Good to The Last Drop: Denny Hamlin Earns Fuel Mileage Win in Michigan

It’s the 57th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series for Denny Hamlin, who becomes just the tenth driver in the history of NASCAR’s top-level to secure a victory after crossing over the 700-start milestone. The victory also makes him the winningest driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, breaking a tie with Kyle Busch.

“It’s fantastic,” Hamlin said post-race. “Chris Gayle, this whole team, has done a great job. We’ve been so fast throughout the entire year. Just haven’t finished it for one reason or another. Feels good to come here to Michigan where we’ve been so close over the years.”

Hamlin, like the majority of the NASCAR Cup Series field, had to make the fuel stretch for a 53-lap run to the finish at Michigan International Speedway. Several teams went into intense fuel conservation, and with the exception of William Byron, all teams made it back to the line.

“I was going all out pretty much the entire time,” Hamlin said about fuel saving during the final run. “Once I got to the lead, that’s when I started saving. He kept telling me I was good. I knew I was going to have to go 100% to get around everybody. Just worked them one by one.”

Chris Buescher, winner of the race’s first stage, finished in the runner-up spot, after making a late charge to the second position after saving fuel early on in the run. Ty Gibbs, Hamlin’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, finished in third.

For the second straight week, Bubba Wallace put together another strong effort, finishing fourth in his No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing. Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five to finish Sunday’s event, after battling some mid-race issues with low voltage.

Ross Chastain finished a solid sixth place, with Zane Smith collecting his second top 10 result of the second in seventh for Front Row Motorsports. Kyle Busch was eighth, while RFK Racing teammates Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10.

The biggest problem of the afternoon came early on in Sunday's 200-lap contest, when Alex Bowman was involved in a multi-car accident that saw the No. 48 Chevrolet slam into the outside wall head-on. Bowman was able to climb from his car, and was released from the infield care center.

William Byron, who led a race-high 98 laps on the afternoon, and was in an incredible position to collect his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, ran out of fuel in the closing laps of the event, which forced the No. 24 to settle for 28th.

Though, despite the poor finish, the Hendrick Motorsports driver remains the leader in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, holding a commanding points lead of 41 markers over second-place driver Kyle Larson.

Next, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the highly anticipated inaugural event in Mexico City. Coverage of the event will be on Sunday, June 15 at 3:00 PM ET on Prime Video, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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