Daddy-to-be Denny Hamlin downplayed his fuel-saving efforts that led to the NASCAR Cup Series driver claiming Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
With William Byron, the race’s most dominant driver, forced to pit for fuel with two laps remaining, Hamlin managed to hold off Chris Buescher and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs while conserving enough fuel to create one post-checkered flag burn out before emptying his fuel tank.
Hamlin told NASCAR.com he was not overly concerned about prematurely running out of fuel.
“No, not really,” Hamlin said. “I wanted to get the lead, and obviously (Byron) was doing a really good job.”
With Hamlin winning on his 701st career start, it marked the first time a Cup pilot visited Victory Lane after reach the 700-start milestone. Running P11 with 20 laps remaining, Hamlin rallied to secure his 57th career win.
“This whole team just stepped up,” Hamlin said. “Great job. We’ve been so fast this entire year, just haven’t finished it for one reason or another, so it feels good to come to Michigan, where we’ve been so close the last couple of years.
“Such a gratifying day to restart 11th or 12th and charge to the front.”
Byron (576 points) maintained his lead in the drivers’ standings, 41 points in front of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who earned a P5 Sunday.
Hamlin’s win helped him move into third place in the standings with 494 points, entering next weekend’s ground-breaking event at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Hamlin is expecting the birth of his third child any day.
Thrice as nice. 🏁
This is the third consecutive year, and ninth time in his career, that @dennyhamlin has reached the three-win mark on the season. pic.twitter.com/C8zNl1Kklj
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 8, 2025
NASCAR National, Mexico Series Weekend Schedule
Here is a list of NASCAR National Series events this weekend at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (All Times ET):
Friday
- 11 a.m.: NASCAR Mexico Series practice and qualifying
- 1:05 p.m.: Cup Series practice 1
- 2:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice 1
- 3 p.m.: Cup Series practice 2
- 3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice 2
- 4:30 p.m.: NASCAR Mexico Series Ricardo Rodriguez 120 race
Saturday
- 10:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- Noon: Cup Series qualifying
- 1:45 p.m.: NASCAR Mexico Series Pedro Rodriguez 100 race
- 4:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series The Chilango 150 race
Sunday
- 3 p.m.: Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 race
Water/coolant boiling point goes down by around 3 degrees for every 1000ft of altitude so it will boil at a lower temperature when at a higher altitude.
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is around 7,500 feet above sea level which is why teams/OEMs are taking preacuations. https://t.co/VRdwWzeVQq
— Bozi Tatarevic (@BoziTatarevic) June 8, 2025
Viva Mexico 250 Entry List
NASCAR Cup Series officials released the entry list for Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez:
Entry, Driver, Car No.
- 1, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 2, Austin Cindric No. 2 Ford
- 3, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
- 4, Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
- 5, Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
- 6, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
- 7, Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
- 8, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
- 9, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
- 10, Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
- 11, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
- 12, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
- 13, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
- 14, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
- 15, Chase Briscoe, No. 19, Toyota
- 16, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
- 17, Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
- 18, Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
- 19, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
- 20, William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
- 21, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
- 22, Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
- 23, Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
- 24, Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
- 25, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
- 26, Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
- 27, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
- 28, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Ford
- 29, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
- 30, Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
- 31, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
- 32, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
- 33, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
- 34, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
- 35, Katherine Legge, No. 78 Chevrolet
- 36, Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
- 37, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
Chase Briscoe wins the pole at Michigan with a speed of 195.514 mph.
This is the fastest pole speed in the NASCAR Cup Series since Ryan Blaney ran 200.505 mph at Texas in November 2018
Here are the fastest poles in the NextGen Era: pic.twitter.com/NZpuogI7Um
— NASCAR Insights (@NASCARInsights) June 7, 2025
