In a race that was slowed by a record 11 cautions and even a red flag on Sunday, Denny Hamlin pulled away to win by 11.1-seconds over Erik Jones at Michigan International Speedway, tying the late Kyle Busch for ninth on the all-time wins list.
Here are three takeaways from the NASCAR Cup Series’ FireKeepers Casino 400:
Denny Hamlin comes from the back again in Michigan win
Just one week ago, Hamlin jumped the start and had to rally from the back of the field for his first Nashville win. Despite winning his 50th career pole in Saturday’s qualifying session, his team had to make repairs following a flat tire in practice, forcing him to drop to the rear on pace laps.
Hamlin made his way up to eighth by the end of Stage 2. A three-wide move around Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar with 38 laps to go finally put him in clean air, and the rest was history as Hamlin drove away to his third points-paying win of 2026 and his second straight at Michigan.
Hamlin, who was teammates with Busch from 2008-22 at Joe Gibbs Racing, immediately paid homage to the late star by doing a Polish Victory Lap and a burnout with a Busch flag hanging out his driver’s side window.