Denny Hamlin had so much fun driving from last to first to win at Nashville Superspeedway one week ago, after bizarrely getting a massive jump start from pole position, that he is set to attempt it for the second consecutive weekend at Michigan International Speedway, where he won a year ago.
This time, he has the advantage of knowing he's actually set to start at the back before the green flag flies.
For the first time in over a month, rain didn't actually wash out a NASCAR Cup Series oval qualifying session on Saturday at the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) Brooklyn, Michigan track, and Hamlin took pole position.
He would have taken pole for Sunday's 200-lap FireKeepers Casino 400 even if qualifying had been rained out and NASCAR had needed to resort to the metric to determine the full starting lineup, as they did at Talladega Superspeedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Nashville in recent weeks.
But the No. 11 Toyota is set to drop to the tail end of the inside lane at the start of the race, as the team have opted to fix damage underneath the race car that was sustained due to a flat tire in practice before he secured his 50th career Cup Series pole position. The repair is considered an unapproved adjustment.
Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar, who initially qualified second, is set to take over as the control car, but he will not get lane choice like Hamlin would have. Everybody who had been slated to start in the inside lane behind Hamlin is move up by one row each, starting with 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, who initially qualified third in his No. 45 Toyota.
Despite being on the inside lane, Reddick is set to start second, with Hocevar's No. 77 Chevrolet moving from second to first as the new control car. However, Hamlin is still credited as the race's official polesitter. Nobody is actually set to change lanes due to Hamlin's scheduled pre-race drop from first to 37th.
Here's an updated look at how the field is set to take the green flag on Sunday.
Updated NASCAR Cup lineup at Michigan
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
2 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
3 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
4 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
5 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
6 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
7 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
8 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
9 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
10 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
11 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
12 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
13 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
14 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
15 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
16 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
17 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
18 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
19 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
20 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
22 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
23 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
24 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
25 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
26 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
27 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
28 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
29 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
30 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
31 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
32 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
33 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
34 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
36 | J.J. Yeley, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet |
37 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
Tune in to Amazon Prime Video at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday afternoon for live coverage of the FireKeepers Casino 400 from Michigan International Speedway, points race number 15 on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
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