NASCAR’s regular season reached another crucial point, with 10 races remaining before the NASCAR Cup Series’ 16-driver Chase field is set. Denny Hamlin’s bid for the Regular Season Championship gained strength with his third consecutive win in another masterful drive at Pocono Raceway, one of his favorite old haunts.
Several other noteworthy performances stood out from 400 miles around the “Tricky Triangle” in the Pennsylvania wilds, some for all the right reasons and some on the downturn. Those drivers will aim either to regroup or keep the pressure on as the Cup Series prepares to make a big Sunday splash with the inaugural San Diego street-course event at Naval Base Coronado (4 p.m. ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
RELATED: Race results | Pocono photos | NASCAR video highlights
THREE UP
1. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
Started: 16th
Finished: 2nd
What happened: “It almost worked,” Reddick said of a long-run pit strategy late in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 that nearly helped the 23XI driver convert for his sixth victory of the season. Reddick rebounded from his only DNF of the year in the previous week’s race at Michigan International Speedway, but the bounce-back effect was offset by Denny Hamlin chopping further into his lead atop the Cup Series standings.
What’s next: Reddick’s advantage — once as high as 129 points after last month’s race at Watkins Glen International — has now shrunk to just 19 points as Hamlin has turned on the jets with a midseason surge. Reddick will potentially have road-racing expertise on his side as the circuit heads to San Diego and Sonoma Raceway in back-to-back weeks.
2. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Started: 9th
Finished: 3rd
What happened: Byron raved post-race about the balance of his No. 24 Chevy, which he said allowed him to make moves he hadn’t been able to pull off in months. The corresponding confidence helped him secure the team’s first top-five result since March 29 at Martinsville Speedway, providing him a one-spot bump in the Cup Series standings.
What’s next: Road courses statistically rank near the bottom of Byron’s career average-finish comparisons, though he has shown moments of glory on that track type — including a Watkins Glen win in 2023. The debut of the San Diego street course, though, holds plenty of uncertainty that Byron and the rest of the field will need to navigate. “A lot of unknowns,” he said post-race. “I’m kind of excited for it.”
3. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Started: 24th
Finished: 8th
What happened: Some speed and some strategy were the right blend for Chastain and his No. 1 Chevy group, which turned a series of pit calls into a tire advantage near the race’s end. Chastain made the most of it, notching his first top-10 result on a non-drafting track this season.
What’s next: Chastain has qualified among the top five for both road-course events this year, starting off second at Circuit of The Americas and fourth at Watkins Glen. The outcomes of both races landed him outside of the top 25, but he’ll have an ace in teammate Shane van Gisbergen to lean on for advice.
THREE DOWN
1. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
Started: 35th
Finished: 28th
What happened: Preece sorely needed a positive finish after three consecutive weeks of DNFs. After dropping to the rear at the start because of unapproved adjustments, Preece was sitting 16th in the home stretch at Pocono until the fuel tank in his No. 60 Ford sputtered dry on his way to the white flag. The 35-year-old driver bemoaned the late-race communication breakdown and needed a push from RFK teammate Chris Buescher to reach the checkered flag. He was scored as the first driver one lap down.
What’s next: Preece enters San Diego still searching for his first Cup Series top-five finish on a road course. Perhaps worse, when the In-Season Challenge tournament begins the next week at Sonoma Raceway, Preece will draw road-racing star and heavy favorite Shane van Gisbergen in a first-round matchup, something he made light of in a Sunday evening social-media post.
2. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Started: 31st
Finished: 31st
What happened: The four oval races since SVG’s victory at Watkins Glen last month have been a mixed bag, and Pocono presented a second straight week of disappointment. Van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet was one of nine cars caught up in the event’s biggest wreck, and he wound up two laps down by the checkered flag.
What’s next: The schedule takes a fortuitous turn with a pair of road courses in the next two weeks, including the street circuit inaugural in San Diego this weekend ahead of Sonoma on June 28. Knowing how SVG made his grand Cup Series entrance in the debut of the Chicago Street Race, the biggest of turnarounds might be approaching.
3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
Started: 11th
Finished: 34th
What happened: Logano earned points with a ninth-place effort in Stage 1, but a split in pit strategy put him back in the pack and right in the crosshairs of the same Stage 2 crash that corralled SVG and others. Logano’s No. 22 Ford sustained right-front damage in the melee, and he wound up four laps down as the last driver still running at the finish.
What’s next: Logano had assembled two top 10s in the last three weeks, but Sunday’s Pocono run thwarted that rhythm. “Just a matter of wrong place, wrong time for us today,” Logano said. “We were starting to build some good momentum over the last few weeks with some decent runs, so we need to get back in that rhythm again.”
