Denny Hamlin completes first NASCAR Cup Series three-peat win at Pocono

LONG POND, PA. — For the first time in his storied NASCAR Cup Series career Denny Hamlin has won three consecutive races. He outpaced the field to capture The Great American Getaway 250 win at Pocono Raceway.

This is his fourth win of the season and his 64th win of his career as he officially breaks his tie on the all-time list with Kyle Busch.

Pocono Raceway is home to Hamlin’s first two series wins and a multitude of track records he set that followed thereafter. Heading into the Poconos, the whole sport knew how possible his first three-peat was.

His weekend started off on the right foot as he extended his total pole record at the track to a staggering seven around the Tricky Triangle.

From the pole, he was outdueled by Kyle Larson and settled into second but his long-run speed kept him in contention for the stage win. With eight laps remaining in the opening stage, he made his pass on Larson for his fifth stage win of the season.

The second stage saw another Hendrick Motorsports driver ahead of Hamlin, Chase Elliott.

Elliott eventually led nine laps before Hamlin once again briefly took control of the race. On the primary strategy of the day, both drivers flipped the stage which handed a fuel-saving Todd Gilliland his first career stage win.

Finally, it was William Byron’s turn to pester Hamlin for the win in the final stage. Byron was able to cut the gap to under a second but the long-run car Hamlin had was too powerful.

Hamlin chased down his fuel-saving teammate in Christopher Bell for the lead with around 5 laps remaining and set sail to the win.

The Top 10

Denny’s win chopped another sizeable bite into Tyler Reddick’s points lead. He now sits only 19 points behind Reddick entering the final ten races in the regular season.

Reddick did his best to keep Hamlin from taking a larger chunk out of his dwindling lead. He started 15th and failed to capture any stage points compared to Hamlin’s 12 but his alternative strategy call helped him secure second by the end of the race.

Had the race been even two laps longer in distance, today’s winner could have been him.

William Byron came home a much needed third for his first top five since Martinsville. He ran both national series events this weekend with the same result in both.

John Hunter Nemechek had arguably his most brilliant and complete Cup Series weekend to date at Pocono. He qualified inside the top ten, and led a race-high 42 laps. His fourth-place marks his best finish this season and adds another top five to the tally to join his fifth in the Daytona 500.

Kyle Larson led the opening 24 circuits and came home fifth for his second consecutive top five run. The Hendrick Chevrolets are starting to equal the performance of the Toyota’s on intermediates.

Erik Jones backed up his second-place a week ago with a well deserved sixth today. He and Legacy Motor Club have found excellent top ten consistency with the intermediate packadge this season.

Chris Buescher qualified inside the top ten and finished inside the top ten in seventh. Their second top ten in a row will give them great momentum heading to California for two weeks of road course racing.

Ross Chastain carved his way from 24th to eighth, riding the alternate strategy alongside Tyler Reddick in a result that will breathe life back into the Trackhouse camp as they head West.

Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top ten finishers in The Great American Getaway 400.

Notable Results

Christopher Bell was cleared mid-week to compete in the race despite his broken left wrist. He was able to find some comfortability throughout the weekend and even contended for the win late because of a fuel strategy call.

Unfortunately, he was unable to hold the lead and save enough fuel as he ran out of gas with under two laps remaining. His close call rendered what could have been a top five down to 26th.

Nonetheless, Bell showed everyone that even with a broken wrist he is someone to watch out for.

It was a weekend to forget for Brad Keselowski. He lost a cylinder just as his qualifying run started and DNF’d in last after getting caught up in the largest wreck of the day.

Connor Zilisch recovered from that very same incident to finish 23rd while Joey Logano and Noah Gragson’s days were severely hindered. Logano limped home to finish four laps down in 34th and Gragson in 35th.

Below is the full results from the NASCAR Cup Series at Pocono Raceway.

Full Results