Hamlin upsets Hocevar a home pole at Michigan

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin narrowly bests Carson Hocevar for the FireKeepers Casino 400 pole in the NASCAR Cup Series at Michigan International Speedway.

For Hamlin this marks his 50th career Cup Series pole. He’s now 10th all-time on the pole list, passing Bobby Isacc for his 3rd of the 2026 season.

After the qualifying session he joined the exclusive 50 win 50 pole club as its seventh member.

However, his momentous occasion was short-lived as he will start from the back after his flat in practice.

While he’ll lose out on potential stage points, on the bright side, this means he cannot repeat his hilariously horrendous jump start from Nashville. More importantly, he earned the ever valuable first pit stall for Sunday.

Therefore, his row-mate who narrowly missed out at a home track pole, Carson Hocevar will lead the field to green but will still be credited for second place.

Tyler Reddick topped the board in the lone practice session and will start from third. Ty Gibbs will start in fourth from the second row.

Chase Briscoe will start fifth as he looks to grab his first win of the season during a strong stretch for Toyota. Chase Elliott will start sixth and finalizes the “all-Chase” third row.

Then, his teammate Kyle Larson will start behind him in seventh. Christopher Bell will start from eighth after he suffered a flat tire in practice. He and his No. 20 will have to decide if the damage is too much as he will likely go to the rear of the field with his teammate Hamlin.

William Byron and Erik Jones round out the top ten. Both drivers look to extend their current top ten streak from the top ten at Michigan.

More drivers suffered tire faults in the lone practice session. Austin Cindric and Michael McDowell had their issues. Then, Josh Berry failed to get a time on the board after his solo-spin coming out of turn four on his hot lap in qualifying.

Below is the full starting lineup for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan.

Starting Lineup