Sunday’s wild NASCAR Cup Sequence race at Michigan Worldwide Speedway felt extra like a superspeedway occasion with the entire chaos and carnage. Solely 24 drivers reached the checkered flag, and eleven cautions eclipsed a file that had stood for 20 years.
The victory was his 63rd in Cup, tying him with
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However that is solely scratching the floor of what went down at MIS, so let’s check out the most important winners and losers from the NASCAR Cup race within the Irish Hills of Michigan:
WINNER: Denny Hamlin is at his finest, and honors each Rowdy Busch and Gentleman Ned
Watch: ‘We’re nonetheless considering of Kyle’: Hamlin honors Busch in Victory Lane
, and at 45 years previous, he is solely getting quicker. He is now tied Kyle Busch with 63 profession wins, and honored the fallen NASCAR legend with a custom-made flag combining the JGR trademark #11 and the RCR trademark #8 to make a Kyle Busch #18 on a black background. He additionally remembered legendary driver Ned Jarrett, who died this previous weekend and was the unique ‘badass’ driver of the No. 11 in NASCAR. Additionally, Hamlin managed to win from the again of the sphere for the second consecutive week, and it seems like nothing can cease him at this level. NASCAR now heads to Pocono, the place Hamlin has been dominant since he was a Cup Sequence rookie 20 years in the past.
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Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Reddick entered Michigan with no finishes exterior the highest 15 this yr, and regardless of shedding a piece of his lead at Nashville, he nonetheless held almost 100 factors between himself and his closest challenger within the championship. Reddick completed thirty fifth, recording his first DNF of the yr. With Hamlin’s win, No driver in addition to Reddick has led the standings but this yr, however at this fee, that truth would possibly change very quickly as his boss closes in.
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Watch: Hocevar explains transfer resulting in Lap 83 Michigan crash
What extra might be mentioned about Spire? They’re far exceeding all expectations. began on the entrance row and scored a high 5 end, whereas teammate completed proper behind him in sixth. Each drivers moved deeper into the highest ten within the championship standings, and Spire was the one workforce with a number of drivers ending inside the highest six, and bested each different Chevrolet driver excluding . Hocevar , however his tempo stays one thing few different ‘Bowtie’ drivers can match.
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Joey Logano, Workforce Penske
This was stunning. Ford has gained 9 of the final 12 Michigan races, however the ‘Blue Oval’ did not even lead a single lap at Michigan Worldwide Speedway. None of them certified inside the highest ten, and their top-finishing drivers had been Penske teammates and in seventh and eighth, respectively. Ford solely has one victory this yr, and that got here in early March, so one thing has to vary if they need one other crown this yr.
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WINNER: surprises as one of the best of the remaining
Watch: Jones laments P2: ‘It simply did not work out excellent’
Whereas Hamlin gained Sunday’s race by over eleven seconds, there was an exciting battle for second far behind him. However the winner of that battle to be the ‘better of the remaining’ was fairly the shock — Legacy Motor Membership driver Erik Jones and the No. 43 Toyota. That was no fluke both, as Jones was working down for the Stage 2 win earlier in the identical race. That is the Michigan native’s first high 5 of the 2026 season, and his finest end since successful the 2022 Southern 500 at Darlington.
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LOSER: Bell & Elliott’s good day goes very incorrect in vicious crash
Firstly of Stage 3, Chase Elliott and had been battling side-by-side on the entrance when Elliott’s automotive snapped up the observe. The factors impression is apparent,. He has been winless since final September, and driving damage — or worse — being sidelined, may very well be disastrous for his Chase hopes.
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Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing
After a streak of terrible finishes and dangerous luck, Wallace slipped all the best way all the way down to fifteenth within the standings. Nicely, despite the fact that he was concerned in the identical restart pileup that eradicated teammate Reddick, Wallace was capable of proceed, and surged to a third-place end on Sunday. That’s now his finest end of the 2026 season, and made him the most important mover within the championship this week, leaping 4 positions from fifteenth to eleventh.
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Connor Zilisch crash injury
It is all going incorrect for , and it simply retains getting worse for . Preece was the proper instance of consistency with eleven consecutive high 20 finishes throughout the first a part of the season. He was edging nearer to the highest ten in factors, however the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford has taken a swing within the incorrect course in latest weeks. Three consecutive DNFs for incidents exterior of his management have cratered Preece to nineteenth within the standings, and his probabilities of making the Chase are fading. For Zilisch, the rookie’s hopes of a Chase berth ended many weeks in the past, and at this level, he simply needs laps. , and was eradicated in early cautions in every of these occasions. At Michigan, he truly wrecked twice within the first ten laps earlier than exiting the occasion, recording three consecutive last-place finishes.
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