For the second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin entered the weekend on baby watch, with longtime partner Jordan Fish expecting the couple's third child.
Like last week at Nashville Superspeedway, Hamlin still managed to compete on Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway. And after finishing third last week, he found victory lane on Sunday.
The win is Hamlin's third of the season, tying him with teammate Christopher Bell and Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson for tops in the Cup Series through the first 15 races of the 26-race regular season.
Because Hamlin had already won multiple races, the first at Martinsville Speedway and the next at Darlington Raceway, he had already officially locked himself into the playoffs.
The 16 playoff spots go to the regular season champion, the drivers who win multiple races, and then the single-race winners. If there are more single-race winners than remaining playoff spots, the tiebreaker to determine who gets in and who does not get in becomes points. If there are not enough single-race winners to fill the entire postseason field, the tiebreaker among non-winners to determine who gets in and who does not get in also becomes points.
Hamlin's victory was particularly big in that he was able to add five points to his season playoff point total, putting him at 18. He ranks second in that category behind Larson.
But having already secured his playoff spot, he was not the biggest winner on Sunday afternoon at Michigan.
That honor goes to Wood Brothers Racing's Josh Berry.
New winners emerged in back-to-back races at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Nashville entering the weekend. So a total of nine drivers entered Michigan having already won in 2025.
With 11 races remaining on the regular season schedule, there is still very much a possibility that the regular season produces more than 16 winners. Berry is the lowest in the point standings among the six drivers with one win so far this season.
Berry sits in 17th place in the point standings after his 12th place finish at Michigan. Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron leads the point standings and is by far and away the top single-race winner. Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and Austin Cindric are seventh, ninth, and 16th, respectively, and Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain is eighth.
That makes Berry the driver most at risk of missing the playoffs, even with his win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, should there end up being more than 16 different regular race winners.
Nobody was happier to see a repeat winner on Sunday than Berry was, as there is now one less opportunity for a new winner to emerge before the end of the regular season.
Cindric could also be slotted into this category, as his drop in the standings following his 31st place finish on Sunday put him just nine points ahead of Berry.
Since Cindric's win at Talladega Superspeedway, he has been trending in the wrong direction, while Berry seems to be heading the right way following his own post-win slump.
The 16th race on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Viva Mexico 250, the first ever Cup race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Amazon Prime Video is set to provide live coverage beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 15.