Denny Hamlin went from worst to first … for the second week in a row.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver survived a crashfest at Michigan International Speedway to win the FireKeepers 400 for the second year in a row with a dominant finish. Hamlin won the pole, but had to start from the rear after adjustments were made to his car prior to the race. Last week at Nashville, Hamlin was also the pole-sitter, but was sent to the back of the pack for jumping the start, then went on to win.
Just 24 of 37 starters were running at the end in Michigan as several accidents collected 13 unlucky cars. Worst for wear was Hamlin’s teammate Christopher Bell who took a hard hit into the wall on lap 149 of 200 when Chase Elliott got loose underneath him then turned sharply up the track. Bell walked away from the crash, but Joe Gibbs Racing said Bell suffered wrist and ankle injuries that will have to be evaluated. The crash was so violent that the race had to be red-flagged for 20 minutes to repair the SAFER barrier against the wall.
An earlier nine-car wreck took out points leader Tyler Reddick, which opened the door for Hamlin to make up ground in the standings and he made the best of it, working his way to the front to lead the final 39 laps and cross the line 11 seconds ahead of Erik Jones.
“Just amazing,” Hamlin said after the race. “That last run there, just hammered down. Had a few good restarts and once I got the lead, laid out all I had.”
“Just grateful to be able strap in every week and I don’t take it for granted this opportunity that I’m in. Just love that we’re making the best of it,” he said.
Hamlin’s win was the 63rd of his career, which puts him into a tie with Kyle Busch with the eighth-most wins on the all-time list. Hamlin paid tribute to Busch with a flag that featured the number 18 with the 8 highlighted, symbolizing Busch’s last two ca numbers at Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing.
“It started Monday morning. I mean, at that — right after the race, it was like, okay, it’s something we probably ought to get on because we might win next week, right? So we wanted to be prepared for that,” Hamlin explained.
“Then I’m thinking do I put the 8? I know him as the 18. I don’t know the right thing, right? Then this person owns this font. That person owns this trademark. It’s like we had to have some collaboration, and I appreciate RCR letting us use the stylized 8 with the Joe Gibbs Racing the 1. It was just a happy balance that I felt good about when it all came out. NASCAR community has kind of just been through it over the last — certainly the last few weeks, but then just generally in the last six, eight months. It’s been tough. I just wanted to pay my respects to someone that I really did look up to and taught me so much as a teammate. There’s nothing we can say or do that’s going to make his family feel better, but at least during that little time, you can pay him the respects that he deserves.”
Hamlin is now just 51 points behind Reddick, who drives for the 23XI Racing team that he co-owns with Michael Jordan, with 11 races left before The Chase postseason.
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