There’s something about Denny Hamlin and drama. When fans think he’s got too much going on to focus on racing, he shows up with another phenomenal win.
On Sunday, Michigan International Speedway [MIS] hosted another Hamlin special. This one had a little bit of everything: pressure, fuel strategy, history, and a whole lot of Hamlin doing things he does best. It was vintage No. 11.
A Wild Sunday and Historic Leap for Denny Hamlin
The race looked like it was William Byron’s to lose. He led 98 laps, had the pace, and seemed cruising towards another race win. But late-race Michigan gets tricky, especially when fuel becomes a factor.
And out of nowhere, Hamlin was ready to pounce.
He slipped underneath Byron with just four laps left, and before the Hendrick Motorsports driver could mount a counterattack on Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota, his fuel tank ran dry with just one and a half laps to go.
From there, Hamlin never looked back. The pass didn’t just win him the race — it earned him his 57th win in the Cup Series and broke a tie with Kyle Busch for the most wins in Joe Gibbs Racing history.
Denny Hamlin wins at Michigan, he becomes just the 10th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win with more than 700 career starts.
With 57 wins, he is now the winningest driver in Joe Gibbs Racing history, breaking a tie with Kyle Busch (56 wins) pic.twitter.com/k5R9RLVkAv
— NASCAR Insights (@NASCARInsights) June 8, 2025
He now sits alone atop the Gibbs record books and finds himself in an ultra-rare club. This win also made Hamlin the 10th driver ever to win a race after his 700th career Cup start.
The elite company he now shares includes names like Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte, and the King himself, Richard Petty.
It’s not bad for a guy who almost had to skip the race because his fiancée, Jordan Fish, is expecting their third child at any moment now.
The Boos Were Loud, but Hamlin Was Louder
Michigan fans didn’t love it. In fact, they let Hamlin hear it, loudly with their post-race boos. But he embraced the hate like a badge of honour.
After the race, Hamlin made a hand signal, mocking the grandstand which received more boos than before.
Between running up front, running a team (23XI Racing), expecting a child, and going through legal headaches with NASCAR over the whole charter mess, Hamlin’s life is hectic to say the least. But none of that showed on Sunday.
With fuel strategy perfection, a little patience, and a whole lot of experience, Hamlin pulled off another late-race heist. Buescher came home second, followed by Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Larson.
At 44, with a baby on the way, a lawsuit in the works, and 700+ races behind him, Hamlin somehow just keeps getting better.