Denny Hamlin claims he wasn’t shocked by Chris Buescher’s triumph over Toyota rockets at Michigan

Chris Buescher repeated Kevin Harvick’s MIS-Richmond double from last season on Monday.

Denny Hamlin claims he wasn’t shocked by Chris Buescher’s triumph over Toyota rockets at Michigan

Chris Buescher and Denny Hamlin (Credits: IMAGO)

Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota came close to finally putting an end to the Ford domination at the Michigan International Speedway on Monday. But veterans Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. didn’t have enough to out-race Chris Buescher in the final half of the race. The RFK Racing driver scored his second straight win while the JGR secured the remaining podium finishes.

Truex Jr.’s No:19 Camry was undoubtedly the fastest car of the day, as he could pass every driver on the track with ease to get to P2, while Denny Hamlin produced a similar run to secure P3. The 23XI Racing co-owner might have had a better finish without the pit-stop mishap later in the race. Truex Jr. could have also had a better finish without Buescher’s solid final run.

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While discussing the race and how it ended for them, he pointed out that he could have caught up with his teammate without the pit-stop mishap. He added that seeing the No:17 RFK Racing car on the victory lane, just like both TRD cars, he was fast on Sunday and Monday. He said that track position played a big part in it the final results. Hamlin added that he is proud of his team’s efforts.

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“I thought we were really close with the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.). I thought he got through traffic better than I did all day, and it looks like the 17 (Chris Buescher) was pretty good too. That’s no shock – he showed some speed yesterday. Showed some things on the track that I felt like – caught my eye. Track position was king, we just never got to be up towards the front enough until the very end,” Hamlin said.

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Denny Hamlin admits that Monday’s race at Michigan was the same as it had ever been on the track

Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin (Credits: @Joegibsracing/Twitter)

When asked about the change to the track compared to Monday after the heavy rain on the weekend, Hamlin pointed out that the track acted the same way as it had always been, with harder to pass and track position being the king.

“It wasn’t a whole lot different. These conditions are cooler – cloudy, more on-throttle time, and harder to pass. But that is kind of what you get here at Michigan – it’s a track position, track strategy track,” Hamlin said.

Monday marked the third straight podium finish for the three times Daytona 500 winners, a streak that started with his win at Pocono. He hopes to end the regular season on a high note in the coming two races and will seek to win the championship over the current leader Truex Jr.

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