NASCAR April rankings: Momentum for Cindric, Gibbs
Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs both jumped nine spots in points during the month of April, while Denny Hamlin, William Byron, and Kyle Larson continued their strong starts to the Cup Series season.
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Denny Hamlin could miss first NASCAR Cup race in Mexico for birth of third child
Denny Hamlin could miss first NASCAR Cup race in Mexico for birth of third child Show Caption Hide Caption Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s take on lawsuit between Michael Jordan and NASCAR Dale Earnhardt Jr. says despite the lawsuit between Michael Jordan and NASCAR, He believes NASCAR is better off with Michael Jordan as part of the sport. Denny Hamlin celebrated his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season on June 8 at Michigan International Speedway, and now he awaits a celebration of a different kind: the birth of his third child. Hamlin's fiancée, Jordan Fish, is due to deliver any day now, putting the driver's travel plans in flux for the Cup Series' first ever race in Mexico. In a recent interview, Hamlin said he would be willing to miss a race or even multiple ones to be there for his Fish and his new baby, prioritizing his family over racing. Drivers need to depart for Mexico City on Thursday, June 12 with practice for the Viva Mexico 250 beginning the next day ahead of the Sunday, June 15 Cup race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. HAMLIN: Wins NASCAR race at Michigan, taunts crowd with OSU chant During a June 10 interview on SiriusXM NASCAR, Hamlin said the distance between his home in North Carolina and Mexico City played a significant role in this decision. "It's one thing when you're in Michigan; you're an hour and a half flight away. There's no customs. I fly right into the airport. It's just not that in Mexico,' Hamlin said. Hamlin is fresh off a victory at the Firekeepers casino 400 and currently sits in third place in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with three wins, seven top-five finishes and eight top 10s. Here's how his absence could affect his shot at his first championship: Denny Hamlin just joined us On Track and said if Jordan doesn't deliver their baby boy by the time he has to leave for Mexico City he's not going. Said his priority is her and the delivery of their 3rd child. Drivers will leave Thursday so interesting to follow 'baby watch' and… — Danielle Trotta (@DanielleTrotta) June 10, 2025 Would Hamlin's absence affect his chance at NASCAR Cup Series title? Fortunately, Hamlin has already secured his spot in the 10-race Cup Series playoffs with his three wins this season. Furthermore, thanks to the NASCAR Playoff Waiver System, which classifies the birth of a child as an exemption, Hamlin would not lose playoff eligibility or points. Hamlin has 57 wins in his Cup Series career, which ranks 11th on the all-time list. While a championship has eluded him, he finished runner-up in 2010 and third three times (2006, 2014 and 2021). NASCAR IN-SEASON CHALLENGE: What you need to know about the new tournament How would Hamlin's absence affect the NASCAR in-season challenge? NASCAR is introducing its first ever individual in-season challenge this year, and the method to seed the drivers has already begun. The in-season challenge begins with the June 28 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but results at the three prior races – June 8 at Michigan, June 15 at Mexico City and June 22 at Pocono Raceway – will determine the seedings for the 32-driver bracket. There in-season challenge is a single-elimination tournament, which will take place over five consecutive races, beginning in late June. Similar to NCAA tournaments, including college basketball's March Madness, each driver will be seeded against an opponent, and the one with the best finish will advance. It is unclear yet, how a missed race would affect the bracket – either in the three races leading up to the tournament or the NASCAR in-season challenge itself. Who would fill in for Hamlin in Mexico City? Should Hamlin miss this weekend's race, it's unclear who would fill-in for him in the No. 11. Fans would certainly like to see 23XI Racing prospect Corey Heim, but more likely is Ryan Treux, who has served as the full-time reserve race for Joe Gibbs Racing for some time. Contributing: Ellen J. Horrow
NBC Sports
3 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of Mexico City weekend
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Mexico City this weekend for its first points race outside the U.S. since 1958. The series will race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Drivers will compete on a 15-turn, 2.42-mile course. The frontstretch is 3,937 feet, making it the longest in the series (Pocono's frontstretch is 3,740 feet). Chase Elliott (three wins), Ryan Blaney (two) and Joey Logano (two) have combined to win seven of the last 11 races at a new track for the Cup Series. Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading into Sunday's race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. 23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace has scored back-to-back top-10 finishes for the second time this season. … Wallace continues to have the No. 1 pit crew in the series as ranked by Racing Insights. … Tyler Reddick is tied with Kyle Larson for most wins on a road course in the Next Gen car at three. … Reddick's 13 top 10s on road courses in the Next Gen car ranks second to Chris Buescher. Bad news: Reddick has one top-10 finish in the last seven races. … Wallace has three top-10 finishes in 33 road course starts. … Riley Herbst enters the weekend 34th in points. Dustin Long, Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Zane Smith finished a season-best seventh last weekend at Michigan. … Smith has five top-20 results in the last six races. … Noah Gragson finished eighth at COTA earlier this year for his best result on a road course in Cup. … Todd Gilliland finished 10th at COTA, tying his season best. Bad news: Gilliland has qualified 30th or worse in five of the last seven races. … Gragson has finished 27th or worse in each of the last two races. Haas Factory Team — Good news: All three of Cole Custer's top-20 finishes this season have come in the last six races. Bad News: Custer's 35th-place finish at Michigan snapped a streak of seven consecutive top-30 finishes. Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: The organization has won four of the last six races on a road or street course. … Kyle Larson's six road course wins puts him tied for fourth on the all-time list. … Chase Elliott has completed all but one of the 4,231 laps run this season. … Elliott ranks third all-time with seven road course victories. … William Byron has won four of the last seven stages and is averaging 9.3 points per stage in that period. … Byron ranks first for the season in speed and restart rankings, according to Racing Insights. … Alex Bowman has five top 10s, including a win, in his last nine road course starts. Bad news: Bowman has finished 27th or worse in seven of the last nine races, dropping him from third in the points to 13th. … Byron has led 83 or more laps in four races this season but won none of those events. … Larson has two top 10s in his last eight road course starts. … Elliott has two top 10s in the last seven races. Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has five top-20 finishes in the last six races. Bad news: Stenhouse has fallen from 15th to 20th in the playoff standings in the past two races. … Stenhouse has two top-10 finishes in 43 career Cup road course/street course races. Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin has won three of the last nine races this season. … Hamlin has scored points in nine consecutive stages. … Hamlin said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that if fiancee Jordan Fish has not delivered their baby boy by the time he has to leave for Mexico later this week, he will skip the race. NASCAR has stated in the past that missing a race for the birth of a child is acceptable and they would grant a playoff waiver in such a case. … Should Denny Hamlin miss Mexico, JGR's reserve driver, Ryan Truex, would drive the No. 11 car. … Christopher Bell won at Circuit of the Americas in the only road course race run so far this season. … Chase Briscoe finished first in passing, according to Racing Insights, earlier this year at COTA. … Briscoe has won the pole for the last three races (Charlotte, Nashville and Michigan). … Christopher Bell has seven top 10s in the last nine races. … Ty Gibbs tied his season-best finish by placing third at Michigan. Bad news: Bell has led 10 laps in the last eight races, a stretch of 2,423 laps. … Gibbs has placed 22nd or worse in four of the last five Cup road course races. Kaulig Racing — Good news: All three of AJ Allmendinger's Cup victories have come on road courses. … Allmendinger has five top 10s in his last eight starts on a road course. … Allmendinger finished second in Mexico City in a Champ Car race in 2005. Bad news: Ty Dillon has not finished better than 15th in 26 road course starts in Cup. Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones' 11th-place finish at Michigan gives him four top-15 results in the last five races. Bad news: Jones has no top 10s in his last 13 road course starts. … John Hunter Nemechek's best finish in eight career Cup road course starts is 21st. … Jones has no top 10s in his last 13 road course starts. Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch ranked first in speed, according to Racing Insights, earlier this season at COTA, the only road course race run so far. … Busch's best finish this year is a fifth-place result at COTA. … Busch won the most recent Xfinity race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 2008, although that course was a little different from what teams will race this weekend. Bad news: Austin Dillon has never finished better than 10th at a road course race in 40 starts. … Dillon has finished 19th or worse in the last four races. … Kyle Busch fell out of a playoff spot after last weekend's race at Michigan. Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware has finished 26th or better in two of the last three races, the first time he's done that this season. Bad news: Ware's best finish in 16 career road course starts in Cup is 24th. RFK Racing — Good news: Placed three cars in the top 10 at Michigan, marking the first time the team has done that in a Cup race since July 2016 at Daytona. … Ryan Preece moved into the final playoff spot with his ninth-place finish at Michigan. … Preece has three top 10s in the last four races. … Brad Keselowski has scored top-10 finishes in two of the last three races. … Chris Buescher has the best average finish (8.7) on road courses in the Next Gen era. … Buescher won at Watkins Glen last September, his only road course win. … Buescher is coming off a season-best second-place finish at Michigan. Bad news: Keselowski is winless in 49 career Cup road course starts. Spire Motorsports — Good news: Michael McDowell has finished 15th or better in each of the last five road course races. … McDowell won a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series race in Mexico City in November 2005. … Justin Haley finished second in Chicago in 2023 for his best road/street course result. … Carson Hocevar has scored points in 10 of the last 15 stages. … Hocevar's best finish on a road course is third at Watkins Glen last September. Bad news: McDowell has finished 21st or worse in six of the last eight races this season. Team Penske — Good news: Ryan Blaney has five top-five finishes in the last eight races. … Blaney has four top 10s in his last eight starts on a road course. … Austin Cindric has nine top 10s in 21 career road course starts. Bad news: Blaney has three finishes outside the top 30 in the last eight races. … Joey Logano has five finishes outside the top 10 in the last eight races. … Cindric's Talladega win is his only top-10 finish in the last 10 races. Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has scored six top-10 finishes in the last nine races. … Chastain has scored all eight of his top-10 finishes this season after starting the race outside the top 15. … Shane van Gisbergen has been the best finishing rookie in three of the last four races. … In the last three road course races, van Gisbergen has finished no worse than seventh. … Daniel Suarez has scored back-to-back top-20 finishes heading into Mexico. Bad news: Suarez has only one top-10 finish in the last 13 road course races. Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: The 169 laps that Josh Berry has led this year is a career high. Bad news: Berry has one top-10 finish since his Las Vegas victory. … Berry has not finished better than 22nd in six Cup road course starts.
Miami Herald
7 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Denny Hamlin pulls out third win of year at Michigan
Denny Hamlin is still on baby watch, but he had one more workday to take care of Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver made his way past William Byron with four laps to go and had enough gas to hang on and win the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. Racing a snappy purple No. 11 Toyota, Hamlin passed Byron's No. 24 Chevrolet with four circuits left on the two-mile track, and Byron ran out of gas coming to the white flag. The Hendrick Motorsports driver landed in 28th place. In delivering Toyota its second straight MIS win, Hamlin beat Ford's Chris Buescher by 1.09 seconds for his third Cup Series win this season and third at the Michigan track. His last victory there came in June 2011. 'I wanted to get the lead, (Byron) was doing a great job defending,' Hamlin said before taunting the crowd's mixture of cheers and boos. 'Daddy, I'm sorry, but I beat your favorite driver, folks.' When asked who that driver was, Hamlin, who led just five laps, said, 'All of them.' Hamlin and fiancee Jordan Fish are expecting their third child. Hamlin said he was prepared to leave the race if she went into labor during the first 50 laps. Hamlin won for the 57th time in his 701st career race, becoming just the 10th driver to win after making 700 starts. 'We've been so fast the entire year but haven't been finishing for one reason or another,' said Hamlin, 44. 'It feels good to come here to Michigan, where we've been so close over the years, and get a victory ... Such a gratifying day to restart 11th, 12th, something like that, and then drive to the front.' Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace were third and fourth, respectively. Gibbs is Hamlin's JGR teammate and Wallace drives for 23XI Racing, which Hamlin co-owns. Kyle Larson finished fifth. Byron grabbed the lead away from polesitter Chase Briscoe on Lap 12 of Stage 1, but Buescher passed Byron on Lap 36 of the 45-lap segment and earned his first stage win of 2025. Byron finished second while Hamlin, Briscoe and Josh Berry completed the top five in the incident-free stage. The first caution for cause waved on Lap 60 when Noah Gragson and John Hunter Nemechek, running just inside the top 20, spun on the backstretch to bunch up the field again, but seven laps later a hard wreck occurred in Turn 2. Riding in the bottom lane, last week's winner Ryan Blaney tapped Cole Custer's No. 41, triggering a mess that ended up with Alex Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet crashing violently nose-first into the wall and Briscoe spinning after being clipped by Custer's Ford. That prompted a red-flag condition for cleanup. 'Yeah, that hurt a lot,' Bowman said. 'It was probably top of the board on hits I've taken, and, unfortunately, I've taken a lot of hits.' As Stage 2 neared its end, Blaney slapped the wall on his own in the No. 12 Ford and spun down the speedway, an unfortunate fifth caution for Christopher Bell, who pitted shortly before Blaney's mishap. The closing laps of the stage featured a spirited battle between Byron, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric and Carson Hocevar. Byron made the winning pass on the final lap for the stage win while Cindric was able to hold off Michigan native Hocevar for second. Hocevar took the point on Lap 152, but the Spire Motorsports driver suffered a flat left rear tire with 19 circuits left, turning over the lead to Byron. Hocevar finished 29th. Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
