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.
