Matt Kenseth had little to say about how NASCAR's rules package affected his race at Michigan International Speedway.
Kenseth started in the lead, stayed there for most of the race and finished with his third Sprint Cup victory of the season Sunday, beating Kevin Harvick by 1.7 seconds.
It was the second race under NASCAR's high-drag aerodynamic package, which was also in place at Indianapolis last month in an effort to improve passing. At Michigan, Kenseth won while leading 146 of 200 laps - so whatever excitement there was occurred further back in the pack.
It was his 34th career victory, and Joe Gibbs Racing has won five of the last six Cup races - two by Kenseth and three by Kyle Busch.
Martin Truex Jr. finished behind Harvick in third. Austin Dillon, who was sent to the back at the beginning of the race because of an engine change, managed a fourth-place showing, and Kyle Busch took another step toward wrapping up a spot in the Chase with an 11th-place run in his backup car.
Kenseth had a comfortable lead before a caution with 17 laps remaining tightened things up, but he had little trouble holding off Harvick after the restart.
NASCAR used a special high-drag aerodynamic package for this race and last month's at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was supposed to improve passing, but aside from one brief duel at the front between Kenseth and Dillon with about 55 laps left, there was little drama in terms of lead changes.
Kenseth led for the first 22 laps, and there were 16 lead changes after that.
Clint Bowyer's Chase chances look more tenuous after he went into the wall Sunday and finished 41st. He's now 15th in the standings.
Busch came into the race in 30th place, needing to avoid major mistakes because although he has four wins in 2015, a top-30 ranking is required for entry into the Chase. Busch wrecked his car in practice Saturday and had to start the race from the back, but he had a solid, uneventful day, even leading for a couple stretches.
He's now 29th in the standings, 23 points ahead of 31st-place Cole Whitt.
Harvick remained atop the standings and now leads Joey Logano by 48 points. Logano finished seventh.
