Denny Hamlin showcases master class in fuel-saving to win at Michigan International Speedway: 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.[Read more]
#11-Denny Hamlin won the FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway. The win is his third win of the year, third at Michigan and 57th career win.
#17-Chris Buescher finished 2nd followed by #54-Ty Gibbs, #23-Bubba Wallace, #5-Kyle Larson, #1-Ross Chastain, #38-Zane Smith, #8-Kyle Busch, #60-Ryan Preece, and #6-Brad Keselowski.
A caution with 53 laps remaining set up a fuel mileage battle at the end of the race. #77-Carson Hocevar led much of the final portion but was short on fuel and cut a tire down with less than 20 to go. #24-William Byron took over the lead and held it until there were four laps remaining. Hamlin passed him for the lead and then Byron ran out of fuel before the finish.
Pole sitter #19-Chase Briscoe suffered damage during an accident near the start of stage 2 and finished 23rd.
Stage 1 was won by #17-Chris Buescher. Stage 2 was won by #24-William Byron.
The fastest lap bonus was earned by #24-William Byron.
There were 15 lead changes among 11 drivers and 7 cautions for 33 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 142.574mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Race Fast Facts – Michigan:
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
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Michigan:
Race 15 of 26 in the regular season
1) #5-Kyle Larson, 3 wins, 535 [23 playoff points]
2) #11-Denny Hamlin, 3 wins, 494 [18 playoff points]
3) #20-Christopher Bell, 3 wins, 480 [16 playoff points]
4) #24-William Byron, 1 win, 576 [regular season points leader], [12 playoff points]
5) #12-Ryan Blaney, 1 win, 427 [8 playoff points]
6) #1-Ross Chastain, 1 win, 414 [5 playoff points]
7) #22-Joey Logano, 1 win, 395 [7 playoff points]
8) #2-Austin Cindric, 1 win, 318 [7 playoff points]
9) #21-Josh Berry, 1 win, 309 [6 playoff points]
10) #9-Chase Elliott, 464, +142 ahead of 17th
11) #45-Tyler Reddick, 460, +138 ahead of 17th
12) #23-Bubba Wallace, 383, [2 playoff points], +61 ahead of 17th
13) #19-Chase Briscoe, 363, +41 ahead of 17th
14) #16-Chris Buescher, 342, +20 ahead of 17th
15) #48-Alex Bowman, 335, +13 ahead of 17th
16) #60-Ryan Preece, 322, [1 playoff point], +0 ahead of 17th
Outside the top 16:
17) #8-Kyle Busch, 322, -0 behind 16th
18) #77-Carson Hocevar, 304, -18 behind 16th
19) #16-A.J. Allmendinger, 304, -18 behind 16th
20) #47-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 302, -20 behind 16th
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Hamlin over Buescher, Gibbs, Wallace, Larson, Chastain, Smith, Busch, Preece, and Keselowski.
White flag Hamlin. Byron comes to pit road out of gas. Buescher to second.
Lap 198 – With three to go. Hamlin over Byron by .4 second.
Lap 197 – Hamlin makes a push for the lead and is ahead of Byron by .001 second at the line. Four to go.
Lap 196 – Five to go. Still Byron, Hamlin, Gibbs, Buescher, Larson. Then Wallace, Chastain, Smith, Busch, and Preece.
Lap 194 – Byron ahead of Hamlin by .071 second at the line.
Lap 193 – No change in the top 3. Buescher takes fourth from Larson.
Lap 191 – Ten laps to go. Byron over Hamlin by .33 second. Gibbs is .81 second back and then Larson 1.3 second back.
Lap 189 – Byron leads Hamlin by .22 second. Gibbs now third.
Lap 187 – Hamlin to second, now .37 second back.
Lap 186 – Byron still leads Larson, but Hamlin up to third, just .67 back and making a late push.
Lap 184 – Now Byron, Larson, Gibbs, Hamlin, and Buescher. Byron is told he needs to save a little fuel still. He’s .43 second ahead of Larson.
Lap 182 – Hocevar coming to the pits with a flat left rear tire. No caution. Byron takes the lead.
Lap 181 – Twenty to go. Everyone playing the waiting game to see how the fuel shakes out. Hamlin, in 5th, appears to be the first driver that is confident on fuel and his team says they are right on the line.
Lap 176 – Twenty-five laps remaining. Hocevar’s team again tells him they can’t make it to the end without a caution. Byron and Larson were a couple laps short on the restart but have been saving fuel. Gibbs, Hamlin, Smith, Buescher, Reddick, Chastain and Busch round out the top 10.
Lap 169 – No change up front. Hocevar over Byron, Larson, Smith, and Gibbs. It’s going to come down to fuel mileage without a caution.
Lap 161 – Forty laps remaining. Hocevar leads Byron, Larson, Smith, and Buescher. Hocevar’s team says they need 5 laps a caution to have enough fuel. Byron is also saving fuel.
Lap 154 – Byron to second over Larson.
Lap 153 – Hocevar to the lead n the restart.
Lap 152 – Green flag with 49 laps remaining.
Lap 149 – Pit road is open and the leaders are all in. This will put everyone close on fuel. Off pit road: Smith, Hocevar, McDowell, Byron, Larson, Berry, Buescher, Briscoe, Gibbs, Wallace.
Lap 146 – CAUTION is out. Gilliland hard into the wall in turn two after a tire blew. Blaney is the free pass.
Lap 144 – Reddick has moved around Hamlin for third.
Lap 141 – Sixty laps remaining. Byron leads Hocevar by .7 second. Everyone still needs to pit for fuel before the end.
Lap 133 – Byron continues to lead but Hocevar is hanging with him, just .16 second back. Hamlin third, then Reddick and Wallace.
Lap 127 – Green for the start of the final stage. 74 laps remaining. Byron, Hocevar, Reddick, Chastain, Preece, Wallace, Hamlin, Jones, Busch, Buescher the top 10.
Lap 124 – Pit road open again. Cindric and several drivers in the back come in. Those that pitted prior to the stage finish stayed out.
Lap 121 – CAUTION out for the end of stage 2. Byron wins it over Cindric, Hocevar, Reddick, Chastain, Preece, Wallace, Hamlin, TDillon, and Jones. Blaney is the free pass.
Lap 120 – NASCAR shows a scoring tie between Byron and Cindric at the line.
Lap 116 – Byron now to second.
Lap 115 – Cindric continues to lead but Reddick up to second with Byron right behind him.
Lap 114 – Back to green. Seven laps left in stage 2. Cindric now the leader over ADillon, and Briscoe. They stayed out. Bryon restarts fourth.
Lap 111 – Pit road is open. Most everyone is in. Off pit road: Byron, Reddick, Hocevar, Hamlin, Wallace, Preece, Chastain, Larson. Too fast on pit road: Keselowski and Gilliland.
Lap 109 – CAUTION out for a Blaney spin in turn 4. He slides to pit road with the right front tire down.
Lap 107 – Bell has to pit with 14 laps remaining in stage 2. Reddick moves to second, 2.5 seconds off the lead.
Lap 101 – 100 laps complete and the race is official. Byron leads Bell, Reddick, Keselowski, Preece, Hamlin, Hocevar, Gilliland, Smith and Cindric.
Lap 91 – Byron continues to lead. He’s ahead of Bell by nearly a second.
Lap 79 – Byron is back out front over Bell, Reddick, Keselowski and Logano.
Lap 78 – Back to green with the top 5; Bell, McDowell, Keselowski, Logano, and Byron.
Lap 76 – Elliott pits from the lead and is joined by Briscoe, Allmendinger, Suarez, and Berry. Bell now out front but he needs fuel before the end of the stage. Elliott penalized for improper fueling.
Lap 73 – CAUTION back out. Nemechek wrecks in turn 4.
Lap 71 – Back go green: Elliott, Bell, McDowell, Keselowski, Logano, Gilliland, Preece, Haley, Cindric, Reddick the top 10.
Lap 69 – Pit road open. Another mix of strategies. Elliott stays out. Off pit road: Reddick, Larson, Byron, Gibbs, Hamlin, Wallace, Smith, Stenhouse. Larson was too fast on pit road and will fall to the rear.
Lap 68 – Back to yellow flag after a delay of just under 12 minutes.
Lap 68 – Red flag is out for track cleanup.
Lap 67 – CAUTION out. Bowman, Suarez, Briscoe, and Custer involved in an accident off turn two. The front end of Bowman’s car is destroyed. He is out of the car and he’s done for the day.
Lap 66 – Green flag back out. Elliott, Blaney, Byron, Hocevar, Chastain the top five.
Lap 63 – Pit road open. A mix of strategies. Most of the leaders stay out.
Lap 60 – CAUTION for spins by Nemechek and Gragson on the backstretch.
Lap 58 – Elliott now the leader over Blaney, Byron, Hocevar and Hamlin.
Lap 54 – Blaney holds the lead on the restart. Hocevar takes second.
Lap 53 – Green flag for the start of stage 2: Blaney, Hamlin, Hocevar, Buescher, Elliott, Busch, Byron, Wallace, Larson, Chastain the top 10. NASCAR informs teams that the sunset time for the race is 9:00pm/et in case there are any weather delays. All looks good now.
Lap 49 – Pit stop is open and everyone comes in. Off pit road: Blaney, Hamlin, Hocevar, Buescher, Elliott, Busch.
Lap 46 – CAUTION out for the end of stage 1. Buescher wins it. He’s followed by Byron, Hamlin, Briscoe, Berry, Blaney, Larson, Wallace, Busch, Hocevar. Suarez is the free pass.
Lap 36 – Buescher takes the lead from Byron.
Lap 34 – Suarez pits with a possible vibration.
Lap 31 – Fifteen laps remaining in stage 1. Byron leads Buescher by .14 second. Hamlin now up to third, then Briscoe and Berry.
Lap 20 – Buescher has now moved to second. Briscoe back to third. Busch has fallen to 6th.
Lap 12 – Byron takes the lead.
Lap 11 – After 10 laps, Briscoe leads Byron, Hamlin, Buescher and Busch.
Lap 2 – Briscoe leads the first lap.
• 2:23pm/et – Green flag. Briscoe and Busch on the front row. First stage is 45 laps.
• 2:10pm/et – Engines are fired at Michigan.
• 2:00pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• Ram has announced it will return to the Truck Series next season.
• 12:40pm/et – Reddick will drop to the rear today. The team had to change the splitter extensions.
• Still no cars to the rear as of 11:15am/et.
• There is a slight chance of rain today but the forecast has been improving. According to the National Weather Service: “A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 5pm, then a slight chance of showers. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 76. East wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%”. The hourly forecast calls for a 43% chance of rain at the race start.
Race details:
Broadcast: NASCAR on Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 200 laps / 400 miles
Stages: 45 / 120 / 200
Average time of race: 2:59:46
Pit road speed: 55 mph
Caution car speed: 65 mph
Fuel Window: 50 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
Invocation: 2:01:20 p.m.
Canadian Anthem: 2:02:00 p.m.
National Anthem: 2:03:00 p.m.
Command: 2:10:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 2:19:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #45-Tyler Reddick (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #19-Chase Briscoe chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #8-Kyle Busch took the 6th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Michigan Pit Stall page.
#19-Chase Briscoe won the Busch pole for the FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway with a speed of 195.514mph for his fourth pole of the year, first at Michigan and sixth of his career.
#8-Kyle Busch will start second followed by #11-Denny Hamlin, #24-William Byron, #5-Kyle Larson, #17-Chris Buescher, #21-Josh Berry, #54-Ty Gibbs, #23-Bubba Wallace, and #38-Zane Smith.
See the complete qualifying results and the FireKeepers Casino 400 Starting Lineup.
Michigan International Speedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Chase Briscoe won the Pole Award for the FireKeepers Casino 400 with a lap of 36.826 seconds, 195.514 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.
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
Practice for the FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway is over. The results:
#19-Chase Briscoe 195.482
#17-Chris Buescher 195.397
#20-Christopher Bell 195.206
#48-Alex Bowman 194.984
#3-Austin Dillon 194.974
Slowest: #7-Justin Haley, 192.359mph
Most laps run: #21-Josh Berry, 29 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 28 drivers): #54-Ty Gibbs, 194.024mph.
Notes: Several drivers had tire trouble. In group 1, #88-Shane Van Gisbergen slowed at the end of the session. In group 2, #12-Ryan Blaney and #45-Tyler Reddick stopped on track with tires down.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the FireKeepers Casino 400 Practice speeds page.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the FireKeepers Casino 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway is posted, 36 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
See the full entry list on the FireKeepers Casino 400 Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Michigan International Speedway: NASCAR Cup teams will run a different tire set-up than those in the Craftsman Truck Series at Michigan this week. This is the same right-side tire code that Cup teams ran at Michigan in 2024, as well as at Daytona and Talladega earlier this season.
Statistical Advance: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan going into the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday.
News & Notes:
- This weekend marks the 108th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway (1969-2025).
- Nine different Cup Series drivers have won in 2025, four of the last five races were won by drivers getting their first win of the season.
- Chase Briscoe won the pole for the last two Cup races, the last driver to win three straight poles was Kyle Larson last spring.
- Nashville was only the second race in 2025 that 23XI Racing had multiple cars finish in the top-10, the team had only one top-10 in the prior five races of 2025 combined.
- Legacy Motor Club’s three top fives in 2025 are more than the last two seasons combined, their seven top-10s are more than all of 2024 (six).
- 12 races remain in the regular season, four of the 12 are on road courses, two are on drafting tracks and two are on short-tracks (the other four are Michigan, Pocono, Indianapolis, and Dover).
- Hendrick Motorsports’ 1,707 laps led this season are the most for any team through 14 races since 2016 (Joe Gibbs Racing – 1892).
- and much more….
Race rules and information:
