Moments that changed the course of the 23rd race of the 2014 season
GORDON'S RESTART BEATS LOGANO FOR WIN
Jeff Gordon passed Joey Logano on a restart with 17 laps to go and held off the field to win the Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.
Gordon has 91 career wins on the premier circuit, which ranks first among active drivers and third all-time. It was the third time he's won at Michigan, and the first time in over 13 years.
Kevin Harvick placed second, 1.413 seconds behind Gordon; Logano finished third, Paul Menard fourth and points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fifth.
Logano led a race-high 86 laps and Gordon led 69 of the 200 laps.
Gordon became the fourth driver this season to win three Sprint Cup races, joining Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski.
DANICA PATRICK, 8 OTHERS INVOLVED IN WRECK
A nine-car wreck on a Lap 26 restart that was triggered by Danica Patrick getting loose sent three competitors to the garage early in Sunday's Pure Michigan 400.
Battling for position with Jeff Burton, who is driving the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, Patrick got sideways and slid down the track in Turn 2, setting off a chain reaction.
Justin Allgaier rammed Patrick's No. 10 Chevy, with Michael Annett and Trevor Bayne stacking up behind.
Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., JJ Yeley and Travis Kvapil were also caught up in the incident, which produced the third caution flag of the day at Michigan International Speedway.
Kenseth, Bayne and Allgaier were forced to wheel their vehicles behind the wall for extensive repairs. Patrick and Truex stayed on pit road for their respective fixes.
KYLE BUSCH'S EARLY CRASH TAKES HIM OUT OF CONTENTION
Kyle Busch's tough run of luck in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series extended to a third rocky week Sunday with an early scrape with the wall at Michigan International Speedway.
Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota snapped loose and into the Turn 4 wall shortly after the start of Sunday's Pure Michigan 400. His car then went high in Turns 1 and 2 to bring out the race's first caution period in just the fourth of 200 laps.
Busch, who started 24th in the 43-car field, brought the car directly behind the wall to the garage. After debriefing with his crew, Busch jumped in with a drill to help the team with repairs.
Busch returned to the race in last place, 25 laps off the leader's pace. After scoring runner-up finishes in three out of four races from late June to late July, Busch is left with the prospect of logging three consecutive lackluster finishes. He started this month with a 42nd place after engine failure at Pocono Raceway and followed it with a 40th-place effort after sustaining damage at Watkins Glen.