Hamlin nearly wasn't in the race at all. He planned to leave the track early if his fiancée went into labor with their baby.

And never really got a chance to race again after that. Confident that my guys would have gotten the car better, and we could have gotten back up through there, but unfortunately, when you get in the back like that,

Denny Hamlin landed his third victory of the Cup Series season, coming out ahead in a fuel-mileage contest Sunday afternoon at Michigan.