BROOKLYN, Mich. – Denny Hamlin is pulling off quite a juggling act.

Hamlin outlasted the competition at Michigan International Speedway for his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 57th of his career, juggling his roles as a driver, expectant father and co-owner of a racing team that’s suing NASCAR.

“The tackle box is full,” Hamlin said Sunday. “There’s all kinds of stuff going on.”

Hamlin, in the No. 11 Toyota, went low to pass William Byron on the 197th of 200 laps and pulled away from the pack to win by more than a second over Chris Buescher.

“Just worked over the guys one by one, giving them different looks,” he said.

Ty Gibbs finished third, matching a season best, followed by Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson.

The 44-year-old Hamlin was prepared to leave his team to join his fiancée, Jordan Fish, who is due to give birth to their third child, a boy. If she was in labor by Lap 50 or sooner at Michigan, he was prepared to leave the track.

Hamlin said he would skip next week’s race in Mexico City if necessary to witness the birth.

To add something else to Hamlin’s plate, he is also co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, which is involved in a lawsuit against NASCAR.

He drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, which hadn’t won at Michigan in a decade.

“I think it’s the most underrated track that we go to,” said Hamlin, who has won three times on the 2-mile oval.

Hamlin became JGR’s winningest driver, surpassing Kyle Busch‘s 56 victories, and the 10th driver in NASCAR history to win after his 700th start.

“It feels good because I’m going to hate it when I’m not at the level I’m at now,” he said. “I will certainly retire very quicky after that.”

Hamlin’s team set him up with enough fuel to win while many drivers, including Byron, ran out of gas late in the race.

“It really stings,” said Byron, the points leader, who was a season-worst 28th. “We just burned more (fuel) and not able to do much about that.”

Hamlin, meanwhile, wasn’t on empty until his celebratory burnout was cut short.

Pole-sitter Chase Briscoe was out front until Byron passed him on Lap 12. Buescher pulled ahead on Lap 36 and stayed up front to win his first stage this season.

Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott took turns with the lead before a crash involving Alex Bowman brought out the red flag on Lap 67.

Byron took the lead again after a restart on Lap 78 as part of his strong start and surged to the front again to win the second stage.

Carson Hocevar took the lead on Lap 152 and was informed soon thereafter that he didn’t have enough fuel to finish, but that became moot because a flat tire forced him into the pits with 18 laps to go.

Hocevar faded to a 29th-place finish, a week after he was second to match a career best at Nashville, where he created a buzz with an aggressive move that knocked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the race.

Rough times for Bowman

Bowman hit a wall with the front end of his No. 48 Chevrolet as part of a multi-car crash in his latest setback.

“That hurt a lot,” he said after passing a medical evaluation. “That was probably top of the board on hits I’ve taken.”

Bowman, who drives for Hendrick Motorsports, came to Michigan 12th in points and will leave lower in the standings. He has finished 27th or worse in seven of his last nine starts and didn’t finish for a third time during the tough stretch.

Reddick rallies

Defending race champion Tyler Reddick qualified 12th, but started last in the 36-car field because of unapproved adjustments and rallied to finish 13th.

Up next

NASCAR shifts to Mexico City for its first points-paying international race in modern history on June 15.

The Minnesota Twins placed right-hander Zebby Matthews on the 15-day injured list Sunday with a right shoulder strain.

The move is retroactive to Thursday for Matthews, who owns a 1-1 record with a 5.21 ERA in four appearances (all starts) this season since being called up to the roster on May 18.

Matthews, 25, is 2-5 with a 6.19 ERA in 13 career appearances (all starts) with Minnesota.

Also Sunday, the Twins activated left-hander Danny Coulombe from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 15-day injured list. Coulombe, who is working his way past a forearm injury, be available out of the bullpen for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Minneapolis.

Coulombe, 35, made one rehab appearance with Triple-A St. Paul, pitching one scoreless inning on Friday night against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

He pitched 16 2/3 scoreless innings over 19 relief appearances with Minnesota this season before being placed on the injured list on May 18.

CLEVELAND — Jhonkensy Noel, who hit a game-tying homer in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, was optioned to Triple-A Columbus by the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday.

Noel batted only .146 with two homers and nine RBIs in 46 games after making the opening day roster for the first time. The right-handed hitter found himself on the short side of a platoon in right field, limiting him to 103 at-bats.

“It hasn’t been the start to the season that he would have liked or that we would have liked,” manager Stephen Vogt said. “We know how good of a player that he is, so we told Jhonkensy to just go play, go relax and go back to being you.”

Nicknamed “Big Christmas,” the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder belted a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the ninth inning of what became a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees in 10 innings last Oct. 17.

Cleveland lost the ALCS in five games, but Noel’s shot to left field was one of the more memorable moments at Progressive Field since the ballpark opened in 1994.

“We still hold true to the belief that Jhonkensy — the best version of him — helps us win games,” Vogt said. “He plays an unbelievable right field, he’s a good baserunner and he has the power to hit it out of the yard. It just hasn’t been there yet this year.”

Johnathan Rodriguez was recalled from Columbus and started in right field in the Guardians’ three-game series finale against the Houston Astros.

Cleveland also announced that outfielder Will Brennan and right-hander Andrew Walters will both undergo surgery Monday.

Brennan has been sidelined with left elbow inflammation since May 22, while Walters experienced a right lat strain May 30 while pitching against Angels star Mike Trout.