NASCAR Cup Series: Hamlin reigns in Michigan as struggles continue for Hocevar
- Gabriel Tsui
- Jun 9
- 3 min read
Written by Gabriel Tsui
Ohio man Denny Hamlin reigns in Michigan for his third win of the season, amidst a poor outing for major rival William Byron. Carson Hocevar suffered yet another equipment failure while Ford drivers had a great day in their home state.
The race kicked off with Chase Briscoe leading the field to green, and he was immediately engaged by William Byron and Chris Buescher in the following laps. Briscoe held off the No.24 and the No.17 for the initial dozen of laps, but the No.19 was no match and fell back soon thereafter. Buescher stayed patient behind the No.24, and completed the overtake on the front straight and went on to win stage one.
Stage One results:
Chris Buescher, No.17
William Byron, No.24
Denny Hamlin, No.11
Chase Briscoe, No.19
Josh Berry, No.21
Ryan Blaney, No.12
Kyle Larson, No.5
Bubba Wallace, No.23
Kyle Busch, No.8
Carson Hocevar, No.77
Stage two kicked off with Ryan Blaney leading the way, but Chase Elliott soon overtook Blaney for the lead after moving past Carson Hocevar and Denny Hamlin. In lap 60, both John Hunter Nemechek and Noah Grayson spun on the exit of turn 2 and the first caution of the stage was waved.
On the restart, Elliott continued to lead but Alex Bowman was sent spearing into the wall after Cole Custer and Austin Cindric made contact on the back of turn 2. This brought out the red flag, as Elliott and multiple other drivers decided against a pit stop, which led to some problems for the No.9 later on.
Elliott continued leading on the restart, but a spin by Nemechek brought out yet another caution, forcing Elliott and other drivers to finally pit. Elliott was penalised for improper fueling during this pit stop, forcing him off the lead lap.
Christopher Bell led the way on the restart, but Byron overtook the No.20 on the inside and cruised away to the stage win albeit a slight hiccup when Blaney was on his way into pit road, bringing out the caution.
Stage Two results:
William Byron, No.24
Austin Cindric, No.2
Carson Hocevar, No.77
Tyler Reddick, No.45
Ross Chastain, No.1
Ryan Preece, No.60
Bubba Wallace, No.23
Denny Hamlin, No.11
Ty Dillon, No.10
Erik Jones, No.43
The final stage once again kicked off with Byron leading on the outside, while Hocevar trailed closely on the inside. The rest of the race was a stalemate between Hocevar and Byron, while both were underfueled and needed to save fuel coming around the track. The stalemate ended when Hocevar, who was still running in the lead, blew his left rear tyre and had to head into the pits.
Byron took the lead while Denny Hamlin slowly but steadily moved into striking distance behind Byron. Eventually, Hamlin found the opening for an overtake, and cruises to victory while Byron had to pit for fuel in the final lap.
Final Results
Denny Hamlin, No. 11
Chris Buescher, No. 17
Ty Gibbs, No. 54
Bubba Wallace, No. 23
Kyle Larson, No. 5
Ross Chastain, No. 1
Zane Smith, No. 38
Kyle Busch, No. 8
Ryan Preece, No.60
Brad Keselowski, No.6
Erik Jones, No.43
Josh Berry, No. 21
Tyler Reddick, No. 45
Daniel Suarez, No. 99
Chase Elliott, No. 9
Christopher Bell, No. 20
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88
Austin Dillon, No. 3
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
Justin Haley, No. 7
Joey Logano, No. 22
Chase Briscoe, No. 19
Ty Dillon, No. 10
Riley Herbst, No. 35
Cody Ware, No. 51
Noah Gragson, No. 4
William Byron, No. 24
Carson Hocevar, No. 77
Michael McDowell, No. 71
Austin Cindric, No. 2
Ryan Blaney, No. 12
Todd Gilliland, No. 34
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
Cole Custer, No. 41
Alex Bowman, No. 48
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