Hamlin Overcomes Starting from the Rear to Win by Eleven Seconds in Michigan

Kelsey Christman - Staff Writer

Denny Hamlin honors the late Kyle Busch as he ties him in 9th for all time wins in the NASCAR Cup Series. (Brett Farmer, Getty Images, June 2026)

Brooklyn, MI- The NASCAR Cup Series headed to the Great Lakes this weekend for Michigan International Speedway. Denny Hamlin scored the pole during qualifying, but made unapproved adjustments resulting in him being sent to the rear for the start of the race. Hamlin was joined by Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, William Byron, and Erik Jones who all made unapproved adjustments to their cars as well. Carson Hocevar inherited the pole as a result of this penalty at his home track. 

Connor Zilisch’s rookie season has been riddled with unfortunate events, and this weekend was no exception. On Lap Two, he spun through turn three and four with light contact against the outside wall. Just seven laps later, Zilisch crashed again in a solo incident with heavy contact into the inside wall ending his day before it could truly begin. The remainder of the stage stayed green for Reddick to gain his first stage win of the season. 

Solo incidents were the talk of the first half of this race. Brad Keselowski had to slow on the track due to a flat tire on Lap 65 in turn two. Thirteen laps later, turn two claimed another victim as A.J. Allmendinger spun. 

On the next restart, chaos ensued. Kyle Larson slowed which resulted in the inside line crowding as Hocevar pushed John Hunter Nemechek. Tyler Reddick, who ran a dominant race up until this incident, Austin Dillon, Larson, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Bubba Wallace were also involved. Reddick and Dillon both were beyond repair from the damage with Tyler Reddick claiming his first DNF of the season. The field remained green for the rest of the stage after this incident for Chase Elliott to claim a stage win.

Zane Smith had a career day for the first 141 laps of this race as he raced his way to be a consistent member of the top ten. He was the top Ford throughout this performance. Lap 142 sent Smith spinning through turns one and two from ninth and into the outside wall.

Lap 148 ended the day for two more front runners in this race upon the restart when Chase Elliott got loose and was spun into the outside wall with hard contact into Christopher Bell. The collision was violent and resulted in the SAFER barrier requiring repair prior to the race being able to return green. The field was held at a red flag for 20 minutes for the repair and clean up.

Lap 154 hosted a second nine car collision upon the restart. Michael McDowell hit Noah Gragson from the rear turning Gragson down the track colliding with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Buescher while three wide. Ty Dillon, Josh Berry, Austin Hill, Ryan Preece, and Shane Van Gisbergen also were involved.

After a record breaking number of cautions for Michigan International Speedway, the field remained green for the remainder of the race. As Daniel Suarez led the field to green with teammate, Carson Hocevar, pushing. It took one lap for Denny Hamlin to clear for the lead and take off from there.

With a lead of 11 seconds over Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin claims his 63rd win to tie the late Kyle Busch for ninth in all time wins. Hamlin overcame being sent to the rear for unapproved adjustments, as well as involvement in the lap 83 collision for this victory. Jones collected his best finish of the season in second. Carson Hocevar rounded out the top five.

UP NEXT:

The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Pocono Raceway for the Great American Getaway 400. The race will be at 3:00 PM ET on Sunday, June 14th, and can be found on Prime.