Chase Briscoe holds off Denny Hamlin to win at Pocono Raceway on fuel mileage
With sublime fuel conservation, Chase Briscoe held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin to win at Pocono Raceway and lock into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Briscoe made his final pit stop on Lap 119 of 160 and stretched the fuel tank of his No. 19 Toyota to a 0.682-second victory despite concern by crew chief James Small that the fuel fill was too short.
It's the third career victory in NASCAR's premier series for Briscoe but his first since joining JGR this season.
'To finally deliver a win is just an awesome feeling,' Briscoe told Marty Snider on Prime.
Hamlin, who pitted a lap later and stopped longer to have more fuel, finished second on the 2.5-mile track in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, followed by Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott.
Joe Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski and Austin Cindric rounded out the top 10 as the 400-mile race finished on a 30-lap run under green.
It was a rough day for 23XI Racing, which occupied the last two places in the finishing order because of brake problems for Bubba Wallace (36th) and Riley Herbst (37th). Both drivers hit the wall after suffering tire problems related to the brakes.
Wallace was able to drive his No. 23 Toyota to the garage and then made a brisk walk to the care center after exiting. His playoff hopes took a major hit after he entered Pocono just above the cutline with 10 races remaining in the regular season.
Teammate Tyler Reddick also encountered mechanical problems before the end of Stage 2, falling three laps down and outside the top 30 for repairs.
Stage 1 winner: Hamlin
Stage 2 winner: Briscoe
Next up: Saturday, June 28, 7 p.m. ET at Atlanta Motor Speedway on TNT.
WILL BE UPDATED
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Hamlin returns to action with runner-up effort: 'Everything's clicking'
LONG POND, Pa. — Denny Hamlin returned to his best track on the NASCAR Cup Series calendar after one week off and netted a runner-up finish at Pocono Raceway. After sitting out last week's race in Mexico City as he and fiancée Jordan Fish welcomed the birth of their third child, Hamlin led 32 laps, won Stage 1 and was alongside teammate Chase Briscoe on the final restart. Ultimately, despite Briscoe's late fuel savings and Hamlin's heated pursuit, the No. 11 JGR driver was left to settle for a second-place finish. Advertisement RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Pocono Briscoe didn't get as much fuel into his tank during his last pit stop and needed to conserve late. Hamlin believed he had the advantage but could not get alongside Briscoe to truly establish position for what would have been the winning pass. 'I tried the best I could to make runs at him,' said Hamlin, a seven-time winner at Pocono. 'I'd back off, cool everything down, try to make another run, and as soon as I'd get within one or two car lengths, it would just heat the tires up and then I couldn't make a move on him. Truthfully, I thought he'd run out of gas. But we just were the next best on our strategy, which I thought was the right strategy. We just got a little unlucky.' Briscoe was leading Chris Buescher and Hamlin before the final round of green-flag pit stops began. Briscoe hit pit road at Lap 119 while Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gayle hit pit road one lap later with 40 laps remaining. Briscoe had a shorter pit stop — largely because Briscoe left the box earlier than his crew anticipated — and escaped with a three-second advantage over Hamlin, who leaped Buescher in the cycle. A caution came out at Lap 124, which bunched the field together again. But Briscoe prevailed when the green flag waved, clearing Hamlin for the lead by the time they reached Turn 1. Advertisement 'I felt the restart certainly was not good,' Hamlin said. 'He didn't get a push, but then the person behind me didn't push. That was a real defining moment to not have a chance to get around him because once you get off Turn 2 clear, you have to really mess up to lose the lead.' A three-time winner already this season, Hamlin has been a dominant force in 2025. The No. 11 Toyota has finished third or better in six of Hamlin's last 10 starts, leading laps in nine of those 10 as well. Hamlin exits Pocono third in the regular-season standings, only trailing the Hendrick Motorsports duo of William Byron and Kyle Larson. 'Every week, we're battling for a win,' Hamlin said. 'Things are going really, really good right now. I'm happy with the way our team's performing. Everything's clicking.' The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta), marking the first race of the inaugural In-Season Challenge at 7 p.m. ET on TNT Sports/truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
San Francisco Chronicle
37 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Denny Hamlin earns No. 1 seed in NASCAR's first In-season Challenge
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Denny Hamlin earned the top seed in the inaugural version of NASCAR's In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament set to kick off next week in Atlanta. The tournament, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner, is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT. The final 32-driver field was set by results of the races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. Chase Briscoe won the Cup race Sunday at Pocono Raceway to finalize the field. The drivers will be paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments. Hamlin goes head-to-head next week against the 32nd seed, Ty Dillon. Briscoe earned the second seed, Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Chase Elliott fifth. The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ___
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Denny Hamlin earns No. 1 seed in NASCAR's first In-season Challenge
Associated Press LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Denny Hamlin earned the top seed in the inaugural version of NASCAR's In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament set to kick off next week in Atlanta. The tournament, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner, is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT. The final 32-driver field was set by results of the races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. Chase Briscoe won the Cup race Sunday at Pocono Raceway to finalize the field. The drivers will be paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments. Hamlin goes head-to-head next week against the 32nd seed, Ty Dillon. Briscoe earned the second seed, Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Chase Elliott fifth. The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The tournament is patterned after in-season tournaments that are staged by soccer leagues around the world and even brought to the NBA. ___ AP auto racing: recommended
