Denny Hamlin Scores Third Win of 2025 at Michigan
Denny Hamlin surged past William Byron with four laps remaining and managed his fuel perfectly to win Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Driving the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, Hamlin caught Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet late in the race. Byron, racing for Hendrick Motorsports, ran out of fuel as he approached the white flag and plummeted to 28th place in the final standings.
Hamlin crossed the finish line 1.09 seconds ahead of Chris Buescher to secure his third Cup Series win of the 2025 season and his third career victory at Michigan. His previous triumph there came in June 2011. Hamlin’s JGR teammates Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace claimed third and fourth, respectively, while Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.
Byron initially took the lead from polesitter Chase Briscoe on Lap 12 of Stage 1, but Buescher overtook him on Lap 36 and won his first stage of the season. Byron finished second in the stage, with Hamlin, Briscoe, and Josh Berry completing the top five in a caution-free segment.
The race’s first caution for an incident came on Lap 60 when Noah Gragson and John Hunter Nemechek spun while battling just inside the top 20. A more serious crash occurred seven laps later when Ryan Blaney, riding low on the track, made contact with Cole Custer, causing a chain reaction that sent Alex Bowman hard into the wall and spun Briscoe. The wreck triggered a red flag for cleanup.
Later in Stage 2, Blaney hit the wall and spun by himself, causing another caution just after Christopher Bell had pitted—hurting Bell’s strategy.
The end of Stage 2 saw an intense battle among Byron, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, and Carson Hocevar, with Byron making a last-lap move to win the stage. Cindric narrowly held off Michigan native Hocevar for second.
Hocevar took the lead on Lap 152, but a flat left rear tire with 19 laps to go forced him out of contention, handing the lead back to Byron. Hocevar ultimately finished 29th.
