Briscoe Outlasts Hamlin at Pocono
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
LONG POND, Pa.—Chase Briscoe has earned a NASCAR Cup Series season-best four pole positions and led laps in eight races in his first season driving the famous No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and finally – finally – on Sunday afternoon that hard work translated into his first trophy, edging his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin in The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA.com at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway.
It came down to the suspenseful very final laps, Briscoe having to save as much fuel as possible while maintaining the lead the last 34 laps with Pocono’s all-time winningest driver Hamlin and a two-time Pocono winner, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney directly in his rearview mirror, pushing him lap after lap.
But Briscoe did it – perfectly executing throttle control to maintain the lead and not run his Toyota Camry out of gas – ultimately beating Hamlin across the line by .682-second to formally punch his win-and-in 2025 Playoff ticket. The 30-year-old Indiana-native led a race best 72 of the 160 laps on the day and even had enough fuel for the well-deserved victory celebration.
“There was a lot [of pressure],” a smiling Briscoe conceded. “It was kind of weird. I wasn’t driving hard so it’s not like I was on the ragged edge, but it was just so hard having a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here, to be trying to save fuel and everything else.
“Just an amazing day for our race team,” he continued, “Really the first race we’ve executed all year long.”
Hamlin, a three-time winner this year who is returning to competition after missing last week’s Mexico City race to be home in North Carolina for the birth of his son, showed why he is a seven-time Pocono winner, the track’s all-time best. His runner-up finish marks the 10th time he’s finished first or second at the unique 2.5-mile three-turn Pocono oval. He won in 2023 and now has finished second in the two races since.
“It was definitely going to be difficult,” said Hamlin, who started on pole position, won the opening stage and led 32 laps. “The team did a great job and we were next best in line of our strategy, it just didn’t work out.”
“We’re really strong and not showing up with any weaknesses right now, really proud of the effort we put forth,” he continued. “Just love to get more wins but still overall a good solid day for us, now we move on to the next series of races.”
Blaney, who earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono in 2017 and answered with a win last year, also had a great strategic day pay off with his third-place finish – especially impressive considering he started from the back of the grid after making adjustments on his car following qualifying. And. … his rally came in a problematic cool-suit that forced him to run more than 100 laps without the device working correctly on the steamy hot summer afternoon.
RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher, who like Blaney earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series win at Pocono (2016), started his No. 17 Ford on the outside of the front row and was among the day’s nine leaders – ultimately finishing fourth. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was fifth with back-to-back top-five finishes for the first time this year.
Briscoe’s victory – the third of his career – makes him the 11th driver to earn a position in the 16-driver Playoff field – the sixth different in just the last eight weeks.
“To finally deliver a win is such an awesome feeling. … such a big weight off my shoulders,” Briscoe said. “I’ve been telling my wife the last few weeks, I have to win and so to come here and do, it is a great day.”
Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek finished sixth, followed by Hendrick Motorsport’s Kyle Larson, RFK’s Ryan Preece and RFK owner-driver Brad Keselowski. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric rounded out the top-10.
Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron started from the rear of the field after a qualifying accident, moved forward at one point, but ultimately took a 27th-place finish. He still leads the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings by 54 points over his teammate Larson.
With nine races remaining to set the Playoff field, Hendrick’s Alex Bowman sits in that 16th-place position, 20-points up on Preece for that final points-only transfer position.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 (7 p.m. ET on TNT, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the In Season Bracket Challenge Round 1 race of the $1 million to-win five-race series.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano is the defending race winner. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell won at Atlanta this February.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 17
Race Results for the The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM - Sunday, June 22,
Pocono Raceway - Long Pond, PA - 2.5 - Mile Paved
T
otal Race Length - 160 Laps - 400. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 6/22/2025 @ 07:45 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 6 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 160 4 1 57 Running 2 72 6
2 1 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 160 1 6 51 Running 1 32 1
3 20 12 Ryan Blaney Wabash Ford 160 8 37 Running 1 3
4 2 17 Chris Buescher Nexletol Ford 160 2 5 48 Running 1 2
5 18 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 160 8 3 43 Running
6 4 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 160 31 Running
7 24 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 160 9 32 Running
8 13 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Scott 1000 Ford 160 29 Running
9 14 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 160 28 Running 2 27
10 19 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Tarkett Ford 160 7 31 Running
11 25 48 Alex Bowman Ally Best Friends Chevrolet 160 10 27 Running 1 15
12 35 21 Josh Berry Eero Ford 160 2 34 Running
13 11 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 160 5 30 Running
14 7 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 160 23 Running
15 10 99 Daniel Suarez Very Good Ventures Chevrolet 160 22 Running
16 12 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 160 7 25 Running 1 5
17 9 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 160 20 Running
18 3 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 160 10 20 Running 2 2
19 22 7 Justin Haley Dorman Chevrolet 160 18 Running
20 26 8 Kyle Busch zone/GetGo Chevrolet 160 17 Running
21 33 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 160 16 Running
22 5 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 160 15 Running
23 17 4 Noah Gragson MillerTech Ford 160 14 Running
24 16 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 160 13 Running
25 15 38 Zane Smith Long John Silver's Ford 160 6 17 Running
26 21 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Apple Chevrolet 160 11 Running
27 31 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 160 9 4 19 Running
28 32 34 Todd Gilliland Grillo's Pickles Ford 160 9 Running
29 36 51 Cody Ware Parts Plus Ford 160 8 Running
30 30 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Martin's Famous Potato Rolls Chevrolet 160 7 Running 1 2
31 23 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Safety Culture Chevrolet 159 6 Running
32 8 45 Tyler Reddick The Beast Toyota 159 3 13 Running
33 27 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best Chevrolet 140 4 Running
34 37 44 * Brennan Poole(i) Members 1st Credit Union Chevrolet 111 0 Drivetrain
35 28 71 Michael McDowell Gainbridge Chevrolet 73 2 Accident
36 34 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald's Toyota 54 1 Accident
37 29 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 41 1 Accident
Fastest Lap Bonus: # lap 122 / 52.592
11
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 4 Mins, 20 Secs. Average Speed: 130.199 MPH Margin of Victory: .682 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 17, 45, 19, 43, 38, 22, 9, 24, 48
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 21, 9, 24, 17, 11, 2, 12, 5, 77
Race Comments: Chase Briscoe has won the The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM at Pocono Raceway, his third victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 10, 12, 21, 23, 24, 51 (Unapproved adjustments), No. 44 (Multiple inspection failures).
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps; Laps: 32-35 (Stage 1 Conclusion [51]); 43-48 (#35 Incident Turn 1 [44]); 56-60 (Debris Turn 2 [None]); 78-80 (Debris Frontstretch [None]); 84-87 (#20, 88, 10, 8 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 97-100 (Stage 2 Conclusion [20]); 126-130 (#88 Spin Turn 1 [None]).
Lead Changes: 11 among 9 drivers; D. Hamlin 1-32; B. Keselowski 33-56; C. Hocevar 57; J. Logano 58-62; A. Bowman 63-77; R. Stenhouse Jr. 78-79; C. Hocevar 80; C. Briscoe 81-118; C. Buescher 119-120; R. Blaney 121-123; B. Keselowski 124-126; C. Briscoe 127-160.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: June 28, 2025 - EchoPark Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR Cup Series Points Report
Pocono Raceway
The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 6/22/2025 @ 08:20 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. William Byron 24 17 0 623 0 0 1 7 12
2. Kyle Larson 5 17 0 569 -54 54 3 8 23
3. Denny Hamlin 11 16 -2 545 -78 24 3 4 19
4. Christopher Bell 20 17 1 544 -79 1 3 1 16
5. Chase Elliott 9 17 1 543 -80 1 0 0 0
6. Ryan Blaney 12 17 -1 503 -120 40 1 3 8
7. Tyler Reddick 45 17 1 490 -133 13 0 0 0
8. Ross Chastain 1 17 0 454 -169 36 1 0 5
9. Chase Briscoe 19 17 -2 450 -173 4 1 1 6
10. Joey Logano 22 17 1 436 -187 14 1 2 7
11. Chris Buescher 17 17 -2 421 -202 15 0 1 -4
12. Bubba Wallace 23 17 2 412 -211 9 0 2 2
13. Alex Bowman 48 17 1 403 -220 9 0 0 0
14. Ryan Preece 60 17 0 383 -240 20 0 2 2
15. Austin Cindric 2 17 0 368 -255 15 1 2 7
16. Josh Berry 21 17 -3 354 -269 14 1 1 6
17. AJ Allmendinger 16 17 0 344 -279 10 0 0 0
18. Erik Jones 43 17 -4 341 -282 3 0 0 0
19. Kyle Busch 8 17 1 340 -283 1 0 0 0
20. Carson Hocevar 77 17 0 333 -290 7 0 0 0
21. Michael McDowell 71 17 5 332 -291 1 0 0 0
22. John Hunter Nemechek 42 17 -1 332 -291 0 0 0 0
23. Ty Gibbs 54 17 -1 319 -304 13 0 0 0
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 17 3 319 -304 0 0 0 0
25. Zane Smith 38 17 0 304 -319 15 0 0 0
26. Austin Dillon 3 17 -1 297 -326 7 0 0 0
27. Daniel Suarez 99 17 -1 296 -327 1 0 0 0
28. Todd Gilliland 34 17 2 295 -328 1 0 0 0
29. Justin Haley 7 17 0 265 -358 30 0 0 0
30. Brad Keselowski 6 17 -2 261 -362 4 0 0 0
31. Shane Van Gisbergen # 88 17 1 248 -375 13 1 1 6
32. Noah Gragson 4 17 -1 245 -378 3 0 0 0
33. Ty Dillon 10 17 2 240 -383 5 0 0 0
34. Cole Custer 41 17 0 219 -404 21 0 0 0
35. Riley Herbst # 35 17 0 197 -426 22 0 0 0
36. Cody Ware 51 17 0 109 -514 88 0 0 0
37. Jimmie Johnson 2 0 35 -588 74 0 0 0
38. Katherine Legge 2 0 12 -611 23 0 0 0
39. Derek Kraus 1 0 5 -618 7 0 0 0
40. Chad Finchum 2 0 3 -620 2 0 0 0
41. Casey Mears 1 0 2 -621 1 0 0 0
42. Burt Myers 1 0 1 -622 1 0 0 0
43. Martin Truex, Jr. 1 0 1 -622 0 0 0 0
44. Justin Allgaier(i) 1 11 0 -623 1 0 0 0
45. Corey Heim(i) 2 -1 0 -623 0 0 0 0
46. Bj Mcleod(i) 2 -1 0 -623 0 0 0 0
47. Corey Lajoie(i) 3 6 0 -623 0 0 0 0
48. Connor Zilisch(i) 2 -2 0 -623 0 0 0 0
49. Ryan Truex(i) 1 -2 0 -623 0 0 0 0
50. Jesse Love(i) 3 -1 0 -623 0 0 0 0
51. Anthony Alfredo(i) 1 -3 0 -623 0 0 0 0
52. Austin Hill(i) 1 -2 0 -623 0 0 0 0
53. Jj Yeley(i) 5 -2 0 -623 0 0 0 0
54. * Brennan Poole(i) 44 1 54 0 -623 0 0 0 0
55. Josh Bilicki(i) 2 -2 0 -623 0 0 0 0
56. Chandler Smith(i) 0 2 0 -623 0 0 0 0
57. Helio Castroneves 1 0 0 -623 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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