Pit Stops : Michigan International Speedway

• Michigan International Speedway
• FireKeepers Casino 400
• Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Chase Briscoe
• Age: 30
• Team : No 19 - Bass Pro Shops Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: James Small
• Chase Briscoe won the Pole Award for the FireKeepers Casino 400 with a lap of 36826 seconds, 195514 mph
• This is his sixth pole in 159 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his fourth pole and sixth top-10 start in 2025
• This is his first pole in five races at Michigan International Speedway
• Kyle Busch (second) posted his sixth top-10 start of 2025 and his 19th in 37 races at Michigan International Speedway
• Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 21st top-10 start at Michigan International Speedway It is his eighth in 15 races this season
• Shane Van Gisbergen (26th) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Sunday, June 8th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

"Sorry, I Beat Your Favorite Driver": Hamlin Wins Michigan with Brilliant Fuel Play

Ultimately Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had just enough fuel to claim the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway and do one celebratory series of burnouts in front of the huge grandstand crowd before running out of gas on his encore celebration and needing a tow to his ultimate destination: Victory Lane.

The 44-year-old put on a master class in fuel saving and end-of-race pressure at the two-mile oval – taking his third win of the season and 57th of his career. Hamlin crossed the line 1.099-second ahead of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher and his JGR teammate, Ty Gibbs, after the day’s most dominant driver, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron had to pit for fuel on the last lap.

“No, not really,’’ Hamlin said, insisting he wasn’t overly worried about running out of fuel in the closing laps. “I wanted to get the lead and obviously he [William Byron] was doing a really good job defending.

“Sorry, but I beat your favorite driver,’’ a grinning Hamlin – in his 701st career series start – addressed the rowdy Michigan crowd.

“This whole team just stepped up,’’ he said. “Great job. We’ve been so fast this entire year, just haven’t finished it for one reason or another, so it feels good to come to Michigan where we’ve been so close the last couple of years.

“Such a gratifying day to restart 11th or 12th and charge to the front,’’ added Hamlin, who has now won multiple races in the last seven consecutive seasons.

With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin had made his way from 11th place to fifth in the running order, behind the day’s most dominant cars – Carson Hocevar in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Both Hocevar, a Michigan native racing for his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, and Byron were told by their crew chiefs they were going to run out of fuel before the end of the race. Instead of a fuel issue however, Hocevar, who led 32 laps, had to pit from the race lead with 19 laps remaining for a flat tire.

Byron, who led a race best 98 of the 200 laps, inherited the lead from Hocevar and then had to try to fend off Hamlin – who methodically started moving forward – racing Byron hard and forcing the championship leader out of any sort of fuel-save mode.

Hamlin got by Byron with four laps to go and Byron dove down pit road for fuel on the final lap, having to settle for a 28th place finish. Hocevar finished 29th.

“Ultimately, maybe not as good mileage as the guys farther back to start that run and that’s just the way the cautions go and the nature of being closer to the front and burning a lot of fuel,’’ Byron said. “That one, you can’t really do a lot about. It sucks. It really stings.

“But we had a really good car. I thought we executed well It seemed like we waited a little more on fuel on that last stop and just burned more, not able to do much about that. So it is what it is.’’

Bubba Wallace drove the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota – a team Hamlin co-owns – to fourth place. Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson was fifth.

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was sixth. Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith finished a season-best seventh place. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch was eighth followed by RFK teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski – marking the first time all three RFK cars finished among the top-10 this season.

There were 13 lead changes among 11 drivers and Hamlin led only five laps on the day.

A nearly 12-minute red flag period occurred early in the race while workers ensured the track was race-worthy after a four-car incident that sent the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, driven by Alex Bowman, hard into the wall after being clipped by Cole Custer’s spinning No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford. Bowman spoke to reporters after being checked out at the medical center. It marked the seventh time in the last nine races, however, that the perennial championship contender Bowman has finished 25th or worse.

With 11 races remaining in the regular season, Byron holds a 41-point lead over Larson in the championship points standings. There have been nine race winners. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric currently holds the 16th and final spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs point standings.

The NASCAR Cup Series will make its first international points-paying trip next weekend with Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250 at Mexico City’s renowned Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course

• Drivers Entered: 36
• Laps Scheduled: 200
• Margin of Victory: 01.099 Seconds
• Time of Race: 2 Hours 48 Minutes 20 Seconds
• Average Speed: 142.574
• Cautions: 7 for 33 laps
• Lead Changes: 15
• Green Flag Passes: 3,026 (18.1 passes per green flag lap)

• Michigan International Speedway
• FireKeepers Casino 400
• Race Winner: Denny Hamlin
• Age: 44
• Team : No 11 - Yahoo! Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: Chris Gayle
• Denny Hamlin won the FireKeepers Casino 400, his 57th victory in 701 Cup Series races
• This is his third victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2025
• This is his third victory and 20th top-10 finish in 35 races at Michigan International Speedway
• Chris Buescher (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 15 races at Michigan International Speedway It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2025
• Ty Gibbs (third) posted his third top-10 finish in four races at Michigan International Speedway
• Shane Van Gisbergen (18th) was the highest finishing rookie
• William Byron leads the point standings by 41 points over Kyle Larson