Hamlin Does It Again, Last to First For the 2nd Week in a Row to Win at Michigan

Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, MI — June 7, 2026

The NASCAR Cup Series comes to Michigan International Speedway(MIS) amid high excitement for the Speedway and the Series. Prior to this year’s event, Michigan International Speedway announced a multi-year extension with FireKeepers Casino Hotel as the entitlement partner for the NASCAR Cup Series race, the FireKeepers Casino 400.

NASCAR announced today that the 11th rendition of the FireKeepers Casino 400 will run before a sold-out crowd. Last year’s winner – Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing – aims to win his fourth Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway and second in a row. Doing so would make him one of three drivers in Cup Series history to win in the Irish Hills four or more times, joining Kevin Harvick (five) and David Pearson (five).

Hamlin won the pole for today’s race, but will have to start from the rear of the field after damage to his car in practice necessitated an unapproved repair to the undercarriage of his race car. That will elevate Carson Hocevar, of Portage, Michigan, to the control car for the start of the race. Two other Michigan natives will take the green flag today. Brad Keselowski – the Rochester, MI native and driver of the No. 6 Ford Mustang Darkhorse for RFK Racing – has won twice at MIS in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, but never at the Cup level. Meanwhile, Erik Jones of Byron, Michigan, earned a top ten at his home track.

Erik Jones: “I always look forward to Michigan. It’s my home race. It’s a lot of fun to get up there and be with family and friends. My family and I got earlier in the week to go spend more time with them and get to see them before the busy weekend. The race itself – I just really enjoy the track. It has come into its own here as the track has aged and widened out. Racing there with this NextGen car has been fun too. I’m looking forward to going back this weekend after a solid run last year. Michigan is high on my bucket list of tracks to win at one day. I just look forward for the chance to be out there every year.”

Since Michigan International Speedway began handing out the Heritage Trophy to the winning manufacturer in August 2013, Ford has taken it back to World Headquarters in nearby Dearborn more times than any other manufacturer. Ford has won 11 races since the trophy came into existence while Chevrolet has won six and Toyota three. Joey Logano’s win in the Pure Michigan 400 on Aug. 18, 2013 was his first win with Ford and new car owner Roger Penske, but it also marked the first time the trophy was awarded.

The next Ford win will be its 750th all-time in NASCAR’s top series. Ned Jarrett is Ford’s win leader with 43 while Bill Elliott is second with 40. Shirtless Jimmy Florian scored the Blue Oval’s first series victory when he upset the likes of Lee Petty, Curtis Turner and Joe Weatherly at Dayton Speedway on June 25, 1950. Florian earned his nickname after getting out of his 1950 flathead Ford without a shirt. Overall, 91 drivers have won at least one series race with Ford, including notable drivers Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt.

Tyler Reddick has been on fire since his win in the season opening Daytona 500. He starts beside Carson Hocevar on the front row today. Here are a list of Reddick’s accomplishments heading into the FireKeepers Casino 400 today.

• Has led the standings all season in 2026
• Five wins in 2026
• Finished top 15 in every race this season, tied for the second longest streak to start a season
• Average finish of 5.57 in 2026
• Nine top five finishes this season, his most ever in a season was 12 in 2024
• This is the first time his point lead was under 100 points since Bristol, seven races ago

Another driver to keep an eye on today is Kyle Larson as he tries to find his way back to victory lane. Here are some of the struggles Larson has encountered over the last year.

• Currently on a 38-race winless streak, his longest since joining Hendrick Motorsports in the start of 2021
• Won every 6 races (16.67%) between the start of 2021 and his last win at Kansas in May 2025
• Finished runner-up four times since his last win including Kansas this year
• His teammates have six wins since his last win (Chase Elliott-4, William Byron-2)
• One top-20 finish in the last five races of 2026, his average finish of 25th in the last five races is his worst of his Hendrick career

The 400 miles in today’s race will consist of 200 laps around the 2-Mile Asphalt Paved Oval. Stages are set for 45/75/80 laps. Tire wear is generally not a factor at MIS, but fuel economy is. Both Stage Two and the Final Stage will require a pit stop for fuel to complete the assigned number of laps.

Stage One

Carson Hocevar(77) drove away from Tyler Reddick(45) at the drop of the green flag. Working lap two, Connor Zilisch(88) got loose at the end of the backstretch, spun and made contact with the outside wall. The yellow flag displayed and Hocevar will get a chance to see if he can hold that top spot again. Some drivers used the caution to come in and top off the fuel tank to make sure they have enough Sunoco Racing Gasoline to complete the first Stage.

Hocevar fired off quick again and pulled down in front of Reddick by the time the pack reached turn one. Down the backstretch, Reddick and Ty Gibbs(54) pulled up to make it a three-wide battle into turn three. Hocevar, rim riding the top of the track, blew past both drivers and maintained the lead.

On lap eight, Zilisch encountered more trouble down the backstretch. He spun again and nailed the inside safety barrier. A ride to the garage on the back of a tow truck ended Zilisch’s day.

The third time was the charm for Reddick as he outran Hocevar into turn one and came away with the lead on the lap 15 restart. Once out front, Reddick clicked off laps with Gibbs and Hocevar in tow. Chase Elliott(9) and Bubba Wallace(23) rounded out the top five. They ran in that order to the end of Stage One.

Results of Stage One

Stage Two

Ty Gibbs was the first driver to exit pit road. Wallace, Hocevar, Chris Buescher(17), Reddick, and Zane Smith(38) followed. Chris Buescher had the worst possible luck on his stop. One of the pins securing the hood on his race car came loose. Buescher had to come back down pit road to have it reattached and went from third position to 33rd on the restart.

Bubba Wallace had no trouble holding on to the top spot as he pulled away at the drop of the green flag. However, on lap 57 Hocevar returned to the front of the field with an aggressive move around Wallace. Gibbs followed Hocevar and Elliott returned to the lead battle sliding ahead of Smith into the fourth spot.

On lap 64 Brad Keselowski(6) has a left rear tire go down and almost hit the wall in turn one. The caution waved again as Brad limped his way around the track bringing his Ford Mustang to the attention of his crew. Keselowski remained on the lead lap with quick service from his team on pit road. The field took the opportunity to pit for fuel and some teams took tires.

Elliott, Kyle Larson(5), Wallace, Gibbs, and Reddick were the first cars off pit road. Larson got the jump and led a lap before Elliott resumed the lead and began to pull away from the field.

AJ Allmendinger(16) got loose and spun off turn two to put the race back under caution. The leaders stayed on the track not wanting to give up track position. However, drivers back in the pack pitted to top off fuel levels. The race restarted with 38 laps to go in Stage Two.

Chaos broke out on the front stretch as the pack took the green flag. Contact send cars spinning as there seemed to be a lack of acceleration by a couple of cars at the front of the field. The cars of Austin Dillon(3) and Tyler Reddick were destroyed in the incident. For Reddick this will be his first DNF of the year. Several other cars received minor damage in the incident including Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek(42).

Restarting on lap 89 Elliott, Larson, and Wallace remained out front. Riley Herbst(35) joined the lead group and Carson Hocevar, who somehow swerved his way through the mess, restarts fifth.

Before a lap could be completed, Nemechek and Keselowski got together off turn two and brought the race back under caution. Keselowski’s car was the loser in that battle as he went behind the wall with severe front end damage.

The restart came on lap 93 with Elliott pulling out in front. Wallace moved to the lead as Daniel Suarez(7) joined the top five and Herbst dropped out. Christopher Bell(20), Joey Logano(22), Erik Jones(43), and Noah Gragson(4) moved into contention. Action at the top of the leaderboard picked up significantly as the race crossed the halfway mark.

As laps went up on the board and the Stage counted down to 10 to go, Elliott stretched his lead. Suarez moved to second ahead of Larson. Jones and Bell moved into the top five.

Results of Stage Two

The Final Stage

With almost everyone getting four tires and a full tank of fuel some shuffling of the running order occured out front. Elliott held the lead off pit road, followed by William Byron(24), Suarez, Buescher, Bell, Larson, Hamlin, Jones, Wallace, and Michael McDowell(71).

The third Stage is looking like an all-out sprint to the finish as every spot is contested after the restart while the pack is bunched together. How much fuel got packed in during the Stage ending pit stops could be a deciding factor in the outcome of the race. At least one more fuel stop will be required to complete the distance, when it happens will also be a key moment.

With 60 laps to go Zane Smith had a tire go down and he spun off turn two bringing out the caution. It is unlikely anyone can finish the 200 laps on fuel. Some teams opted to change just two tires on this stop, further jumbling the running order.

On the restart Byron and Bell sit on row one, Elliott and Ross Chastain(1) occupy row two. Unfortunately Bell and Elliott get together in turn three destroying both cars and causing damage to the outside wall and safer barrier. NASCAR is forced to display the red flag with 51 laps to go as track crews work to repair the damage to the wall.

After a little over a 20-minute delay the red flag was lifted. None of the leaders opted to come to pit road, preferring to maintain track position.

The new running order for the restart is Byron, Suarez, Chastain, Hamlin, Hocevar, Logano, Jones, Wallace, and Alex Bowman(48). The restart comes with 47 laps to go and crews are hoping for another caution that will allow them to save enough fuel to finish the remaining laps.

No worries now on pit road as cautions breed cautions. On lap 154 a number of cars at the rear of the field collide and spin down the front stretch. Plenty of tire smoke but not much serious damage. Ryan Preece(60), Michael McDowell(71), and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(47) getting the worst of the incident.

Suarez, Byron, Hamlin, Hocevar, and Larson are the top five headed to the restart with 39 laps to go.

It looked like Hocevar was going to power his way around Suarez for the lead. But as they battle through turns three and four, Hamlin went three wide and had captured the top spot at the start/finish line.

With 30 to go, Hamlin led, Suarez ran second, Wallace had moved into third, Hocevar replaced Byron in fourth.

With 20 to go, Hamlin had built the lead over Suarez to three seconds. Wallace, Hocevar, and Jones were closing the interval on Suarez.

With 10 laps to go, Hamlin had built the lead to eight seconds over Hocevar, Wallace, and Jones as Suarez continued to fade. Without a caution, it is Hamlin’s race to win.

Michigan’s Erik Jones moves to the second spot over fellow Michigan driver Carson Hocevar. But no one is going to catch Hamlin.

Denny Hamlin goes back to back at Michigan 2025-2026 and back to back at Nashville and Michigan over the last two weeks. With his 63rd win in the Cup Series Hamlin ties Kyle Busch for 9th on the all-time series win list.

With his second place finish Erik Jones moved to 18th in the points standings. Just 18 points behind the 16th and final postseason position currently held by Austin Cindric.

 NASCAR Cup Series Points Standings

Results of the FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway