Denny Hamlin achieves fuel-mileage Cup victory at Michigan

Denny Hamlin executed a late fuel-mileage battle to a victory to perfection. The result enabled him to win the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 8.

The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led twice for five of 200-scheduled laps in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Hamlin started in third place and spent a majority of the event racing up front. He notched a combined 11 stage points between the event’s first two stage periods.

Through a handful of on-track incidents and various pit strategies during the event, Hamlin made a decisive move to victory. It came in the final 55 laps when he pitted with the entire field for fresh tires and fuel. Restarting in ninth place with 49 laps remaining, Hamlin methodically charged his way to the front. He assumed the runner-up spot and had the leader William Byron in front of him with 14 laps remaining.

Hamlin then spent the next 10 laps dual-tasking. While conserving fuel, he was also stalking Byron. This forced Byron to burn off every ounce of fuel through every corner and straightaway under race pace. Once Hamlin overtook Byron for the lead with four laps remaining, he never looked back. With enough gas in his tank to motor his way through the remaining laps, he claimed his third Cup Series victory of the season.

On-track qualifying to determine the starting lineup occurred on Saturday, June 7. Chase Briscoe notched his third consecutive Cup Series pole position in recent weeks with a 195.514 mph lap in 36.826 seconds. It was his fourth of the 2025 season and the sixth of his career. Joining Briscoe on the front row was Kyle Busch, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 195.371 mph in 36.853 seconds.

Prior to the event, Tyler Reddick, the reigning race winner at Michigan, dropped to the rear of the field due to repairs made to his splitter on his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry.

Green Flag

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, pole-sitter Chase Briscoe and Kyle Busch dueled for the lead in front of two-stacked lanes through the first two turns. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Busch tried to muscle ahead of Briscoe from the inside lane entering Turns 3 and 4, but Briscoe would use the outside lane to muscle his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE entry ahead entering the frontstretch. With the early advantage working to his favor, Briscoe led the first lap.

Over the next four laps, Briscoe maintained the lead while William Byron, who assumed the runner-up spot during the second lap, kept Briscoe closely within his sights and by a tenth of a second. Behind, Denny Hamlin was in third place and Kyle Busch dropped to fourth place while Chris Buescher occupied fifth place.

For the following five laps, Buescher would overtake Busch for fourth place. Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar and Bubba Wallace trailed in the top 10, respectively. Briscoe retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Byron at the Lap 10 mark.

Then on the 11th lap, Byron drew his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet entry alongside Briscoe’s Toyota entering the backstretch. He would overtake the latter to assume the lead for the first time. As Byron led Briscoe, Buescher battled Hamlin for third place while Busch trailed in fifth place.

Josh Berry overtook Busch for fifth place on Lap 15 as Byron led by three-tenths of a second at the Lap 20 mark. By then, Ryan Blaney was up to eighth place in front of Hocevar. Wallace dropped to 12th place behind Ty Gibbs and Zane Smith. Also, Tyler Reddick, after starting at the rear of the field due to splitter repairs, was up to 20th place.

During the first 30 laps, Byron continued to lead by a tenth of a second ahead of a hard-charging Buscher who assumed the runner-up spot 12 laps earlier. Meanwhile, Hamlin trailed by two seconds in third place and he was racing ahead of teammate Briscoe and Berry.

Larson, Blaney, Busch, Hocevar and Wallace trailed in the top 10. They were followed by Zane Smith, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, AJ Allmendinger, Ross Chastain, Reddick, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson and John Hunter Nemechek, respectively.

Three laps later, Daniel Suarez, who was racing in the top-30 mark, made an unscheduled pit stop under green to have a vibration in his No. 99 Jockey Chevrolet entry addressed. Suarez dropped out of the lead lap as a result and Byron retained the lead for the next two laps. Then, Buescher made his move beneath Byron through the frontstretch to assume the lead. Having the clear air to his advantage, Buescher led Byron by half a second by Lap 40.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Buescher steered his No. 17 Kroger Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry to his first Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Byron and Hamlin followed suit in second and third. Briscoe, Berry, Blaney, Larson, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Hocevar were scored in the top 10, respectively.

Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Buescher pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Blaney, who entered pit road in sixth place, exited pit road first. He was followed by Hamlin, Hocevar, Buescher, Elliott, Busch, Byron, Wallace, Larson and Ross Chastain, respectively.

Stage 2

The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Blaney and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney received a push from Hocevar from the outside lane. This enabled Blaney to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry ahead of Hamlin and lead through the first two turns. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Blaney led the following lap. Hamlin and Hocevar dueled for the runner-up spot. Elliott and Byron then placed both Hamlin and Hocevar in a tight four-wide battle entering the first two turns. Elliott then assumed the runner-up spot. Hocevar, Byron and Hamlin trailed from third to fifth, respectively. Blaney led to the Lap 55 mark before Elliott assumed the lead a lap later.

On Lap 59, the caution returned. John Hunter Nemechek, who was racing in the top-20 mark, got sideways in Turn 2. He made contact with the outside wall and spun his No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE entry below the track. As Nemechek wrecked, Noah Gragson, who was racing behind Nemechek, also got sideways and spun his No. 4 MillerTech Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry below the track.

At the time of caution, Elliott was still leading. Blaney, Byron, Hocevar and Chastain were racing in the top five ahead of Larson, Wallace, Reddick, Busch and Erik Jones.

During the latest caution period, various pit strategies within the field ensued. Some, led by Berry and including Allmendinger, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, rookie Riley Herbst, Austin Dillon, Logano, Todd Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Suarez, Alex Bowman, Cole Custer, Ty Dillon, Michael McDowell and Brad Keselowski pitted their respective entries. Meanwhile, the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

The start of the next restart on Lap 65 featured Elliott fending off Blaney to retain the lead as the field fanned out from the first two turns to the backstretch. The field continued to fan out and jostle for spots as Elliott led the following lap. During the following lap, the caution quickly returned. It was a result of slight contact between Austin Cindric and Cole Custer within the mid-field region. It got Custer loose and he went up the track, making contact with Suarez and Alex Bowman in Turn 2.

The ensuing chaos resulted in Bowman slamming the outside wall head-on, which terminated the latter’s long afternoon of racing within the mid-field region, while Briscoe spun while trying to avoid the spinning entries of Custer and Suarez. The incident was also enough to place the event in a red flag period for 11 minutes.

When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, more pit strategies ensued as a majority of the field led by Byron pitted. Meanwhile, the rest led by the leader Elliott and including Bell, McDowell, Logano, Keselowski, Gilliland, Austin Dillon, Ryan Preece, Cindric, Justin Haley and Nemechek remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Larson was penalized for speeding on pit road.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 70, Elliott and Bell dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as the field fanned out to multiple lanes. Elliott would then use the outside lane to rocket past Bell entering the frontstretch and he would lead the next lap while Logano battled Keselowski and McDowell for third place. During the following lap, McDowell executed a bold three-wide move on both Keselowski and Logano to overtake both for third place while Byron, Haley, Preece and Gilliland all reeled in on the trio.

Following another caution that started on Lap 72 when Nemechek was involved in a second incident of the event, this time in Turn 4, Elliott surrendered the lead to pit his No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet entry for fresh tires and fuel on Lap 75. Briscoe, Allmendinger, Suarez and Berry would also pit their respective entries.

The start of the next restart on Lap 77 featured both Bell and McDowell dueling for the lead in front of a stacked field before Byron executed a three-wide move beneath the latter two to rocket into the lead. As Byron led, Reddick navigated his way into the runner-up spot before Bell reassumed the spot for the following lap. Meanwhile, Keselowski and Logano were in the top five ahead of McDowell while Gilliland, Haley, Hamlin and Ty Dillon were trailing in the top 10 and jostling in front of the field.

At the Lap 90 mark, Byron was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Bell while Reddick, Keselowski and Gilliland followed suit in the top five. Behind, Preece, Hamlin, Hocevar, Logano and McDowell trailed in the top 10 ahead of Zane Smith, Cindric, Ty Dillon, Wallace and Chastain while Kyle Busch, Blaney, Stenhouse, Larson and Buescher all occupied the top-20 spots, respectively. Meanwhile, Elliott was scored in 22nd place behind Erik Jones while Briscoe was mired in 28th place.

Ten laps later, at the halfway mark of the event, Byron continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Bell while Reddick and Keselowski also continued to race in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Preece was up to fifth place as both Hamlin and Hocevar were up to sixth and seventh. Behind, Gilliland dropped to eighth place ahead of teammate Zane Smith and Cindric while Elliott was mired in 20th place.

Another six laps later, Bell, who was reeling in on Byron for the lead, surrendered the runner-up spot to pit his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE entry under green for fuel. This allowed Reddick, Keselowski, Hamlin and Preece to move up into the top-five mark within the leaderboard as Byron retained the lead. The caution would then fly on Lap 108 due to Blaney, who was scored in 12th place, racing up the track and making contact with the outside wall in Turn 4 before he spun towards the pit road entrance.

During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Byron pitted for service while the rest led by Austin Cindric remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Byron exited pit road first ahead of Reddick, Hocevar, Hamlin and Wallace.

The field restarted under green with seven laps remaining in the second stage period. As the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Cindric retained the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Reddick then shoved Cindric away from the field through the backstretch before trying to make a move beneath Cindric for the lead. The battle between Cindric and Reddick allowed Byron to join the battle. Byron tried to execute a three-wide move through the frontstretch during the following lap. But Cindric retained the top spot as a bevy of battles within the field ensued. Cindric, who was racing on worn tires compared to nearly the entire field, maintained the lead. Byron, however, dueled and overtook Cindric on the final lap of the second stage period.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Byron captured his seventh Cup stage victory of the 2025 season. Meanwhile, Cindric fended off a hard-charging Hocevar for the runner-up spot. Reddick, Chastain, Preece, Wallace, Hamlin, Ty Dillon and Erik Jones, respectively, scored in the top 10. By then, Briscoe had drifted back to 32nd place and teammate Bell was mired in 30th place. Elliott was in 15th place behind Busch, Larson, Austin Dillon and Buescher.

Final Stage

During the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Cindric, pitted. They included Larson, the Dillon brothers, Elliott, McDowell, Zane Smith, Stenhouse, Logano, Haley, Gilliland, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Gragson and Cody Ware. The rest of the field, led by Byron, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, van Gisbergen was penalized for removing a wedge wrench out of his pit box as the wrench was attached toward the rear window area.

With 74 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Byron and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Byron used the outside lane to muscle ahead of Hocevar and retain the lead entering the backstretch. The field behind was stacked up, bumping, jostling and fanning out. But Byron retained the lead and continued to lead with 70 laps remaining over Hocevar. Meanwhile, Hamlin, Reddick and Wallace battled for third place.

Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Byron maintained a steady lead of seven-tenths of a second over Hocevar while Hamlin was in third place. Hamlin’s team-owned cars of Reddick and Wallace followed suit in the remaining top-five spots. Kyle Busch, Berry, Buescher, Erik Jones and Larson trailed in the top 10. They were followed by Suarez, Preece, Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Zane Smith, Elliott, Gilliland, Bell, Allmendinger and McDowell, respectively.

Then with 55 laps remaining, the caution flew when Gilliland, who was racing in the top-20 mark, blew a left-rear tire. It resulted in him backing his No. 34 Martin Transportation Systems Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry hard into the outside wall in Turn 2. During the caution period, the lead lap field peeled off the track to pit for service.

Following the pit stops, Zane Smith, who opted for a two-tire pit service, exited pit road first. He was followed by Hocevar, McDowell, Byron, Larson, Berry, Buescher, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs and Wallace, the latter nine of whom opted for four tires. Amid the pit stops, Reddick lost a bevy of spots due to being blocked by Keselowski while trying to exit his pit stall.

The following restart with 49 laps remaining featured Hocevar using the inside lane and his four fresh tires to muscle ahead of Zane Smith and transition to the outside lane. Larson then drew even with Hocevar through the backstretch and tried to muscle ahead from the inside lane. Hocevar, however, rocketed his No. 77 Zeigler Chevrolet entry ahead to lead the following lap. As Hocevar led, a bevy of on-track battles ensued within the field. Byron, Larson, Buescher and Zane Smith all battled within the top-five mark.

With 40 laps remaining, Hocevar, who was reported to be four laps shy of reaching the event’s scheduled distance on his current fuel tank, was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Byron. Larson, Zane Smith and Buescher occupied the top five spots.

By then, teammates Byron and Larson, who were both racing on similar fuel mileages, remained within striking distance of Hocevar as they were trying to save fuel through every corner and straightaway. The trio of Hocevar, Byron and Larson were separated by six-tenths of a second with 30 laps remaining while Hocevar continued to lead.

With less than 25 laps remaining, Hocevar maintained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron while Larson trailed in third place by six-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, fourth-place Ty Gibbs started to reel in the three leaders as he trailed by a second. Hamlin, who was reported to have enough fuel to reach the event’s scheduled distance, trailed by nearly two seconds in fifth place. Behind, the top 10 spots were occupied by Zane Smith, Buescher, Reddick, Chastain and Kyle Busch while Hocevar continued to lead with 20 laps remaining.

Then with 19 laps remaining, Hocevar’s hopes of contending for a first Cup Series victory evaporated when he blew a left-rear tire. The incident started in the backstretch and he was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop under green. With Hocevar out of contention and the event remaining under green, Byron assumed the lead.

He was followed by teammate Larson, Ty Gibbs, Hamlin and Buescher, respectively. Hamlin then proceeded to overtake teammate Gibbs and Larson, the latter of whom he had an early run-in on the track and moved into the runner-up spot. Byron retained the lead with 14 laps remaining.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Byron fended off Hamlin despite Hamlin’s pressuring attempts to burn off fuel by racing at full speed to lead. Ty Gibbs then overtook Larson for third place. Over the next five laps, Byron maintained the lead while blocking and fending off Hamlin. Third-place Ty Gibbs trailed by a second. In addition, Buescher overtook Larson for fourth place while Wallace was up to sixth place ahead of Chastain, Zane Smith, Kyle Busch and Preece.

Then with five laps remaining, Hamlin made a move beneath Byron for the lead through the first two turns. Both remained dead even with one another through the backstretch and the frontstretch. This allowed Ty Gibbs to slowly reel in both drivers. As Byron tried to side-draft Hamlin and muscle back ahead during the next lap, Hamlin used the inside lane through the backstretch. He fought back and muscled his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE entry into the lead entering Turns 3 and 4. As Hamlin led with three laps remaining, Buescher overtook Gibbs for third place while Hamlin began to slowly pull away from Byron.

Denny Hamlin Wins

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained in the lead over Buescher and Ty Gibbs while Byron pitted after he ran out of fuel. With his fuel tank and motor still running strong, Hamlin was able to cycle his No. 11 Toyota around Michigan smoothly for the final time. He returned to the frontstretch and crossed the finish line for his third checkered flag of the 2025 season.

With the victory, Hamlin notched his 57th career win in NASCAR’s premier series. It was his third at Michigan International Speedway and his first time winning at the track since June 2011. The victory was the seventh of the 2025 campaign for both Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin also joined Kyle Larson and teammate Christopher Bell as three-time Cup winners through the first 15-scheduled events.

The victory was a satisfactory one for Hamlin. His latest victory occurred at Darlington Raceway in April. He has led a total of 142 laps between his Darlington victory to his current win at Michigan. In addition to achieving 700 Cup career starts last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, Hamlin also continues to await the birth of his third child with his fiancée Jordan Fish.