BROOKLYN, Mich – Kyle Busch knew that his slight advantage over Joey Logano lately may diminsh a bit this weekend at the Michigan International Speedway. The 2-mile, D-shaped oval is one of his worst on the NASCAR schedule. It’s statistically his third worst track on the circuit and second worst on the remaining 14 tracks that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will visit in 2019.

On top of that, Joey Logano led 163 of 203 laps in his dominating June win on this very race track. Logano, had a top 10 finish in literally all but one race at Michigan since he joined Team Penske in 2013.

Through a majority of this race, it appeared that the regular season points battle would tighten up even more too. Entering Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400, Busch led Logano by just 13 points.

Logano, cut that deficit to nine heading into the final stage as he scored 14 stage points compared to Busch’s 10. Logano, finished fourth in both stages while Busch stayed out for track position in the second stage to take the green/checkered flag first for his fourth stage win in the last five weeks.

But, following pit stops, Busch was 16th while Logano was in the top five. The entire final stage, Logano looked like a favorite to win. He took the lead back over on Lap 127 and would lead 52 of the next 56 laps. The problem was, Logano knew that he had to save fuel. His No. 22 Ford was short.

Kevin Harvick passed him for the lead on Lap 183 and never looked back. Logano, ended up having to pit with three laps-to-go and would finish a disappointing 17th. He wasn’t the only one. As a result, Busch charged up to bring his No. 18 Toyota home sixth and actually extend his lead from 13 to 20 with only three races remaining in the regular season.

“We won stage two and then I had to get back in traffic there,” said Busch. “We were up to fifth on another restart, and just got shuffled back. I’d gain three spots in the corner and then lose four spots on the straightaway, and then gain three spots in the corner and then lose four spots on the straightaway. Just could never get going right with the balance of the car either. We just never felt in the racetrack all day long. It was always up on top, just sliding the back or sliding the front. Really ugly, but we persevered. Guys had to pit, and some guys ran out, and we finished sixth. We’ll take what we can get here and go on to Bristol.”

The reason this battle is so crucial is that you get 15 additional playoff points to be the regular season champion. That are big to use for the entire playoffs.