NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday evening set the starting lineup for Sunday's race. However, there is set to be a big change to the order ahead of the green flag.
Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin was the man to take pole position in Saturday's session, just edging Spire Motorsports' Carson Hocevar to deny the Portage native a home race pole.
However, as it turns out, it looks like Hocevar will start from pole after all, with Hamlin confirming that his car sustained damage in practice that will require work ahead of Sunday's race. If that's the case, it would be classed as an unapproved adjustment and would see the No. 11 sent to the rear ahead of the green flag.
If that does happen, it'll be Tyler Reddick who starts second behind Hocevar, with Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe starting third and fourth, respectively.
Behind them would be Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, while Christopher Bell and William Byron would make up the next two cars. Rounding out the top 10 would be Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez.
With that said, let's take a look at all of the starting positions below.
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NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for Michigan
Here is the full starting lineup for Sunday’s Firekeepers Casino 400.
| Pos | Driver (Car No.) | Team (OEM) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carson Hocevar (77) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 2 | Tyler Reddick (45) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 3 | Ty Gibbs (54) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 4 | Chase Briscoe (19) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 5 | Chase Elliott (9) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 6 | Kyle Larson (5) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 7 | Christopher Bell (20) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 8 | William Byron (24) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 9 | Erik Jones (43) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 10 | Daniel Suarez (7) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 11 | Riley Herbst (35) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 12 | Bubba Wallace (23) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 13 | Chris Buescher (17) | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 14 | Cole Custer (41) | Haas Factory Team (Chevrolet) |
| 15 | Zane Smith (38) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 16 | John H. Nemechek (42) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 17 | Joey Logano (22) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 18 | Ryan Blaney (12) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 19 | Michael McDowell (71) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 20 | Austin Dillon (3) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 21 | Noah Gragson (4) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47) | HYAK Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 23 | Ty Dillon (10) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 24 | AJ Allmendinger (16) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 25 | Brad Keselowski (6) | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 26 | Ryan Preece (60) | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 27 | Austin Hill (33) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 28 | Alex Bowman (48) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 29 | Shane van Gisbergen (97) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 30 | Austin Cindric (2) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 31 | Ross Chastain (1) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 32 | Cody Ware (51) | Rick Ware Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 33 | Connor Zilisch (88) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 34 | Todd Gilliland (34) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 35 | JJ Yeley (44) | NY Racing Team (Chevrolet) |
| 36 | Josh Berry (21) | Wood Brothers Racing (Ford) |
| 37 | Denny Hamlin (11) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
NOTE: This lineup is unofficial and assumes Hamlin will start from the rear due to unapproved adjustments, as he confirmed post-qualifying on Saturday evening.
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