed FireKeepers lucky col casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Monday, Martin Truex Jr. thought he had second place in the bag.
He and Kurt Busch were trailing eventual winner Joey Logano -- and making progress in a two-car draft. But Erik Jones spun into the infield grass inside Turn 2, setting up an overtime restart. Shortly after the green flag dropped, Busch passed Truex for the runner-up spot.
"I felt like before that we were going to finish second no matter what," Truex, who finished third, told the media after the race. "My mindset there was at least we got a shot at it here. Rack 'em up, have a green-white-checkered and see."
The higher-downforce, lower-horsepower competition package introduced into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series this season had the desired effect at Michigan -- producing closer racing throughout the field. At no point did a leader pull out to a sizable advantage.
