Darrell Wallace Jr. celebrates with his team in victory lane at Michigan International Speedway after winning the LTi Printing 200. Eric Young — The SuperSpeedway

BROOKLYN, MI — The last time Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. was behind the wheel of a NASCAR Camping World Truck, he went to victory lane for Kyle Busch. Today at Michigan International Speedway, Bubba held off his former boss in a frantic finish to win the LTi Printing 200.

Wallace passed a battling Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric with 11 laps remaining to take the lead.

“I didn’t want to make that move, I didn’t want to make that move that early,” Wallace said, “I wanted to wait till three or four laps to go. I closed my eyes and turned left and when I opened them I was in the lead.”

Wallace said he and his team had two goals coming into his one-off run Saturday.

“We had a text message about the goal(s) we had. That was winning the race and beating Kyle’s ass and we did that.”

The win comes two and a half years since his his last truck series start. A 2014 victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

It was an uphill battle for Wallace, who started ninth in the No. 99 Chevrolet for MDM Motorsports and held the position until the end of stage one. After a caution on lap 53, Wallace was penalized for having a crewmember over the wall too soon and had to drop to the tail end of the field.

Using pit strategy to save fuel allowed Wallace to gain the field position needed to make his move. He said the win will help as he continues to look for a full time NASCAR ride in 2018. Wallace lost his Xfinity Series ride 12 races into the 2017 season due to lack of funding. He spent four races substituting for Aric Almirola’s No. 43 car at Richard Petty Motorsports.  

“I don’t know what my plans are for the rest of the year.” he said. “I have a lot of things working for 2018. I’m pretty confident that this helped. Hopefully this opens up more doors with these guys.”

Wallace said his one race deal with MDM came together approximately two weeks ago. The win is the first for the first year truck series team.

“This is such a huge moment for not only myself but for everyone involved,” Wallace said. “It’s all about who you surround yourself with. When you put a great combination together, there’s a good chance you can add a little more fire and come out here and do this.”

Christopher Bell battled for the win and had help from Kyle Busch, but it wasn’t enough to pass Wallace in the last 10 laps.

“I was pretty bummed,” Bell said. “I felt like I was in position to win. I’m disappointed in myself, really.”

The finish was the latest in a busy weekend for Bell who is on his way to compete in the Knoxville Nationals for Tony Stewart Racing. He also is on standby for Denny Hamlin on Sunday as Hamlin awaits the birth of his second child. Bell had the opportunity to practice the No. 11 Cup car during final practice.

“I was honored,” Bell said about being in Hamlin’s car. “It was a dream come true.”

Kyle Busch finished third after winning the first two stages, Ryan Truex was fourth and Austin Cindric was fifth.

The Camping World Truck Series returns to Bristol Wednesday night for the UNHO 200.

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Brad Keselowski takes a lap during practice Saturday at MIS.
Eric Young/The SuperSpeedway

BROOKLYN, MI — Brad Keselowski won qualifying Friday. He won final practice Saturday. He hopes he takes home the trophy Sunday in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Keselowski was fastest in final practice at MIS Saturday with a lap of 200.865 miles per hour. Keselowski starts from the pole Sunday.

He was one of only two cars to top 200 miles per hour during final practice. Martin Truex Jr. was second fastest with a lap of 200.172.

Final practice was pretty eventful, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne all hitting the wall. Kahne and Johnson will go to backup cars and fall to the rear Sunday. Stenhouse Jr.’s crew was able to fix his car, and he returned to the track during practice.

Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five at the end of final practice.

The Pure Michigan 400 takes the green flag at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Matt Crafton takes a lap in the first round of qualifying Saturday at MIS.
Eric Young/The SuperSpeedway

BROOKLYN, MI — Matt Crafton won the Keystone Light Pole for the LTi Printing 200 at Michigan International Speedway Saturday.

Crafton and Johnny Sauter will lead the field to the green. John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe and Noah Gragson will round out the top five.

Crafton’s pole-winning speed was 184.256. It is his first pole in 2017 and his 13th of his career. He has won the pole at MIS two other times.

Sauter will start in the top 10 for the 11th time this season with his second-place qualifying run. Nemechek will start in the top 10 for the first time at MIS.

Briscoe is the fastest qualifying rookie.

The Camping World Truck Series will take the green at 1 p.m. Saturday for 200 laps, 100 miles.

See the full starting lineup below.

Note: This is the first in a series of stories that will be published during the weekend of the Pure Michigan 400 as part of The SuperSpeedway’s coverage of the events from the track.

BROOKLYN, MI — If Kyle Larson can get to the checkered flag first Sunday, it will be his third win in a row at Michigan International Speedway. So how likely is it that Larson will earn his fourth win in his career at MIS and keep the streak alive?

Well, the truth is, not very likely. In fact, if he managed to pull it off, Larson would become only the third driver in history to win three in a row at the 2-mile Irish Hills speedway.

Many drivers have won two in a row at Michigan, but only two have won more consecutively.

The first time it happened was 1972 and 1973. David Pearson won the Motor State 400 in 1972, and followed it up later in the year with a win in the Yankee 400. He then won the Motor State 400 again the following year — the only Cup race at MIS, to end his streak at three races. Richard petty ended the streak in the 1974 Motor State 400.

The second time it happened, and the last time, started in 1984 when Bill Elliott won the Miller 400. People who have attended races at MIS for many years will tell you Elliott was one of the best there. And he proved it over those four races, winning the 1985 Champion Spark Plug 400, and doubling down the following season, winning both races again. Elliott holds the record for the most MIS races won in a row with four.

That’s it. No one else has done it.

Kyle Larson currently is among the ranks of drivers like Greg Biffle (he won two in a row twice), Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, Cale Yarborough, and Bobby Allison as drivers who have won two races in a row at the track.

Speaking of Yarborough, he won two in a row just once, but he won a lot more races than that at MIS. He won eight times, including the first time in 1969. But the record for most wins at MIS is held by Pearson, who did it nine times over his career.

So if Larson is able to pull out a win this weekend at MIS, he will join some very elite company. It could happen, but the deck is certainly stacked against him.

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