A day after Michigan win, Denny Hamlin owns up to his pit road mistake and lauds JGR crew for preventing a penalty: “They had my back” 

Denny Hamlin gave a shout out to his Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 11 pit crew after his third NASCAR Cup win of the season at Michigan International Speedway last Sunday (June 8).

In a team briefing video posted by JGR on Instagram, Hamlin highlighted his mistake on pit road and lauded his crew for stepping in after he started his car too early during his final pit stop. He nearly dragged the fuel can out of the pit box, which would have triggered an automatic pass-through penalty. However, his crew member, Dylan, saved the day in the nick of time.

"I have three points of reference to leave. I either have a crew chief that says go. I have a fuel man that gives me the nod or Dylan that's giving me the, you know, you can go. I chose not to listen to any of them and just took off," Denny Hamlin said.

"Fortunately, they had my back there and kind of covered up one of the mistakes that I made. So feels fantastic to be able to go to the racetrack knowing that you can win each and every week," he added.

The No. 11 team and Hamlin executed brilliant fuel saving during the race. After restarting from around 11th place with 20 laps to go, he climbed the field and overtook leader William Byron with four laps remaining. Byron, who had led 98 laps, ran out of fuel, had to pit on the final lap and finished 28th.

Meanwhile, Hamlin led only five laps at the 2-mile oval. The day was similar to his Darlington win in April when his pit crew again allowed him to earn his second straight NASCAR Cup race win. A fast pit stop of 9.42 seconds in the final lap beat Byron, who led the most laps of the 2025 GoodYear 400.

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"It's fantastic" - Denny Hamlin on Michigan win after several previous close calls

Denny Hamlin moved one spot up in the NASCAR Cup points standing and took JGR teammate Christopher Bell's third place. The 44-year-old also tied with the latter in the number of wins (3) so far this season.

After his Michigan win, Hamlin credited his crew chief, Chris Gayle and the No. 11 team for their execution and consistency.

"It's fantastic. Chris Gayle, this whole team has just done a great job. We've been so fast throughout the entire year, just haven't finished it for one reason or another. Feels good to come here at Michigan where we’ve been so close over the years," Denny Hamlin said (via NBC Sports).

Hamlin has not finished worse than 9th in his last 8 races at Michigan before this year.