Tyler Reddick appeared unstoppable at the season’s beginning with three straight victories, but the 23XI Racing driver has now passed the three-peat baton to his team owner Denny Hamlin, who claimed his third straight victory for the first time in his career in Pocono Raceway’s Great American Getaway 400.
Hamlin’s eighth career victory at the 2.5-mile track moved him to within 19 points of standings leader Reddick with 10 races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. After the season’s sixth race, Reddick possessed a 95-point advantage over then second-place Ryan Blaney. Hamlin was fourth at the time, 122 points behind Reddick. However, beginning at Texas, Hamlin begin racking up top-five finishes—five in six races—and erased the deficit that many believed was untouchable.
“We’ve had so many races where we’ve been dominant this year,” Hamlin said after his fourth victory this season. “We won four, but man, we could easily have a lot more right now. I don’t think I’ve had a year where it’s been this wild and crazy being able to execute. That’s been the biggest difference. The last month compared to earlier in this season. The speed is no different. It’s just that the execution is better.”
Hamlin’s Sunday victory puts him in sole possession of ninth on the all-time win list. It gives Joe Gibbs Racing 19 Pocono victories, tying the organization with Hendrick Motorsports for the most wins at the unique triangular track. JGR also has won nine of the last 14 races at Pocono.
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“It’s like a second home for me,” Hamlin said about Pocono where 20 years ago he claimed his first career Cup victory.
Crew chief Chris Gayle believes Hamlin performs well at Pocono because he knows what he needs to go fast at the track, noting his driver’s pole for this year’s race was his second consecutive at Pocono.
“We were not going to be able to come from the back this week… It’s just not going to be possible.
Overall, Hamlin’s No. 1 starting position made him the first driver since Darrell Waltrip in 1981 to win three consecutive races from the pole. However, unlike the two races prior to Pocono, Hamlin didn’t have to go to the rear at the start of the event for an infraction or unapproved adjustments.
“We were not going to be able to come from the back this week,” Hamlin said. “This race track is really narrow as far as the groove. It’s just not going to be possible. It’s not like 2006 where you can go to the back and come back through. The field is tighter than it’s ever been.”
At Pocono, Hamlin led five times for 28 laps, but had to track down JGR teammate Christopher Bell, who was driving with a broken left wrist, in the closing laps for the victory.
Bell made his final stop for fuel and tires with 52 laps remaining, while Hamlin stopped with 39 laps to go in the 160-lap event. Crew chief Adam Stevens’ pit strategy allowed Bell to take the lead during the final round of green-flag stops and he immediately had to go into fuel conservation mode. With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin was second, 11.015 seconds behind Bell but unlike his JGR teammate, he could run full throttle.
With 15 laps remaining, Hamlin had cut the deficit to 8.204 seconds and after another five laps it stood at 4.868 seconds. Hamlin took the lead with five laps to go as Bell began fading. Bell eventually finished 26th after having to pit for fuel as Hamlin took the white flag.
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“Once we saw their pace, how many laps we thought they were short, we needed half a second a lap at that point with 20 to go. We were already getting that when we told him to push,” Gayle said.
Hamlin finished 1.678 seconds ahead of runner-up Reddick, who was ninth with 20 laps remaining.
“It almost worked,” Reddick said after claiming his 10th top five and 12th top 10 this season. “It all kind of falls to how you catch cars. I think we definitely lost a second and a half there when we just took the tires and caught the (No.) 9 (Chase Elliott) and (No.) 17 (Chris Buescher), lap down cars side by side. We definitely lost… a couple spots there. Some of it’s just bad luck, I guess, where you catch cars.
“It’s a bummer. If the (No.) 11 wasn’t the winner, you could consider this a good day. Thirty-five points just aren’t enough right now.”
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.