BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Joey Logano broke into Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, claiming his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of the 2016 season when he took the checkered flag in the FireKeepers Casino 400.
Logano became the 10th different winner of the season.
Sprint Cup rookie Chase Elliott finished second, Kyle Larson was third and Brad Keselowski fourth, respectively.
"What a fun race, racing with Chase and Kyle," Logano said. "It was fun to see the young guys up there racing. I am not alone up there as a young guy anymore. I have guys up there younger than me racing for a win."
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Kevin Harvick finished fifth after starting 29th.
"I've got to say 'thank you' to everybody from Stewart-Haas Racing, especially on the No. 4 Outback Chevrolet, and everybody from Busch, and Jimmy John's, and Mobil 1 and everybody who helps this car," Harvick said. "They fought all day and had great pit stops on pit road. We were able to overcome some missed-time cautions, again. It seems like the weekend of cautions; that's what got us in our starting spot, anyway. But, all-in-all, everybody kept their heads up and kept digging, and we got a good finish out of it."
NASCAR used the Michigan race as an experiment aimed at lowering downforce with a shorter rear spoiler and smaller front splitter. The changes didn't hinder Logano, as he dominated by leading nearly three quarters of the 200-lap race.
"What a great race car," Logano said. "To win here in Roger's (Penske, car owner) backyard and Ford's backyard, this is always a big win for us, here. We appreciate the great car. What a crazy race with the low downforce and with more cautions and more opportunity to screw up, pretty much."
After losing the lead to Elliott on a lap 116 restart, Logano got back up front for good on the next restart following a yellow flag on lap 148.
Elliott was slow to get up to speed on the restart and dropped outside the top-five. He quickly recovered, racing back up to fourth before the caution came out again on lap 155. When the race returned to green, Elliott quickly found himself in second.
"I just did something dumb," Elliott said. "You can't do dumb stuff and win these races. Completely my fault. The guys gave me a great car today. This whole NAPA group has been working so hard these past few weeks, and that one was on me. Like I said, you can't do dumb stuff to win these things, and I did today."
Logano started on the pole but wasn't credited with a lap led until lap 11. Martin Truex Jr., who started next to Logano on the front row, took the top spot at the start of the race and led the first 10 laps.
Truex spun to bring out the first caution on lap 46, but he got back near the front of the race field, partly due to a call to take only two tires during the lap 148 caution.
Logano led most of the laps throughout the first half of the race, but his Team Penske teammate Keselowski was credited with leading 10 laps in the first half after staying out longer than most of his fellow competitors during two different cycles of green-flag pit stops.
Keselowski looked to stay out too long during the first cycle of green-flag stops around lap 40, seeming to struggle with a fuel pick-up issue before the first caution of the race for Truex's spin. But Keselowski recovered quickly and was back inside the top-five by the third yellow flag on lap 62.
In the second half of the race, Keselowski ran as high as second to teammate Logano, giving Team Penske the top-two positions in the running order for a time.
The yellow flag waved nine times throughout the race. Notable drivers caught up in on-track incidents that brought out cautions included Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.
"I think you saw that you have to really drive these cars," Keselowski said of the high number of cautions. "They are hard to drive, and that causes accidents. I don't think that is a bad thing. It just means everybody is on the edge. You could really see that today."
NOTES: Kyle Larson and Greg Biffle both were without their regular crew chiefs for the FireKeepers Casino 400. Chad Johnston, Larson's crew chief, was serving a one-race suspension for a lug nut issue June 6 at Pocono Raceway. For Brian Pattie, Biffle's crew chief, the Michigan International Speedway was the second race of a two-race suspension for multiple rules violations committed in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29. ... NASCAR also plans to test the aero package changes introduced at MIS in the race at Kentucky Speedway in July. ... Kurt Busch was the defending winner of the FireKeepers Casino 400 and also was the most recent winner in the Sprint Cup Series heading into Sunday's race at MIS, winning Pocono's rain-delayed race Monday. Matt Kenseth is the most recent winner at Michigan, emerging victorious at the track last August. ... Kyle Busch led 88 laps and finished second in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at MIS on Saturday.
