BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — There were no boos for Denny Hamlin after this winning burnout at Michigan International Speedway.
Holding a black No. 18 flag out the window, the Joe Gibbs Racing star celebrated his 63rd career victory by smoking the tires of his No. 11 Toyota down the straightaway in honor of Kyle Busch, his late teammate whom he tied for ninth on the all-time win list in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“Truthfully, I had to outlive him to tie him,” said Hamlin who radioed “We love you, KB” on his victory lap. “He was an amazing teammate. He taught me so much at tracks like this. I just can’t say enough.”
It was the second consecutive victory for Hamlin and his second consecutive win at Michigan, where he celebrated last year by taunting fans who booed him.
But there were only raucous cheers from the front-stretch grandstands Sunday as Hamlin jogged up to the flag stand to get the checkered flag while still carrying his Busch tribute flag
Busch drove the No. 18 from 2008-22 for Gibbs, teaming up with Hamlin for a NASCAR-record 523 races. Busch’s death on May 21 rocked the NASCAR industry, which was already grieving over the offseason deaths of Greg Biffle and his family in a plane crash. Hamlin’s father also died in a Dec. 28 house fire.
Noting that Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett also died last week, Hamlin dedicated his third win this season to Busch and his family.
“The offseason, it was rough for me, and it was rough for the NASCAR family,” Hamlin said. “Just an unbelievable feeling to be able to strap in every week, and I don’t take it for granted, this opportunity that I’m in. I just love we’re making the best of it.”
Just like last week’s win at Nashville Superspeedway, when the Joe Gibbs Racing car started on the pole position but was penalized for jumping the start, Hamlin qualified first at Michigan but dropped to the back at the green flag because of a penalty for unapproved adjustments to his No. 11 Toyota.
Hamlin patiently worked his way to the front over 400 miles. He took the lead for good on a three-wide pass during a restart with 38 laps remaining, sweeping into first around Spire Racing teammates Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar, a home-state favorite.
Hamlin won by 11.110 seconds, his widest margin of victory in Cup and the largest win at Michigan since June 1991.
“This Joe Gibbs team just keeps giving me amazing race cars,” Hamlin said. “This Toyota was just amazing. And at the last run there, it just hammered down. It had a few good restarts, and then once we got to the lead, I was going to lay it out.”
Erik Jones (another Michigan native) finished second after also starting from the rear for unapproved adjustments. Bubba Wallace was a season-best third, followed by Kyle Larson and Hocevar, who notched his best Michigan finish.
“I don’t think anyone was going to contend with Denny at the end,” Larson said. “He was flying.”
