Denny Hamlin Is Unstoppable, Win at Pocono Makes it Three Straight

Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PA — June 14, 2026

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual stop at Pocono Raceway for The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA. A little track history. The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway was on August 4, 1974, and the event was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty driving the famous Petty Enterprises’ No. 43. The average speed of the 192-lap race was 115.593 mph. Petty led 152 of the 192 laps on his way to the win.

Today’s race is for 400 miles, and under the current track configuration, that can be accomplished in 160 laps around the 2.5 Mile Asphalt Paved Tri-oval. Stages are set for 30/65/65 laps. For the fourth year in a row, the Pocono race will be held in front of a sold-out crowd.

Nicknamed the “Tricky Triangle,” Pocono Raceway is the only track on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule to have just three turns and is shaped like a tri-oval. It is also unique due to the varying degrees of banking in the three turns. A real nightmare for crew chiefs trying to set up a car to the driver’s liking.

The main story lines this week center around Denny Hamlin and his pursuit of his first NASCAR Championship as a driver and/or team owner. Hamlin is on a two-race win streak for the fourth time in his career, he’s never won three consecutive.
Tyler Reddick, driving a car owned by Hamlin and his 23XI partner Michael Jordan, has seen his points lead shrink to 51 points over Denny Hamlin last week, his smallest lead since race #2 at Atlanta (40 points). Denny Hamlin has gained 78 points on Tyler Reddick in the last three races moving from 129 points back following Watkins Glen to 51 points back following Michigan.

Denny Hamlin’s seven Pocono wins are the most all-time, he last won there in 2023 and he is the only repeat winner in the last nine Pocono races, with three wins. With a win today, Hamlin will break a tie for ninth with Kyle Busch on the NASCAR All-Time win list.

How does Hamlin’s 63 wins rank against other active drivers? Joey Logano has 37, Brad Keselowski 36, Kyle Larson 32, and Chase Elliott 23.

Logano and Keselowski have been struggling all season as the Fords have been strangely uncompetitive in 2026. Ryan Blaney has the only Blue Oval victory in the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 8. The next Cup Series win for Ford will be their 750th all time. Every driver piloting a Cup Series Mustang Dark Horse is coveting that honor.

Kyle Larson’s winless streak has grown to 39 races. Unfortunately, Larson has never scored a victory at Pocono Raceway. He will start on the front row today next to the pole winner. You guessed it, that would be Denny Hamlin for the third week in a row.

Chase Elliott has a fast car and may be the driver to challenge for the win today. A bad qualifying effort relegated Elliott to the 23rd starting spot on the grid. Look for the driver of the #9 to be an upward mover early in the race.

Stage One

Kyle Larson(5) pulled away from the pole sitter, Denny Hamlin(11), on the first lap and established a lead interval right from the start. Racing side by side for second, Hamlin and Daniel Suarez(7) could not keep up with the leader. Teammates Ty Gibbs(54) and Chase Briscoe(19) also ran next to each other as they all chased Larson.

Hamlin broke away from the rest of the lead pack to try to reel in Larson. The remainder of the field was losing time to the two lead cars every lap. The short first Stage will allow teams to make early adjustments to close the gap on what is clearly the two fastest cars in the field.

With seven laps to go in the stage Hamlin drove up to the rear bumper of Larson. Larson caught the last car on the track, Casey Mears(62), and had to back out of the throttle as Mears did not move out of the way and let the leaders pass. This allowed Hamlin to make the pass for the top spot.

A few drivers opted to pit before pit road closed. Those teams in need of Stage points stayed out to the green and white checkered flag.

Results of Stage One

Stage Two

Six cars that pitted early stayed on the track during the Stage ending caution inherited the track position advantage. John Hunter Nemechek(42), Tyler Reddick(45), Zane Smith(38), Ryan Blaney(12) Austin Cindric(2), and Alex Bowman(48) made up the first three rows for the restart.

First off pit road were Hamlin, Larson, Briscoe, William Byron(24) and Erik Jones(43). Three and four wide racing through the pack was the norm on the first two laps after taking the green on the restart. Hamlin moved into third and Zane Smith made an aggressive move to try and retake the position. Off turn one Smith got loose, spun, and crashed into the inside safety barrier.

The yellow flag displayed and a few teams used the caution to come to pit road and make further adjustments. Reddick ad Nemechek lead the pack back to the restart. With Hamlin and Blaney right behind them in row two. This time drivers were quick to drop into line and be more deliberate in making moves.

Except at the rear of the pack. Shane van Gisbergen(97)(SVG) and Josh Berry(21) got together and Berry bounced off the outside wall. Noah Gragson(4), Connor Zilisch(88), Brad Keselowski(6), Bubba Wallace(23), and Joey Logano(22) all got collected in the melee.

Keselowski and Gragson were taken behind the wall. Logano and Zilisch went a lap down dealing with damage to their cars. Several drivers pitted during the caution including Larson, Chase Elliott(9), Hamlin, Blaney, Byron, and Reddick.

Nemechek and Briscoe lead the field back to green with Jones and Suarez restarting in the second row.

Anticipating green flag pit stops. The top three, Nemechek, Briscoe, and Jones separated themselves from the rest of the field. Carson Hocevar(77) and Chase Briscoe, lead the pack trying to gather the leaders back in.

Suarez was the first of the lead group to pit with 16 laps to go in the stage. The rest of the leaders began to trickle in over the next several laps. Another round of stops started with Larson coming in to the pits with six laps to go. The top two drivers Hamlin and Elliott came in one lap later.

Some teams are opting to stay out and try to snag some Stage points. Todd Gilliland(34) won the Stage, the first Stage win of his career.

Results of Stage Two

The Final Stage

Briscoe and Nemechek on row one, Jones and Suarez in row two, Hamlin and Elliott in row three lead the pack back to the green flag restart. With 54 laps to go Casey Mears lost the right rear wheel off his race car and NASCAR was forced to wave the caution flag again.

None of the leaders pitted, but positions changed up front. Nemechek and Hamlin restart on row one. Jones and Briscoe sit on row two. Hamlin drives to the point while Nemechek, Briscoe, Jones, and Elliott get in line behind the #11 car.

Jones and Briscoe made green flag pit stops with 42 laps to go. Over the next several laps most of the leaders followed. Hamlin pitted with 38 laps to go and when he returned to the track he will be the leader when all stops cycle through, baring a caution throwing a wrench in the mix.

With 20 laps to go, Christopher Bell is the leader with a 10.5 second advantage over his teammate Denny Hamlin. Bell has been saving fuel and his team believes they can make it to the finish without a fuel stop. Byron runs third and is closing on Hamlin. Nemechek, Larson, and Jones are hanging close should any of the top three encounter difficulties over the final laps.

With 10 laps to go Bell leads Hamlin by four seconds. Five laps later Hamlin made the pass for the lead. Bell ran out of gas with one lap to go. Reddick passed Byron for second. Nemechek, Larson, and Michigan’s Erik Jones finished fourth, fifth, and sixth. This win was the third in a row for Hamlin starting from the pole. A feat only Richard Petty (twice), Bobby Allison, and Darrell Waltrip have accomplished in NASCAR’s history.

Michigan’s Erik Jones posted a another top ten finish taking the 6th spot. Jones also moved into a qualifying position for NASCAR’s Postseason Chase.

NASCAR Cup Series Points Standings

Results of The Great American Getaway 400 from Pocono Raceway