O-H-D-H: Hamlin Wins Michigan
- alexjarvis83
- Jun 10
- 3 min read

FireKeepers Casino 400: Newly minted Ohio State Buckeye fan Denny Hamlin continued the Buckeyes winning ways by taking the checkered flag on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in the FireKeepers Casino 400. Hamlin took the lead with a few laps to go after him and his team nailing the fuel strategy that often comes into play at Michigan, and cruised to his third win of the 2025 campaign. Hamlin also became just the 10th driver to win a race after his 700th start in the NASCAR Cup Series. And, to me, Hamlin has cemented himself as the championship favorite with his consistency throughout the season as opposed to the other big winners of the year who seem to be winning in spurts.
The race was damn good. Michigan delivered yet again in the "NextGen" era with a little bit of tire wear, a lot of aero blocking, drivers being able to move around to multiple grooves, get runs, and actually pass drivers with relative consistency. There were drivers who came, drivers who fell, a smidge of attrition, and a lot of damn good racing throughout with the best stock car racers going at it all day. William Byron dominated the race leading a race high 98 laps. And while you might think it's shocking he didn't win even if it seemed at times like the race was his, if you watched the race you'd realize it wasn't wild. It wasn't until The Teardown with Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi that I even learned that Byron was the laps leader of the race. That's how much competition was at the front of the race. And in the last run, which was going to be determined by fuel strategy, there were times I was sure Carson Hocevar was going to win (even though he was four laps short on fuel), but sadly he cut a tire down and we didn't see how it could've played out for him. Then it look like Larson was in the cat bird seat with fuel since he had been saving fuel hardcore behind Byron and Hocevar, but then Larson fell back. And my thought shifted to "well, damn, Byron is going to win." Until I realized Gibbs and Hamlin were charging hard. Then Gibbs drifted back and Hamlin surged. Now, it's a battle, and it was an absolutely intense battle for several laps with Byron and Hamlin until Hamlin ultimately wrestled the lead from Byron with five laps left. While I was conifdently that Denny has masterfully saved fuel was on cruise control to the win, I was still on edge to see if he had saved enough and would able to fend off a hard charging Chris Buescher over the last few laps. Of course, Hamlin and the 11 team had executed perfectly and DH drove under the checkered flag for his third win of the year, and even saved enough fuel to give the fans a burnout before delivering his signature "I beat your favorite driver" line and flexing the O-H celebration in front of the Michigan faithful. All in all, an A+ race with an A++ performance from Denny Hamlin.
Next up the Cup Series and Xfinity Series heads to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Mexico. The Craftsman Truck Series folks have the week off before heading to Pocono Raceway on June 20. For this weekend in Mexico City, the Xfinity Series folks get the weekend going on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST on The CW with The Chilango 150 for their return to Mexico in nearly 20 years. The Cup Series goes green with their inaugural race in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. EST on Amazon Prime Video with the Viva Mexico 250.
Mexico Picks:
Trucks = Off
Xfinity = Connor Zilisch
Cup = Daniel Suarez
Comments