By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Michael Annett was no Tyler Reddick fan in the closing laps of Saturday’s LTi Print 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Not because of a bump-and-run or a questionable hand gesture, but because of fuel.
With Reddick stretching his fuel tank to see the checkered flag, Annett was the man in second place waiting for him to run dry.
“Everyone on that strategy, we knew it was tight,” Annett said. “There would be some laps I’d gain a ton on Tyler and I knew he was probably saving. So, I wasn’t getting too excited about some of those gains.”
Losing second spot to JR Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson in the final laps, Annett still saw a third-place finish.
“I was doing everything I could to catch him,” he said. “We weren’t saving at all and I drove through the front tires, missed [Turns] 3,4 and let Noah [Gragson] get by me.
“They weren’t telling me to save any and we have to win. That’s our plan all year.”
Seeing his third top-five finish of 2019, the performance stands in stark contrast of 2018, where Annett had no top fives and only three top 10s. Through 13 races in 2019, Annett has already tripled his top-10 stat with nine and sits ninth points, seven spots higher than this point one year ago.
“We’re in the position to go for it,” he said. “We didn’t get the win but it worked out for us to bring home a top five.
“We still have work to do. The [Nos.] 2, 00 and 20 are the fastest cars when we unload. We’ve got to find some speed in the week and unload were they’re at. We’re putting ourselves in position.”