Click here to follow us on Twitter @circletrackplus   Click here to like us on Facebook 

Sunday afternoon's Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway proved to be dominated by the sport's young guns with the most veteran of NASCAR's youth movement, Joey Logano, grabbing his 15th Sprint Cup victory at just 26 years old.

Logano, who started from the pole and led 138 of the race's 200 laps, believes his team helped keep him ahead of the curve when it came to NASCAR's developing rules packages.

"I didn't win, we won as a team," Logano explained. "You know, it was an amazing team effort from Friday or when we unloaded with this rules package.  You don't know what you're up against when you barrel down into Turn 1 the first time, and you say, oh, my God, they weren't kidding about that small spoiler on the back of it, and you start to -- everyone started working on the car, able to put the thing on the pin to start the race and be able to stay up in the top two the whole race.  It goes to show that not only did we have a fast race car, you've seen a lot of times a fast race car doesn't win the race all the time, you've got to execute throughout it.  

"Seeing the strategy that (crew chief) Todd had, the execution of the pit crew to keep us up front, the way the restarts went and able to maintain the lead and keep that clean air, everyone did their job the way we were supposed to.  It feels good to be able to do that."

Logano knows when you have a fast race car there is extra pressure to win.

"When you lead that many laps, it's more of a relief when you win than anything," Logano added. "Because you feel like you're supposed to when you have a car that good."

Continuing the youth movement was 20-year old freshman phenom Chase Elliott bringing home a second place finish following last week's heartbreaking finish at Pocono Raceway. Similar to last week's race, Elliott led 35 laps late but lost control of the race on the final restart. 

Elliott believes he came up a position short of the win due to self-inflicted issues.

"I had another fantastic car," Elliott said. "My guys have been doing a really good job the past few weeks, and we've been just trying to give it all we can get to get one of these things. Had another fantastic opportunity today, and I feel like definitely messed that one up for my guys. 

"You can't do dumb stuff and expect to win. That's just the way life is.  That's certainly the way this sport is, and I did dumb stuff today, so can't expect to win."

23 year old Kyle Larson drove Sunday while crew chief Chad Johnston served the mandatory one-race suspension for not having lug nuts tightened to specification following last week's race. 

Larson started in seventh place and finished in third place, the second top-ten finish of his Sprint Cup career at Michigan.

"It was a solid run for us," Larson said. "We've been consistent as we've been in the last year and a half anyways, so it's nice to be running up front and getting closer to a win I feel like.  Still got some work to do, but it is nice when we can get a package like this thrown at us just a few weeks before the race, and our guys at the shop and here at the racetrack can look at engineering data and come up with a good piece."

Logano's teammate Brad Keselowski finished in fourth place at his hometrack. Kevin Harvick finished in fifth place with Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch rounding out the top-ten finishers.

The victory all but secures Logano a spot in the Sprint Cup's Chase for the Championship, which would put Logano in the mix for a championship every season since leaving Joe Gibbs Racing for Team Penske in 2013. The win is of upmost importance due to the track's proximity to the headquarters of the car industry and winning for Ford was a big deal to the driver of the No. 22 car.

"I think it's great, it's also the 100th victory for Roush Yates, the engine department," Logano said. "So it's big for everybody to be able to win here at Michigan. I know how much it means when you see everybody show up at the racetrack here in the drivers' meeting earlier and they're introducing themselves, like this would be big if everybody can be celebrate in victory lane. 

"Not only being in Ford's backyard but being in Team Penske's backyard up here. (Team owner) Roger (Penske) built this place, so it's cool to be able to be in victory lane."

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 15
Unofficial Race Results for the 48Th Annual Firekeepers Casino 400 - Sunday, June 12, 2016
Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI - 2 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 400 Miles

Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Status    Tms    Laps
1    1    22    Joey Logano    Shell Pennzoil Ford    200    45    5    149.2    Running    5    138
2    10    24    Chase Elliott #    NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet    200    40    1    123.8    Running    2    35
3    7    42    Kyle Larson    Target Chevrolet    200    39    1    118.8    Running    1    1
4    15    2    Brad Keselowski    Miller Lite Ford    200    38    1    108.6    Running    2    10
5    29    4    Kevin Harvick    Outback Chevrolet    200    36        90.3    Running        
6    11    19    Carl Edwards    Subway Toyota    200    35        100.0    Running        
7    3    14    Tony Stewart    Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet    200    34        112.0    Running        
8    8    3    Austin Dillon    Dow Salutes Veterans Chevrolet    200    33        93.3    Running        
9    14    1    Jamie McMurray    McDonald's Chevrolet    200    32        80.0    Running        
10    17    41    Kurt Busch    Haas Automation/Monster Energy Chevrolet    200    31        80.5    Running        
11    6    31    Ryan Newman    Grainger Chevrolet    200    31    1    96.8    Running    1    1
12    2    78    Martin Truex Jr    Furniture Row Toyota    200    30    1    94.4    Running    1    10
13    23    5    Kasey Kahne    Farmers Insurance Chevrolet    200    28        70.6    Running        
14    19    20    Matt Kenseth    Dollar General Toyota    200    27        70.2    Running        
15    13    6    Trevor Bayne    AdvoCare Ford    200    26        72.6    Running        
16    16    48    Jimmie Johnson    Kobalt Chevrolet    200    26    1    85.1    Running    1    4
17    5    21    * Ryan Blaney #    Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford    200    24        81.0    Running        
18    32    27    Paul Menard    Knauf/Menards Chevrolet    200    24    1    70.5    Running    1    1
19    18    16    Greg Biffle    Ford EcoBoost Ford    200    22        74.3    Running        
20    22    34    Chris Buescher #    CSX Play it Safe Ford    200    21        62.1    Running        
21    25    10    Danica Patrick    Nature's Bakery Chevrolet    200    20        55.7    Running        
22    35    23    David Ragan    Weaver Media Toyota    200    19        45.0    Running        
23    34    15    Clint Bowyer    5-Hour Energy Chevrolet    200    18        50.7    Running        
24    21    95    Ty Dillon(i)    Red Kap/Nexteer Automotive Chevrolet    200    0        56.5    Running        
25    28    38    Landon Cassill    MDS Transport Ford    200    16        46.5    Running        
26    30    43    Aric Almirola    Smithfield Ford    200    15        47.7    Running        
27    36    55    * Cole Whitt     Chevrolet    200    14        40.5    Running        
28    39    46    Michael Annett    Allstate Peterbilt Group Chevrolet    200    13        36.8    Running        
29    12    17    Ricky Stenhouse Jr    Fifth Third Bank Ford    199    12        69.1    Running        
30    37    30    * Josh Wise    Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet    197    11        32.1    Running        
31    40    98    * Reed Sorenson     Chevrolet    194    10        29.5    Running        
32    24    13    Casey Mears    GEICO Chevrolet    189    9        53.8    Running        
33    4    11    Denny Hamlin    FedEx Office Toyota    188    8        89.2    Accident        
34    31    83    Matt DiBenedetto    Cosmo Motors Toyota    185    7        34.3    Accident        
35    33    7    Regan Smith    Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet    179    6        38.7    Running        
36    26    44    Brian Scott #    Albertsons Companies Ford    154    5        45.7    Accident        
37    38    32    Jeffrey Earnhardt #    Can-Am Ford    101    4        28.8    Accident        
38    20    47    AJ Allmendinger    Kroger/Hungry Jack/Crisco Chevrolet    62    3        45.5    Accident        
39    27    88    Dale Earnhardt Jr    Axalta Chevrolet    61    2        37.7    Accident        
40    9    18    Kyle Busch    M&M's RWB Toyota    52    1        62.8    Engine        
 Race Comments:    Joey Logano won the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, his 15th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 23 (Backup car). 
 Failed to Qualify:    N/A
 Time of Race:    02 Hrs, 58 Mins, 47 Secs.    Average Speed:    134.241 MPH    Margin of Victory:    0.889 Seconds
 Caution Flags:    9 for 46 laps: Laps: 47-50 (#78, 15 Accident Turn 3 [1]); 55-60 (Fluid On The Track From #18 [7]); 63-68 (#88, 47, 34 Accident Turn 2 [38]); 103-106 (#32 Accident Turn 2 [21]); 109-116 (#32 Accident Turn 3 [23]); 149-153 (Debris Backstretch [38]); 156-160 (#44, 10, 13 Accident Backstretch [55]); 164-167 (#6, 48, 21 Accident Turn 2 [46]); 190-193 (#11 Accident Frontstretch [46]).
 Lead Changes:    14 among 8 drivers: J. Logano 0; M. Truex Jr 1-10; J. Logano 11-40; B. Keselowski 41-47; J. Logano 48-93; K. Larson 94; R. Newman 95; B. Keselowski 96-98; J. Johnson 99-102; P. Menard 103; J. Logano 104-116; C. Elliott # 117-148; J. Logano 149; C. Elliott # 150-152; J. Logano 153-200.
Chase Grid Outlook:     1.Kyle Busch 417 (3 wins);2.B. Keselowski 480 (2);3.C. Edwards 472 (2);4.J. Johnson 441 (2);5.K. Harvick 526 (1);6.Kurt Busch 496 (1);7.J. Logano 455 (1);8.M. Truex Jr 433 (1);9.M. Kenseth 409 (1);10.D. Hamlin 380 (1);11.C. Elliott # 453 (0);12.D. Earnhardt Jr 383 (0);13.A. Dillon 381 (0);14.J. Mcmurray 374 (0);15.R. Newman 369 (0);16.*. Blaney # 364 (0).
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award    : Kyle Busch, #18     Coors Light Pole Award    : Joey Logano, #22 199.557 mph
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race"    : Brad Keselowski, #2     Ingersoll Rand Power Move    : Jamie McMurray, #1 10 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Roush-Yates Engines, #22     Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Kyle Larson, #42 
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race    : Chase Elliott, #24 0.227 secs    Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap    : Denny Hamlin, #11 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Chase Elliott, #24 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    Jun. 26, 2016 - Sonoma Raceway