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Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- 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
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Chase Briscoe claims 3rd straight NASCAR Cup Series pole at Michigan
Chase Briscoe claimed his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series pole position Saturday morning, with the Joe Gibbs Racing driver taking top honors at Michigan International Speedway for Sunday's FireKeepers Casino 400. Briscoe's No. 19 JGR Toyota turned a lap of 195.514 mph for his fourth pole of the season -- just besting Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch, who will start alongside with a lap of 195.317 in the No. 8 Chevrolet. This equals Busch's best start of the season (also second at Talladega, Ala.). Briscoe's work marks the first time a driver has won pole positions at three consecutive races since Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson did it last April at Richmond, Michigan, and Texas. 'I was surprised truthfully it held on,'' the 30-year-old Indiana native said of his fast lap. 'It was not as easy as I thought it was going to be just holding it wide open. But our Bass Pro Shops has been pretty fast in race trim and I thought we could have been even better. 'It will be nice starting up front and we've been able to do that now three weeks in a row but haven't been able to execute with it, so hopefully third time is a charm and hopefully we can finally get one on Sunday.'' Briscoe's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, was third quickest in the No. 11 Toyota and will start alongside the current NASCAR Cup Series points leader, William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Interestingly, neither of those two championship teams has won on the 2-mile Michigan oval in a decade. The last win for Hendrick came in 2014 and the last for Gibbs in 2015. However, Hendrick's lineup now boasts a three-time Michigan winner in Larson, who scored his career first series victory at the track in 2016 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson will roll off fifth Sunday alongside another former Michigan winner (2023) Roush Fenway Keselowski's Chris Buescher. 'I feel fine, that was an unfortunately part failure there,'' Larson said, assuring he was okay after flipping his car in a World of Outlaws race Friday night. 'Felt good there today and held it wide open in qualifying, as did the whole field. 'Hopefully, we can find a little more turn tomorrow. I think all of us being very similar on speed it will be difficult in traffic so having some turn will be a benefit. That's our main objective at this point. 'But overall happy to qualify fifth there. That's honestly a little bit better than I thought we would be. Now we'll rest up and study and try to be ready for tomorrow.'' Defending race winner, 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick was 12th in qualifying - along with last week's Nashville race winner, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney suffering a tire problem in practice. Blaney will roll off 13th. RFK'S BUESCHER FOR THE WIN Judging by the past two years, the summer months have been productive for Buescher. Last year he earned his only win of the season in September at Watkins Glen. Two years ago, the driver of the No. 17 RKF Ford scored all three of his victories in the summer - back-to-back at Richmond (July 30) and Michigan (Aug. 7), then won again at the end of August at Daytona International Speedway's regular season finale. Heading into this week's Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan, Buescher is the only one among the three RFK drivers ranked above the Playoff cutoff line - 15th in the championship by Playoff standings; six points up on Kyle Busch in that last Playoff position and only eight points up on his RFK teammate Ryan Preece in 17th. Buescher is of course hopeful that he can reclaim some of that Michigan magic on the two-miler. He led a race high 52 of 200 laps and beat Martin Truex Jr. by a slight 152-second for his win two years ago. He has only three top 10s in 14 Michigan starts - but two in the last two races (win and sixth last year). It's not enough to make him over-confident but does give him some optimism heading into the all-important summer months of competition. With points so close, a victory may be the best option to earn a Playoff bid. 'You can't depend on points to get you in the playoffs when it's as tight as it is every week,'' Buescher said. 'I think that's been our mindset, which means that ultimately wherever we bounce around that [Playoff cutoff] line we'll be aware of it, but it's a matter of figuring out how to go win races and we haven't done that yet. 'We've not been quite good enough and we're working on trying to clean up some of the detail work and study a little harder and be better from my end behind the wheel and make it to where we basically lock ourselves in on that side of it and don't have to have any of that thought in the back of our heads. 'But I certainly don't want it to be what we're sitting here thinking of how can we get two points here, three points there and try and just feel like we can skate our way in. It doesn't work. Ultimately, you can't count on that when it comes down to the end.' HOCEVAR AND STENHOUSE In last weekend's race at Nashville Superspeedway, 22-year-old Carson Hocevar and veteran Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided on track -- ending the day for Stenhouse. But Hocevar was able to rally to a second-place finish - tying his career best showing in the NASCAR Cup Series. After the race, Stenhouse was understandably riled, but both drivers report that they have spoken, and all is good moving forward even if they don't necessarily agree on how last week played out. 'Me and him both have the reputation, I guess, of being aggressive at times and everything, so at that one point, we both reminded each other that even with those reputations, we've raced each other very well together, right?'' the Michigan-native Hocevar said Saturday morning, before practice. 'It clashes together. So, yeah, I mean we've had no issues before, as he had said, and I feel like we've had a decent relationship leading up to this.' Stenhouse told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week that he was satisfied with the conversation between the two, 'I thought it was productive and, based off his comments, I felt like it was received productive.' Hocevar, who qualified 14th for the NASCAR Cup Series race and is also competing in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, seemed at peace with where things sit and conceded he would rather be talking about his No. 77 Spire Motorsports team's improvement. He's already had a career best pair of runner-up efforts and also earned three top-10s - half of his full season total last year. Asked Saturday if he was satisfied to be known for his aggressive driving style - some reporters comparing him to his hero Dale Earnhardt - Hocevar insisted he's just being himself. 'Everything about me is real... like I'm not trying to play a part, try to fit a role or trying to pretend to be anybody,'' he said. 'But, you know, it's for everybody else to decide on what they get and perceive of me. I know who I am and, you know, ultimately, I want to be known as me and sometimes that leads to comparisons.' PENSKE FOCUS Last week's Nashville race winner, Team Penske's Ryan Blaney was asked about the relief he felt finally earning that first trophy of the year -- and guaranteed Playoff position -- after being so close to wins multiple times this season. He insisted nothing would really 'change' for his or his team's approach going forward. 'It's really nothing different,' the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion said. 'We approach every week trying to win the race and no matter what spot you're in, whether you're not locked in on wins or you are. We did a great job last week of finally closing one out and you just try to do it again. 'A lot of people talk about that. Is there a mindset change when you win and you get locked in? I've never really believed that. I've always, to me at least and our group, it's just we prepare every week like you're trying to win the race, whether you've won one, zero or five it's the same thing.' BABY WATCH Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin remains on 'baby watch' for the second weekend. His fiancee, Jordan, is due to give birth to a baby boy -- their third child -- at any time. Hamlin flew back to his Charlotte-area home following Saturday afternoon qualifying to be with Jordan and will return to Michigan just prior to Sunday's green flag. Field Level Media 2025 - All Rights Reserved
Newsweek
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
NASCAR Insider Fights For Michigan Track As Denny Hamlin's Praise Revealed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin brought home the win at the FireKeepers Casino 400, a race that featured a ton of action and brought praise to the Michigan International Speedway. At the veteran age of 44, Hamlin drove his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into first place. It was his 57th win in NASCAR and the third of the season for the experienced driver. Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Yahoo! Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 08, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Yahoo! Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 08, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan Photo byThe second half of the race became all about managing fuel. The top runners struggled on fuel, dropping pace lap after lap as they tried to save all over the track. The fuel concerns allowed middle-of-the-pack runners like Hamlin to make up some serious ground and push for the win. The racing was incredibly dramatic and aided by the fuel usage, leading to several over-takes and on-track battles during the last 30 or so laps. Jeff Gluck, co-host of The Teardown podcast and writer for The Athletic, pointed out that it was the latest generation of cars that led to the incredible racing. "Denny Hamlin said afterwards that this is maybe NASCAR's most underrated track now. It's perfect for the [Next Gen] car," Gluck said on the podcast. "It's wide. It gives drivers lots of options. It's high-speed handling matters. It was a great crowd today. "It was the first time that these fans hadn't been rained on in a few years here. "It was a great day. It was really fun, a great weekend and nice positive way to end this little stretch of the season before we head to Mexico City." Hamlin managed to keep his focus despite having a baby on the way. He previously claimed that he would skip a race to witness the birth of his third child. He went as far as to say he would leave the race anyway up until Lap 50 if the call came of his wife going into labor. It never came during the race in Michigan, and now he adds another win to his illustrious career. NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 Results 1. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota 2. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford 3. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota 4. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota 5. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet 6. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet 7. Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford 8. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet 9. Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford 10. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford 11. Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota 12. Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford 13. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota 14. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet 15. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet 16. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota 17. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet 18. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet 19. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet 20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet 21. Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet 22. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford 23. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota 24. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet 25. Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota 26. Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford 27. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford 28. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet 29. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet 30. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet 31. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford 32. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford 33. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford 34. John H Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota 35. Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford 36. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet For more NASCAR news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
Newsweek
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- Newsweek
NASCAR Insiders Clap Back At Michigan Critics: 'It's a Damn Good Race'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. While many fans might have fumed at the race results of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, considering the way Denny Hamlin secured victory, the fact of the matter is that such mileage races are also a form of pure stock car racing where drivers have to not only focus on raw speed but also have to conserve fuel to avoid running out towards the end of the race. The FireKeepers Casino 400 Cup race saw Carson Hocevar lead in the early stages, which meant he utilized all that his car had to offer. However, that burned a significant amount of fuel. With just 18 laps to go, Hocevar encountered a flat left rear tire, which forced him to pit, leading him to finish the race in P29. Hocevar admitted that despite the flat tire incident, he would still have to pit since he was running low on fuel. Similarly, William Byron, who led the race for 98 laps, ran out of fuel when there were just four laps to go. He drove hard in the end to defend the spot while Hamlin chased him, causing him to burn more fuel. Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, and Michael McDowell, driver of the #71 Delaware Life Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 08, 2025... Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem Toyota, and Michael McDowell, driver of the #71 Delaware Life Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 08, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan. MorePitting in the closing stage of the race for fuel meant Byron finished the race in P28, allowing Hamlin to secure his third victory of the season. Being a seasoned driver, Hamlin conserved his fuel and gave a tough fight to Byron, setting an example of how performance and mileage can be achieved in the same race. Speaking on the Teardown podcast, The Athletic's Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi discussed the nature of the race at Michigan and revealed that it has the perfect mix of speed, strategy, team elements, and cautions that make a very good race. Bianchi said: "I say this all the time. If you are a NASCAR fan and you did not like this race, why? Because your favorite driver didn't win? Okay, sure, but this is what NASCAR racing is. You had the speed sensation, you have guys being able to make moves we didn't talk about, all of the things that we've talked about the Next Gen car, you had strategy, you had all of the team elements! You even had cautions. You had guys who overstepped, Blaney made a mistake and hit the wall, you had a damn good race here. I don't know why you would really hate this race." Gluck then pointed out fan reactions on X that complained about the mileage race, which prompted him to point out the strategic elements that make such races compelling. He added: "That is a strategy play, that is like guessing to see, and how much did you save, and how much did you lift, and should you go hard, should you try to take the lead. What's wrong with that? That's great stuff!" Bianchi responded: "It is a fundamental part of racing. Do you go hard? Do you save? Do you burn up your stuff and all of this? It's phenomenal."
USA Today
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- USA Today
NASCAR in-season challenge: Everything you need to know about the new tournament
NASCAR in-season challenge: Everything you need to know about the new tournament Show Caption Hide Caption Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Prime Video NASCAR coverage will provide new ways to cover the sport Starting on May 25th, Prime Video will have exclusive coverage of 5 NASCAR Cup series events. Dale Earnhardt Jr will be in the broadcast booth and reveals what to expect from their coverage. Denny Hamlin made it to victory lane for the third time this year June 8 at the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Hamlin won the first of three key summer races with his victory in Michigan. It precedes a monumental milestone this weekend for NASCAR: the first international points-paying race since 1958. The Cup Series grid travels to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course in Mexico City for the Viva Mexico 250 on June 15. The Cup races in Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono Raceway are crucial to NASCAR's inaugural in-season challenge. There haven't been many significant changes to the structure of the Cup Series calendar since the implementation of the playoffs starting in 2004. While NASCAR first introducted a postseason in 2004 with playoffs that have undergone a few changes over the past two decades, this marks the first in-season competition with a tournament held over five races culminating in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 27. It's rare to have a new in-season event in the Cup Series. There's a lot to know about it and we've got you covered: 'Earnhardt' documentary: Dale Earnhardt Jr., sister Kelley discuss new Prime Video series What is the NASCAR in-season challenge? It is a single-elimination tournament across five races, beginning with the June 28 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, that includes the top 32 drivers in the Cup Series championship standings following the June 1 race at Nashville Superspeedway. Those 32 drivers will be up in a bracket and seeded by their best results from the Cup races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. Tiebreakers are the next-best finish from those three seeding races. Drivers advance by finishing higher than their opponent in the bracket. Each of the five races will cut the field in half, similar to March Madness in college basketball. There will be 32 drivers in contention in the first race, then 16 for the second, eight for the third, four for the fourth and two drivers facing off for the win in the fifth and final race. NASCAR in-season challenge contestants The 32-driver field is set. Here's who will be contending in NASCAR's first in-season challenge (car number in parentheses): (24) William Byron, Chevrolet (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford (22) Joey Logano, Ford (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet (2) Austin Cindric, Ford (17) Chris Buescher, Ford (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet (60) Ryan Preece, Ford (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet (21) Josh Berry, Ford (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford (43) Erik Jones, Toyota (38) Zane Smith, Ford (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet (7) Justin Haley, Chevrolet (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet (4) Noah Gragson, Ford (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford NASCAR in-season challenge prize The winner of the inaugural in-season challenge will take home $1 million. NASCAR in-season challenge races, schedule The five races of NASCAR in-season challenge are: June 28: Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway July 6: Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course July 13: Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway July 20: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway July 27: Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway How to watch the NASCAR in-season challenge TNT will be broadcasting all five of the in-season challenge races with a secondary broadcast on truTV focused on the specific bracket matchups. Here's how to watch all of them: Stream NASCAR in-season challenge races on Sling Quaker State 400 Date: June 28, 2025 June 28, 2025 Time: 7 p.m. ET 7 p.m. ET Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia TV: TNT, truTV TNT, truTV Stream: Sling TV, WatchTNT Grant Park 165 Date: July 6, 2025 July 6, 2025 Time: 2 p.m. ET 2 p.m. ET Location: Chicago Street Course in Chicago Chicago Street Course in Chicago TV: TNT, truTV TNT, truTV Stream: Sling TV, WatchTNT Toyota/Save Mart 350 Date: July 13, 2025 July 13, 2025 Time: 3:30 p.m. ET 3:30 p.m. ET Location: Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California TV: TNT, truTV TNT, truTV Stream: Sling TV, WatchTNT Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Date: July 20, 2025 July 20, 2025 Time: 2 p.m. ET 2 p.m. ET Location: Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware TV: TNT, truTV TNT, truTV Stream: Sling TV, WatchTNT Brickyard 400
