The NASCAR Cup Series visited Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon in the Great American Getaway 400 from Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Denny Hamlin started the race on the pole, with Kyle Larson starting second.
The first stage was clean, Larson and Hamlin battled it out for the lead. Larson led the opening 24 laps before Hamlin caught him and passed him on lap 25. Hamlin led the final seven laps to win the first stage. In the second stage, Zane Smith went around at Turn 1 to bring out the caution. It was one of five cautions throughout the race. Smith’s car had handling issues, and he was out of the race, finishing in 37th place.
On lap 48, Shane van Gisbergen and Josh Berry made contact after Austin Hill made it a three-wide battle at the exit of Turn 3, causing a multi-car accident that also involved Noah Gragson, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace, and Connor Zilisch. Keselowski was the only driver who could not continue the race. He finished in 38th place.
As the second stage was winding down, teams went to pit road. Todd Gilliland stretched his fuel tank and went on to win the second stage. It was Gilliland’s first career stage win.
In the final stage, John Hunter Nemechek led nine laps before losing the lead to Denny Hamlin. Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney also led several laps. On lap 138, Christopher Bell took the lead from Ryan Blaney, while Denny Hamlin passed Blaney for second. Hamlin closed in on Bell. With five laps to go, Hamlin passed Bell on the inside of Turn 2. Bell lost several positions in the last five laps. Hamlin would go on to win his third straight race by 1.678 seconds.
Hamlin led 28 of 160 laps. It was his fourth win of the season, eighth at Pocono, and the 64th of his career. He also cut Reddick’s championship lead to 19 points. Tyler Reddick, William Byron, John Hunter Nemechek, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five. Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, and Ryan Blaney completed the top ten. Click here to see the full results.
The Cup Series heads to the streets of the Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, California, next Sunday at 4 pm on Prime Video.
